check out President Obama speech at the national prayer breakfast, its really good.

After doing commercial electrical work for almost a year, I knew it wasn’t for me.  It was a lot of hours of my life being alone and being frustrated.  I did like going to work from time to time, it helped me understand and take pride in where I came from. I had the chance to be one of the last people to work in the old GM plant called Willow run.  Willow run was first built by Ford in WWII times to build plans for the war. After that GM bought it and made car parts there. Working there I felt like I know what it meant to be a Michigander.  I had the chance to work with the big 3 and see how great it once was.

I know it was possible but when I was working I couldn’t figure out how to love God and love others while working there. So I quit my job and went back to where I last felt and saw god in my life. I had to go back one year, the last time I felt or saw God in my life was when I was living with some guys learning how to be a disciple of Jesus. Then God started to give me a vision of starting a house that combined my experience at Ivenwold and the Rochester house. I lived at Ivenwold in 2008 after I graduated high school. Ivenwold is a house of 12 guys from around the world that come together for about 6 months to a year to learn about and follow Jesus. At Ivenwold we are together almost 24/7, we work, eat, sleep and play together. We focus on 2 main ideas while we are here. The first is loving God and loving others (Matthew 22: 35-40), the second is reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-19) & (Ephesians 4:26-27). The Rochester house was very similar but we all went to work and school full time. I learned a lot from both experiences and I want other guys to have the same chance to experience Jesus as I did. After talking to some of my mentors about this they said I should try and go back and be with the brothers at Ivenwold in DC. Needless to say god made that idea into my reality. I have been back at Ivenwold for almost 3 months now. I have been learning and doing a lot. So now I want to let you know what I’m doing and what I’m learning here and just share my life with you. 

This is a video of Willow run in its later days. The place I worked for was in charge of dissembling all the machinery electrically so they could be shipped to the people that bought them.

Here is a video of willow run when it was first built. It was the biggest, the best and the fastest factory. 

Sometimes i still think about this little girl. she lives in Nepal, when i was working with the UN World Food Program i went to her village in the mountains.

i found a new lucky hat just now on the side of the road today. ill let you know how much and what kind of luck it brings me. im exited to see what happends.

Dream more then you can love. God has given each of us a passion that no one else has. Your passion and dreams are limited by your own love and your own strength. Let god love people through you and your passion. Let god be your strength. Then your dreams and passions will be more then you ever thought possible.

I Can’t Believe This is Happening… I had the most intense day of my life the other day here in Nepal. My test of honesty and integrity vs. wealth and riches. It all started when I went to Thamel to buy some gifts for people back at home. As I was walking around a younger Nepali guy started a conversation with me. We talked about school and where we were from, mostly just small talk. Next he told me that he worked in the jewelry store and we were standing right outside of the store. He then asked me if I would like to come in for tea. I said no because I thought he was trying to sell me something. He then said that he didn’t want any money, he just wanted to talk as friends. So I went in and we had some tea and we continued to talk. Then his older brother came in and sat down. The little brother then got up and left. So I started talking to the older brother. He asked what I was doing in Nepal and how long I have been here. I told him that I am volunteer and that I had been in Nepal for about three months. Then things started to turn dangerous, but, I was still unaware of what was going on. He asked me if I would like to do some business with him, and before I could answer he continued on talking. He said that he wanted me to bring some jewelry back to the states for him. He wanted me to do it because if he does it himself he has to pay 200% tax on everything. He also said he would pay me $50,000.00 in cash to do it. All I would have to do is mail the jewels to myself and when I went to pick them up I would call and a number he would supply. Then someone would come and get them from me and pay me right then and there. He then asked me if I was interested. I said yes. I started to think about the money and how nice it was going to be to have that much money and I would have it in cash. I thought of things I would like to buy and what I would save for and what I would do to help people with the money. We then got in a taxi to go to his house where I could see the jewels and write up the paper work. In the taxi cab I started to think about how shady this all sounded. I wounded if it was legal for me to be doing this. I tried to justify it if it wasn’t. We arrived at his house and went inside. I walked in and all the jewels were laying on the table. There were diamonds, rubies, sapphires, garnets, emeralds, and so many other kinds of stones laid out like pirate treasure. He then explained that what he was paying me was just a small part of what I could possibly make. He added that he gets at least 5x as much as he was paying me. So that means I was looking at about $250,000 of stones in my possession. We then talked more about how this was going to work. He said that we would make it look like I bought the stones and that I bought them for gifts for people. However I didn’t really have to pay him anything it would just look like I did. He said that I would have to stay with him for a few days to wait to see if customs called. If they did call, I would have to show them my credit card and checking account information. I then said I couldn’t do that because I was here with a friend and we agreed we would always come home at night. He suggested I just tell him that I met a Nepali girl and I was going to stay with her for a few days. Then I laughed and thought to myself, Jordan will never believe that. I’m not that kind of person. Please don’t become angry with me when I say this is the first thing that did not seem right. My adrenalin was pumping and was flowing full force. My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking, I wasn’t thinking clearly. Then he said that the gems came from Africa and that is was expensive and messy trying to get them to Nepal. This was the second red flag for me, I thought about the people in Sierra Leone, Africa and all the bloodshed to get gemstones. I remembered the horrible stories my mom would tell me. Next, I sat down at the table to start filling out the paper work. I had to write out everything I was taking and why I “bought” the jewels. As I was writing the pen died, the assistant then gave me another one and shortly after that it also died. Then he gave me a third pen and the ink was dry again. A fourth pen, I began to write how I bought the stones and I was taking them back as gifts. Then my hand stopped. I asked if I could write what I was actually doing. I asked if I could write the stones were given to me to me to mail to myself then I would be paid and I would give the stones back to the company that gave me the stones. He said that I couldn’t. Then I asked why. He said that I was smuggling the stones and if I told costumes that I would and he would be put in jail. I then said that I can’t do that. He asked, why not? I said if I can’t be 100% honest in what I was doing that I didn’t want to do it. Then he asked me how I can be so honest when I was making so much money so easily. I told him because I am honest person and that my family were honest people and we don’t lie to get money that does not belong to us. Then he told me that being honest will not get me $50,000.00. He explained that all I have to do is lie to customs and I get all that money for my family and friends. I told him I am not going to be dishonest and I did not want to do this anymore. He started yelling at me. He kept yelling as I walked away. He yelled, “How can being honest be worth more than $50,000.00?” I kept walking in silence. He yelled, “You can take your honesty and be poor then”. I told him I would rather be poor than to sell my integrity for money and lies. The story goes on, and we can meet and talk about it when you want. Just let me know. I still can’t believe this happened. I thought stuff like this only happens in the movies and is just stuff you hear about. I think this was my first big test of what kind of man I am and what kind of follower of Jesus I am. I know I made the right choice; I wonder and hope God will bless me. I believe the only reason I was able to do the right thing is because of the power of Jesus and having him in my heart.

im on cloud 9 right now! im so freakin happy!!!! TYJ, its all because of YOU