Talley Family Update

Friends and family,

 

We have some big news in the Talley household we would like to share with everyone!  After almost 7 years (yes it’s been that long), I am transitioning out of my current position at Aggietech and getting back into ministry. As you can imagine our family is excited. As a family, this is something we have been praying about for over a year and we are excited to see how God will use this transition for the growth of the whole family. 

 

Mark and the guys here have been supportive and encouraging about this and have given me time to transition slowly over a few months. Starting soon, my new position will be Executive Director of Wilderness Trek (www.wildernesstrek.org) Wilderness Trek is a 41-year-old non-profit that specializes in faith based wilderness experiences as a vehicle for spiritual growth. We use outdoor trips (backpacking, hiking, climbing, fly fishing, rafting ect) as a way to help people grow, connect, experience, and challenge them spiritually. You may remember, I was a guide for Wilderness Trek in college in the summers of 1995 and 1996. I have also been Vice President of the board for the past several years. It is a ministry that has been close to my heart for over 2 decades.

 

While wilderness Trek is a long-standing organization with a history of successful outdoor ministry, we will be spending 2018 re-launching the ministry to pave the way for the next 40 years by raising money, expanding our programs and transitioning the mostly summer based ministry into a year around one. I am humbled to be a part of a ministry with such a bright future and a rich heritage.

 

We will be staying here in Midland to be close to family, friends, and our church home but will spend the summers in the Mountains. While this is an exciting transition, it is also a leap of faith for us as it will require us to trust in Gods provision as we re-build and re-launch the organization. A large part of my new role will initially require fundraising in order to help the ministry be a sustainable source of income for our family. Because of this, we ask that you join us in prayer (and maybe the occasional encouraging text message)

 

I will be at my current job until around Christmas, then God willing, I will be able to jump over to Wilderness Trek full time. My cell phone will stay the same, but my new email will be paul@wildernesstrek.org 

 

Please be prayerful on behalf of our family. We are who we are today because of the leadership, guidance, support and encouragement of many of you getting this email and I cannot imagine this leap of faith without my friends and family.

 

If you would like more info on Wilderness Trek, check out our website at www.wildernesstrek.org or follow us on facebook , twitter or Instagram (click the links to go straight to the pages)

 

Blessings,

 

Paul Talley

Sr. Business Operations Manager

Big Bear Aggietech

www.aggietechoil.com

432-682-3131

 

God must be an Africian.

This appeared in our church bullitian last week. It was written by Jill Brown one of the adults (and moms) that came on the trip.

God must be an African.

The first orphanage that we drove up to had dozens of orphans singing, dancing and banging on a makeshift drum to celebrate our arrival. To see their rhythms, their music, their joy was like looking at God. I was so humbled by that welcome. The hospitality of the food they served us, which had taken them hours to prepare, was one of the most generous meals I’ve ever had.

Most of the orphans had never seen a true reflection of what they looked like, so when we would take pictures of them on our digital cameras, they loved to see the captured photo. They don’t have mirrors at the orphanages, and they don’t need them – they are all beautiful.

Close to the end of our visit at the second orphanage, the older orphans sang for our group. Morgan Neale and I were sitting on the floor with tiny orphans in our laps and listened while the older orphans sang hymns to us about their hope in God’s promise of a better life. God’s voice in my heart that said, “be filled.” I closed my eyes and listened to the songs they were singing. I let the rhythm fill my heart and fill my soul. My eyes overflowed with tears. Then, I looked down at my hand and there was the tiny black hand of the orphan girl sitting in my lap. Her hand just resting in my hand….one of the most content moments in my life. My heart was full.

Cary and I both came away from Africa witnessing pure joy from tremendous pain. The orphans have had terrible tragedies in their lives, and yet have so much joy and hope for their futures. They have a hope in a God that they can’t see, but get to experience Him everyday when they eat a meal and sleep in a bed that was given to them by God through the “donors of Golf Course Road.”

The Last leg...

