July 2015 Monthly Report

 

July 2015

516 Missions 2015 Kenya

                  This year we had an awesome 516 Missions team that did a lot of work! We were busy the entire trip and for sure impacted eternity. There were several projects where we were involved. There is no way in this short report to list everything that we did but at least you can see it in pictures.

 

Basketball Camp

              We did a basketball camp at Mreroni Primary School that is only about a half mile from the newest church plant, Grace BC Midiani. The school was small compared to other schools where we have been in the past, but nearly all the students come from Muslim families so it was a new experience for our team. God blessed as we gave out nearly 250 Bibles and all the kids in the school heard the Gospel message during Bible time. Pray for the seeds that were planted. We take heart knowing that God’s word does not return void, whether it is the written word or spoken word.

Midiani Building

  We also were able to help build a building for Grace LBC Midiani. The church had the poles in the ground and we put the roof on. We are so grateful for Brother Mike Vickers who designed the roof and lead us in building it. We also cut grass, put in a floor, and installed a baptistry. Our ladies filled the baptistry and got a lesson in carrying water on their head that I am sure they will not soon forget.

Farming

 

We took one day with the team and went out with Clayton to one of his Farming God’s Way test fields to work. We spent the morning pulling up stumps and cutting grass to help prepare more of the field for planting next season. It was a long hot day of work that helped all of us appreciate the work that the people do every day just to survive. We also passed by Gertrude’s house to see how Clayton’s test field was doing. It was awesome to see the success that she was having in her fields and to see her harvest her first ears of corn, which she gave to Clayton and Lindsey.

 Worshiping and Teaching

  We had great worship services with Singuaya LBC and Grace LBC Midiani. It was especially awesome to worship with the Midiani church in the building that we all built together and to see Pastor Elly baptize 17 people in the baptistry we put it. There were around 160 that attended the services at Midiani. I think that the basketball camp near the church, the cinema, and the building project generated a lot of interest in what the Grace LBC is doing.

 

Immediately following the 516 Team our family departed to begin our furlough. Please pray for our furlough as we share all God has done this term and say thank you to our faithful supporters.

Upcoming Furlough Appointments

August 16 Eastside MBC, Minden, LA

August 16 New Liberty BC, Garland, TX

August 23 Baring Cross MBC, Arkadelphia, AR

August 23 Sweet Home MBC, Prattsville, AR

August 30 Pauline BC, Monticello, AR

September 6 Lead Summit, Gulf Shores

September 12 Shadyland MBC, Smackover, AR

September 13 Wises Chapel MBC, Pineville, AR

September 13 Bethlehem MBC, Kirby, AR

September 20 Victory MBC, Madison, MS

September 20 Emmanuel MBC, Bogalusa, LA

PO Box 299 Monticello, AR 71657

James Taylor  PO Box 811 Malindi, Kenya 80200

Phone (870) 723-7640 missionarytaylor@gmail.com

 

Taylor Tribe

     

 

This month we spent the first two weeks preparing for furlough as well as for the 516 Missions team.  Thankfully preparing for the team is pretty easy now that we have shopping lists, schedules, and housing down to a science.  Preparing for furlough was another story.  The Straders will be staying in our house while we are away, so we had to put all of our personal belongings into one room to make room for the Straders’ personal belongings.  The house with all of its furnishings including dishes are there for them to use, but we wanted to make sure they didn’t have to worry about being crowded or taking responsibility for our junk (I mean treasures).  So we put many things into boxes and closets in the school room.  However, just about the time we thought we were done our landlord called to inform us that an exterminator was coming to spray for termites.  This was terrible timing, but a very necessary treatment.  So after feeling good about cleaning everything out and having things organized for them, we completely destroyed it all by taking everything out of the cabinets and putting most of it into our gazebo for a day and a half while they fumigated.  The Howells and the Straders had to do the same as their homes were also treated.  The termites have been a terrible problem for a couple of years now.  Although it was very inconvenient, we agreed because of the damage the termites have been doing to our homes. 

                  We also hosted all of our friends from Mombasa for the fourth of July one last time before furlough.  It was really great to be able to catch up with them, since we’ll be gone for almost a year; and when we get back, some of them will be on furlough. 

                  We had a great time with the 516 team.  It was a smaller group than usual, but it was nice to be able to get to visit with each of them.  We were super glad that we didn’t have to camp out in the village.  There is a cheap but decent and clean hotel in Miritini for only $10 a night where we were able to stay.  It was nice to have a good shower in the evenings after a long day at the camp and at the church building.  We crammed a lot into the time the team had.  It didn’t feel like we stopped the whole time.  But I think the Lord blessed all that we did. 

