Kisumu Yoder's: November 2016

"The family is one of nature's masterpieces."

"The love of a family makes life beautiful."

"The love in our family flows strong and deep, leaving us memories to treasure and keep."

Greetings from Kisumu!! You probably wonder what's up with the Yoder family! No news from here for quite a while! Well we've been enjoying some wonderful family times! Guess who was here?!! My own dear sister Ruth, Mahlon, and their 6 children... Lyndon, Kendra, Angela, Kenton, Sherilyn, and Keisha! This trip was a dream come true for their family... and for us! It felt like a gift from God and we feel so blessed that things worked out so well for them to come and ticket prices were VERY cheap! Kenya was home to Mahlon, Ruth, and their 3 oldest children from 1999 to 2001. Kendra and Angela were born in Nakuru, so it was special for them to see the land where they were born. They even got to visit the hospital and the Doctor who delivered them!

Mahlons arrived in Nairobi on Nov. 11. JoeAllen and Glenda had the privilege of picking them up at the airport. Wayne had a CBF Executive Committee meeting in Kericho on Thursday and a Joint Pastors Meeting on Friday, so it worked out best for Joe's to pick them up in Nairobi and then we took them back at the end of their visit. We sent Shonda and Vanessa with them to meet their cousins and enjoy the trip to Kisumu with them. What a reunion when they FINALLY arrived here on Fri. eve. after many hours of travel!! They were very weary but still in good spirits and we were SO happy to see them!! Ruth and I could hardly run fast enough to meet each other! :) The weekend was fairly relaxed. We wanted to give them time to get over jet lag. For the first part of their time here Mahlon's stayed in the empty house that we've been using for visitors here on the compound. It was a blessing for them to have a place of their own and their house was centered across the lane between Joe's and us.

On Sunday Mahlon's and us attended church at Lela with Joe's. There was Baptism and Communion scheduled there so it was a big day but it went well and hopefully Mahlon's enjoyed the experience. There's really no comparison to church at home! A fine young man, Amani, was baptized that day as well as an old man, Kisera, who was in Instruction class for years but seemingly could never come through with a clear testimony. His mind was not always clear. But lately he was doing better and attending very faithfully so Wayne and Joe felt comfortable with going ahead with Baptism. The old man was SOOO happy about that! Sunday eve. we had an informal unit activity at Jake and Jan's house. We sat around the fire until it rained, then went inside to visit. We were very happy to have Marlin, Lavina, and Lavon, and Jadon Stoltzfus with us that weekend! They flew to Kenya to help on the work project in Nakuru, building the steel roof structure for the new Lamp and Light office. They spent two weekends in Kisumu and we were sorry that we didn't get to see more of them. With having our own visitors here our schedules were full but at least we saw them and they seemed very happy to be here! I'm sure the church at Kajulu was delighted to see them again! We also enjoyed having John and Lois Stoltzfus ( Lester and Hannah's son) in the area for a few weeks. They were a blessing to us and a delight to have around. John had lived here in Kisumu with his family for about 5 years as a teen. The Ahero people were glad to see John as well and to meet his wife.

On Monday Mahlon joined the Pastor's at their meeting. Ruth, Glenda, Clarissa, Kendra, and I went to the Muslim shops to do some fabric shopping. Since there was not a vehicle available for us to drive we hired a tuk tuk. That was an adventure! :)

On Tues. Mahlon and Joe went to visit Bishop Eric. Wayne visited Pastor William from Rabour and then Mahlon and Joe met him there to visit a bit as well. Wayne also took the piki to Kajulu that day where he had a Pastor's meeting. We ladies spent most of the day here but went to Nakumatt for a bit and then in the late afternoon we took Mahlon's to the Animal market. That was a true African experience for Mahlon's children... all the bargaining and pressure to buy, etc.!

On Wednesday Joe's, Mahlon's and us headed to Masai Mara! That was a first for Joe's and us and we LOVED it there! Our minds were often drawn to God and his wonderful Creation. We ladies had a welcome break from cooking and the game drives were great. We were hoping to see the big 5 but we only saw 4 of them. We never saw a leopard or cheetah but we had great lion sightings and I was SO excited when we saw a group of 13 elephants!! I was a bit unprepared for how close we got to the wild creatures! The drivers drove right through the group of elephants and we got so close to some of the lions that if the lion would've wanted a quick meal she could've taken one flying leap and been inside our open window! We were "privileged" to watch a lion snatch up a baby wart hog for a snack. We were very close to her when she ate it. One of the highlights for all of us was when a large group of Masai's came to the Lodge where we ate our meals and danced for us. They were all decked out with beads and traditional dress and different hair pieces. I've never seen the likes!! They can jump like crazy! Makes me tired to look at them. One of the young men who was part of the "march" professes to be a Christian and works at the Mara. He took a liking to Lyndon and grabbed his hand while they were jumping and got Lyndon to jump too. He has been in touch with Lyndon and Wayne several times since we were there. Wayne gave him a Bible. The young man, David, gave Lyndon a bracelet that he was wearing on his arm. Another highlight was the hippos!! The worst thing was that they were so loud at night that some of our group had trouble sleeping. Just below our cabins there was a river where a large group of over 60 hippos congregated. They are such monstrous creatures and so ugly that they're really interesting! :)

On Friday we bounced and bumped our way back to Kisumu... close to 5 hours. Mahlon drove one of the mission vans to Nakuru where their family spent the weekend. They wanted to visit their friends from long ago and of course we wanted them to have the privilege. Joe's and us weren't able to be with them there because of responsibilities here. Soon after we arrived home from the Mara we were blessed with more visitors!! Kore Beachy was here as well as his sister and family from Romania... Titus and JoAnn Miller and their 7 children. They stayed until Tuesday. We had a very nice time with them and hope they enjoyed their African experiences! On Sunday Wayne had a nice break from preaching. Titus preached at Kajulu and had a great message! There was Communion service there that day. For lunch Kore, Titus' family, and us were invited to widow Jennifer's house for lunch. We really enjoyed the food and fellowship... also the time spent singing! They sang some beautiful songs for us and then Titus' family sang a Romanian song which we all enjoyed so much! Their young boys can really sing! We were all invited over to Joe's lawn that eve. to sit around the fire and enjoy our meal.

