The Dylan Jones Academy is in Murang’a, Kenya Africa, in the Kambirwa Community.
To tell this story properly, I will start at the beginning.
I am the mom of four boys, four rough, tough boys. Dylan, Gabe, Reid and Wilder. We five have always had a special bond. They will tell you now, “Our Mom taught us how to shave, cook, clean, spit and fight.” Please don’t take the fighting as bad, Dylan and I are black belts, the other boys are close to getting their black belts.
Dylan was the oldest by three years. We always went to church. I tried to instill the love of Jesus in my boys. One of my greatest joys as a mom was leading two of my boys to Christ, Dylan and Gabe.
Dylan was five when he accepted Christ into his life. There was no doubt to most of us, Dylan was going to be in some type of ministry. At the age of five, Dylan could explain the Trinity, he could explain infinity in relationship to God and things that a child his age should not understand. Dylan also was not shy about talking to anyone about Jesus. He never asked your permission or if it was ok if he talked to you about Jesus or the Bible. He would just start telling you about His Jesus!!
In 2009 Dylan and I went with our home church, Fairview Baptist Church in Statesville NC, on a two-week mission trip to Kenya Africa. We would joke with friends prior to the trip; Kenya would never be the same after we left. Little did we know how true that would become.
So, in July 2009 off we went to the other side of the world, me and a nine-year-old to a third world country. Dylan boarded the plane with a mohawk, and a cross shaved in the back of his head. One of our Pastors I remember was “concerned” about Dylan’s hair. The children in Africa were not accustomed to seeing a white child specially a white boy with a mohawk and cross shaved in his head.
But all it took was his big smile, his big blue eyes and a soccer ball and Dylan and the children of Murang’a Town were off running and playing and laughing. All we could see was a cloud of red dust and hear children laughing!! This went on every day. Every day they played ball; everyday they talked about Jesus. Dylan fell in love with the people of Murang’a’ town and they fell in love with him.
Fast forward to 2015. For past six years Dylan has kept in touch with a friend from Muranga’. Dylan has talked about going back to Africa, wanting to go back after high school and help minister to the children there.
April 7, 2015 at 9:12 p.m. Dylan was in a car wreck. Dylan was brain dead on impact. He was taken by helicopter to trauma unit 45 minutes away. After testing etc, it was determined his brain was swelling at a rate you see in head trauma that is two and three days old not two hours. The next morning it was decided Dylan would be taken off life support. Dylan was an organ donor so he would remain on life support 24 more hours to give the recipient families of his organs time to get to hospital and get prepped for surgery. That was a decision he made on his own months prior to his death.
A few weeks after Dylan’s funeral his close friends wanted to do something to remember him by. Dylan was a power lifter for competition and held a state record, so they thought of something for the high school weight room. But then one of them came up with the idea of doing something for what Dylan always talked about, what he loved what he said he wanted to go back and help with…..THE CHILDREN OF MURANGA’, TO TEACH THEM ABOUT HIS JESUS!!!!!!
That is how the DYLAN JONES ACADEMY was started from the love of a nine-year boy had for HIS JESUS! And the love he had for the children and people of a village that he had never meet until that day in July over laughs and a soccer ball and red dust. Dylan wanted everyone to know what Jesus done for him and them, how much Jesus loves them.
