More Firsts...................

"Look back and thank God, look forward and trust God. God opens doors that no man can shut, and closes doors that no man open."

   This quote was shared with me by my Sister Marla. It comes from a book titled, "Free Indeed."  She read this around the time that Joe and Glenda came to Kenya and it has been an encouragement to her.  And to me!!!  Before we crossed the big waters, and lived in Wytheville where I was surrounded with my whole family, I had a feeling at times that I need to enjoy those times we had with my sisters and my dear parents because it may not always be this way.  And now I understand... I had NO idea how much our lives would change... and the fact that my sister is actually here now and living next door to us is still a marvel to me! :)  God opens doors and closes them and we do well to cooperate with His perfect plan. Tommys we MISS you SO much!  May God be with you as you walk through new doors in America!  

  Its been an interesting week! Monday Wayne had pastor's meeting which lasted most of the day like usual.  On Tuesday afternoon Wayne and Maurice went to visit three different church members in preparation for communion on Sunday.  They struck out and did not find any of them.  We trust that even days like that are not in vain..  There is always someone to pray for and small ways to help.  

On Wednesday instead of going to Bible study with Wayne, I went with Lavina to the Rabour church to take food and other supplies that the ladies there would need to cook for all the Pastors and wives who attended the Ministers Meeting here in Kisumu. The meeting was for all the CBF pastors and their wives from Nakuru and Kisumu... including the Nationals.  We all met at the Rabour church for lunch on Thurs. and were served beans, chapatis, and cabbage.  It was very good!!  Our family felt privileged indeed to have Grampa and Gramma Yoder with us for the weekend!!  They arrived on Wed. afternoon with Lavon and Jadon Stoltzfus and stayed with us until this afternoon when Kore Beachy and Joe Fisher took them back to Nakuru.  We were so glad they were able to attend the Ministers meeting with us and learn to know some of the other Pastors.  One of our favorite parts of the meeting was the singing!!  It seemed everyone put their hearts into it and we loved singing these beautiful Swahili songs... as well as some Luo.  William Ondeyo shared the first message titled, "Stewards of God's Heritage."  We were challenged to take care of what God has entrusted us with.  After that Wayne shared a challenging message on "Vibrant Church Life."  Samuel from the Engashura church interpreted for him and did a great job!  And then we had separate workshops for the men and ladies.  Rosemary Ondeyo and Debbie Miller shared practical pointers with the women and I was blessed!!  The evening meal was served at Joseph and Becky's house where the tent was set up.  My job was to cook up 20 cups of rice!  Other ladies made chicken stew and we enjoyed cole slaw as well.  We were kind of chased home with a downpour of about 2" of rain that eve. but we are SO thankful for every drop!  We are experiencing great relief from the heat and dust!  The weather is great!!

   Friday was another inspiring day.  We met at Josephs for Breakfast between 7 and 8 o'clock and then enjoyed more singing.  There were 3 messages that morning.... Thomas Mboya shared on "The danger of Covetousness", Dean Miller on "Lessons from the life of Daniel", and Tobias Osur on "Running with Endurance".  From there we went to the Rabour church again where we were served ugali, beef, and sukumu.  It feels like we have a better connection with the National pastors now and for Wayne and I that is a real blessing since most of Wayne's focus now will be working with Pastors.  After lunch Wayne, his Dad and Mom, and JoeAllen went to visit one of the Lela members.  Wayne needed to confirm with her that she was ready for Communion.  What a blessing to find her broken and surrendered and willing to confess the bitterness she had been harboring for so long!  Friday eve. we went out to the Yacht club by Lake Victoria for our evening meal.  We were happy to be joined by Grampas, Joe and Glenda, and Kore Beachy, and Joe Fisher!  It was very windy that eve. but not too cold and at least we didn't have trouble with mosquitoes.  We saw a hippo at a distance but heard later that eve. that Marlins and Gerolds who ate down the road at Kiboko Bay saw hippos on the land not far from where they ate!  :) After coming home we spent some time watching the volleyball game.

