As Bushie's World Turns (The Update Thread)

[Grumps]

Speaking of granny, didn't he get mad once because his stole the thunder of his birthday or something.

I'm talking about Bushie's kids' granny that they live with, but yeah.

[BushKenya]

Speaking of granny, didn't he get mad once because his stole the thunder of his birthday or something.

I'm talking about Bushie's kids' granny that they live with, but yeah.

Haha, well I can tell you there is very little chance I will be in Kenya this year or next year.  It could happen, but I am not thinking that is either what I'm supposed to do or what I want to do at this time.  I will move to Kenya, but I am still looking at 28 February 2015.  The earliest I would move it up is to 31 August 2014, but I still have things to do here in Oklahoma City.

For starters, I still plan to get my MBA, and I want to have that completed before I head to Africa.  If I get started in August 2012 or even January 2013, which may be more likely, I should be done by May or December 2014, respectively for each start date.  Even if takes longer than I am planning, I am okay with that.  Since my Kenya trips in March 2013 and March 2014 are during Spring Break, those will not be impacted by an MBA pursuit.

[Simfan34]

MBA? From where?

Jmfcst, help him!

[BushKenya]

MBA? From where?

Jmfcst, help him!

University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

[patrick1]

Bushie, what would be the advantage of getting an MBA and then jetting off to Kenya?  Further, how would you pay back Uncle Sam on what I am assuming would be a meager Kenyan missionary type salary. 

[BushKenya]

Bushie, what would be the advantage of getting an MBA and then jetting off to Kenya?  Further, how would you pay back Uncle Sam on what I am assuming would be a meager Kenyan missionary type salary. 

An MBA would, no doubt, help me wherever I go even to Africa.

I will figure out a way to pay the loan back.  I'll be alright.

[BushKenya]

Bushie, what would be the advantage of getting an MBA and then jetting off to Kenya?  Further, how would you pay back Uncle Sam on what I am assuming would be a meager Kenyan missionary type salary. 

An MBA would, no doubt, help me wherever I go even to Africa.

I will figure out a way to pay the loan back.  I'll be alright.

Plus, if somehow events turn and I have to stay in Oklahoma, it definitely can't hurt me.  I'm confident I will be in Kenya, but I'm trying to plan for the possible "what-if" scenarios.

[BushKenya]

I just got home from a good men's meeting at church.  There were just 3 of us, my pastor, youth and music minister, and myself (the associate pastor/associate music minister).  We talked about my calling to move to Kenya.  They brought up some very good points that made me think about why I am going, what is my purpose down there, and to make sure I can support myself and that I'm not going to be just another mouth to feed.

I told them the same thing I have been telling you guys that Dell has an office in Nairobi and I can probably get a transfer through them down there.  If not, then I have a friend who graduated from the same high school I did a year after I did who lives just outside Kisumu who owns a agriculture and farming business that employs thousands of people.  I could probably get on with them.  I assured them I will not just be another mouth to feed and that I will be able to support myself, my children, and be able to actually contribute down there.  Believe me, if I had any premonition that I would be unable to support myself and take a plate of food away from somebody else, then I would stay in Oklahoma or at least the United States.  As I said, I am going to meet with the Maisha Founder and Director on 2 May and discuss a game plan, a prayer plan, and what I am going to actually do down there not only to contribute to Maisha on the ground, but to support myself so I can contribute to Maisha.  That's another reason I'm not leaving for 2 1/2 - 4 years because it will take time to come to those conclusions and make the necessary arrangements as well as to raise the funds necessary to actually make the initial move to Kisumu.  I am under no illusions this will be an easy or an inexpensive venture.  All I know is it will be worth it.  My God, while He calls me to have faith, also explains very clearly in His Word that He expects us to have some common sense.  In fact, in the New Testament book of Romans it says if a man does not work, He should not eat.  God will provide all I need, but He does expect me to do my part and pull my share of the load.  He will pick up where I cannot continue.

Needless to say, I came away from the meeting tonight very encouraged.

[Senator Sbane]

Bushie, can you at least promise us you won't move to Kenya unless you have a well paying job? That's what your pastor and youth and music minister were trying to tell you. Without a good paying job, you won't be able to do the good you are able to do living in Oklahoma.

[King]

I just heard Lithium by Nirvana for the first time in years and it reminded me of Bushie.


However, the Polyphonic Spree cover is probably better for the tone of Bushie as a person:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vzUh_55x2M

[BushKenya]

Bushie, can you at least promise us you won't move to Kenya unless you have a well paying job? That's what your pastor and youth and music minister were trying to tell you. Without a good paying job, you won't be able to do the good you are able to do living in Oklahoma.

