Monthly Archives: March 2013

Gotta love Saturdays!!!!

Posted on by
1

What a wonderful day!

Thank you Lord!  Your mercies are new, Your blessings flow and Your faithfulness amazes me!  Your work and Your touch, Your Spirit moving before my eyes… YES, YES, YES!  I want to be a part of everything I can!

Rainy season in Kenya is beginning.  We woke to the gentle rain that lulled us to sleep all night.  A leisure morning, sweet time in God’s Word, devotional blessing and my Saturday prayer list which is all about missions and missionaries. My list is growing each week as God crosses our path with others serving Him far from home.

We headed out early with our first stop… Java House!  Ahhhh I needed that!  Didn’t even bother to see if it’s on the list of foods I can eat or not!

We then stopped by the home of a couple we go to language school with.  They have been serving in Senegal for 7 or so years and have recently been sent here to Kenya.  We sat and chatted for a short while and, well, you would have to meet them.  Jason and Dorothea Lee.  They have been great encouragers these last few months.  And Jason… He just reminds me of my boys… A combination of the two… Hilarious, sincere, crazy, class clown, smart and just a great guy who loves his family.  Dorothea, the perfect, hold-her-own help mate!  They have a beautiful family and it was fun to meet the kids today.

After a few errands we headed to Ed’s.  He was hosting a get together to welcome the Pottingers back from a furlough in the states.  Kelli is still in the states but will be headed back in a few weeks!

As we drove up we saw a little one run through the house!  We were greeted at the door with hugs and introductions. Just my style!

I first met Matt Pottinger when he came to teach at the conference in Kisii our team hosted in 2011.  Months before leaving the states, I met his wife, Peggy, via email when she responded to a post I did on the CCMW site. http://ccmissionarywomen.wordpress.com/ Her sweet encouragement had hinted that I would very much like to know her better.  Today totally confirmed that.

They have two girls… Almost 6-year-old, confident and talkative Kenya Grace.  Oh my she made me smile as she told me how she had been “making good choices” after I complimented her on helping her sister, 2-year-old Joelle.  Of course I had to spend a little time with them… Just to catch a grandma breath.  Check em out…  http://www.thep3inkisumu.blogspot.com/

It’s pretty sweet to meet people you have prayed for by name, prayed for their ministry and requests you know.  It really is a gift to see God stir a little “history” through those prayers and bind hearts through His Love!

THEN…. we met Ramsey & Vicky Vule and their very tall handsome 4-year-old Elhanan.  They are missionaries in Sudan, where Ramsey is from.  I spent maybe an hour in a conversation of 7, and while I’ve learned more about them since coming back and reading their blog… I just felt that sweet connection in Christ!  You can read more about them too…    http://vules.blogspot.com/

There is this unspoken bond, this comradery, this unity that I have observed among the missionaries here.  And when I just looked up that word for the spelling… It’s definition…  the special comradery that exists between soldiers that have experienced the crucible of combat together.  Well, that runs even deeper as I sit and listen to them talk and share and discuss… Well… The battle field.

So… In the last few weeks… I’ve met some sisters… Camille, Sissy, Vicky and Peggy, along with a few I am afraid I can’t remember their names… So… I’ll just call them Sweetie.   Anyways… As just this morning I found myself missing friends with whom I have long history… I still prayed through my list of missionaries, stopping on each one and asking God to fill them, anoint them, comfort them, assure them, remind them….  Praying for them as I am learning their needs suggested through my own.

And… Today… God showed me His faithfulness as I see Him building a family like He has blessed us with over the last 8, 10, 15, 20 even 25 years.

A different branch in the family tree, a different part of the battle field, but indeed, the same family and the same purpose!

OHHHH. To top it off…. I came back home to meet with Elizabeth.  We sat on the front porch. Read a couple of chapters in Joshua and she shared a little of her battle…. When she left she was encouraged by Gods Word and she was expectant of His promises.  All I can say is our God is so amazing and He is moving in ways so that the Word of The Lord can be fulfilled!  AND… He is letting me sit in another front row seat!!   Oh yeah… Let me be a part, Lord, I wanna be a part!

It’s a ride….

Posted on by
2

Well the last couple weeks…. A roller coaster….

Ed_Kelli

A week in Nairobi at the Compean Safe House was restful and refreshing.  A washing machine to do laundry among other amenities made our stay even better!  Top that with a great host, a new friend from Cali and an opportunity to meet several other seasoned missionaries.  It was really a blessing of a week on so many levels.  It was Ed, Tom, Randy and myself.  Please keep Kelli, Ed’s wife in prayer as she cares for her mama back in California who was diagnosed with progressive cancer.  I was sorry she was not there to just have some time with her but the guys were fun and we monitored things from more of a GI Joe/Boy Scout/super hero angle.  We had much time in prayer, some devotions and just time of hearing of God’s story in one another’s lives.

The wait was long and much like hurricanes in Florida that show Tampa in the cone of the projected path of a cat 4 or 5.  We had supplies of water, batteries, food and gas-filled cars.  We had the crackle of a transistor radio going much of the time.  At one point I could hear the crackle but knew the one in the living room was off… I looked out the window and Manasa, who works on the compound, was sweeping and watering plants with a small one sounding from his pant pocket.

All of Kenya was leaning in and the sense of uncertainty was strong.  So many praying for peace after the tragedy of the last election when tribal tensions rose to violence that took over 1000 lives and over 600,000 people displaced.

