i have heard the music of my own death
sweet yet melancholy

dancing
at the end of some string
the Puppeteer
has chosen to lay the controls down
and bring cease to my performance

lifeless
on the stage floor
the curtains close
to an empty house
only the dust
dangles upon the air
in the absence of voices and laughter

it is the way of things

today i will breathe deep
and savor the sun

i walk in half steps

on the dark side of the moon
searching for life

my sons are treading out a path in the sand
the wind covers their tracks

i am ashamed
and must return to the earth

there
perhaps
i will find life
for a moment

there
perhaps
the eagle will return
and nest in my heart

there
perhaps
i will find the sun.

Dearest Friends and Family,

Why? Why Africa? Why ministry? Why? Whether I worked in the inner city, on the streets, in prisons, in churches, in the U.S. or abroad, I was always met with “Why?”

Most of my adult life has been in the service of others, though I have been accused of being too idealistic, selfish or irresponsible. And yet, though I may not have been understood, I actually owe my efforts to answering a call my earthly father, Fred Klumpp, administered to me as a child. “Michael” he said, “we have been blessed. Our family has plenty. We have nice things, a good education, wonderful opportunity and each other. We have a responsibility to those who have less.” Each night as we sat down to dinner my dad would pray “Bless us, oh Lord, this food to our use and us to Thy service. And make us ever mindful of the needs of other…” My dad always stressed “the needs of others”. I am simply obeying my dad. Interestingly enough, it is also the call of my heavenly Father.

We do not all agree on how or where or in what name we should serve others. Certainly, theology differs, ideals differ and methods differ. Yet, what I am asking at this time is simple. Regardless of what you think of me or my ministry, would you please pray about supporting my current efforts to teach life skills through the martial arts to youth in Kenya? Where we have schools in the U.S. we have students who can afford lessons. Those who cannot receive scholarship. What we teach is leadership, life skills, perseverance, integrity, endurance, discipline and honor.

Kenya is the U.S.’s closest ally in Africa. While we are there we cloth, feed, build, teach and serve. In my mind, we are doing nothing more than being mindful of the needs of others. Please join our efforts.

The next trip will be to Kenya in October. We will attempt to finish a hospital/clinic which services an area currently without medical care. We will do a conference for women aimed at empowerment through teaching self defense, beauty and health. We will reconnect with veterinary services we began in ’07. We will do youth work in the area of theater and communication as well as martial arts in order to connect on life skills and community minded services. we will develop an organization for the Kenyans called EASE (East African Service and Empowerment) in order to leave an indigenous long term support system behind as we go. We will explore micro business opportunities to help Kenyans be self sufficient.

To support our financial needs, send funds to:

ASB Kenya
PO Box 51
Dighton, Kansas 67839

Make your check to Bible Fellowship Church is you want a tax deduction or if you do not need the deduction you may make it to ASB Karate. Either way 100% will go to the effort overseas.

Thank you for reading this letter. Let me know if there is anything I can pray for or do for you.

Mike Klumpp

cast your hope on Miughalaigh

the journey draws to a close
we can steer home from here

kittiwakes, puffins and razorbills
circle out to sea and back
come home to your nests and night my friends
cast you hope on Miughalaigh

we’ve beat the beast of the sea
one more time
and we’re headed in for bed and bowl

then out to sea again we roll

no one stands upon the waves
but wastes away
in salt and sea
the horizon calling
to the ghost of God

cast your hope on Miughalaigh
we’re almost home
and almost gone.

i am my own death

seeing into the far corner of time and space
dust and shadow

let’s walk
together
(there is no such thing)
steps in time
unity
(light a candle and watch it flicker)
the wind in our hair

i took the hand of a white tiger
a ghost cat
and laid aside my living
my smile
and my laughter
to serve
in step
in time
synchronized
(there is no such thing)

2000 years of western literature
searching through
wit and wisdom
looking for heroic epic
in this heroic epoch
and what i found was hallow and frail

i saw myself against the silhouette of myself
reflected in a pond of myself
an image rolling
static and still
moving on the surface
illusion

we
the tiger and i
walked
talking

what do you do  she asked
i don’t know
why do you breath  she asked
i don’t know
why do you see  she asked
i don’t know
why do you cry  she asked
because  i replied,
because i don’t know.

