kairos and a sign that reads west

boy oh boy!
i'm starting to see first hand God orient rides...

cody's taylor dropped me off early friday at a gas station off of I-80.
i turned around and was greeted by a man named dimension. an apparent hitchhiker too...
we went up to the on-ramp together and stood there talking about things.

dimension's real name is mark... (i heard the cop call him that...)
he just got out of jail for carrying lots of green shag on him...
and was headed to denver to get his dog.
it was hard talking to him...i suppose because everything we talked about were coming from two very different point of views.
then...the state troopers came...
first one, then another....
then another pulled up behind them.
after waiting for awhile, they gave us written warnings for being within the interstate boundaries...

we went back to the c-store and made signs that read "west" outta cardboard and stood off the side of the street just before the on-ramp... oh how clever we are!
sometimes it's tough enough to get picked up by myself, but it was proving pretty certain that the two of us weren't getting any rides anytime soon...

keep in mind, every 5-10 minutes a cop would drive by... but in between of the sightings we would dance around and laugh at how goofy we must have looked...

i decided to go use the restroom and prayed that God would hook dimension up with a ride...
and when i came out, he was gone....
thankful, i chatted with the cashier for a few minutes and said farewells mentioning that i knew God would hook up a ride for me...
i held the door for a man, then he for i on the next one...and as we both walked towards the pumps...he said, "i'm headed west if you want a ride." NO JOKE!!
gary was his name and he turned out the be a Christian too. so our ride was filled with some good conversations about God's love for us, and His role as our Daddy!
i helped him load some bails of hay then he dropped me off just past a town i have never heard of before.... big suprise....

i then got picked up by a man named ken who said God told him to come back and pick me up...
is that not amazing?!
he runs a prison ministry called Kairos which means "there is a time for all things....God's timing"
he also mentioned that he saw i didn't have a beard, so figured i took care of myself to some extent... :)
we talked and it was super encouraging... he dropped me off outside of lincoln at a truck stop...

there i waited for 4 1/2 hours...

earlier in the trip i probably would have been upset, but was encouraged to keep trusting in Him for His kairos...

during my time there, i lady drove up
gave me some money
and apologized for not going west...
i thanked her and smiled...

another state trooper stopped by, but was much more kind and reminded me of the rules.

i ended up changing positions about 5 times before a man picked me up...
his name was larry. he drives the van that goes out and helps broke down vehicles.....etc.
my prayers go out to him... i'll extend on that another time.

he dropped me off in york where i waited for maybe ten minutes and was picked up by a man with oregon plates..... hooray!

his name is dennis. he made me laugh a lot.
he said God told him to pick me up, and agreed that if i was still there after he got his smokes, he would..... and i was....

another sign of God's faithfulness...

he was coming back from chicago on a trip for closure with his love. it was hard listening to his story because i wanted so bad to help... but i know that God was doing more than i ever could.

we blared johnny cash and look at the stars through the sun roof as we drove through the last stretch of nebraska.
we also talked a lot about God and how he saved his life earlier in the week as he spun out of control driving 70 down a snow packed interstate from utah to wyoming....going straight down.
he spun 8 times and didn't go off the cliff to the right, or in the ditch on the left but stopped with a little bump on the guard rail.... and it changed his whole view on his trip...
i'm glad he is alive...regardless if he had picked me up or not...

he took me to my dads, stayed at my dad's neighbors, and left early the next day to portland...

oh man, for the sake of your eyes, i will finish up...

the time here has been super good and i expect it to get better.
Lord willing i leave this thursday to my mom's...

ywam: trusting God and stoked to do so!
waiting for the last reference to get there
and the remaining finances to come!

Father, thank You for keeping me safe on this trip, but also the million blessings that take place everyday in my life. thank You for hearing our prayers, and knowing our needs. help us trust in Your kairos, and take steps to encourage and bless others too! help us know Your love in real ways, and share it in real ways to real people with real needs. i love You. thank You for Your love!
also, my heart goes out to those who picked me up and shared their heart with me. please continue to meet their needs and love on them as you have done to me!
reign in our lives, families and friends!
in Jesus name, amen!

i hope you experience God in amazing ways as this last couple months have been full of for me.
thank you for your prayers and caring to keep track of me!

much love and joy!

cody....wake up

i'm sitting waiting for cody g to wake up.
last night was super fun....
climbing up the balcony to scare his taylor...
drenching each other in febreeze...
trying to get the remote control to work...
going off to bed knowing that tomorrow will hold a mystery in itself.

today Lord willing i'm headed towards gering then rapid.

i hope to be there in gering by tonight and spend the next several days with my dad there.

then next thursday, be off back to rapid for a short time (a couple weeks) followed by spokanada!

thank you all for your prayers.
again, i'm trusting that if ywam berlin is whats suppose to be, it shall.
where God calls, He provides. i don't doubt at all that He will provide...
but may His will be done.

