Back to School and Oh Goly Ugali

August 7-19

    It has been over two weeks since I have written and I do apologize for the delay. We have been very busy and I have been either in the office or out many days well past dark so the update has taken a back seat several times. There have been lots of great things happening. One very exciting thing was that I had a Zoom meeting with Ryan and Ben and Anne Fisher about the work here in Kenya. Anne came over this year with first 516 missions team and had lots of questions while she was here about missions and the work here. When she returned to the states she and Ben contacted us via email with some very direct questions about the work here. They are seeking the Lord and his direction for their family and they believe that God may be calling them to come along side of us here in Kenya to help specifically with discipleship, ladies training, and Sunday school programs.
    During our zoom meeting we discussed a little bit more in detail about their background and how God has been dealing with them. They are a sweet couple and have three children. The end result of all our conversations is that they will be making a survey trip the end of December and first part of January. Please pray for them as they seek God’s will for their lives. We are super excited about just the possibility of them joining us. No matter if the Fishers come to Kenya ultimately or not it is exciting to see them being sensitive to the Lord and willing to explore the possibilities. I know the Lord has great plans for this family. They are already serving with Aaron Johnson in the Washington, PA church plant and are serving on the local level. Perhaps God is going to use them globally now as well.

    I spent some time this month on our team website trying to make it reflect the current ministry and the future. There are now three families and Ashely here on the field and the Vickers who are here for an internship. We want to use the website as an avenue for all the families to share their ministries and all that God is doing through them. It is an exciting time for East Kenya Missions, God is moving and we want to be in sync with him every step of the way. If you have never been to our website you can Google East Kenya Missions or here is the address http://eastkenyamissions.com/ . From the Website you can see the pages of all the missionaries laboring to reach the Coast and beyond for Christ.
    Web designing proved to be a bit more complicated than I thought. Mrs. Paula Gathings has been helping us keep the site up to date and after working on the site a little I now realize what a blessing it is to have her look after it. I wanted to pull my hair out (if I had any) after the first hour of working on it. Anyhow I think the effort was worth it and we will continue to improve as time goes on.
    We had a couple of meeting with James and Karate about our trip to the Masai that we had planned. We had to cancel the trip with the Land Rover going down but we still helped James and Karate make the trip so they could see their families. It was a bit disappointing but I know the Lord had a plan and we filled the time in with plenty of other work.
    There was a pretty big back to school Bash on the 9th. It was an end of summer start of school party. We had games, snacks, a cook out and lots of fun! The sack races were a highlight second only to the pie the teacher in the face! Our kids and the Vickers kids seemed to have a good time playing the games and all of us adults got in on the action as well.

 

    Brother Mike and I made a trip out to Gandini on the 10th to see the Gandini Landmark Baptist Church. The church numbers are down compared to the past but they were meeting and by the end of services there were a few people present. Brother Mike preached and did a good job. We had a brief meeting after services to talk about how the church was doing and to encourage them. After we finished Mike and I went back to Mzee Philips and spent the rest of the day visiting and waiting for lunch. When one of the kids came in with a live chicken and Jonathan went out with it and a knife we knew we were going to be staying for a while. We really had a good time just sitting and talking. We even took a walk down to see Mzee Philip’s fields that were ready for harvest. Praise the Lord the folks in Gandini and Singuaya will get a good harvest this year!
    A highlight of the day was Mike shoving his hand down into the molten lava hot ugali and then trying to fling it off. He described it as Napalm on his fingers. Everyone had a little laugh once Mike recovered. We did not get home until nearly eight but it was a good day in the village. I spoke with Alfonse on the way home a little about his plans to meet with the church in the middle of the week about starting a work in Mjomboni. I was feeling pretty good about the day until I heard about some things that happened in Malindi. There were several small things that all together raised a little concern. I eventually just had to set it aside to pick it back up on Tuesday when I was back in the office.