I can definitely promise you that, and not only you, but I promise myself that as well.

[Smash255]

Bushie, for once in your life, think with your brain.  Not your heart, not what you think God wants or tells you to do, but think with your very own brain and use the concept of rationale thought

[BushKenya]

Bushie, for once in your life, think with your brain.  Not your heart, not what you think God wants or tells you to do, but think with your very own brain and use the concept of rationale thought

I am thinking with my brain.  That's what people don't understand.  This forum thinks the ONLY rational decision is to stay in Oklahoma and not move a muscle.

[clarence]

Bushie, for once in your life, think with your brain.  Not your heart, not what you think God wants or tells you to do, but think with your very own brain and use the concept of rationale thought

I am thinking with my brain.  That's what people don't understand.  This forum thinks the ONLY rational decision is to stay in Oklahoma and not move a muscle.

As a Christian man, I admire and respect your devotion to God and serving all His children... but from what I know about your decision that is the more rational decision then moving to Kenya

[BushKenya]

Bushie, for once in your life, think with your brain.  Not your heart, not what you think God wants or tells you to do, but think with your very own brain and use the concept of rationale thought

I am thinking with my brain.  That's what people don't understand.  This forum thinks the ONLY rational decision is to stay in Oklahoma and not move a muscle.

As a Christian man, I admire and respect your devotion to God and serving all His children... but from what I know about your decision that is the more rational decision then moving to Kenya

I strongly disagree, Clarence.  Moving to Kenya is a huge decision, and I realize a lot of people will find it very crazy, but that's fine with me really.  I know it will neither be easy nor inexpensive.  I just know it will be well worth it in the end.

People may think I am insane for feeling the call to move 10,000 miles away.  That is not the clinical definition of insanity, however.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

I am going to give myself 100% to this adventure.  I am not going to move down there if I don't have a well-paying job, enough to support myself and my two children and enough to fund an annual trip back to Oklahoma for my medical checkups and relaxation.

I'm not going to be stupid and move down there without the proper arrangements in place.  That, again, is why it is going to take at least 2 1/2 - 3 years so I can get all the puzzle pieces together, and we're talking a 5000 piece puzzle, or so it seems.  It seems daunting here at the very onset of this, but I know following the LORD and His will is ALWAYS worth all the trouble.

[Grumps]

Bushie have you discussed your calling with your parents yet?  If not, you don't have to say why not, cause we all know the answer to that.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

It includes Oklahoma, but it doesn't mean I am limited to Oklahoma.  God can take me anywhere He wants, whether it be Oklahoma, Florida, Europe, Australia, China, Kenya, or elsewhere in Africa or the World.  I really do feel led to move to Kenya in early 2015

Well, if God is leading you to Kenya, why has he not directly spoken to you about doing so?!  Did God catch laryngitis and lose his voice?

That’s the 800 pound elephant in the room that you refuse to address.

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow.”

I can’t find anything in John 10:27 about “My sheep know how to read tea leaves.”  Nor can I find any example in scripture of God commissioning someone to do something without God actually speaking to them.

Obviously, God has given you the freedom to move to Kenya, just as he has given me the freedom to move to Kenya…but having the freedom to do something is totally different than being given a commission (an order) to do something.

If you’ve read my testimony, you know that God used a girl (who is now my wife) to bring me to Christ.  He set something inside my heart concerning her from the very instant I first came into her presence in the Fall of 1991 that made me understand my destiny was linked to her.  I wouldn’t understand it fully until the moment I was saved in Oct 1992, then God answered my query concerning the purpose of her being brought into my wife.

BUT, I did NOT interpret her purpose in bringing me to Christ as a sign that I had to marry her.  God did NOT command me to marry her, even though he DID command me to go and explain the true Gospel to her.  Marrying her was my own choice.  I had liberty from God to marry anyone I so chose to marry (as long as they were Christian…and of the opposite sex, of course ).

In fact, before our marriage, my pastor (he always gives pre-marriage counseling to couples as a prerequisite to conducting the marriage) even pointed out to me that nothing in my testimony require that I marry her.  I assured him I understood that and that I fully agreed.  But that is the difference between my pastor and yours – my pastor differentiates between freedom and God-given commands, and he believes the will of God is ALREADY spelled out in scripture (he doesn’t buy into things like The Purpose Driven Life which tells people they have to constantly seek God’s purpose for their lives).  And he knows the difference between the voice of God and the imagination of those who attempt to read tea leaves, cause he himself knows the voice of God because God spoke to him and said, “I am calling you to be a pastor.”  That’s why, if you’ve seen his videos I posted, he is so down to earth and unshaken by the latest fads going on in Christianity – he doesn’t get caught up in the latest doctrinal fads because he keeps a connection with Christ.