...cody is still not up....

the days here in omaha were slow but good.
yesterday i had coffee/tea with a dear friend here
followed by a study sesh at another coffee joint...
i got to mail some postcards and practice my southern accent
along with my deutsch accent at wal-mart...

...i do declare...

i should wake cody up now
but
Father, if Your presence doesn't go before us, then take us not from this place. thank You for all You have done over this last month and a half. thank You for everyone You have placed in the path of growing and learning to trust You. please help these friendships flourish and bless others. i also pray that God will confirm in Your heart which paths to take, and that you would take steps of faith to follow His calling on your life. trust in Him. not in your abilities to follow, but in His abilities to lead! lets rock the world with His love!
thank You Father for giving us Your Son, and loving us. we love You, may Your name be glorified!
in Jesus name, amen!

cody is finally up!
are you awake?

route 66

yo everyone!

here is a real fast update.

i'm at a hotel in omaha right now... long story.
it's all by God's grace though.

after leaving tennessee, i met some very kind people.

my new friend jon let me stay the night at his place in oklahoma and drive the last 20miles there...

i got a ride on route 66...
got the cops called on me for laying down on the on ramp.
then i got a ride to iowa.
spend the night in a truck stop.
met the grand parents and family friends.
decided that i never want to live in iowa....
learned some music theory.
went to two churches.
realized how cute older people are....
met the only other person in iowa with dreadlocks.
was blessed several times...
ate pizza hut with an old cute couple.
walked for the second time on the interstate in iowa,
got my second ride with an iowa state trooper...
almost stayed the night in another truck stop...
then was picked up by a new friend who took me to tennessee a few weeks back.
we stayed up all night trying to get ahold of cody, then gave up and took me here..
where i slept all day and now write this to you...

Father thank You for providing for our needs, and all of the blessings lately. thank You for everyone that i have had the priviledge to meet on this trip so far. please show us how to worship You, and continue to humble our hearts as we learn how to live more for You. thank You for all of Your joy and being our everything. may Your will be done! In Jesus name, Amen.

thank you again..... for all of your prayers. Lord willing i should be back in s.dakota by march. and in washington shortly after...

God is good, go show someone!

thank you mom

at the stroke of 2 o'clock A.M. i will have been here 4 weeks...

and at the stroke of 8 o'clockish A.M. i will be on my way for the next part of this adventure.

i can't say thank you enough to everyone who has kept me in their prayers.
the last couple days have been a toughy... but i know that i am where i am suppose to be.

to everyone here in tennessee.......

i love you and thank you!

your friendships have made this place another home.

i will miss all of you... even getting beat at mortal kombat by sean...
i pray that God will continue to open up your hearts so that His love may be shared!

oh yeah... see y'all saturday! (inside joke, but if you really want to know, just ask)


i am excited for the next part of this journey.

...iowa...

why?

family...

i am actually excited to visit them.
i know that God has placed it on my heart, therefore it will be good!

Lord willing i will be back in s.dakota for my mom's birthday (28th) where we will celebrate and eat yum yums.
then shortly after, i should be headed back to spokane,WA.

ywam:
i have started fundraising/friendraising and know that God will provide where He calls.
He has layed it on my heart that the finances will be there when they are needed.
the application is in, the reference forms are on their way, and my faith is in God.

one quick testimony.....

a week ago today, my mother called and said she wanted to bless me with some finances...

AMEN!

with that, i'm 1/3 the way there, and again i believe that the rest will come in God's timing...


Father, thank You that we don't have to play Jesus. we don't have to be God. but that You are God. please continue to humble our hearts. remind us that we can't do it on our own. we can't do it without You. thank You for Your protection as i travel tomorrow. help me to proclaim You in my actions and words to all my rides. and may i get to Your destination.
please continue to open the hearts of Your children. show them how to bring heaven to earth and love like You do.
thank You for caring for our every need. may all of our trust, hope and peace be in You!
in Jesus' name, Amen!

how great is it that we can pray. how much greater is it when He talks to us. listen.

YWAM

Yesterday I went with Sean to visit a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base just outside of Nashville.

and it was so good...

after telling them my heart for YWAM and germany, they invited me to join some others to venture out and help pioneer a new Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Berlin Germany.
please check out the base profile. www.ywamberlin.org

i need your help.

the DTS starts April 5th, and will cost about $3,000 USD including the plane ticket.

that leaves just under two months to raise the tuition.

