If you don’t know Jack, then before you read this blog…go back to all the blogs that are about jack…watch his videos, read the blogs and then come back here and read this…and if you do the same thing reading as i am doing while i am writing, you are gonna need some tissue.(There are a number of them with Jack’s name on them, so this will take a while…but you have nothing at all that will be any better for you than this.)
Last Friday Night, we had our annual fund raiser called Night for Africa. We showed the two videos posted on the earlier this summer about Jack. Then Jack came to the stage. He was kinda quiet at first.
He sat across the table from me on a huge stage in front of 2500 people. He spoke of how thankful he was for all the people who had blessed him and who had helped him to get his arms. As i started to walk with him off the stage he whispered (into my mic) which wasn’t then really a whisper. Mr. Lanny may i say something else? I was a bit nervous but what was I going to say? Sure Jack, say anything you want. I wish i had it recorded, because i won’t do it justice here. But it went something like this. Imagine if you will this monologue in a very broken Kenyan accent spoken from a young man with two artificial arms, who has grown up in the slums with almost no education, but with a beautiful smile and a heart as big as the globe.
“In the book of Joshua, there were men who surrounded a city and they obeyed God and screamed and yelled and made enough noise to bring down the walls of the city of Jericho. There is hunger and poverty and AIDS and death in my country and i would like you to stand and make noise and let it be loud enough that your very voices in this place would begin to ring out loudly and bring down the walls of hunger…and poverty…and disease….and death….and when those walls come down we will have hope. Will you stand with me now and shout?”
Holy Cow (my words) 2500 people stood to their feet and began to shout and i stood on that stage and watched a young man who just months before had been orphaned and trying to figure out how to pick up scraps of food outside of restaurants in Nairobi with no arms to accomplish it….and I saw God’s grace and mercy pouring down on this young man as he valiantly lifted his prosthetic arms to proclaim that we as a people can be used by God to bring down the walls that destroy us.!!!
That, my friends, was combined with the spirit of God working through Jeff Foxworthy, and then the Daraja Children’s Choir to show us the smiles and songs and beautiful face and wonders of God.
Add to that…TONIGHT…
At about seven thirty this evening, most of us were preparing to watch the debates which would potentially tell us the fate of our nation ( to a degree). But about 30 of us were gathered around a swimming pool watching a story with so much more drama, so much more spirit, so much more of the things that make life what it is. I stood beside Jack and grabbed his upper arm ( he wasn’t wearing his prosthetics) and we walked out into a pool together. We laughed because it was cold. We joked because i am old and might not pull him back up in a minute especially since he had nothing to hold on to me with …so it would be all me. I mentioned the story of Mephibosheth in the Bible, where for so long this young crippled boy ran away from David because he thought David would punish him. He wasn’t aware that David was pursuing him to show him his love. Jack had believed for a while that God had punished him but …like Mephibosheth, Jack has learned that God wants jack to sit at the Kings table and eat the kings food…Just as David wished that for Mephibosheth. Becuase He loved him and wants the best for him. God loves jack and wants the best for him and has shown him that in the past few months. And then in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, i slowly brought jack down into the water, held him for a sec,
and raised him back out. His small arms were raised and his smile beamed across his face. for a moment i just stood there thanking God for letting me right there in the center of that cold pool, holding on to a man whom God was holding on to.
Many of the people who entered into Jacks life were there to watch. The man who first heard of him and said he would like to give money to get Jack some arms. The Dr of Prosthetics, who formed Jacks arms and got them to fit. The man who takes care of Jack while he is here. The people who donated special funds and houses and time and energy to take care of Jack while he was here. It was a powerful night.
A young man from the streets of Kenya today professed his faith in Jesus in front of 30 people in a swimming pool in Alpharetta GA. There is a chance that that particular incident will affect more lives than either of the candidates we watched debate tonight. He is going back to his country on Monday.
His whole life is in front of him. Just the way Billy Graham’s life was in front of him when he was 25.
He lives in a starving nation of 32 million people. Maybe he or someone he touches will set his world on fire and help to men to see the real issues. Or maybe, watching him tonight, will help US to see the real issues…and not worry so much about the ones we heard on the Fox network tonight.
Think about that.
Most of the time the blog here is written for all of you who have nothing better to do than read my blog.
This one is for Jack. To watch. If you have been following his story here then you know what this is about. If not, then i would encourage you to go back through the posts and watch the videos of Jack and his life.
Meanwhile…Jack …this blog’s for you.
So, there is a long comment under Africa hears about Jack. Better than any post i could do right now.
I m serious. If you come here….go there and read it. God just keeps on dancing around neighborhoods and when people on balconies grilling out start to read shirts and change the world…Wow!!!
Thanks James for an incredible story.
Ok. If you have been following the story on Jack. This made me cry. Here is the background.
Jack ended up at the bigstuf house that we built for orphans after he lost his arms.
That house is also called CCRC. Our director of operations, Kurt Kandler is over in Kenya right now and has been following jack’s story from over there. So on Sunday he got a chance to speak at the Bigstuf House, which also serves as the church for the area. So the place is packed with people from around the whole area for church on Sunday. All of them know Jack. Kurt gets to fill them in on Jack and here is the letter he wrote to me.
