Oh man, has it really been a month since we moved to New York?? Wow. Time has seriously flown.

Living in the city has been incredible. There is such beautiful diversity here that I really don’t think you can find anywhere else. And the people are wonderful. New Yorkers really seem to take care of each other for the most part. I love that. It’s like family.

We’ve been working with the Missions department of Times Square Church, and I think it has been a growing experience for all of us. We are asking questions we have never had to ask before – like how can I fit my art and what I do to really serve these people? I mean we have always used our art to serve, but I think now we are learning to use it differently, if that even makes sense.

I dunno. But what I do know is that we are learning and growing and, I hope, becoming better artists AND servants in the process. Please pray for us as we learn how to be humble and patient and wise…

Sorry for the belated update but please keep in touch – update on Kiini coming soon!!!

Love,

Jessi

We are very excited to announce that we were featured in the newest issue of B Metro in the “B Better” section!

B Metro is an independent city magazine with a unique voice and perspective full of colorful stories about living in Birmingham. Stories focus on local personalities, the arts, dining, travel and healthcare. We are very excited to be a part of this up and coming mag!

To read the full article and see photos from our travels, click here.

Hello friends, I’m sure by now you have all heard about the devastating earthquake in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Our hearts are breaking for the people there.

In September of 2008 we had the distinct pleasure of partnering with Humanitarians Initiating Progress in Haiti in order to help them tell the story of Haiti and HIPH’s work there.

The incredible women we went down there with (who founded and run HIPH) landed in Haiti the day before the quake, but thankfully made it to the north of the country before the quake hit. We have heard from them and they are fine. However we have another dear friend who went with us on that first trip in 08, who fell in love with the country and people, and who has gone back and forth to serve them ever since. He was in Port Au Prince when the quake hit, and we have not heard from him. Please keep him, and all of the people of Haiti, in your prayers as we wait to see what develops.

Love love love, The Bedouins

From our first trip to Haiti…

The first story of the year. I’ve been wanting to write about my time in Africa for a while now, but busy-ness has kept me from it. So today, as I lie in my warm bed on one of the coldest mornings of the year, I decided that it was time to start story telling again.

In October I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Cairo, Egypt with a team from Times Square Church (the Church that we will be working for this next year in New York). There were two distinct purposes of the trip: to send a medical team into areas that needed medical attention and to send an evangelism team to work with and support the local church.

I spent the first part of my time in Egypt with the Evangelism team documenting the work that they were doing, which varied from teaching kids clubs, to leading worship services with local churches, and much more. We spent a day working in an area of town where the Sudanese Refugees have been living for the past ten years. It was a really incredible experience, to get to go visit families from the local church in their homes and to pray for them.

We spent the majority of that week doing a wide variety of things, all aimed at sharing the gospel and supporting and encouraging the local church. It was beautiful to see a group of people give up their money and time to fly across the world and invest into the lives of others, not knowing day to day what they’d be doing, only that whatever it was, they were going to do it well and do it with the love of Christ.

After my time with the evangelism team I ventured across town to meet up with the “On Call” (medical) team. When I arrived they were doing free medical clinics for a Sudanese Refugee Primary school. It was a really awesome thing, working all day long to give the kids the same sort of medical screenings that we would’ve gotten going into a new year of school. These kids may not have seen a doctor in a long time and it was obvious that the parents and teachers were very grateful for the blessing.

Later in the week the two teams joined together at the school and while the On Call team was doing the medical clinics the Evangelism team performed skits, gave testimonies and sang songs with the kids.

We ended the week by going to the Garbage City, a place where people live in and amongst the garbage, making their living by digging through it and finding anything of value to sell. It was a very dirty and very very poor place…removed from the city and outcasted by society. We provided a full day of games and bible lessons for kids and just spent some time loving them. It was a beautiful way to end the trip…trying to teach these egyptian kids how to play whiffle ball and American football, and just hanging out and loving people who so seldom are even acknowledged.

Times Square Church sends missions trips all over the world, and it was a blessing and a privilege to get to be a part of this one to Egypt. They are doing some really great work and are reaching out and touching lives in a tangible way through their efforts there.

As I got into my taxi and left my hotel for the airport, headed for Kenya alone, I was really sad to leave my time with the team there in Egypt. It was an amazing period and a wonderful story to be a part of. I’m so excited about joining up with them this next year and can’t wait to see what stories come from our new partnership!

With the end of the year (and the decade!) only hours away, I thought that I would take some time and update the Bedouins Blog. I’ve been out on vacation for the past few weeks and have neglected the blog, so, for one last time in 2009, welcome to the Bedouins Blog World.

I’ve been thinking a lot about next year lately; how could I not with the big move coming up. There are a lot of changes in sight for Bedouins this next year…most of which weren’t even on our radar a few weeks ago. Obviously Jessi and I moving to New York means some big changes…most of which I blogged about a few weeks back. But beyond that there are more big things coming.

One of the big changes, which I’ll go into more detail about soon, will be the shift from just providing media back to telling stories. We started by telling stories and using those stories to change the world. It was a simple, but very clear vision. This year we’re going to think a lot about that as we reflect and regroup during our time with Times Square Church.

Some things to expect: You’ll see a new site coming up, a new emphasis on the blog and on story telling and, hopefully, a much more refined vision as we explore, grow and venture into new things in 2010.

I hope you’ll continue to be a part of our story as we disover what adventures lie ahead. You are the people who make our story possible…the ones following it…reading it…investing in it.

Happy New Years from the Bedouins Staff!