God is more than capable. i am trusting that He has already started laying it on the hearts of His people.

for any of you who don't know my heart...
we are called to love in real ways. to bring heaven to earth.
this world is filled with hurting people, with real pain.
parents who don't know how their children will eat today...
women and children who don't have a choice but to turn off their emotions as they are used again for sex...
people who have to ask passerbys for money so they can have a drink that night and forget about how cold it is and how hungry they are.
men and women who have to live with their choice to end a human life, their baby's life, because they didn't feel they had what it took to be parents.

and these people are our brothers.
our sisters.
our parents.
our children.
our friends.
we graduated with them.
passed them by.
we have chosen to look past them.

if i recall, following Christ means to act and love as He did.
to care for those in need.
to love those who have been beaten by the world and considered mere garbage.
to choose to reach out and share in their afflictions...

i can't sit back and do nothing anymore.. lets stand for what we believe in.

i invite all of you to venture out to the unknown with me and trust God.

these are real people, with real needs.

i'm not going to stop praying for them whether i am able to go or not...

you shouldn't stop praying for them whether you give or not.

please do more than consider this...

act.

pray.
and please send support.

if you need to reach me:

ph: 541-731-9468

email: this.is.a.real.fake.email@gmail.com

address:

israel boyce
3741 canyon lake dr. 2-307
rapid city, sd
57702


Father, thank You for all opportunities to reach people, and bless others. may we realize our blessings, and reach out to touch others lives with them. it's not about us. it's not about what makes us secure or comfortable. it's about something so much bigger. about saving mankind. about reaching the ends of the earth, even our own backyards. may Your will be done with this.
i love You, and choose to trust You! most of all, Thank You For Your Love and Filling Us With It.
amen

i challenge you to stand for what you believe in.

darn, i wish i would have taken a picture

i saw my first octopus today...



then i ate it!
i also had scallop for the first time.

i'm suprising still in tennessee.

i'm at the least suprised, but it has been really good!

we will see, but Lord willing i plan on leaving towards the atlantic coast this weekend.
as for where exactly, there are a couple places floating in the air.
chances are though, that i will come back to clarksville for a short time afterwards, and then to dallas.


and as for right now....

i was just reading some blogs i have posted and it's weird to think about then vs. now.
even just over three weeks ago, talking about leaving, and the hesitants that followed.
however, God has done countless amazing things, and trust me, all the glory is His!

first thing that's on my heart is the people i have met because of this trip.... already....

there has been so many that are now part of my life. i pray our relationships will continue to grow.
i don't know if i thought it was possible, but tennessee now has a place in my heart.

what started as a trip for relationships has shown true to be a blessing of relationships.

and i thank God for that.

i don't want to leave, but at the same time i feel a peace. and i do hope to be back too.


today was super fun!

i was humbled to play bass on the worship team this morning and tonight (sunday).
this evening after church, a bunch of us went out to a chinese buffet (and this one was good, they even had sushi), where i enjoyed the tasty little sea creatures among mandarin chicken and eating pudding with chopsticks.
unfortunately we accidentally lost marge on the way back to eric's and thus we missed out on her attendence at the showing of a movie.

sorry marge!

i'm also sorry if i spelled your name wrong.

thank You much for this day our Father. may tomorrow come when it does, and that we give You praise right now!
thank You again for everyone You have blessed me with knowing. help us to live as the Church in our real lives, with our real friends, and during our real day. no more building mentality.
real fellowship, real people, real love to those around us. as You would.
amen

and if anyone reading this is one of my newly found friends from tennessee....
thank you for your kindness, and joy you have brought my heart for being you.

and to all i have been away from, i look forward to seeing you again as the Lord wills it. i also look forward to sharing ears to what God is doing in our walks.

Ich liebe dich.

kindness at the bottom of the states

chirp chirp, originally uploaded by israelboyce.

i had the priviledge of going to nashville with pastor carlo and aaron today for a meeting with some other pastors and the district director for first assembly of God in Tennesseee.

afterwards, we all went to lunch where i enjoyed a conversation with my new friends and subtlely chuckled because i'm still not used to everyones southern accents.

all in all, i have come to realize that the rumors are true about the south, everyone here is friendly, and it's been a blessing.

on the way back from finding out the hard way that walgreens was closed due to power outage, and rite-aid has a horrible film developing process, a random man who barely spoke english offered to give me a ride.

"you don't want ride, yes?"
"uhh, what? uhh, where are you going?"
"where are you going?"
"that way..."
"ok, i give you ride..."
"wow, ok, thanks"

after he dropped me off, i had to look back to make sure it wasn't an angel...

i like this whole trusting God thing.
i started to get soaked, but knew that something would be hooked up.

and it was.

Daddy, thank You so much for today.
and thank You that You are my strength.
i love You, and i believe that You love me!
amen

thanks again to all who have been keeping up with the Fortschritt.
blessings to all of you! and to all a good night.... ugh...