I am already depressed. It happens near the end of every summer and especially after big trips. It’s most likely a combination of exhaustion and fear. Exhaustion because I have spent 2 months living out of a suitcase. For two months I have not unpacked a suitcase only replaced one set of clothing for another. Fear because I know nothing will be different when I return and yet everything will be different when I return. Some teens I will continue to see on a weekly basis, some teens will move on to college and school and I will now only see them during school breaks and at weddings and funerals. They forever hold a place in my heart but after they leave I rarely see them anymore. My job done, they go on to become everything we have prepared them to become. I am also depressed because I have been working on this trip for so long that I do not know how the void will be filled when I return. I started working on this trip on Jan 10, 2008 roughly 17 months ago. What I will do now that it is over, I do not know.

For months I have been pushing the Africa team to prepare themselves for the “return let down” Pray through it, I have told them. Be aware of your feelings, pray constantly, and be open about your inevitable struggle to reconcile what you have seen, heard, and done with what your life in Texas is. I prepped them, I prayed for them, I warned them…but it’s me who is struggling. I expected and prepared for everything on this trip. I poured over the details for months carefully choosing routes, flights, hotels, meals and supplies. All in a vain attempt to make sure the outcome was what I thought it should be. For weeks before the trip I slept little, arose early and worked countless hours trying my hardest to plan and replan for every possible detail, yet you can never prepare for everything, especially for what God wants to do. It may even seem that the more you prepare for God the more he may surprise you.

The trip seems like a blur at this point, some long fading dream on the cusp of daylight, vivid and alive during the night but slowly fading in the dawn of light. As I struggle to come out of this slumber my thoughts are scattered and dull. I think of the blinding days leading up to the trip with little sleep as the heavy dull of responsibility pressed on my conscience and sub consistence. I think of the countless emails and phone calls to the airline fighting and squabbling over last minute details. I think of the excitement and joy on the teens faces as we flew into the unknown. I think of their first joy of reaching Africa as I welcomed the team with all the pride I had on my heart. “Welcome to Africa” I told them with a mischievous smile. I think of songs of joy and grace in inaudible tones of unknown languages but understood by all who hear. And my heart remembers the hard times as well. I think of standing on a crowded road outside Londani helplessly watching someone die, then having to look into the faces of young teens that for the first time saw the reality of a broken world when they are so far from home. I think of the early African mornings and late Africa nights checking and triple checking to make sure everyone and everything was prepared for the challenges of a new day, and I think of the countless hours of driving.

Most of all my heart remembers a conversation late into the night that would change my life. There have been three such conversations in my life. Benchmarks, I call them, holy places where I can trace with great accuracy God’s voice, God’s light, and God’s wisdom calling me to a greater awareness, forever changing my life from what I was into what I shall become. The moments are frail and impossible to grasp with pure reason. As soon as you try to wrap your fingers around them and hold them tight and force them to become yours they vanish into the unknown like smoke. From long locked away chambers of my repressed heart I thank you, you know who you are.

It would seem that hidden in this Africa trip are a million tiny benchmarks. Each person on the trip had conversations, experiences and moments that changed their life or at least changed life as they knew it. For me it was an unexpected late night conversation, for others it was a hug from an African child, or a meal prepared from someone who is starving, for some a dead body on a lonely road, or maybe a gift from a passerby, for some the inexplicable joy of an orphan child, or perhaps the happiness we found in an unhappy city. All of us have our “moment”, a holy place, a holy time, a holy voice, a holy experience given to each of us by the great God above, individually prepared and delivered by holy messengers. Proof we are loved by a mysterious and complex creator who deeply wants to show himself to us. In my slumber of business I guess I had forgotten that. I had forgotten that God is calling me with his voice, calling me to something deep, something wide, and something complex.

As we fly over the Atlantic Ocean headed home I am depressed… but hopeful. The God who led me into this African journey 17 months ago will lead me out of Africa when I return home. My prayer is that he will do the same for every man and women on this trip, that God will lead them out of Africa. My prayer is that God will lead them out of Africa with hope, out of Africa with joy, out of Africa with confidence, out of Africa with….

A voice.

“A voice calling out in the wilderness” of our so called lives as we once knew them.

Last post later

I will post up my trip report tonight. I typed it on the plane but I
Connor find wifi at the airport.

Coming home

We are about to board our flight. I will try to update everyone when we get to London. See you in a few days!