                  Usually when the teams leave we crash for a day or two, but this year we couldn’t.  We were leaving just two days after the team, so after they left we made final preparations in the house and in town.  The day before we left Abigail became extremely ill with amoebic dysentery and a bacterial infection, which landed her at the hospital with an IV.  Our doctor was amazing.  He treated her very quickly and aggressively making it possible for her to get on the plane the next day although she was still pretty weak.  We are thankful for Dr. Yunis taking such good care of her. 

                  There is no rest for the weary.  We hit the ground running here on the stateside as well.  We had just a couple of weeks before school starts to run up north and see our family.  We got here Friday evening, went to Pauline Sunday morning and headed to Indiana on Monday.  My sister was getting married on the 31^st and James was officiating the wedding.  We spent the last week of July making final wedding preparations.  The month ended on a very happy note.  We had such a good time with my whole family at the wedding.  We laughed and made many memories.  I’m thankful for the time God gave us to just laugh and have fun. 

                  Thanks for reading and praying.

June 2015 Monthly Report

June 2015

Raburns’ Departure

  We started the month with saying good-bye to Lynn and Brenda Raburn. They were with us for two months. Brother Lynn worked very hard while he was with us preaching, teaching, and encouraging the churches. We are very thankful to be partnering with Lynn and Brenda with World Missions Ministry and for their partnership here with East Kenya Missions. The classes that Brother Lynn recorded on video in the past and continues to do in Swahili are awesome. Through the videos, he and Brenda continue to be a part of EKM even when they are on the other side of the world. Please pray for the Raburns as they continue to labor for missionaries and missions globally. Also, don’t forget that the World Missions Seminar dates have changed for 2016. The seminar will be held April 11-22 at Faith BC, North Little Rock. 

 

516 Missions Preparations

             

              John, Clayton, and I have been investing a lot of time on planning and preparing for the 516 Missions team that will be with us in July. The team will be working with the new church in Midiani and missionary pastor, Elly. We will be doing a sports camp at the school that is a quarter of a mile walk from the church, putting in a baptistery, and building a roof for the church. We have been working with Elly on plans and communicating with Brother Mike Vickers, who will be coming on the team, about supplies for building the roof.  Ben Higginbotham will be leading the team this year and has prepared the team on the U.S. side.

                  We are very excited to come alongside Grace BC, Midiani and Pastor Elly. Elly has done a great work in Midiani, and it has truly been awesome to see the Indigenous principle in action through Elly. He and the church in Miritini, and now in Midiani, have a vision and a heart for the gospel being preached. We are hopeful that the 516 team and EKM team partnering with them to do this camp will encourage and energize them.

Furlough Preparations

              We have spent much of this month making preparations for furlough. There is a lot that goes into shutting things down here and getting things ready on the U.S. side. We are blessed to have a team of support both on the ground here and at our sending church Pauline BC to help us. We will be departing July 23 right after the 516 Missions Team leaves. We will be in the States for almost a full year for our furlough. During our furlough, we will be seeing family and visiting supporting churches. I will be attending the Missionary Baptist Seminary working on my Masters Degree, and our children will be attending school in Monticello.

              Ben Higginbotham has been working with several others in our church to get us set up in Monticello, AR. He has also been communicating with folks in the school system to help us know what we need to do to register the kids. Mrs. Paula Gathings from our sending church is providing our family with a place to call home while on furlough, and we cannot say thank you enough! Our church has also bought us a vehicle to use while we are in the states. We are so blessed to have Pauline BC as our sending church and friends who believe in what God is doing through this ministry, helping us and sacrificing to see it succeed.

                  The team here on the ground has also been helping us prepare for furlough. I am so thankful to Brother John Strader for his hard work, many hours, and patience to help us put together a presentation that we can use in the churches to show all that God has done the past three years. Also I am grateful for our Missionary Helper, Ashley Johnston, and all the hours of work she has put into making picture books that we can put on display as we visit churches. We appreciate Clayton connecting us with his mother-in-law, Tammy, to help with our prayer cards and magnets. We praise God for everyone on the team here and how they have come together to help us with presentation preparation and even packing up our house.

