Africa Support Letter

 

Hello dear friends and family,

    

I have recently been invited to travel with eight other students and three team leaders to the second least-developed country in the world: Burkina Faso, Africa. I find myself longing to learn from and serve the Burkinabe people in this country known for its extreme poverty and its high illiteracy percentage (25.3). As much as this trip is focused on the people in Africa, it will probably impact me more than anyone. You might be thinking that the money it will take to send me there and back could be spent in better ways to serve these people. However, I believe that this is an investment in the next sixty years of my life and ministry and trust that God will dramatically broaden my view of Him and the world through this experience.

    My team is planning on going to Burkina Faso, Africa (located in the northwest) during this upcoming spring break. Entering a land that is dominated by men and women who are Muslim and others with indigenous beliefs, with only 10% Christian, there is a clear need for not only physical healing but also eternal salvation. In response to these needs the youth groups at Salem Alliance have come together to raise $8000 dollars to build a youth center/dorm in Burkina where African students can come learn. The Burkinabé people are willing to give everything to give their child a fighting chance by means of education; our youth groups are trying to match a piece of that sacrifice by helping build a youth center. When our team goes to Burkina, we will be working on the youth center as well as doing a Vacation Bible School.

Africa has occupied most of my thoughts recently. This passion, along with the call I feel to pastoral ministries (someone who will encourage people towards missions) means that I should have some experience myself with missions. I also know that this trip would open my eyes to many of the things I have otherwise been shielded from. Along with the trip itself, my means of getting to Africa will stretch my faith by my dependency upon the generosity of others. So far, committing to this trip has already stretched my faith drastically and I know over the next three months God will continue to mold me through the planning and prayers.

This trip is not going to be an inexpensive one by any means, but I know that through God, the support will come. The total cost of the trip will be around $3,000. This will include my ticket to get there, and get back (somewhat important) this will also include my food, transportation, and lodging while I am there. To help my raise my $1,000 (which is what I will personally pay) I went through all of November without buying gas, but instead, riding my bike or carpooling with friends and family. If you feel led, I encourage you to sacrifice, maybe not to that extreme, something that you value. I want to invite you be a real part of the trip, whether you would like to support financially or through prayer.

It is important to have people continually praying for our team and so i will be sending a card a bit later that have specific things that we will need prayer for. Otherwise, just pray for financial support, unity in the team, and the hearts of the people that I will be meeting over there. If you would like to support me financially please make a check payable to Salem Alliance Church. Send donations to: Salem Alliance Church, Attn: Susan White (Missions), 555 Gains St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Please include a note designating the funds to "Thomas Clapper, worldIMPACT—Burkina Faso." All donations will be tax deductable and will receive a tax deductible thank you letter.

Thank you so much for being a part of this trip. I am so excited to see what God has in store for my team and me. If you would like to follow along on my journey you can go to clapperman.blogspot.com and catch up on the latest happenings in my life. Thank you again, I look forward to letting you know how the trip went.

Living in His Love,

Thomas Clapper

Done with the broken bike

By the grace of God i made it all the way through November without buying gas. My parents and friends surrounded me and helped me which was so amazing to see. Luckily, when i bought gas, it has been the cheapest it had been for four years, up to that point. so i got it even cheaper by waiting out. I have my support letters i am sending out this week, i just need to do the last revisions and send them out! i am so excited! Also, we are a week away from our second meeting! Crazy! I still do not have my second five-hundred dollar deposite, however i am hoping they will be a bit more flexable with that. I still need prayers! Thanks so much, i will post my letter very soon.

oh, and my bike is broken for now, front brakes are dragging, back breaks aren't touching, so soon i will be back on it! need to get it out to GI Joes and get it fixed (thank goodness for free tuneups) 

bandaid for my bike

so i have been trying to save as much money as i can for Africa. I found that the only place my money goes is to my car and to my child i am supporting with Drew. Well since i cannot cut off David in Ecuador, i had to figure out a way to cut down on money spent on my car. And since it is illegal to have a licence and not have insurance, i knew that gas was the only place to save. So, i began to ride my dad's electric bike to as many places as i could get to saying that i wasn't going to buy gas all of November. Well i am 4 days away with only enough gas to get me to the gas station when i am ready to buy gas, so it is bike all the way. Unfortunately, my bike is temporarily out because the breaks have gone haywire on me. I am currently trying to devise a plan to get the bike to Salem's GI Joe's for a free tuneup. kinda hard to do without gas. oh well, 4 days. So yesterday i road my normal bike up to school and i forgot how hard it was to bike up the hill! lot of work, which was good, just made me late... (oops) anyhow, i need to figure out another way to get some money because i am a little in debt to my parents for the fender bender. I trust that God is going to pull through because clearly i can't. It is going to be really sweet to see the journey God is going to put me on. If you have any extra time, prayer would be awesome. thanks!