A post from some teen boys (take that into consideration)

The Final Countdown
Boom boom pow wow the last couple of days have been action packed. (that was Layton, this is Chad) We have finished our mission with the precious orphans, they we’re adorable. Somalian pirates haven’t been a problem… So far. The Michael Jackson poster helped me sleep at night. But in all seriousness, we feel like this has been a very successful trip. (that was Chad, this is Layton) Two days ago we left for Nairobi, but Paul had a few tricks up his sleeve. We first stop at a lake infested with flamingos!!! After the site seeing we got back on the road again. We kept on rolling until we had a sudden stop at a hippo boat tour plus bird watching. We got on these six seater fiberglass boats and toured around a small lake with wild hippos and the most unique birds. We saw a rare Fish Eagle that was endangered. Afterwards we were treated with a special tribal dance that was superb.(that was Layton, this is Chad) Fish Eagles are very common, Layton is dumb. That night we ate at the awesome safari park hotel. Men came around with slabs of animal meat and sliced it on your cutting board plate. We ate crocodile, camel, ostrich, chicken, beef, goat, lamb and pork. Yesterday we went on a sweet safari, in which we observed Giraffes, ostrich, zebras, wildebeest, harpies, pumba, gay giraffes (literally) see Stephanie Guthrie for pictures and giggles. (That was Chad, this is Layton) this morning we are eating some fresh fruit for our last breakfast in Kenya. Well of course this was a live blog cast form the great Chad Michael Matthews and the impeccable Layton Ryan Hargesheioheindhownvdmer.

p.s. We jumped off a balcony into a pool… (that was Chad)

A guys post

What up people this is Mason, Hayden and I just got done listening to thriller and dancing. Today was a great last day at the orphanage ,lots of children that were very happy to see us and even some little kids that had never seen muzungus before that’s white people for those of you that do not speak Swahili. We r going back to Nairobi tomorrow to see the flamingos and hippos and to go eat a traditional African meal. The kids have been great at the orphanages and very happy to see us. It is so kool to be able to see what God is doing through us. I thought that I was going to come on this trip teaching kids about love, hope, faith, and God but the more that I look I realize that the kids are actually teaching us about those things.
Your brother in Christ
Mason tiffin


(Hayden) i would just like to say there was a Michal Jackson poster in one of our hotels and it was genuinely creepy. Aside from that this trip has been great. The kids are so happy to see us and treat us like we are the coolest people on earth. We might be their first white person to see. That’s pretty awesome. These kids are always so happy and never get short with each other. I have truly seen real, pure joy this trip in the people here, and they don’t even have a fourth of what we do. The kids freaked out about our (the guys) hairy legs and arms. They thought I had a disease because of all of my freckles. Its overly funny. We taught them the fist pound and it spread pretty fast. They got to where they wouldn’t shake our hands because they just wanted to bump our fist. It was awesome. They do have soft drinks. One is called krest. The flavor is bitter lemon. Imagine drinkin straight acid. And you’ve had krest. But the kids here have taught me to see how real pure joy is not in anything in the world you can buy its just in life, and I think if you slow down and just live your life you will find it.

This has been a live broadcast from yours truly,
Hayden Free

A great day!