I have met pastors who became pastors without a true calling to do so – I once had a pastor  invite us over for a “bible study” (his wife worked with my wife in 1995 and had invited us over for a bible study – the pastor’s wife thought my wife was a heathen for wearing lip gloss and showing off her neck) tell me that he determined he was called to be a pastor because he put a fleece before God by placing two adds in some newspaper and didn’t receive a reply to either, and he had always received a reply to those ads.  I didn’t say anything to him, but in the back of my mind I was thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me!!!…but that does explain why you suck.”  They ended up basically kicking us out of their house after asking me to come to Christ and then being offended by our testimony we gave as a response.

[BushKenya]

Bushie have you discussed your calling with your parents yet?  If not, you don't have to say why not, cause we all know the answer to that.

No, I haven't discussed it with my parents, yet, because I want to make sure I have a lot more pieces of the puzzle in place such as possible employment and housing arrangements, etc. before I approach them.  In doing so, like I said I am talking to the Maisha Coordinator on Wednesday, 2 May at her office in Downtown Oklahoma City to discuss this in greater depth.  Plus, the time is not right to tell my parents.  I want to wait until I get further removed from the March 2012 trip before I tell them.  I will probably wait until after the meetings have begun for March 2013 trip which should happen this October.  Sometime around the Holidays this year, I will tell them.

[BushKenya]

It includes Oklahoma, but it doesn't mean I am limited to Oklahoma.  God can take me anywhere He wants, whether it be Oklahoma, Florida, Europe, Australia, China, Kenya, or elsewhere in Africa or the World.  I really do feel led to move to Kenya in early 2015

Well, if God is leading you to Kenya, why has he not directly spoken to you about doing so?!  Did God catch laryngitis and lose his voice?

That’s the 800 pound elephant in the room that you refuse to address.

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow.”

I can’t find anything in John 10:27 about “My sheep know how to read tea leaves.”  Nor can I find any example in scripture of God commissioning someone to do something without God actually speaking to them.

Obviously, God has given you the freedom to move to Kenya, just as he has given me the freedom to move to Kenya…but having the freedom to do something is totally different than being given a commission (an order) to do something.

If you’ve read my testimony, you know that God used a girl (who is now my wife) to bring me to Christ.  He set something inside my heart concerning her from the very instant I first came into her presence in the Fall of 1991 that made me understand my destiny was linked to her.  I wouldn’t understand it fully until the moment I was saved in Oct 1992, then God answered my query concerning the purpose of her being brought into my wife.

BUT, I did NOT interpret her purpose in bringing me to Christ as a sign that I had to marry her.  God did NOT command me to marry her, even though he DID command me to go and explain the true Gospel to her.  Marrying her was my own choice.  I had liberty from God to marry anyone I so chose to marry (as long as they were Christian…and of the opposite sex, of course ).

In fact, before our marriage, my pastor (he always gives pre-marriage counseling to couples as a prerequisite to conducting the marriage) even pointed out to me that nothing in my testimony require that I marry her.  I assured him I understood that and that I fully agreed.  But that is the difference between my pastor and yours – my pastor differentiates between freedom and God-given commands, and he believes the will of God is ALREADY spelled out in scripture (he doesn’t buy into things like The Purpose Driven Life which tells people they have to constantly seek God’s purpose for their lives).  And he knows the difference between the voice of God and the imagination of those who attempt to read tea leaves, cause he himself knows the voice of God because God spoke to him and said, “I am calling you to be a pastor.”  That’s why, if you’ve seen his videos I posted, he is so down to earth and unshaken by the latest fads going on in Christianity – he doesn’t get caught up in the latest doctrinal fads because he keeps a connection with Christ.

I have met pastors who became pastors without a true calling to do so – I once had a pastor  invite us over for a “bible study” (his wife worked with my wife in 1995 and had invited us over for a bible study – the pastor’s wife thought my wife was a heathen for wearing lip gloss and showing off her neck) tell me that he determined he was called to be a pastor because he put a fleece before God by placing two adds in some newspaper and didn’t receive a reply to either, and he had always received a reply to those ads.  I didn’t say anything to him, but in the back of my mind I was thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me!!!…but that does explain why you suck.”  They ended up basically kicking us out of their house after asking me to come to Christ and then being offended by our testimony we gave as a response.