recent hurt with no bandaid to help

John Stumbo is currently up in the ICU of OHSU Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Being one of Drew's best friends, as well as getting to know mr. Stumbo as lot better, it has been quite the week for me, but more so, for the family. I went up and stayed with Drew and Joanna from 12 to 9:45 Tuesday, which took an emotional take on me. I ended up not going to school the next day because i had not gotten any work done on Tuesday, being up at the hospital, and i also was exhausted. Though i was happy i could be there for Drew, this has totally offset my internal clock. It really didn't feel like Friday and despite the weekend being tomorrow, i am still tired and drained not feeling any energy. This has also set off my work, not allowing me to get done the things that need to be done. I have just finished my draft for my support letter and that is about the first real thing i did this week. I did take 45 min yesterday to take care of the fender bender i was in. (cost me $350 plus a new hub cap-- going to set me back a few dollars for Africa) I am concerned just for the toll this incident could possibly take on the Stumbo family. Also, i am concerned on what physical damage John could walk away with after he is healed. Lots of thoughts running through my mind and distracting me from Africa and school (with good reason) So i continue to pray for John, i hope you will too. Also pray for the family. Africa can wait for them... especially for them.

AFRICA

i decided i would commendier my blog in order to keep people updated on Africa. So to start out, last year i really wanted to go on the Africa 08 team but after praying, i felt that God wanted me to stay. This year however, i was much more open to the idea and asked God again to send me. The only kicker was that i was really not in the finacial state to commit to a $3,500.00 trip. That being said, i had been praying to God that my faith would be stretched drastically and after talking to quite a few people, i was convinced that this was the faith step that God wanted me to take. After committing, having an intense interveiw, i recieved the call that granted me to go. i was so excited that i would be going to Africa (i still am super pumped) and so far the thing that has really stretched me is money. The first $500.00 deposite was due with my application but unfortunately, i didn't have that much money sitting around. So i saved and biked, stopped spending money on practically everything, which allowed me to give the check just last week. Praise God! And as of now, i am putting my faith in God knowing that he will supply for this next portion. i also have to have faith in the people around me for support. I am asking for $2000.00 between everyone i know. Soon i will post my support letter and if anyone is interested in supporting (both finacailly or prayer)  i would greatly appreciate it  :)  As for now i will continue to pray and ask for whatever God needs done.

It's Happ'n'n

Seeing Josh Mann blog reminded me that i still have one, despite me never touching it. 

This is simply an update of what's been going on.

School started and after adjusting my schedule to finally fit my own preference, i began to settle in. It truly did put me on a trip to think that i am a senior. Each day after SoundScape, my friends and i walk down the junior hall and deliberately walk through peoples circles just to show them who is king of the school. Yes, that means that despite my new choir teacher, Mr. Angelo, i am still doing SoundScape and Choir. So far so good. It has definitely been a transition year, but luckily Mr. Angelo understands and is making it much easier then it could be. I am very grateful for that. My only "real" classes are College Writing, which is going great, not too bad of a work load. It has challenged me a great amount already. Even as i write this i am analyzing my work immensely. 

On the Church side of things, it is going really well. As of now i am trying a new technique of reading the Bible, complements of Josiah Stumbo. I was challenged to read a book of the Bible 50 times before even analyzing it. This has been very difficult for me so far, partly because i am not a very patient person. I decided to start a bit easier and i am reading my way through 2 Peter. Hopefully this makes me a more rounded studier. Theologian if you will. I really feel like my senior year has some purpose. This is the last time i am really going to be able to have conversations with the people at my school. Honestly i feel i am not living like i should. I believe people would ask more questions and challenge why i live the way i live. So that is a stuggle area of my life. 

The more buisnessy side of Church, I am in Kevbo's small group that i have been in since 7th grade. I am in Guys Group which i joined about the same time. CRASH, the middle school wednesday night is going strong and i now my small group are 8th graders. WOW! i am really wanting to have them grow this year, so my thoughts have gravitated towards that. I am also now incharge of the middle school webpage. GoToTheLink.com if you get a chance, check it out. This year i am hoping to really develope the site to be as user friendly as possible. God-willing it is used in a way that blesses the people. 