Kurt speaking:
I started with his initial doctor’s visit and explained that in a few short days, Jack would have his right hand. Some in the congregation clapped, others shouted and some of the women covered their mouths in amazement. Everyone was smiling, but one particular person in the back of the church stood up, grinning from ear to ear, and clapped. It was Jack’s friend, Moses.
I then got to the part of the story where the Doctor didn’t think that Jack would be able to use a prosthetic left arm due to the paralysis and scar tisue in his shoulder. They were visibly disappointed. I went on to explain that we asked another doctor to look at Jack to see what could be done. The congregation looked hopeful but when I told them that the cost would exceed 600,000 Kenyan shillings ($10,000) the disappointment could be seen in their eyes and the church went quiet.
At this point, I tried to describe BigStuf Camp - the number of students that attend, the hi-energy environment, the music, the teaching, etc. etc. Not sure if they got it, but then I told them that Jack had the opportunity to speak on stage to over 1500 secondary school students. They couldn’t believe it. They laughed… they giggled… they starting talking to each other and I assume it was somthing like; “Is he telling us the truth? Jack? Speaking to 1500 Secondary school students?”
And then I got to the part where God touched someone’s heart and the funds were raised for Jack’s surgery in less than five minutes. When I told them that Jack would have the surgery, and he might be able to get a left arm too, well the place went nuts. As it did, I kept my eyes on Jack’s friend Moses. He was standing in the back of the church, arms strectch over his head, and he was running in place. His smile was like no other.
So it appears that we’ve been part of God building a two-way bridge to Kenya. I can’t wait to come home and see Jack and the choir.
Ok,,,that is Kurts letter. Moses was supposed to be part of our choir but couldn’t be because of not having a birth certificate. If you could picture Moses and his smile and him running in place just filled with joy with his arms over his head praising God. That picture is worth millions of words. I wish i could post it here. I can’t so i will post a picture of the Bigstuf House. I will get a better picture so you can see it better tomorrow.
Lanny
A few thousand people are now following jack’s story. I think because God is using Jack to reveal himself in some unique ways to a lot of people.
Today, I called a friend. Dr. H.
He is a hand an arm specialist. I asked what he was doing and he seemed tired as he mentioned he had about 50 patients in his office. I simply asked him to go to this site and watch Jack’s story and then let me know when he could see Jack. Jack showed up at his office at 12:30. There had been some doubt about whether Jack’s other arm might be able to surgically be taken care of so that he could get another arm. Dr. H. saw, jack, called the prosthetics guy, did a pre op and set up a surgery for next Tuesday.
The system doesn’t usually work like that. God does that quite a bit though. I don’t know if the good doctor even made it to this site or not. All i know is that God just might have put Dr. H in my life years ago so that Jack could have another miracle in his life today.
If you have been following the stories on Jack…this is huge! If you haven’t go back and watch the videos and read the posts about the miracle, the arms, and Jack at bigstuf.
Here’s the continuation of the story.
Wait….don’t read this til you go watch those first videos.
Ok.
Jack got his arm today and within an hour he was writing his name and feeding himself..and smiling like you cannot imagine.
And most of us can’t!
Jack has a new life!!
We will post a video soon.
Ok, first,,,if you are reading all the comments and you are wondering “what the heck”? thanks to Tony Morgan for your randomness. I will admit the first two had me wondering.
Next…If you are reading this and you haven’t read the two post before this…you gotta go back.
This is about Jack and you need to see his video before you go any further.
Jack showed up at camp. And had the biggest applause of 1500 kids you can imagine. After the session he got hugged by a thousand people and…for an orphan from Kenya….this….is AMAZING. He didn’t have the words and frankly there are none. I am posting the video. Had to edit it some but the rest of the story is this. We announced that Jack had come to the US because some people knew his story and wanted to pay to get him a prosthetic arm. We didn’t think he could get both because of paralyses in his left shoulder. We found out right before camp that, indeed it was possible but…no funds. It was going to cost $10,000 for his other arm. After he left the stage, our Daraja Childrens Choir of Africa surprised everyone and came out and brought the house down. You will see them on the next post. By the time they finished their first song…ALL TEN GRAND HAD BEEN RAISED! Jack’s life changed and students and adults wept. I have chills just typing it. You keep reading these blogs and I’ll keep sharing stories cuz…the stories are comin in every day about what God is doing and its time that blogs start being a place where we laugh and cry and see God. Just my thoughts.
If you haven’t looked at the post and video previous to this one, then you need to go back.
Going back one post will take you to a video you should see. Think for a second about what life would be like if you didn’t have arms or hands.
As jack said, he felt like a baby because he could do nothing for himself. Miracles are about to happen in Jack’s life. I am waiting for a video you need to see of Jack coming to camp. As soon as i get it, i will post it and you can see some of the rest of his story.
This, to me is why any blog would be worth while. It is the story of life. Sad, strange, unpredictable, full of joy and hope and weird and awful. It is all of our lives. Jacks story is one of hope. Keep following it.
lanny
I’m in Panama City most of the summer and we get to present some incredible stuff to over 18000 people this summer. One of the things we presented this morning was the video i am putting on here.
Jack is a young man we met a while back. You will see his story but we are excited that Jack met jesus and found a home at the Bigstuf House where people started loving him and where someone here in the US decided to get involved in Jack’s life. I am going to keep you hanging for a few days but just know that Jack showed up at camp this morning after we showed his video. I will tell you what happened next post. Watch this.