  Please pray for our family and for the rest of the team during our upcoming furlough. We are looking forward to sharing with the churches all that God has done and express our gratitude for their support. We also are excited to encourage and challenge the churches and individuals to consider how they can partner and participate with missionaries. The Straders and the Howells will be continuing here on the ground in Kenya during our absence. Pray for them as they continue with language learning and culture adaptation. Pray that this year will be a great time of growth and preparation for the future of EKM as we look at reaching the unreached North of Malindi.

PO Box 299 Monticello, AR 71657 

James Taylor PO Box 811 Malindi, Kenya 80200

Phone 011-254-713289014 missionarytaylor@gmail.com

 

Taylor Tribe

 

We said goodbye to old friends and hello to new friends at the beginning of this month.  Lynn and Brenda left at the beginning of the month and then we enjoyed hosting our new friends from Garissa.  The guys met the Witt family while they surveyed the North and invited them to come for a visit.  They have four very sweet little girls who played till they were exhausted with our kiddos.  We had such a wonderful time.  Jason is quite the chef.  He cooked several excellent meals for us; and Rebekah his wife was so kind and easy going, we hit it off first thing.  We spent a full week with them enjoying fellowship, some worship time, and even picking their brains about reaching the unreached in their area.  My only regret is that we won’t be here this next year to get to know them better.  We do, however, look forward to the next year when we will be able to meet up again with them as we look to our future ministry in the North. 

We had lots of birthday cake and ice cream this month.  James celebrated his birthday on June 7.  We had cake and ice cream that evening after fixing him some barbecue ribs.  Josiah’s birthday was on June 8, so we had a sort of retro Super Mario Bros. video game party.  I made his cake to look like an old Nintendo game controller.  Our whole team dressed up like characters from the video game.  I love that our team gets together to do silly things like dress up and be creative.  It’s a fun way to step out of work mode and just enjoy our fellowship.  Next we celebrated Ashley’s birthday.  Ashley has actually celebrated 3 birthdays in Kenya.  Ashley loves anything nerdy, so we made that the theme of the party.  It was very fitting for the teacher.  We all dressed like nerds and I spent the whole day making a cake that was the periodic table.  It was a lot of work, but it’s something I really enjoy and so it was a labor of love.  Everyone had a great time.  Needless to say we may have all gained a few pounds this month from all the yummy sweets, but we’ll just stay off the scales for a while. 

We are still in furlough mode, but mostly done with all the packing and sorting.  We knew we were hosting the 4^th of July cookout with all of our friends from Mombasa so we spent the end of the month making sure we had most of the work out of the way.  Our goal is to be able to just enjoy the last couple weeks here without of the stress of packing, especially since we are leaving just two days after the 516 team leaves.  I admit to having very mixed emotions about this furlough.  It feels like our EKM team is just getting settled and starting to work and it’s time for us to leave.  Although we need furlough and the time to see family and supporting churches, it feels like we are just beginning.  We are, though, looking forward to this next year of refreshment as well as the direction God is going to give as we look to the future. 

My sister received the results from her scan, she is leukemia free once again.  I thank the Lord for giving her strength through her chemo.  This round, although stronger, seemed a bit less hard on her.  I am really looking forward to being within driving distance of her this next year. 

Thanks for reading and praying.

 

May 2015 Monthly Report

May 2015

        

North Survey Trip

     The North survey trip, that we have been praying about and planning for, was amazing! We had a great trip and I want to share some of the trip details. First, I want to say thank you to our pastor, Chad Graves; our associate pastor, Ryan Copico; our campus pastor, Daren Clements; and Pastor Aaron Johnson from Life Point Church, Washington, PA, for coming and being a part of this survey trip. You guys were awesome and made this trip a total success not to mention you encouraged and energized John, Clayton, and me.

   

 

Nairobi and the Rift Valley

         We started our trip off spending the weekend in Nairobi and taking some time to enjoy the country a little before we began our survey work. We went to the Rift Valley and climbed Mount Longonot straight out of the gate. We visited a few other sites near Nairobi then got the vehicle ready for our trek to Garissa. On Sunday morning we attended services in a few of the churches in Nairobi to greet them and encourage them. It was a great prelude weekend to our survey work.

 

Garissa

                  We left Nairobi Monday morning and headed toward Garissa, not knowing what was ahead or what we were going to find. The drive was very good with nice roads, although we still had one flat along the way. We could see Mount Kenya for much of the day off in the distance. As we got farther away from Nairobi the scenery began to change and the style of housing as well. An hour or so from Garissa we began to see Orma bomas (homesteads) and women pulling buckets of water rather than carrying them on their heads. We were crossing over into new tribal areas for all of us and the trip was becoming real. We passed through several checkpoints before crossing the Tana River and entering Garissa Town.

