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"Life of an Intern" doesn't describe my life so much anymore. Thinking about starting a new blog or maybe just, personally, retiring from the blogosphere all together. Gotta think about this one...

To keep up with me check out www.twitter.com/bbizzle

EXECUTION ROCK!

Where do I start? It has been a crazy couple of days. The guys have been doing concrete and foundation work at one of the carepoints and the girls have been doing crafts and other work at another carepoint. While the guys were working, we had a brick delivery so me and Barton started hauling bricks -

Oh yeah, it was some heavy stuff.

Yesterday we hiked to the home of one of the carepoint cooks. She walks an hour and a half to get to the carepoint to cook for the kids! It's so easy walk either, it is in the mountains. She proudly showed us her very modest home and we gave her some blankets and prayed with her. I can say for the whole group that we had a very special moment.

Then we woke up this morning to do some REAL HIKING! We set out to climb Execution Rock, where people used to be executed by being pushed off. About halfway up, I started to wonder if I was going to make it to the top, but I determined that I wasn't going to stop. I am SO glad I did it. It was breathtaking at the top. I didn't take any pictures of it on my phone (which is how I have been blogging these pics) but here is a picture of Execution Rock that I found on Google -



I stood at the top of that today! Man, it was incredible - I still can't believe I made it to the top. Tomorrow we meet up with the Mozambique team to do some stuff at the Maphaveni carepoint and then drive to Hlane game reserve to go on a game drive and spend the night there. This trip has flown by. My second time to Africa, but it is safe to say I am returning to American soil a different person.

oh yeah

Thats right - Red Bull Swazi-style. The only coffee we have found is instant aka GROSS so we have been hittin' up the gas station for some caffeine love. This was taken while we mixed concrete today and building the foundation for the new classroom at the Mongwoneni Carepoint. More concrete work in the morning (thank you Jesus, for the gift of Excedrin) and then a hike to deliver some goods and supplies to some homes in the mountains. It has been great. Lots of work, lots of laughs - all for Him. What an honor it is to do this.

HPC_swazi is official

The launch yesterday went GREAT! Everyone was buzzing with anticipation (and red bull) as we were preparing all of the last minute details. Everything from sound, children's ministry, parking lot and preparing a lunch to feed 200+ people - this is truly an HPC campus! Pastor Ben shared a great message about the woman who was caught in adultery and how the pharisees wanted to stone her - but Jesus takes the stones in our lives and turns them into our foundation. It was good stuff. There were 202 people in church to hear that message! The alter was full at the end of service. It was awesome - I will try to post pics of it later. To hold you over, here is a picture from the balloon outreach we did the the other day.

we hiked.

Yeah, its true. We hiked up a mountain tonight when we got back to the hotel. My legs hurt. My back is killing me. But it was BEAUTIFUL! It was so worth it! Waterfalls, amazing trees, MONKEYS!... We just ate dinner and we are talking about how we want to go to the rooms and crash and Natalie says, "Brandon, you don't want to know what time it is." It was only 6:55pm! I'm so tired. I haven't gone to bed this early since 4th grade. Tomorrow is the launch!

HPC_Swazi

These are the brand new HPC_Swaziland signs! They just got put up this morning and they look great! Today we went to a very busy area in the middle of the city and gave out suckers tied to balloons and told people about the church launch in the morning. Then a group of us went up to a soccer field in a really rough area and gave out cokes and talked to a bunch of young people. We are about to eat some lunch and continue to get the church ready for service tomorrow. Please pray that everything goes well in the morning!

Swazi babyyyyy!

We made it! We got to Manzini, Swaziland last night right on time. For our first night we went to eat, met some of the Children’s cup team and then went back to the hotel and crashed! We started today with some Cooking for Christ - Swazi style. We cooked for about 200 people and distributed meals to surrounding businesses. After the food outreach, we went to a park that has 3 highschools nearby and all of the students pass by when they let out of school - I’m talkin’ A LOT of kids. Jordan, one of the Children’s Cup missionaries, set up a sound system and played some dance music and we passed out candy and flyers for the FIRST official service for HPC_Swaziland on Sunday! These kids can DANCE! It went great. We are currently at Ben and Susan Rodgers house where we are about to throw down some awesome dinner and hang out for a bit.

Everything is going great. We even saw some monkeys today at the place we are staying - it is beautiful scenery. Keep prayin for us and I can't wait to see everyone when I get back!

T-rice

Its official. Trice is gone for the summer. If you don't know him, Trice is the coolest guy around and he's a genius-whiz kid when it comes to stage lighting. He'll be on tour for the summer and won't be back till August. He's sure gonna be missed around here.

hahahahahahahaha.

My Thoughts are Provoked...

Sarah in the "Thought Provoking" section at Barnes and Noble...

ARC

Comin' at ya from Birmingham, AL at Church of the Highlands. They are hosting the annual ARC Conference this year. Looking forward to hearing from Brian Houston and the other great speakers. All of the ARC church interns got here a day early to hang out and do a little pre-conference stuff, so it should be pretty cool. Just had some slammin' dinner and we're about to start the first session. Check back...

