Pray for Haiti

James 5:16b

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Please pray and intercede for the country of Haiti. Many of us cannot physically go and be of assistance there but then our "job" is to be used as intercessors. Pray that God would encounter people trapped in rubble to strengthen them until they can be saved. Pray that God would swiftly bring rescue to trapped people. Pray that God would have mercy on all the people in desperate situations. Pray for miraculous multiplications of food, clean water, and medical supplies (Jesus can do it.) Pray for the miraculous and supernatural to occur. Pray that Jesus would become the comfort and salvation to grieving people and for a grieving nation.

Also apparently there are two families from Pella, Iowa who were in the process of adopting children from Haiti. Their future children lived in Port-au-Prince where the earthquake hit. Please pray for their children's safety and that they have all survived.

Thank you

Kerry Van Hemert!

This sprightly elf filled with yuletide season cheer is Kerry Van Hemert.

Kerry has been writing an ungodly long paper about God for quite a long time now and I figured he deserves to be celebrated today.



I've known Kerry for about three and a half years and I don't think I've met another person that just reeks of spiritual and worldly standards of eu de coolness. I mean this kid dresses very snazzy and hip (borderline hipster), studies theology, is an uber-talented drummer for a surprisingly rockin' and well-trained band ( I mean really, really decent for being from middle-of-nowhere Iowa http://www.myspace.com/sonsandheirsmusic), and he and his family tame adorable, tiny dogs that look like snuggle bear. Not to mention he has the ability to produce fantastic feats of facial hair in like two minutes. Nothing screams awesome manliness more than when you can pull off looking like a lumberjack in one day. This is Kerry's noon o' clock shadow!

Mrowza, what a beard!

Kerry is also very Dutch through and through! He and his partner Biertje Van Schnockenbooken are Dutch Dancing regional champs in the Midwest Polka circuit. "Ja, danzing is very gut!"

That was a lie. Sorry.

I am glad I have had the opportunity to watch Kerry grow spiritually and emotionally since he was a freshman. He was already was pretty fly then, and now he is super fly. But seriously, when you live in a pretty small Christian community, you get to see small changes and big changes happen over the course of the years. Especially after this summer I have noticed a lot of maturity and godly gentleness come from Kerry's persona. To get to see anyone grow and be more transformed into what God has created them to be makes my inner-stuart shout "Hooray! Yay! God look at what you are doing! It's sooooooooo gooooood!" (Teen Girl Squad, anyone?) Then I go comatose in warm fuzzy feelings.

I have gotten to see where he shines because excels as a leader, as a friend, and as a man. He is such a wonderfully talented musician and because of that he has special avenues to relate to different types of people and hopefully chances to witness Christ to them. He is a leader, and although he says he's a quiet behind-the-scenes leader, I really think that somewhere down the line, when he begins to speak about whatever, people will listen to what he has to say. He possesses that kind of swagger. I also have gotten to see when he's been most vulnerable in rough seasons and watched him grasp onto Christ in those seasons to walk through them gracefully. I really appreciate those moments because it helped me grow in my capacity of compassion and prayer for him and my other friends.

Kerry also come from one of the coolest and probably hippest families from Pella. I mean 2/3 of the Van Hemert boys are in a band and their dad kinda looks like Kevin Spacey. The neatest thing is that theyare always willing to offer copious amounts of hospitality. I have seen them open up their home for people to stay there long periods of time and they are always willing to let Kerry's friend cook at their house. Their dad makes a pretty mean corn-and bean salsa too. I don't want to forget to mention those dogs. God, I love those dogs for some reason (don't be alarmed that is a prayer.) So adorable! Again I am going comatose with warm fuzzy feelings. Their family lives for Jesus and it can be visibly seen and it is evident in their blessed children. Yay Jesus!

Always the life of the party.


I have no good words for expressing how happy I am to know Kerry Van Hemert (it's probably because I possess fourth grade vocabulary and grammar skills). I feel giddy with warm fuzzy feelings on the inside. I guess you could say in the words of Mike Meyers' Coffee Talk Lady from SNL that I'm verklempt over Kerry. So verklempt!

A chick pea is neither a chick nor a pea. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Kerry is pregnant with the Holy Spirit, ready to give birth to much fruit.

Merry Christmas, Kerry Van Hemert and everyone who reads this! You're Awesome!