I am not just reading tea leaves here.  God often speaks to His children in visions/dreams and through Scripture and through trusted family and friends.  He has spoken to me in all three ways over the past month.  He has given me countless dreams of my mission down there.  He has spoken to me through Scripture, mainly in three places, my testimonial verses in Exodus 4:10-12 and also in Genesis 12:1-5, and my favorite verse of Scripture in Philippians 4:19.  He has also spoken to me through trusted friends and family.  My pastor and youth/music minister for instance last evening.  My youth/music minister was the most skeptical of this, and He went on the trip with me.  He is starting to realize where I am coming from.  My cousin who I have, of course, known all of our lives and I trust her guidance.  I have spoken to my former pastor and his wife who has been down this road before with their daughter moving to South Africa just a few years ago.  The little "confirmations" were just blessings along the way.  God has definitely spoken to me over the past month through a number of ways, visions, Scripture, and through others.  He has spoken to me through this forum, as well, because it has helped me refine WHY I am going there and making sure I am not going down there (A) for the wrong reasons and (B) end up being another mouth to feed.

[Simfan34]

Only Jmfcst can save him now.

[Big DaddyTX]

Bushie have you discussed your calling with your parents yet?  If not, you don't have to say why not, cause we all know the answer to that.

No, I haven't discussed it with my parents, yet, because I want to make sure I have a lot more pieces of the puzzle in place such as possible employment and housing arrangements, etc. before I approach them. 

Have you deleted everyone from your facebook who could possibly ask them about this, or are there only like 5 people in Oklahoma who have facebook?

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

People may think I am insane for feeling the call to move 10,000 miles away.  That is not the clinical definition of insanity, however.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

You do know that's not the clinical definition of insanity, correct?

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

Bushie have you discussed your calling with your parents yet?  If not, you don't have to say why not, cause we all know the answer to that.

No, I haven't discussed it with my parents, yet, because I want to make sure I have a lot more pieces of the puzzle in place such as possible employment and housing arrangements, etc. before I approach them.  In doing so, like I said I am talking to the Maisha Coordinator on Wednesday, 2 May at her office in Downtown Oklahoma City to discuss this in greater depth.  Plus, the time is not right to tell my parents.  I want to wait until I get further removed from the March 2012 trip before I tell them.  I will probably wait until after the meetings have begun for March 2013 trip which should happen this October.  Sometime around the Holidays this year, I will tell them.

That says EVERYTHING right there... they're going to tell you the same thing we've been telling you.  And I think some part of you knows they'd be / we are right... you're doing this because you had an emotional reaction to the trip.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

It includes Oklahoma, but it doesn't mean I am limited to Oklahoma.  God can take me anywhere He wants, whether it be Oklahoma, Florida, Europe, Australia, China, Kenya, or elsewhere in Africa or the World.  I really do feel led to move to Kenya in early 2015

Well, if God is leading you to Kenya, why has he not directly spoken to you about doing so?!  Did God catch laryngitis and lose his voice?

That’s the 800 pound elephant in the room that you refuse to address.

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow.”

I can’t find anything in John 10:27 about “My sheep know how to read tea leaves.”  Nor can I find any example in scripture of God commissioning someone to do something without God actually speaking to them.

Obviously, God has given you the freedom to move to Kenya, just as he has given me the freedom to move to Kenya…but having the freedom to do something is totally different than being given a commission (an order) to do something.

If you’ve read my testimony, you know that God used a girl (who is now my wife) to bring me to Christ.  He set something inside my heart concerning her from the very instant I first came into her presence in the Fall of 1991 that made me understand my destiny was linked to her.  I wouldn’t understand it fully until the moment I was saved in Oct 1992, then God answered my query concerning the purpose of her being brought into my wife.

BUT, I did NOT interpret her purpose in bringing me to Christ as a sign that I had to marry her.  God did NOT command me to marry her, even though he DID command me to go and explain the true Gospel to her.  Marrying her was my own choice.  I had liberty from God to marry anyone I so chose to marry (as long as they were Christian…and of the opposite sex, of course ).

In fact, before our marriage, my pastor (he always gives pre-marriage counseling to couples as a prerequisite to conducting the marriage) even pointed out to me that nothing in my testimony require that I marry her.  I assured him I understood that and that I fully agreed.  But that is the difference between my pastor and yours – my pastor differentiates between freedom and God-given commands, and he believes the will of God is ALREADY spelled out in scripture (he doesn’t buy into things like The Purpose Driven Life which tells people they have to constantly seek God’s purpose for their lives).  And he knows the difference between the voice of God and the imagination of those who attempt to read tea leaves, cause he himself knows the voice of God because God spoke to him and said, “I am calling you to be a pastor.”  That’s why, if you’ve seen his videos I posted, he is so down to earth and unshaken by the latest fads going on in Christianity – he doesn’t get caught up in the latest doctrinal fads because he keeps a connection with Christ.