Prayer

I've had a few email updates from Heather and everything has sounded like it's been great, but I got an email yesterday that she has been sick in bed with a high fever for a full day now. So definitely be lifting her up in prayer, because it's a spiritual battle. I've been sick in a 3rd world country (103 degree fever!) and it's pretty miserable.

Update from India

I got an email from a friend of mine, Heather Alise, who is currently on her very first mission trip to India. She said -

"Today was our first real day in the city...WOW...an email wouldnt even do any justice to what i saw and experienced today. I really do know now for a fact that this HAS to be the worst place in the WORLD! ...my heart is wrecked..Never have i seen what my eyes saw today. Kids EVERYWHERE...no parents..all sick and begging for money...this one little boy was selling necklaces in the market and wanted 100 rubies for one..which is like 30 bucks in america...well i couldnt help it and was just pulling out money and wanted to give like 200 rubies to this little boy...when i looked up i had all these Indian kids smiling and holding out there hands...i was kinda stuck!!! Thank goodness our guide "Sweety" pulled me away..'Heatha you cannot give your money's away like that!!!!'...guess im still learning..."

Not only is she oversees, for the first time, but she is with Luke Walters and Rusty Domingue! Talk about gettin' rowdy for Jesus over in India!

it just doesn't get much more relaxing than this

Par

Me and my boys Dustin, Evan and Dylan went and hit up a little mini golf tonight. I dominated!

got some bad news and some good news...

The bad news, you already know - it has been a while since I've blogged.

The good news - I'm in Destin for the week, gettin a much needed tan.



If you know me well, then you know why I posted the picture above. You cannot find a Rockstar Pomegranate ANYWHERE in Baton Rouge, but they're all over Destin, ya heard!

amazing

I know, I know - everyone has blogged about Amplified and I'm really late. I was totally ready to type out my thoughts on Sunday afternoon, but as I sat down to my computer, I was just overwhelmed by the impact of the weekend. The weekend was for students to be discipled and grow closer to God, which happened in a BIG way, but after all was said and done - MY HEART was so full. My body was physically exhausted but my spirit has never been more alive. Bondages were broken, chains were thrown off and students lives were set free. In my group of guys alone some felt the call to be pastors and missionaries. I could not be more proud of a group of guys than the 14 10th grade guys I had for the weekend. What I would have done to have a group of guys like that when I was in high school... The future of HPC is STRONG! Thank you, Pastor Dino and Delynn for giving us the opportunity to do this. And thank you to the whole student ministries team for working tirelessly to make sure the weekend went off without a hitch.

Thank you Jesus for using someone like me to reach into lives.


Me and some of my guys bagging groceries for the Winbourne Dreamcenter - thanks CarolE!

Arbitrary bit of information for the day

I saw on Relevant that the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing is releasing the new five dollar bill this month. It's pretty crazy lookin, if you ask me. And PURPLE.





The huge, purple 5 on the back is supposed to make the five dollar bill easier to recognize than other denominations. Kinda odd looking though...

Rob is so cool

Apparently, Rob Gros is taking over BATON ROUGE.


Check out Josh's blog for more Gros domination.

meditation or quantum physics?

This is a diagram I saw in a Christian book on how to hear God's voice through meditation. Wow. Can you say analytical thinker? For me its a little more like shut up and listen.

back in action

Dan O is back! He has been on a little family vacation the past week...although nothing is little when you get ALL of the Ohlerkings together. I actually got a rare shot of him with his phone to his ear, instead of typing a text. It's good to have him back. I threw a lot of stuff away while he was gone (don't tell him - he'll never know). Something you may not know about our blog master is that he rarely checks OTHER blogs. So he'll probably never see this post.

ghost busters

Me and a few friends rolled over to Bethany last night for Deluge. Lemme say - it was SLAMMIN. Some thick worship, a great message and an intense time of prayer to close it out. God was on the move and it was incredible to be there. It is so great to have relationships with other local churches. God is breaking down walls and barriers in Baton Rouge and the body of Christ is working together. Together we are better.

friday distraction...

This is hysterical.

A quick translation - For the first two guys they shout "The tsunami is coming!" For the third guy they point and say "There's the guy!" They say nothing for the fourth guy and say "Heads up!" for the last one. Enjoy...

mid-morning laugh

I saw this Harley Davidson ad that made me chuckle...

crammed noggin

I am in my second year of the full-time Elevate internship program, at Healing Place Church. I have three years under my belt if you consider the year of part-time I did, while still at LSU. Needless to say, my computer is full of notes and notes. The classes we have are great and the teachers are amazing, but now as this year is rounding the halfway mark I find myself with this look on my face...



Sometimes I just feel like my brain is FULL. I take notes that one day I know I will be able to look back on and soak up, but as for now I feel like the information is just spilling out of my cranium and into a file on my macbook. Please don't get me wrong - it is priceless teaching from people who have SOOOO much more experience than I do. But when this face shows up in class...