    I did get the chance to meet with Nicholas about the things that were of concern on Sunday. I went to the Thursday night Bible study in Malindi, where they asked me to teach, and met with Nicholas afterwards. We met for a good two hours before I headed home. I was very happy with the spirit my concerns were met with and I think it was a big help to Nicholas. A lot of his problems are just inexperience and fear of making a mistake. It was a good and productive meeting.
    Mike, Christy, and their children are all doing well. Christy and the kids are doing home school for the first time ever but they seem to be surviving. It is a good opportunity for them during their internship to experience what home school will be like since here in Malindi that is really the only viable option. Christy chose to teach her children herself rather than put them with our children and Ashley. This was and is a big step for her. Please pray for Christy and the kids as they experience all the “joys” of home schooling.
    Kenya and I have had several opportunities to speak with Mike and Christy about various things as they continue to work through their calling. They are both trying hard and seeking the Lord. It has been a great joy to work with them so far. We are trying hard to share our experiences and anything that we have been taught along the way. Three hours of Language classes twice a week have been added on for Mike and Christy as well as one hour for their kids. This is another aspect of experiencing life here on the field. Everyone is trying hard and it is encouraging to see them using what they are learning.
    Mike, Christy, Ashley, Kenya, and I continue to meet every morning before school starts for prayer and to listen and discuss a book we are reading. It is a great way to start the day together and the teaching we are getting is awesome. We all miss Clayton and Lindsey but we are staying in touch with them while they are in language school. 
    We had Bible Institute classes on Saturday the 16th which requires some study time. I had brother Mike start us off with a lesson in the morning then we went right into our study on the Pauline Cycle. It was such a good day of studying. The men were getting it and getting excited about the future. I spent time while we were studying to cast vision a little as well of what the future could look like. It was just a great day of class. We ended by going right into Bible study with the Malindi church. I finished up some lessons that I have been teaching on Security of the believer.
    Elly came in from Miritini to attend classes with us as well as to talk with the Malindi church about Beatrice and James Wedding. Beatrice was a member of Malindi but she moved to Mazeras and she started attending the church in Miritini. I baptized her back in 2009 along with her sister who still attends our church when she is not off at college in Nairobi. Beatrice’s wedding planning has been going on for some time and the church in Malindi is working together with the church in Miritini to do the wedding. I have been working with Elly and Brother Walter Matete in Nairobi on the marriage certificate details. Everything is coming together and it was good for Elly to come in for class and to meet with the church about the details of the wedding.
    In the middle of this past week I had a quite lengthy conversation with Alfonse about Magangani and Mjomboni. Pray for Alfonse and the church in Magangani. They really have a great opportunity but Alfonse still is dragging his feet a little. I am trying to be patient and gently encourage Alfonse as he shares his heart. I need wisdom as we are getting close to a second generation of churches to start from the existing churches. It is exciting and I want to help the current churches and pastors as they step out. Pray for Mjomboni I really believe Alfonse will do a great work there.
    We attended services this week here in Malindi so we could fellowship with Elly. Geofry asked me to teach Sunday School so I started a new section in our discipleship material. Elly preached the morning message and did a great job. There were a slew pot of Masai in the services. One of the regular visiting Masai brought three new Masai men to the service. There were also several other visitors in the service. God has blessed the Malindi church with a multi tribal congregation. Pray for Nicholas as he and Ricklynn lead the church. They are doing great job. Oh and there was a baptism this week!

    I saved the best for last, well maybe not the best news but it is up there. The Land Rover is fixed! It is running like a dream! A thirty-five hundred dollar dream but whose counting…It has a completely new overhauled engine. New pistons, new rings, new rocker arms, new Turbo charger, new clutch, new pressure plate, new BLAHH… We have pretty much replaced all the major components over the past few months. The steering box is new and the fuel pump is new. The only thing that has not been replaced is the gearbox. Anyhow the important thing is that it is running smoothly and hopefully this work will take it through for several more years until we can raise the funds to replace it. We estimate it to take about 35,000 greenbacks to get a newer Land Rover. Until we can afford a newer one we have the next best thing, a rebuilt one. Please pray that the rebuild will hold up. The breakdowns have interrupted much work and many trips we have had planned.