                We wasted no time after arriving in Garissa; we immediately did a once through of the entire town. It was obvious that we were not in “Kenya” anymore, at least the Kenya we all are used to. The main populous in Garissa Town is Somali. We found a church back up in one of the areas of town, went in and were able to visit with the pastor. Pastor Fred of the Agape Church was our first contact and through him we were able to get another contact, then from that contact another contact. It was amazing how God directed our steps and led us from place to place and person to person.

 

      

              The most sobering visit we made was to the AIC church that was bombed back in 2013. Terrorists came on the compound on a Sunday morning and killed the guards that were supposed to be watching over the church services. They then blocked the church doors and threw a grenade inside. The explosion killed 17 believers including the pastor’s wife. We met with Pastor Eliud who came once the church was reopened after the attack. He was very helpful but was very fearful. During the recent attack on the university in Garissa. Pastor Eliud and his family locked themselves in their home and could hear the gunfire until the attack finally ended after 12 hours. The attack left 147 dead and 79 injured. The AIC church and Pastor Eliud’s home is only a ¼ mile from the university. Being in the church and knowing it was a site of martyrs and seeing Pastor Eliud’s faith was very challenging.

              We also visited with Pastor Joseph of Church on the Rock in Garissa Town. He is the head of the local pastors association. He shared with us that there were some twenty churches in Garissa but only 6 were in Garissa Town; and the others were on the other side of the river in Mororo and Madogo. Pastor Joseph provided us with several contacts to follow up with. He was also very helpful in understanding more about Garissa, especially since he grew up in Garissa and had lived in the area for nearly 22 years. 

     

 

Mororo and Madogo

              Another one of our visits was on the other side of the Tana River opposite Garissa Town in an area called Mororo. We met with Pastor Samuel of Upper Room Baptist Church. Pastor Sammy was also very helpful and welcoming. He shared that once you cross the river it is not nearly as dangerous as it is in Garissa Town because you are dealing with “Kenyans” again. Sammy took us to Madogo where he lives and most all the other pastors as well. We met with Pastor Lazarus in Madogo and passed by Pastor Sammy’s house.

Missionary Family

              The day before we planned to leave Garissa to head south we met with one last pastor named Boniface. We had gotten Boniface’s contact from Pastor Sammy. Boniface proved to be a very valuable contact and contradiction. He was a contradiction because much of what he shared with us was very different from the other pastors. He was very valuable because he connected us to Jason Witt, a missionary who has been working and living in Garissa since 2008. 

    

                  We contacted Jason and decided that it was worth staying another night in Garissa to meet with Jason and filter some of the information we had gotten from all the pastors. Jason came and visited us at our hotel and even took us to a farm that he has outside of Madogo. His wife, children, and missionary partner’s wife came and had dinner with us. Jason helped us process a lot of the information that we had received, as well as confirm some of the things that we were told. Jason was a kindred spirit from the get go; and we are planning to have him and his family in Malindi with us for a week in June.

 

Bura and Hola

              Once we left Garissa it was a long day of driving on some of the worst roads in Kenya. We made our way down to Bura en route to Hola.   We stopped off in Bura to see the town. Bura is built around a huge irrigation scheme sponsored by the government. This town has no churches in it. Back in 2003 all the churches in Bura were burned by Muslims over the arrest of a Muslim cleric and have still not been rebuilt. There was a spiritual void in the area for sure.

     

 

                 From Bura we continued on to Hola. Our time in Hola was short but productive. We met with Pastor Amos of the AIC church in town. We were not able to meet with Pastor Amos long because he had a meeting to attend. We spent a good deal of time with Pastor Franklin who works with Samaritans Purse Ministry in Hola. He and his colleagues are doing various projects to help the community and build relationships to share the Gospel. They even have one of their staff members doing farming in the area as a means to make bridges into the local tribes. 

 

Garsen

              The week following the team’s departure Clayton, John, and I went to Garsen to meet with an Orma believer named Bocha Hussein. We heard his named mentioned several times during our various meetings, and it was great to get the chance to meet with him. Bocha is our first contact with an Orma and a Christian at that. Bocha was saved when he was a teenager as a result of a volunteer teacher that worked in the secondary school he attended. The volunteer was a Christian who worked in the school specifically to try and build relationships and to share the Gospel. Bocha has been to Bible College and is now back in his home area trying to be a witness and mobilize the churches and believers in the area to be witnesses to the Orma and Upper Pokomo. We really enjoyed our meeting with Bocha and look forward to more opportunities to visit with him in the future. 

