Frequently Asked Questions

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When do you leave and are you coming back?

I leave November 4th 2008. On November 19th I’ll fly from Tel-Aviv into Africa. I’ll be back in the USA on February 12th 2009 . . . or at least that’s the plan

What are you going to do in Israel?

I was invited to tour Israel with a group from Grass Valley. I’ll be touring and studying.

What are you going to do in Mozambique?

I’ll be volunteering with Iris Ministries, working at orphanages, schools, clinics and outreaches. 

Why Mozambique?

In 2001 I visited Egypt and Djibouti. I was only in Djibouti for a day but I decided that someday I wanted to return to Africa to live with and minister to people living in poverty. Since then I’ve become great friends with the Baker family who started Iris Ministries. Iris has bases in Mozambique so I applied to work with them.

Where is Mozambique?

The Southeast coast of Africa, above South Africa and below Tanzania. If you could drive there in a straight line it would be about 10,400 miles from my house. The farthest you can get from home is somewhere around 12,400 miles…unless you go into space, but yeah. It’s far away.  (More on Mozambique…)

Isn’t it dangerous? Aren’t you scared?

In 1992 Mozambique ended a brutal 15 year civil war. They began their journey of recovery as one of the poorest countries in the world. The country has seen strong economic growth since then but there is still some unrest.

Ultimately there’s danger in everything we do so we might as well do dangerous things that are meaningful. At the very least, a few landmines and some political tension is hardly an excuse to ignore God’s calling or one’s passion. For Paul it was “to live is Christ and to die is gain”, for Esther is was “if I perish, I perish” People DO live there, even kids!

No, I was talking about Israel, isn’t it dangerous??

Not so much, of course it depends on the day but ultimately much of Israel’s economy relies on tourism so I expect most of the trip to be reasonably safe.

What about disease?

You’re right, Mozambique has endemic chloroquine-resistant malaria. Dang. There’s also risk of typhoid, hepatitis-a and some yellow fever among others. HIV prevalence in the country was estimated at 12.2% of adults in 2003.

Sounds like the kind of place Jesus would hang out

Who are you going with?

I’ll meet my friends Grace, David & Becky in Israel and tour with them for 2 weeks. After that they’ll go back to the states and I’ll be on my own until I get to the Iris base in Pemba, Mozambique.

Are you rich (as in $$$)?

Relative to the world, yes. Compared to the US population I make less than half of median income, which places me somewhere above the government’s poverty threshold but certainly not rich.

I try to be good at giving, receiving, saving and spending. This trip is giving me practice in all those areas.

What are you going to do when you get back?

I don’t know. And I’m really really ok with that. I don’t know where I’ll work (although some of you seem to have ideas), where I’ll live (although SOME of you seem to have ideas) or what kind of ministry I’ll be involved in (blah blah blah). I believe God wants me to keep an open schedule, so aside from His word, I will not plan the specifics of life after my return. But I still like you =)