This violence is not who or what Kenya is.  I’ve sat with them.  I’ve sung praises with them.  I’ve gathered spinach in their shambas and chatted with them in their dukas as I select fruit for dinner.  I have ridden with them on matatus and I have refereed badminton games… And, I have sat together as we open the Word of God and cried out for His Spirit to fall and cover this nation, her people and the president-elect.  And yet – the same enemy that plagues us in America, plagues us here and the stir of evil is no different.

So far, so good, as the saying goes.  Aside of some isolated incidences that were quickly diffused by authorities… All has been calm.  Oh sure, armed solders on the bench outside the grocery store or walking down your street, or checking your car in every parking lot you enter is a bit unnerving, it has actually become routine in a very short time.  THAT in itself reveals just how quickly our senses can be numbed… huh? 

Please keep praying.  The election is being strongly challenged and the reports Randy reads each night stirs just a bit of anxiousness, which we are very very quick to make our requests know to God and indeed, HIS perfect peace guards our heart!

Now, on Some other notes…

We are filled with thanksgiving for our new car! 
Traffic Jam Wow wow wow what a blessing and a constant reminder of God’s provision!  But if I may ask you to keep this in prayer as you praise….  After all of maybe 2 hours on the roads Randy has announced he drives just like a Kenyan.  Just so you know… This is not good on two levels…. He now thinks he can drive like they drive…. AND…. Driving like Kenyans is not so good.  To help you understand, one evening as we walked into Pastor Ed’s home, I did request that we just go head and schedule marriage counseling.  

First Randy says I am to navigate and be his second pair of eyes keeping watch for the unmarked speed bumps on the highway, people, often children, darting across the roads, round abouts, piki pikis, roaming herds, 

2323254090_073ede4f94_z
 pot holes that would alert sink hole monitors back home, all while watching the map and giving directions. 
Now, understand, there are ZERO traffic lights which means ZERO composure opportunities….  You know, I’ve said enough, you get the picture, right?

When we came back Sunday I saw my new friend Elizabeth down the lane.  She waved with both hands and came running.  “God is good” she told me!  She explained how she had read the verses I had written down on a card I had left for her.  I had left it with another woman the day we left, disappointed I had missed her.  She told me she had read all the verses and honestly, talked so fast and excited that I missed lots of it.  We are meeting Saturday to study the “Word of God”.  She is the most excited I’ve ever seen anyone and I walked away after a big hug from her filled with such joy and yet convicted for taking the idea of sitting with His Word for granted.  Oh God, deepen my love for You and Your Word!

OH OH OH…. We’ve been approved for our Work Permits!  This is huge and nothing short of God!  We have school mates that are still waiting after four, six and eight months!  Keep praying as we wait “to receive instruction on the collection” but do join us as we thank Jesus!

God is teaching much!  We become more aware each day of our increasing need for Him.  We are so aware of the need to be in His Word and on our knees.  And over the last couple of weeks we have heard more and more of the darkness in the Kisii region with witchcraft and tribal traditions that I definitely am sensing God both preparing us as well as emphasizing our need for prayer.  PLEASE KEEP us, Kenya and the people of Kisii in prayer!

Ah, yea, keep the language in prayer… Nuff said there!

That’s about it for now.  Please know we love, appreciate and pray for you all constantly.  Be blessed and press in, our Lord is Great!

Kari

Sunday in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa

Posted on by
5
This morning our friend dropped us at the Nakumat on his way to his church in Githurai.  We were disappointed we were missing church there but excited for yet another of God’s answered prayers.
We took a cab to the Mennonite Guest House.  We had been invited by Caroline, a new friend.  On the first Sunday of the month, they have a Hymn Sing and this is her last, after being on staff for a couple years.  She leaves today to join her husband, David, in Malaysia.
First…. the Hymn Sing…. We were in dining room, maybe 60 people, all holding hymnals as we walked in.  Ahhh… I grew up singing these songs… ole time gospel, four part harmony, everyone sings and it was sweet.  I look around and there were many children.  They actually were the ones that had most of the requests.
At one point I spied a young boy, my Johnny’s age, he was gazing around, exploring everything he could while sitting there still.  I love boys, I love to watch them.  As he counted the beams in the ceiling, his eye caught something outside and he  stretched to see better.  I love all this but what struct me most… That boy never stopped singing.  Oh come thou Fount of Every Blessing…, Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound…, Christ we do all adore Thee…  He knew every word and his little heart sang as his little eyes explored.
Just behind him was another boy, a few years older, maybe 10 or 12.  He too was singing every song, not quite as distracted.  In fact several times I noticed him close his eyes with expectancy of the words coming up.  “Prone to wander…”  He squinted his eyes as if to relate to these words.  10 years old??  Where has he wandered? I ask The Lord.  I have never seen such emotion in young children as they not only sang songs, but their hearts prayed the words.
It made me think of the verse….  Write them on your heart. Proverbs, Deuteronomy, 2 Corinthians.  All admonishing that His Word be written on our hearts.  While not all the hymns were scripture… They did cry out praise, worship and prayers.
After the last song, Caroline came up and gave me a huge hug.  I needed that.  She then walked us out to our new car.  Yep, God has provided for both David and Caroline  AND  us!  He has indeed answered both our prayers and brought us together for a purpose beyond the transfer of a vehicle… that I am sure of.  We had a sweet time of prayer together, got in the car and she smiled as she told me she had left a CD in the player just for us…. 10,000 reasons…  I tried to have it playing as you read through this post – but the internet speed is a bit challenged here sometimes.  I have, however, put the words below — and as you read through them — may they be the prayer song of your heart….
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore
Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
Lord, I’ll worship Your holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
I’ll worship Your holy name