Jambo! Habari yako?
That means Hello! How are you? In Swahili. That is about all the Swahili that we have learned so far, besides Msungu, which means white people. Every time we drive down the roads through Kenya the little kids run out to the road and scream that at us. It puts a smile on all of our faces. One thing we have noticed about Kenya is that there are people everywhere, especially lots of kids. Imagine driving to Lubbock every day and seeing nothing but people on the road. It is crazy. We also see lots of animals on the side of the road, like cows, chickens, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Today we even saw a camel. There are also monkeys playing in the front yard of our hotel. This is the most beautiful place we have ever been to, the people and the scenery. There is also a lot of sadness here with so much poverty. We have met so many amazing kids and adults. The first orphanage we went to in Londiani was really hard. It hasn’t been running for very long and is dirty and unorganized. But today and yesterday we were in the orphanage in Sondu which has been there for six years. There is an amazing difference in that six years and it is amazing to see how far they have been able to come in such a short time. The people can take so little and go so far with it.
We were very impressed with the clinic they have set up at the orphanage in Sondu. We have been working with the medical team and this clinic made it much easier on us today. We have seen a lot of really heartbreaking health situations but also some very strong people. In Londiani, we treated a precious little girl who was HIV positive, and also a four year old boy who was partially paralyzed, probably due to a brain tumor. There were less serious cases in Sondu, but Dr. Doke did have to pull a couple of teeth. One of the little girls had her tooth pulled without any pain medicine and didn’t say a word. Their tolerance for pain is just incredible. We complain about the smallest of things, but they may go half of their lives with something very serious and not let it really affect their daily lives. Most of the cases were quick fixes where we could quickly improve their lives, such as giving them glasses or pulling a tooth. It was little things like that that could make such a difference in their lives. Even though we don’t get to do the VBS, we are still able to get to know the kids and make them laugh. It’s nice to know we are doing something that is very helpful to them. Even just our presence there is so meaningful to them.
Every time we leave an orphanage, it is so hard to leave the kids. Even with the short time we have at each orphanage, we still have plenty of time to make an impact on them, and for them to leave an impact on us. They are all such amazing people that have been so welcoming to us. It is going to be very hard to leave Kenya at the end of this trip. The people of Kenya have broken are hearts, but we have also learned a lot. They have taught us how to love and how to be joyful. We have seen Christ in so many people and we can tell that Christ is such a strong force in this country. Today was a really great day at Sondu, and we are excited about our last orphanage experience tomorrow.
Love and miss yall,
Sarah Horton and Hilary Stovall

A note from a teen

Today I thought it would be good to have one of our teens write the blog. Enjoy!

Jambo!
I still can’t believe we are in AFRICA! The trip over here was extremely long and exhausting, but definitely worth it. Let me start out by saying that Kenya, Africa is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been…but also one of the worst. There is such beautiful scenery and the people are wonderful, but the reality is that it IS a third world country, and a completely different lifestyle. There is so much poverty, it’s extremely dirty, and very crowded. The number of people in this small of an area is crazy. Everywhere you go you are surrounded by so many people. Most people here walk or ride bikes, but we have vans we take everywhere we go. The roads, however, are not ideal for the long rides we take. Also, the drivers are CRAZY! The roads are narrow, but each driver feels the need to be in the front at all times so there are cars constantly passing each other and coming way too close to the surrounding vehicles and people walking! Like Paul mentioned in a previous blog, we came across a wreck and that was a huge reality check for all of us. That entire day was very stressful, very draining, and just very tough. Since that day, everything has been great. We have been to 2 different orphanages so far and the kids are precious. Just seeing their smiles brings such joy to us. These kids have next to nothing but show pure happiness and are so thankful for the few things they do have. We came to be a blessing in their lives, but so far it has been an even trade. They have blessed us just as much!
The kids at the orphanages LOVE pictures. They do not have mirrors so they have never really seen themselves. When we show them the pictures of them on our cameras they just grin from ear to ear after they see what they look like. They also roll with laughter when Emily Brown and Leslie Doke smile, because they have never seen braces before. They just don’t understand the crazy idea of putting metal on teeth! They love playing with our hair, and they love playing with Bailey Free’s fake fingernails! It really is the small things that make them smile the most.
It is hilarious, but so neat to drive down the roads through these villages with our arms out the windows waving to the people outside. It just makes us smile as their faces light up, when they point and shout “Mzungu!” (mzungu means “white person” in Swahili) Although, some people look very confused. They don’t understand why 6 vans full of Mzungus would come to their community. They view us as very special, important people. The way they treat us and react to us has been very surprising. It struck us that we have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we are Americans. We just happen to be born there, but did nothing to deserve it. We are equal to everyone in Africa and all across the world. It’s incredible the things you realize when you are put in a different environment. Some things are even shocking, like the fact that the average income for someone to support a family here is around $2,000 a year. It really puts things into perspective when we think about our lives back home.
The experience so far has been absolutely incredible. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us the rest of the week! Thank you so much for the prayers, they are needed and greatly appreciated!
--Stephanie Guthrie