I have met pastors who became pastors without a true calling to do so – I once had a pastor  invite us over for a “bible study” (his wife worked with my wife in 1995 and had invited us over for a bible study – the pastor’s wife thought my wife was a heathen for wearing lip gloss and showing off her neck) tell me that he determined he was called to be a pastor because he put a fleece before God by placing two adds in some newspaper and didn’t receive a reply to either, and he had always received a reply to those ads.  I didn’t say anything to him, but in the back of my mind I was thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me!!!…but that does explain why you suck.”  They ended up basically kicking us out of their house after asking me to come to Christ and then being offended by our testimony we gave as a response.

I am not just reading tea leaves here.  God often speaks to His children in visions/dreams and through Scripture and through trusted family and friends.  He has spoken to me in all three ways over the past month.  He has given me countless dreams of my mission down there.  He has spoken to me through Scripture, mainly in three places, my testimonial verses in Exodus 4:10-12 and also in Genesis 12:1-5, and my favorite verse of Scripture in Philippians 4:19.  He has also spoken to me through trusted friends and family.  My pastor and youth/music minister for instance last evening.  My youth/music minister was the most skeptical of this, and He went on the trip with me.  He is starting to realize where I am coming from.  My cousin who I have, of course, known all of our lives and I trust her guidance.  I have spoken to my former pastor and his wife who has been down this road before with their daughter moving to South Africa just a few years ago.  The little "confirmations" were just blessings along the way.  God has definitely spoken to me over the past month through a number of ways, visions, Scripture, and through others.  He has spoken to me through this forum, as well, because it has helped me refine WHY I am going there and making sure I am not going down there (A) for the wrong reasons and (B) end up being another mouth to feed.

Saying that you know God has "definitely spoken" do you through visions is borderline blasphemy... you can't know that.  And, from a theological standpoint (being a Dispensationalist), I would argue that we are past the dispensation of visions by God.

[BushKenya]

Bushie have you discussed your calling with your parents yet?  If not, you don't have to say why not, cause we all know the answer to that.

No, I haven't discussed it with my parents, yet, because I want to make sure I have a lot more pieces of the puzzle in place such as possible employment and housing arrangements, etc. before I approach them.  In doing so, like I said I am talking to the Maisha Coordinator on Wednesday, 2 May at her office in Downtown Oklahoma City to discuss this in greater depth.  Plus, the time is not right to tell my parents.  I want to wait until I get further removed from the March 2012 trip before I tell them.  I will probably wait until after the meetings have begun for March 2013 trip which should happen this October.  Sometime around the Holidays this year, I will tell them.

That says EVERYTHING right there... they're going to tell you the same thing we've been telling you.  And I think some part of you knows they'd be / we are right... you're doing this because you had an emotional reaction to the trip.

To be honest, I'm far enough away from the trip now, having been home almost a month and the desires and feelings have done nothing but grow.  The more I think about it, the more excited I get, the bigger my smile gets, and the more confident my steps become.  My cousin has seen a drastic change in me since I've been home and she told me just this evening that she has not seen that change die, rather she has seen it grow and evolve into a little clearer picture of what my mission will actually be.  My mission, as I have been saying, and nobody on this forum is addressing this aspect, is that Maisha International Orphanage serves 450 orphans and about 100-150 widows.  They have a grand total of 3 men overseeing the day to day operations on the ground.  They need men in the worst way because these widows have lost their husbands largely due to AIDS.  These three men are in great health, themselves, but they have a hard time serving 600 people (that's roughly 200 people per man) and have time to themselves as well.  When I go down there, I would be not only a 4th man, but also the only white man down there and will be able to bring some American perspective to the situation.

Put it another way, I am not going down there to do what I want to do and I am not going down there to serve my best interest.  My best interest and what I want to do is in Oklahoma.  I am giving up all my dreams and ambitions in Oklahoma to give my life completely to my God and really serving Him and really worshipping Him.  As a Christian, the Bible teaches me that I am bought with a price, and my life does not belong to me.  My life belongs to Jesus.  He owns the deed to my life.  It is only right for me to give my self completely to Him because He gave Himself completely for me on the cross dying in my place for my sins and taking the punishment that I deserve.

I really do appreciate this forum's concern for my well being, but let me tell you I am not doing this to see what I can gain out of it.  I know I'm going to give up a lot by leaving Oklahoma for Kenya.  I also know that I'm going to gain a lot by doing the exact same thing.

The Bible also says in James 1 that true religion is taking care of the widows and orphans.

All my dreams and ambitions that I had before I went to Africa have been redirected to eternal things, not temporal things.