   Saturday was spent enjoying time with Grampa's and getting some things ready for Communion on Sunday.  Wayne ran some errands in town and took his Dad along on the piki!  Later in the day he took his mom for a spin and bought some pottery that we've been wanting for the porch.  Mom is a bit braver than I am!!  Maybe one of these days I'll be willing to brave the piki but for now I'm quite satisfied to stay home! :)

   We experienced our first Ministers meeting this past week since our arrival in Kenya and now today we had our first Communion service that Wayne was in charge of.  I was a bit nervous about whether we would remember everything and do things the way they're usually done, but God was with us and provided strength.  Bishop Eric Ogwe and his wife were there for the service and he shared a good message with us.  Dad Yoder shared in a Devotional and that was a blessing as well!  The people seemed happy to meet Wayne's mom and dad!  Washing feet with these people is a real blessing but oh my!!  The water gets dirty very fast and we try to trust God to take care of the germs! :)  I'm sure Jesus very lovingly washed the feet of those He served without thought of germs and such.  JoeAllen is doing very well with learning culture and language. His interest and eagerness to learn is a blessing to us already!  He drove home from Church today for the first time! :)  Joe and Glenda are in the throes of language class and believe me!  That's a stretch!!  We try to help out with meals and babysitting sweet little Tiffany where we can because we well remember the stresses of language study!  Eric and his wife joined us at our house for lunch today and we enjoyed hearing him share more about Luo culture.  One thing he said that was very hard for me to believe and accept was that fact that when a family member is sick and nigh to death and there is no money to buy medication that would save their life... they will ask family for money to buy meds but sometimes they will say "no" they have no money.  But then when the person dies and there is a huge funeral expense, they will get all kinds of help from the family to help pay for the funeral. They go "all out" to make a show at the funeral but WHY oh WHY don't they do more to preserve life???!!! It makes me feel like screaming!  But God help me to accept different cultures and pray for people who will be willing to value God's Word over cultural practice.  

   Thanks for praying for us!!  God is definitely using your prayers to help us through all the difficult "firsts" that we experience here in Kenya!  Our prayers are with the Ab Fisher family who are going through a very difficult time since their son was in an accident.  May God be with you in a very special way and give you peace.  Clara

Gerold's, Stacy and Joe's in language class.  

Projects???

Look Mamma, I'm dirty!!!  (Welcome to Kenya!!)

Just for goofy!

Plumeria blossoms in our back yard.  You should smell them!!

Leftovers... (Tiffany wanted to pet the chicken)

Men's session at Ministers Meetings on Spirit Led Interviews (Thanks Mark!)

Ladies session

Fellowship

Freeman Byler and Thomas Mboya

Just Chillin'

More than one use for a church house!

Dad's enjoying the meal.

Mom and Zilpa

See, Grandma's do motor cycles..!!

Pumping water for feetwashing

Dad and Peter

Gonza washing Pasta' Joe's feet

I love this picture!!  Old, blind and hard of hearing Brother Vincent; is washing the feet of Brother Edwin, one of the youngest men in church.

It sure is great to have dad's here!

Adjustments................

"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."  Isa. 40:29  This verse blessed me so much this past week one day when I wasn't feeling well and had fears about how I would ever be able to do the work God has called us to here.  I'm finding it to be so true that  "Where God guides, He provides."  Pake Yesu!!  (Praise Jesus!)

   This past week has been so full of emotions... so many ups and downs. The compound family met in Tommy's carport on Tues. morning for a farewell prayer.  I was glad that we didn't need to say goodbye to Tommys yet that morning so as soon as prayer was over I slipped away to our house so I didn't need to watch all the goodbye's.  I needed to finish preparations for out trip to Nairobi anyway.  Around 10 am. Tommy, Marji and their youngest children, as well as Wayne and I, Bradlyn and Vanessa, left the compound with a van loaded on top with 23 totes and suitcases.  Our older children left a bit later in another vehicle with Jadon Stoltzfus driving.  The drive to Nakuru was uneventful and we arrived at Tony's house 3 hours later.  Judith had prepared a wonderful Belizean meal for us... fryjacks and beans!!  She had some good help from her mom too I'm sure! Its so special to see Wayne's mom and dad once in a while even though we haven't been with them for a long period of time yet. The food was great and it was a blessing to have some time to eat and relax before we continued our journey to Nairobi.  From Nakuru to Nairobi our older children rode with Freeman Byler's who were taking Kayla Yoder to the airport for her flight home as well.  We had some quality time to visit with Tommy and Marji that day and we are glad we had the opportunity to take them to the airport.  We arrived at Hampton House in good time and then ordered some Domino's pizza for our supper.  We didn't stay up late that night because Wayne and Tommy's needed to be up early to go to the airport.  I didn't spend a long time saying goodby to Marji... basically said, "See ya, love ya, Bye!"  I hate goodbye's SO much!  I've been so grateful for our easy means of communicating since they left!  We can still email and so it doesn't feel like they just dropped off the face of the earth! :)  