I am still working at SilverFalls Creamery. I package goat cheese and i am actaully "Head of Production" so, that has been a blessing and a busy thing as well. Actually right now i am procrastinating working. oops. 

I still have my office job that i clean on the weekend out in south salem

I am a backup for Jamba now. it is a complicated story, ask at your own disclosure

I am now in CAYD (Christmas At Your Door) a traveling drama group and music group that goes around this Christmas time. I have rehursals every Tuesday at 7. Fun times. 

Anyhow, better get off to work. Those containers won't label themselves. 

Hi HO IT'S OFF TO WORK I GO.....

If you would have talked to me three months ago and told me I would be working twenty hour weeks packing goat cheese, I would have told you were were crazy. Now,  I am in it and... well I still find it a bit crazy. I actually love the hours and i get to hang out with The Chad, but part of me feels like I am loosing my summer. I just always run so hard during the school year and now i am not letting down, it just worries me and starting to worry everyone around me. :/ not the best thing.... I have however gained some new experiences this summer and met some really cool new people so I won't count it as a complete loss. I am really surprised that summer is already 1/2 over! It just doesn't even seem possible, but I am not really going to argue with time (i usually lose in that argument) I have noticed that I have created a dependency on music. It is actually hard for me to go through a week without music. That is what caused me to go out last night at 10 to Walmart to buy the new Coldplay CD and a Michael Buble CD. which is what I am listening to as I type. I guess everyone has their crutch, this just happens to be mine... at least one of them. I am really curious what the month of August has stored up for me. I am starting off on a pretty good note, catching up with a friend that has been out of the US for a year. Hanging out with a pretty cool girl that is eventually heading off to college. Lava Monster. Just awesome stuff coming my way. Just hoping I really stay alive now till next Summer, or at least till the end of this one.

YQ

So this is my 3rd Youth Quake I have been to. I already have the video and collage posted and even though pictures are worth thousands of words, i thought i could also add some words along side it. 

YQ is really important to me because when I went as a student in 05 my walk with Jesus was drastically changed and in effect, my life was altered. YQ was the first time I felt called to be a pastor, and so set the course. Anyhow, it has always been important to me to help other kids get a similar experience, so I have been the last two years as a leader. I really enjoyed this round. The middle schoolers were on fire for God which was awesome to see. The leaders were all really great and easy to work with, and the projects all got done which is great for the people who were in need. By the end of the week everyone got really into the worship, and you could tell that the hearts of the middle schoolers, all 180 of them, were on fire for God and were willing to give their lives to Him. Pretty amazing stuff!

While i was there, i got to dress up as Jesus, as you can see in some of the pics. I also was placed on the "Newburg Car Wash" project where we raised money for an old folks home. I did that both Tuesday and Wednesday. Then Thursday the Salem Allianites got together and set up for the Free Kids Carnival over in Grant Park. Everyone else showed up and we had a blast letting the little tikes play games and win candy and prizes. From what i saw, everyone had a great time. (except Bethany, but that is ok, not everyone can win...). The worship was fantastic, the speakers were really great, the kids responded well. I think that overall it was a great week. 

The thing i loved most though was that the kids that truly experienced helping others were then excited to continue that life style and though it is hard and it probably will be close to never being like a camp built for it, it is still great to see this generation stepping out and wanting to be about something bigger than what they want. If our world could just step out of their "me" box for two seconds many of our "problems" would start to fade because people would actually care what happens to friends and even strangers. The farthest you can get away from God is sometimes the closest you can get to yourself.  Hopefully people will begin to realize that not everything has strings attached, that free can really mean free, that a nice gesture can affect thousands of people just because of the snowball effect. Hopefully someone wakes up and wants change. I know that i never feel as alive coming home from YQ because i start slipping into this "me" world i created. Work begins to feel like i am stealing because i am being paid. Driving by hitchhikers begins to stir up emotional attachments i never really had before. I can feel changed, now i just need to follow that up with action. 

That was GO! Youth Quake 2008

Check out a video from Youth Quake. :)

My Montage 7/20/08

Youth Quake! 2008 GO!

Go Figure, Go Work

Wow, so I had never expected to work as many hours as I did this last week. SHEW! I am excited to pay off some money I owe to my parents for stuff but let me tell you, I am completely ready for a break. Hopefully Drew Stumbo will be over to finish building the Carpetball Table for the church. *crossing fingers* I am extremely pumped for Youth Quake, our churches Middle school retreat that I will be a leader on. We get to stay on the beautiful George Fox campus and do service projects all week. :)   (I know, I take pleasure in the weirder things of life) So work-hard, time to play hard I guess?