What Does it all Mean?

              We learned so much during our time with all the contacts we made and all the places we visited. This is an extended report and I wanted to mention each of the places and names of those we visited so anyone who reads this report will pray for each of the men and places specifically. Pray also for these tribal groups by name: Munyuyaya, Orma, Malakote, Pokomo, Wata, Wardei, and Somali. All of these people groups need a gospel witness. In every area we went we found churches but they are primarily ministering to the Christians that are working in the cities and not reaching the local population.

              Every minister we spoke with shared of the dangers of working in the midst of a dominant Islamic culture, but all of them said that the call is what keeps them going. We are praying that God will make his call clear to us as we process all that we have seen and heard. Two other things stood out to us as we talked with various people that are trying to reach these unreached group, that is: Integrity and Patience. Reaching into these unreached people groups is going to require time, patience, creative access, and persistence. Bocha, the Orma Christian, said, “People need to see the Gospel and see that we are different.”

              We are praying and processing all the information that we have gathered and will continue to pursue contacts that we have. For the next year the Howells and the Straders will be working on language and culture adaptation. Our family will soon be on furlough and will be thanking the churches for supporting us and the work for another 3-year term and also sharing the vision for the future. God has great things in store for our team. Please pray for us all that God will give wisdom, discretion, and discernment.

If you would like more details on the events mentioned in this report you can read our blog at http://missionarytaylor.blogspot.com/

 

James Taylor PO Box 811 Malindi, Kenya 80200

Phone 011-254-713289014 missionarytaylor@gmail.com

Taylor Tribe

 

 

            This month was a month of accomplishment.  The kids prepared for and took their first ever standardized tests.  Ashley did such a great job preparing them and administering the test.  We made it very official, complete with testing signs all over the house.  It was a huge relief once their testing was over.  Then they just had a couple of weeks of school left. They worked hard and finished all of their lessons for the year.  Ashley and Lindsey surprised them with a field day on the last day.  They didn’t know what a field day even was.  Ashley posted a video of their reaction.  She thought they would all get excited as she told them.  It was funny because in the video Samuel knows he’s supposed to be excited, but he’s just not quite sure what the excitement is for.  When she explained they were very happy.  She had t-shirts made, I made walking tacos for lunch and everyone enjoyed the games including Gertrude, Mama Cedrik, and Safari.  In the evening Ashley organized an awards night.  Gertrude even gave out awards for Swahili class.  Josiah has officially graduated from Swahili.  He is now fluent in the language.  Actually a couple of Sundays ago, Josiah was plagued by Pastor Nicolas’ translation of Brother Chad’s sermon.  Nicolas was having a hard time following Brother Chad, and Josiah has gotten so proficient that it was killing him at how many mistakes were made.  They are all very glad to be done with school.  This has been one of the best years we’ve had.  We owe Ashley a great deal of gratitude for all she has done. 

                  While the guys were gone on the North Survey trip, Ashley and Lindsey helped the kids with Mother’s Day gifts.  I woke up to breakfast in bed, homemade cards, and signs all over the house.  It was a very nice surprise. I have been blessed with the sweetest kids. 

 

                  James and I celebrated our 17^th wedding anniversary on the 23^rd.  Ashley watched the kids for us so we could spend the weekend in Mombasa.  We had a nice couple of days away just relaxing and enjoying a couple of nice restaurants in Mombasa. 

                  Josiah turns 14 on the 8^th of June, and he wanted to go do Paintball with some friends in Mombasa to celebrate.  But since they were leaving to go to the states for the summer, we decided to celebrate a little early.  So on the 30^th we all went to Mombasa to play Paintball and ride Go-Karts.  Everyone had a lot of fun, and we even had time to go see the new movie San Andreas.  It was a fun day.                   

                  Now we are in furlough preparation mode.  We have been cleaning out closets, clothes, toys, and all kinds of junk.  The Straders will be staying in our house while we are gone, so I don’t have to pack up much, just our personal belongings that we don’t take with us.  We are excited and nervous about furlough.  Staying in Monticello for the year will be very different for us.  I look forward to what the Lord does over the next year. 

                  For those who have been praying for my sister, thank you so much. She finished her last round of chemo and will be going for a scan in a couple weeks to see the progress. 

Thanks for reading and praying.