To my few readers:

Keep the affimation going! I want to encourage you to write messages of goodwill, encouragement, and celebration to those I write about (if you know them) through Facebook, or email, or through snail mail. Or you can be creative. The point is, keep the affirmation going and try to make the person's day extra special.

Thanks!

Barbs!

Who is ridin' on his Harley,
thinkin' about the season
tryin' to find a reason
to win another Championship?

You guessed it! It's Andrew Barber!
More affectionately known to many as Barbs!

And you know what? Barbs can RAP!

God in the heavenlies has imparted to an unsuspecting white kid from Pella, Iowa with the gift of being able to lay down a rhyme to a beat. I think that's pretty phat myself (using the word "phat" in that last sentence was my lame attempt to be "hip" and "with it." Major fail.)


I think that is one of the first things I leaned about Barbs was that he had this fantastic rap about the L.A. Lakers he fashioned for a high school English project. He gets a lot of street cred in my book because he's always willing to perform it for laughs when he's asked. That's really ballsy. That's right, I said it, ballsy. Especially in places like Pella, Iowa and Central College (or maybe just our genration's culture everywhere) where (in my opinion) there seems to be this unspoken expectations to conform to what friends want you to be or do or face the risk of being made fun of or marginalized. That's probably just me speaking because I haven't lived in Pella for a long time and/or its because I don't have the guts to perform a rap in front of people.

Barbs is really light hearted and funny. You should watch a sporting event with him just to hear the hilarious blurbs that fly out of his mouth. Home cookin', anyone?



This is Barbs dancing with beautiful ladies.

The best thing about Barbs is he has a really intense, interesting, and sometimes harrowing life story that a lot of people don't know about. You should ask him about it sometime (if he wants to talk about his life, I don't know). He has had to overcome some big obstacles to get where he is at now and it's really awesome that he's learning do it with Jesus. It was great seeing him grow in Christ last year and this year. I think that as he continues to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the love that God has for him, God is going to use his voice to proclaim Jesus into the lives that really need to know real love and have true healing. I'm excited and anxious to see what God has in store for him! A rapping ministry? That's exciting.

Keep on your Harley, Barbs. You and Jesus are going to win that 'ship someday!

and that is why Barbs,

you're AWESOME!

Richard Plagman

This is Richard Plagman. Today is Richard's birthday and so he gets to be the first AWESOME PERSON!


Richard is a blast. Like a nuclear explosion calibre blast! Seriously, he is a ton of fun and a barrel of laughs!

One reason why Richard is a blast to be with is because he can drive an old golf cart around a tiny college campus like it was a Ferrari. He is always willing to pick you up for a ride if you need it, but hold on tight or you might fall off and break your wrist! Not may dudes are willing to do that!

Richard really does have a spirit of joy and an ability to make many people glad. I really think God will use this gift in powerful ways. I really think Rich would be good working with young people in someway shape or form.


My sophomore year of college, I gave Richard and his a dad a tour of our college campus. Little did I know he would come to our college, have the same major as I do, and we'd be friends!


Richard and I were both art majors. Richard is an excellent artist and is blessed with a gift of creativity. He also has really good sense of taste and has a keen sense of aesthetics. We took glass blowing together and as I was creating tiny lopsided vases that only a mother could love, Richard was creating wonderfully symmetric and huge vases you would see in a professional gallery. He isn't so very careful with a smoldering hot punny though (he burnt off his nipple one day in class). He is one of the most talented artists at my Alma mater and I hope he invites me to his senior exhibit.

Richard, with the help of an associate, created a tower out of SPAM.

I've also climbed a mountain with Richard. At the top of a 14,ooo ft summit. Richard and others chose to exert an overt display of their dominance over the mountain. Nudity builds community. That looks really cold.

Richard is also very hydrated.

Other cool things about Richard: he has a huge tattoo that's in memory of his brother. Ask and he may show it to you.

I haven't seen Rich for a long while, but I hope whenever I visit my old school next I hope to get hang out with him.


Finally, Rich has a really excellent hick/cowboy voice that he uses frequently. "Yip, Yip, Yip, Yip, Yip!"

Yip, yip, yip. Richard, you're AWESOME!

Everyday people get overlooked.

I'm here to say,

YOU'RE AWESOME!