I remember well when God nudged me into missions. I was sitting in the balcony of the church I grew up at in Seattle listening to the pastor tell the congregation about an incredible opportunity to help some missionaries that we supported in Papua New Guinea Build some houses in the interior of the island of New Britain. The purpose was to get them established so that they could learn and translate the bible for the Mamusi tribe who were currently unreached by the gospel. My brother-in-law to be leaned over and whispered in my ear that this would be a great opportunity for me. He had recently gotten back from serving in central American and decided that I needed the opportunity as well. I of course said, “whatever dude!” But God had other plans and I could not get the thought of it out of my head. It haunted me until I finally caved in and called the pastor. I guess you can imagine how the story ended. I went there and had an amazing time I was ready to stay but the government had other plans for me and they wouldn’t renew my visa. My sister was happy to here that I wasn’t staying and that I would be in attendance of her wedding.
That was 1989 and it was my first trip overseas and my first real missions experience. But God had me fully and completely now and off to bible school I went and I graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 1993 short after heading off to Europe to this time help lead my first mission trip. I can’t say t 
hat I had it all together on that first trip and if I had it to do all over again I would try and practice much more humility and service. But even though it wasn’t perfect I loved it and I have been leading mission trips ever sense. After working as the High school Director of a Grace Bible Church in California for three years, at which time I started leading trips for AIM, I came of staff with AIM full time. By now I have had the opportunity to lead more than 40 mission trips and having the privilege to meet some amazing people along the way. I have had the privilege to serve God on 5 continents, ministering in large cities such as Mexico City and Nairobi , Kenya as well as unknown villages like those in the Peruvian Amazon and the interior of Papua New Guinea ‘s Island of New Britain .
While at AIM I feel blessed to have been able to pursue God’s call to both lead and disciple youth and to proclaim the glory of God through missions. While I was the Real Life Mission Coordinator with AIM, I was in charge of mobilizing college students and training the leadership that will take them around the world. After that God called me to follow Him to Kenya . In Kenya I had the privilege of leading AIM’s first African base in Nairobi , Kenya . It was while i was in Kenya that God also sent me a beautiful gift, Lisa! She has her own story up until this point and now God is giving us our story, both in Kenya and beyond. If you want to hear more about the ministry in Kenya I have included the story at the end of how God Birthed the Kenya base. Now, after Living in Kenya for over 3 years God called Lisa and I Back to Georgia to help lead and support AIM’s overseas staff. Now as Directors of AIM’s Field Staff we once again have to rely on God to help us lead and support the staff that our serving God overseas. After living and ministering in Kenya for the last few years we know how difficult it can be to serve God overseas and it is our privilege and challenge to help our field staff to serve God abroad.
Lisa’s Story: Skip the rest but don’t miss her Story!
Before you read the story of how God started AIM’s base in Kenya I want to tell you that the best thing that happened to me in Kenya is that my then girlfriend and now wife, Lisa, followed God to Kenya and graciously agreed to be my wife. She is a huge blessing and encouragement to me and I just love sharing life with her. I received a blessing beyond measure when she became part of my life. You deserve to hear some of her story and I want her to include that here as well. 
The conception of the kenya base:
In 2000 I had been at AIM for two years and I was the director of AIM’s Real Life Mission Teams. During those years I was leading many trips to central and south America since I could speak passable Spanish and I had a fair amount of experience in that part of the world. During that season an opportunity arose for someone to lead a two week medical team to Kenya . My boss at the time knew that I would be up for something new and exciting and we had both talked about going to Africa as something that sounded fun and so he asked if I could do it. It seemed that no one at the time could lead the trip since it was a very busy season for us and so they were looking for someone who could squeeze it in, that and I was single at the time and I didn’t have the desire to spend quality time at home (since I was still semi living out of my suburban). So just for day after returning home from the Amazon jungle in Peru I was off to Kenya . Arriving just three days before the team and riding around on the back of a pastors Piki Piki (motorcycle) I attempted to plan a medical trip which was a completely new idea for me. That experience is an entirely different story but let me just say it was God’s grace that once again proved to be sufficient enough for that trip to be called a success!
At that time in the history of AIM you were considered an expert on any given location if you had been there once. And since I was one of the only full time staff at the time to have been to Kenya I was now the resident expert in Kenya after spending a month there. It was a great trip and I had fond memories of that time and so I didn’t have any reservations about going back the next year to lead a month long ambassador team in Kenya . It was at this time that God called me to move to Kenya for a season. I remember clearly walking down a small path in Kibera with a child clinging to each of my hand. As we were walking along I felt God say to me, “you should live here!” It wasn’t a command as much as it was the truth. At that moment I felt totally at peace with the idea. Up until that point I had always felt called to God and I would follow him wherever but so far He had never called me to a place. It was a new experience for me but I was excited to see what God was going to do.
When I went back to the office that year I talk to my boss and we put together a two year transition plan to set up AIM’s base in Kenya . Through much prayer and 
questioning the plan was made and I must say it went much like the original plan was laid out. In 2002 I spent three months in country and in 2003 I spend the second half of the year in Kenya . 2003 was really the year I mark as the official move to Kenya since it was at that time that I set myself up on a permanent level. For me that meant a bed and furniture of my own. As I look back now I realize I own more possessions in Kenya than I ever have in the united states and it is the first place that I can say I have rented a house of my own. That will give you an idea of the transient life I lived up until this point. In 2003 we also had our first FYM team although it was slightly different than the others up until that point.
Now as I look at the situation, just two and a half years after moving to Kenya we have 6 full time staff in Kenya (including my wife!!) and 11 first year missionaries. Things have come along way from the days when I was the only staff in Kenya and the base existing was depending on if I was in Kenya at that time or not.
All along I have felt that the church in Kenya was vibrant and alive with a potential yet untapped. During the years that we have been working there I have felt that God was calling us to come alongside the church, to call them to bigger things and to help equip, train and challenge them to both make disciples and to reach out to the world around them. It is that passion that has lead us to build partnerships with pastors and leaders in Kenya with the intent of deepening the faith of their congregations and mobilizing an attack force to step out into the spiritual battle for the lost.