  On Wed. we took it very easy... not rushing at all. Wayne came back from the airport and climbed back into bed for a while.  I helped Bradlyn do some of his Kindergarten work that day and Vanessa and Brad spent a lot of time playing outside.  There is a nice play area for children outside Hampton House.  We did spend some time at the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi that day and that was neat!  There are beautiful, graceful giraffes that come and eat right out of your hands.  They are amazing creatures!  That evening we ate at Java House and when we walked in we noticed a mzungu lady sitting in the booth next to us who was smiling at us and soon turned around to talk.  She said she was raised Mennonite in Kalona, Iowa and her last name was Yoder!!! Imagine her surprise when we told her we are Yoders as well! :)  Small world I guess!  She has relatives in Goshen, IN as well.  She has lived in Kenya for quite a number of years and is married to a Kenyan dairy farmer.  They seem to have a good business making dairy products.  Maybe we will look them up someday.  Wedneday eve. excitement mounted as we headed to the airport to pick up Joe and Glenda and sweet little Tiffany!!  Also Stacy Byler who lives behind our house and flew home for a week to be with her family.  We were able to watch through some big windows outside the terminal where a staircase came down to the baggage claim area.  We anxiously watched the stairs and FINALLY there they come!!!!!!!!!!  :)  It felt like we were dreaming!  After some time they collected all their luggage and by the way... every single piece came!! PTL!  And then a joyful reunion!  Tiffany seemed to remember us and she doesn't seem to have any big adjustments at all.  I think she will love Kenya!  It was after midnight til we settled down for the night and so the night was too short.  Joes slept well and the next morning found us heading toward Nakuru soon after 9 am.  We haven't heard a lot of first impressions from Joe's yet.  I guess I will let them tell you what they're thinking. :)  I would've loved to know what was going through their minds sometimes as we travelled home!  In Nakuru we met with Tony's and Dad and Mom at Java House for lunch.  Kore Beachy and Joe Fisher joined us as well.  It felt good to have a break from travelling once again but we were feeling ready to GET HOME!  So we didn't stay real long and made good time to Kisumu that afternoon.  Joe's were barely out of the van until people came to welcome them.  Everyone was so kind and quickly had the van unloaded and then they had a tour of their new home.  Glenda was pleasantly surprised!  The house was nicer than she expected it to be.  Marji did so well in making it look clean and inviting and also the rest of the compound ladies worked hard while we were gone to strip and wax floors and get everything shining clean.  We have been taking care of most of Joe's meals this weekend so that they have time to get settled in and figure out which end is up! :)   Wayne has taken Joe on several piki rides and I don't think Joe is too sure what to think of that yet!  Can't say that I blame him!  Our children have been having a blast with Tiffany!  She's as cute as a button and they love taking pictures of her.  She can talk very well for a little one who just turned two!  

   I had a bad scare on Friday night!  We were sleeping peacefully when we were suddenly awakened by the sound of something falling.  I was quite sure it was a book or magazine that was being carried by someone and it fell in the hallway.  At about the same instant I realized that of all nights we had forgotten to turn on the motion sensors!  Not a good feeling!!  I "froze" and nervously watched the crack in the doorway to see if anyone would go past our door.  Nothing more happened and eventually Wayne got up and checked things out.  He found nothing!  And that's when I discovered that there was a calendar laying on the floor in our bedroom. The sticky hook had come unglued! :)  So all's well that ends well and we're SO thankful it was only a calendar!!  

   Our church service this morning went well.  There were a few more testimonies in preparation for Communion next Sunday and Wayne preached a good message on "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake."  The people seemed happy to meet their new pastor!  They are still a bit shy about it all but it takes time to "warm up" and feel comfortable with changes like this.  We enjoyed a lunch of our usual chicken, rice and beans with Joe's and Carolyn and after a good rest this afternoon we are getting ready for a relaxing evening.  I think Linnford and Kay plan to come join us and help us eat breadsticks... and maybe Joes as well. 

  We want to say a BIG thank you to the youth group at home as well as Clarissa's classmates who gave her the surprise of her life when they sent a very nice camera with Joes for her Birthday!!  I've never seen her so excited about a gift and almost speechless!!  She has been VERY blessed and having a great time shooting pics!! :)

   Thanks so much for your prayers on our behalf!!  And many thanks to those who sent cards, letters, etc. with Joes!!  We appreciate all of you and wish you peace!  Clara

Just a few quotes from me..

"I'm now at the age where I've got to prove that I'm just as good as I never was."

"Truth often suffers more by the heat of it's defenders, then from the arguments of it's opposers."  William Penn

-Wayne

Laying out bedding to spray for bed bugs

Good bye for now.....

Lunch at Tony's (Thank's Judith!!)

Hampton House courtyard

The brand new terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport!!

Tiffany lovin the front seat!!

Java House, Nakuru

Tiffany with the Nakumatt elephant 

Joe getting cell phone service

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New Friends

What a playground!!

Nessa's Party