The past few weeks has been quite busy with a lot time spent in the office on reports and processing information. After the team left from the survey trip of the North we collapsed for a day to catch our breath then in was time to tap out on paper the trip and catch up on administrative work. I spent several days the week the team left just working on updates, finances, and planning for the next few months. It was so good to get the updates finished for the trip to the North. It also gave me the chance to relive each moment. We are still talking about the trip and all that we experienced.
A big event that we had in May was the official ending of the school year. Lindsey and Ashley put together a surprise field day for the last day of school on Friday the 22. It was a full day of fun and celebration that the school year was over. Ashley even bought T-shirts and everyone on the compound participated. It was so much fun and our kids’ first ever field day.
The weekend of the 23rd Kenya and I slipped away for two days to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. We had a great weekend together in Mombasa just relaxing and being together. Ashley took care of the kids for us so we could be alone. It gave Kenya and I a chance to talk about the survey trip a little and our up coming furlough. It was a refreshing few days.
I have been taking Tuesday mornings the past two weeks to work with Brother John on where things are here in the house and office. Also we have talked about the Bible Institute and where the guys are so he can make plans for the future. John and Amber will be staying in our house while we are on furlough which is a huge blessing and allows us to keep the mission compound. John will just move right into my office and will have all the tools and administrative stuff that we have accumulated at his disposal.
Clayton, John, and I had a great meeting on the 27th with Bocha Hussein. He is an Orma believer that is living in Garsen and is trying to reach the Orma. The meeting was very good and gave us some inside information from an Orma about the Orma. Bocha shared that there are two other Orma men that are finishing Bible school this year and plan to join him in reaching the Orma near Garsen. We all four talked about ideas as to how to reach the Orma. Even for Bocha it is hard since he is an outsider now in many things but he said the way to reach the Orma is to show them the Gospel. The Orma are not as violent as the Somalis when it comes to a believer among them. His family does not agree with his decision but they have not tried to kill him still yet he is considered an outsider in many ways.
Bocha will be a great contact in the future. He also shared that among the upper Pokomo there are believers and even churches. He said that there is not an Orma church yet but he has hopes that there will be. He travels between villages and is using farming and community projects to build relationships. He also said he is trying to mobilize the churches that exist in the area to reach out to the Orma and Pokomo that they are friends with and do business with. As Bocha’s friends join him he may be a valuable contact in the future as we start to reach out along the river.
John and I had a good meeting with Juma last week also about what his future plans are. He is going to join the work in Jimba and work with Daniel. Juma has tried to help the work in Magangani but that church has some pretty serious problems. I am glad that Juma will be working with Daniel I think they will be a blessing to each other and as they pray about starting a new work Daniel will be a great help to Juma. Pray for the church in Magangani and Alfonse. That situation is not well but I am sure the Lord will give wisdom and guidance.
On Saturday this past weekend John, Clayton, and I visited with Elly about the 516 missions team that will be coming in July. Our plan is to be with the new church in Midiani to give them a “push”. We are planning to do a sports camp at the school near the church and help build a building with the church members. There is much planning involved in both activities but it will be a great encouragement to the new church. Elly is so organized and does a great job or motivating those he is working with so I am sure we will have a successful camp and building project.
We also celebrated Josiah’s birthday in Mombasa early on Saturday by going to play paintball and watch a movie. A couple of Josiah’s friends were able to come and play as well as Clayton, John, Abigail, and I. We celebrated early because his friends were leaving to got to the states this week. The other kids rode go-karts while we played paintball. Kenya and Lindsey for some strange reason decided to ride a mechanical bull. The videos are funny. It was a fun day.
This week has been a week in the office transitioning things to John, writing updates, working on the house, finances, updates, converting videos, preparing Bible Institute files, planning for our furlough. There is so much that needs to be done in the way of preparation for our furlough and the team coming in July. I will be in the office today working on the monthly report and working on the house for a visit from our landlord tomorrow.
Our landlord’s assistant is actually coming and we will be doing a walk through on the property. There are several structural issues that need attention and we want to make our landlord aware of the severity of the Termite damage. We have been on this compound for a few years now and it is beginning to have some big issues. We will also be able to show the landlord all the work we have done to improve the property. We are hopeful it will all go well.
After the meeting with the landlord we will be taking Lynn and Brenda to the airport. Brother Lynn has done a great job on the book of Hebrews. We have twenty-four classes that equal out to 19 hours of teaching covering the entire book of Hebrews. Brother Lynn worked really hard on these classes and putting himself in a Swahili frame of mind to do it. We are very grateful to he and Brenda for taking the time to come and invest in the work here. Pray for them as they travel and for their schedule to follow.
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