sad really

what i have considered this day
is hanging
five different ways to hang myself
all of which include rope

the common thread
the link between me and the free floating earth

i cannot help it
it comes on me
with a pain so great that
when i look at the pines outside my window
i see each cone pointing in each of another or other
direction and
with all of the lines moving out into space
like lights and lasers
invisible and yet visible
the confusion become too great
the reality
too stark
and i fade

i fade down within myself
and amidst so great a reality
i become unreal
ghostlike
grey and vague

trying to resurface
all i know is lost and i am sad

so sad really
that what i consider
is hanging
lifeless
at the end of a rope
reeling in last second pre mortem
unable to breath
with all my prayers swallowed
and all my praise subdued.

do not pity yourself,

good man.
you too will die.
but not without some fever
some sweat
and some feint

some laughter

give pause to cherish the laughter

in childhood we give it away like rain
until seasons of age
steal into our room
frightening even the bad dreams and boogie men of youth

then

laughter
swells up in an occasional cloud
drifts in over parched land
teases
and moves on to sprinkle other fields.

these seasons
that sound
like the sound of the first bird of spring
are refreshing and hopeful

but

this winter has no end.

and

was never meant to.

so

hold onto to your laughter
remember your fears
and create smiles in every eye that sees you.

then
and only then
will there be warmth
amidst the snow.

East African Service and Empowerment – EASE – is working together with Watershed Arts, MARS, Family of God Tabernacle Trust and ASB Karate International to bring relief and encouragement to the youth of Kenya. Recently, working in the Kiyole and Soweto slums of Nairobi, Garold Andersen of Watershed Arts taught seminars on creative communication to crowds of young performers. The seminars taught movement and theater arts and provided a new platform for communication for young people working in schools and on the streets of Nairobi.

Daniel Yardley, a builder from London, teamed up with Andersen and traveled to Lemoru to offer assistance in the completion of a clinic which has been in construction since ’07 when MARS first began working with ASB Karate to teach life skills through martial arts in central Kenya. Plans are underway to finish the clinic in October of this year through the collaborative efforts of Yarley, Watershed, MARS, ASB Karate, Peneil Church of London and Bible Fellowchurch of Dighton, Kansas.

If you would like to contribute to the work of EASE, trips are being organized to return to Kenya in October from both the U.S. and London. Contact Mike Klumpp for more information. Contact information is available at mikeklumpp.com. If you would like to make a financial donation to further the work, donations may be sent to:

EASE
PO Box 51
Dighton, Ks 67839

Checks should be made to Watershed Corp or Bible Fellowship Church and will be tax deductable.

Many thanks to Janet Bold of the Bold Look for their donation of uniforms. MARS teams in the Soweto slums were encouraged by their new look.

ASB Karate’s Student Code of Student Dedication teaches “I will always finish what I start.” With the coordinating efforts of EASE to provide a platform for teamwork in serving and empowering, we are one step closer to our goals.
Posted by Mike at 10:37 AM

A team will mount up on wings and head back to Nairobi in October. We will finish the clinic begun in ’07, teach a soccer camp, train martial artists, do a theater and dance workshop and work with local officials in the care of orphans and the development of schools. You can be part of the team. We need prayer, money and volunteers. If you are interested in being part of this project let us know. Write mike@mikeklumpp.com or call 620 397 8046 for more information.

revisiting my mind:

digging like a child
in the ground
under a mimosa tree
far from the house
near the back fence
searching for something
turning small spoonfuls of earth
making a hole

there was earth there
now there is not,
where there was some –
there is none.
where there was none –
there is some.
the nature of holes
and digging.

the damp earth
primordial
smells
like life
potential
and flavors the air
like onions in bacon grease
a rich savor
of someone at work
creating magic

sustinance
for memories

it is this same smell
i revisit
each time i stand graveside
each time i lower a seed into a garden
each time i imagine the sky
and the freedom of childhood
it is the same smell

Louisiana
delta
land of other lands
washed down river and deposited
earth revisited
regeneration
silt
and the sad memories of something washed away
then reclaimed
you have the same smell
as my childhood
and the passing of my grandmother
of struggle
and madness
of the favor of God
and the sad land of man
you are my home

and i am digging
on my knees
under the cool shade of the mimosa
for something i have never lost
but desperately need to find-

earth.