Bossman...

Yes, it's the long awaited blog entry on bossman, better known as Kendell Kauffeldt, Country Director of SP Liberia (oh, and my husband for the past 19 years...!!!someone give that man an award!).  This is Kendell's 7th year as the CD of SP Liberia-I think he is the longest standing CD that SP has and maybe ever has had!  So who is this larger than life CD?  I have not mentioned him very often in my blog-but he is running in the 10km (I signed him up...with his permission of course!), and is the leader of SP Liberia.  Here are a few facts about bossman:

• Born in Kitwe, Zambia grew up in Zimbabwe as a missionary kid-went to MK school, rift valley academy in Kenya for his jr./sr. year.
• Likes his hamburgers with only cheese and mayo...
• Unfortunately, he is a fan of Liverpool, NY Giants, Toronto Maple leafs and the NY Knicks...(don't even get me started on his team selections!)
• He will break out in some old Pentecostal chorus at random times during devotions...
• He has a metal plate and 5 screws in his ankle and only 1/3 of his left kidney...
• At one point in his life he could dunk a basketball!
• He is a Gaither's fan and of the 80's band Boston...

Ok, that gives you a little picture into this complex yet laid back guy. Kendell is a gifted leader-I don't say this because I am his wife, I say this because I hear it from other people.  He works long hours, cares deeply for our staff, and most important is focused on the vision of what SP is doing here in Liberia.  He can often be heard saying "My goal is that through our SP projects every person in Liberia (that is 3.6 million) would have the opportunity to hear the Gospel"  When he first said this-I thought, dude, you're nuts!! We are just a small organization how can we reach everyone? Well, 7 years later our SP projects have directly impacted over 1 million people in Liberia...I guess he is not nuts but just has a lot more faith than I did!

Bossman at work

Kendell and exercise...hmmm...well, lets just say oil and water get along better.  Kendell was and is a great athlete.  Growing up in Zimbabwe he played rugby, cricket and basketball-he was even awarded one of the highest basketball awards for all of Zimbabwe.  At MK school in Kenya-his rugby powers are legendary as were his basketball skills.  At University he played varsity basketball-and then a couple of years after he graduated from University he coached the women's varsity basketball team.  One year-he had the girls do an intense off season workout program.  He told them-"If you are discipline and do this I will do it with you"  I almost fell out of my chair...BUT he did!  In about 3 months he lost 40-50 pounds!  Mercy!  He dropped to just over 200 pounds!  As many, of you know Kendell is a big guy-standing almost at 6'5" and weighs probably in the area of 260lbs.  Good thing he is a 'gentle' giant :)

I like it when Kendell runs and exercises-not because I think he should lose weight because really, for his size he only needs to loose a few more pounds, but it's for his health.  I want him to be healthy-I know the stress of his work- and I know that exercising can help him with that-he might say it doesn't-but it does!  I also want him to be around for while-to be able to play with our sons when they are older-and even his grandkids (gulp!).  We are so opposite in so many ways-exercise being one of them for sure!  Sports, we love-my knowledge of sports is what attracted him to me, (must of been because it wasn't my looks!) and we still argue about who knows more about sports...I totally do by the way.  But when it comes to actually 'playing' sports-well that's where our paths part..

Running in the wind and rain!

Training for the day done!! The man can sweat-oh!

I asked Kendell a couple of questions this morning in regards to the SP Liberia staff running and our projects. 

Bev:  Bossman, what do you think of our staff starting to run and running in the Aug. 28th race?
Kendell: "Wow! I am surprised they have gotten on board like they have and I am proud of them for doing this - it's been great team builder!"
Bev: How have you seen SP Liberia projects help Liberians recover from war?
Kendell:"It has helped Liberians in 2 ways, the first being the impact spiritually: new believers, pastors being trained, churches being empowered these projcets have had an incredible impact on the country.  Physically, income generation through our livelihood programs, women being able to read through our literacy programs, our WASH and health projects...the impact has been massive-and I am sure we will never know just how much SP has impact the lives of post-war Liberians."

This morning as Kendell did 2 laps (5km) in the early morning wind and rain I was impressed, two weeks ago he wouldn't have said he couldn't run 2 laps.  Unlike me, he doesn't enjoy running-which makes it even more impressive that he is running!  This morning as he was leading staff devotions he told everyone that he was praying the the Lord would come back before Aug. 28th so he wouldn't have to run...I just shook my head, good grief!  HA!  Oh well, you gotta love the bossman for trying,  for his committment to SP and our staff- and still leading by example after all these years.

https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/bevkauffeldt/samaritanspurseliberia