I just gotta keep on typin...

Mrs. Sandy

I snapped this picture last week from upstairs, in the tech booth. It is Mrs. Sandy LeBlanc, Gabi's mom, and also one of my favorite people EVER. Any time we go to Gabi's house, she has fresh cookies baked within 5 minutes of our arrival and then heads back for more goodies to bring us. She really takes care of us interns. I saw her operating this camera, like a pro, and HAD to get a picture of it.

the wonders of technology

I am so thankful to be able to do what I do. Take this, for example.



Being able to talk to one of my favorite guys, Isaac Williams, even though he is 9,000 miles away in Mozambique (thanks to Skype). He and his wife Carol are doing an amazing job pastoring HPC_Mozambique. Pray for them - the devil doesn't want them to do what they are doing.

You Decide

I am a bearded fellow, most of the time. Not because I love beards, or think I look good with a beard. Mostly because I simply hate shaving. I NEVER shave with a razor, just trim every couple of weeks with an electric trimmer. But, I often get compliments on the facial hair. So as I was trimming, last night, the thought crossed my mind...beard or no beard?



Let me know what you think. Bearded Brandon or baby-faced Brandon? It's up to you, America. Cast your vote.

Umhlabelo!

Means celebration in Saswati. You gotta be there.

Easy breathing and a Mac for sale

Man, the last week has been a crazy one. I was SICK for most of last week and then somehow managed to make it to the Elevate retreat last weekend, which was great. While I was sick, I discovered the strangest, yet most amazing thing ever - the Neti pot. Yeah, the thing is really weird, and while I am not as creepy looking as the lady on that video, I can imagine I still look pretty funny doing it. Go ahead, poke fun but it's all worth it when I can breathe at night!

Also, many of you may know I am a Mac user and lover. I recently got a new MacBook for my birthday and was going to keep my old iBook for kicks. Then I remembered - I'm a broke intern. So that being said -

FOR SALE

iBook G4 80GB HD, 1.2 GHz, 768 MB DDR SDRAM, Combo drive - Typical wear and tear for a 5 year old laptop - scratches, but nothing major. Still works great. Runs Tiger OS X. $300

Please let me know if you are interested. My first mac - she's a beaut and she'll be hard to part with.

How does this thing keep coming back?

A few months ago our dear friend, Jordan Gautreau, was digging through, what I believe to be, a bag of donated clothing and found the worlds ugliest hat. I mean, this thing is awful. He wore it around that day and it was pretty funny, we all got a good laugh. But then he wore it again the next day. And then I see him wearing it at Refuge and realize that it wasn't a joke. Something deep inside of Jordan's soul actually liked this hat. Someone even STOLE it from him at one point ( I won't mention Tori Ohlerking's name) to get him to stop wearing it and threatened to burn it. After so much controversy, I haven't seen the hat in a while. It hasn't made an appearance in a couple of weeks. THEN IT HAPPENED...
I am in my room and hear Jordan exclaim, "Hey I found it!" Much to my dismay, I walk in Jordan's room to find THIS -



Now the picture may not do it justice, but this hat is 100% certified UGLY. Please don't think I'm mean - I love Jordan, he's an awesome guy and he knows how I feel about his hat. But we seriously need to do something about this situation.

Wii, by candlelight?

Ok, so this may not be big news to some of you gamers or web-geeks out there so just play along because this was a huge discovery for me! My little cousin told me a Wii rumor that you can unplug your sensor bar, light two candles in place of the sensor bar and it will work just the same! I definitely didn't believe it so I had to try it myself.

Me and my partner in crime, Paul, went and dug out some candles and set it all up - IT WORKED! I couldn't believe it.



After some research online, reflector tape and some other things work, also. Crazy.

What IS a buckeye, anyway?

Saw this license plate the other day and thought Toby would appreciate it.

So this is the new year...

Wow. Another year flew by. But theres no other way to ring in the new year than to light somethin' on fire and blow some stuff up - All in between meals, of course. (We ARE in southern Louisiana) The festivities this year kicked off with some of Papa Moose's pork ribs - that we quickly devoured.



After some Wii Golf, it was time to light something on fire. What better than the freshly discarded Christmas tree? Well, what started as, "Dude let's see how fast this thing will catch on fire" ended with a one-tree, 2 minute BONFIRE.



We then proceeded to finish out 2007 by blowing up stuff in the water, on the ground, in the air and shooting rockets at each other. You know - typical guy stuff.

But the festivities only continued on January 1, 2008 with one bowl-game after another, at the Fontenot's. At one point, I hear a cry of help from Katie - only to find this predicament...



She had the GREAT idea to play Monopoly, but just needed a little help getting the game down from the shelf. Now, I love a good, rousing game of Monopoly. But what can begin as a nice, friendly game...



Can quickly become something so much more.



Katie won. She's veddy, veddy sneaky. So, Happy New Years - it's gonna be a great one.