Mahlon's arrived back from Nakuru on Sun. eve. and we were ready to have them back! On Monday Mahlons, Titus' family, Joe's, Kore, and us went to Jennifer's Gardens to spend our family day there. On our way up the very rocky hill our van wasn't able to get up over the rocks so we backed up and tried again. We made it that time but unfortunately a rock poked a hole into the transmission pan and we had a major leak. The van lost power and so Kore towed us up the rest of the way with his powerful Cruiser. Soon after we arrived at the Gardens Wayne and Joe left with Joe's vehicle to go to the town of Nandi Hills and get some transmission fluid. Mahlon and Wayne were able to patch the hole with a rubber glove and a ratchet strap! Our trip home went well... Thank God!! More memories made! :) We had a very relaxing day together and enjoyed the chicken that Wayne grilled for us as well as potatoes, and cabbage salad. Yummy!! Our whole crew was invited to Deans for supper that eve.!! Bless Barbara Jean's heart for cooking for such a big crowd! The food was great and the break from cooking was great too!!

On Tues. Mahlon's school children joined ours at school again. Our children loved having their cousins there!! Mahlon, Ruth, Wayne and I went to Nick and Lillian's house in Nyagondo that day. We picked up Fred's wife Caroline on the way and she spent the day at Nicks with us as well. Mahlon's knew these two couples from their time in Nakuru years ago. Lillian got Ruth and I to help her with preparing the food. We chopped up tomatoes, onions, and helped with the chicken, and stirred ugali. The food was SO good! Caroline is a very sweet lady as well and we really enjoyed our time with them. Nick shared some of his discouragements with us that day. It appears he is experiencing a bitter reaping for things in the past and it's very hard for the church to trust again. Pray for Wayne and Pastor Mark as they work through very difficult things. On our way home we dropped Caroline off at her house and then stayed a bit to visit with her husband Fred as well. He was very happy to see Mahlons and they told us the story of what happened during the riots in Nakuru back in 2008 when their house was burned as well as most everything they owned. Caroline and her children narrowly escaped death. God protected them as they escaped; walking right through a crowd of ruffians that were looking for them to kill them. It so happened that Fred had Mahlon's family picture in his back pack when the house was burned so they still have that!

Wayne had a LONG meeting with Pastor Mark and the church brothers in Dienya on Wed. Mahlon's and some of the children went with Joe's to Bible study at old Mama Silpa's house that day. Early that morning Joe's and Mahlon's enjoyed a boat ride on Lake Victoria. I stayed home and made breakfast for the crew when they got back. In the eve. we all enjoyed a meal at the Yacht Club. The lake was so beautiful and relaxing. It ended up raining then and got quite chilly but we enjoyed it anyway! We were very happy to have Tony and Judith's family join us there! They stayed in Kisumu until Fri. so we got to spend time with some of the Bender family and some of the Yoder family on Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Day was enjoyed by all!! In the morning Tony took his former students, Lyndon, Kendra, Angela, and Clarissa out to Java House for breakfast ... Shonda joined them too. they also went to the Equator. According to pictures they had a nice time! Jake and Jan hosted the Thanksgiving event at their house. The single ladies here did a great job of decorating the tables. Ruth made some of her famous Amish roast (dressing) and I made some Refreshing summer salad. Glenda did chicken. We also had ham, mashed potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli salad, and pumpkin torte for dessert!! Everything was great! Thanks to all the visitors from America who brought us ingredients to make this special meal! Joseph and Becky are also blessed with visitors right now....her brother Laverne and Evelyn Schlabach and family from Missouri. Evelyn is a daughter of Willie Miller so we were able to make some connections there. Dean and Barbara Jean were in charge of activities that day and did a good job of making it interesting! :)

On Friday our family and Mahlon's headed to Nairobi! We stopped in Nakuru a while to do a bit more shopping, etc. Our trip went well for the most part but I'm always SO relieved to reach our destination safe and sound. These roads are far from relaxing! I wasn't easy to say goodbye to my wonderful sister and family but we are left with GREAT memories! Thanks so much for coming and brightening our days! God was so good to us in granting safety, health, and strength! Truly family ties are a wonderful blessing from God! Our trip home on Sat. was rather quiet and uneventful. Sunday was another big day! Baptism and Communion was scheduled at Dienya. A husband, wife, and two other sisters were baptized, and another lady taken in as a full member. It's a nice feeling to know that all 5 Communion services are behind us now. We did enjoy each one though! It's a blessing to connect with the churches in this way. The service lasted until close to 1:30 and then we went to Marks for a very delicious lunch! Thanks Mary Ellen!! We were relieved to reach home safely soon after 5. Whew!! We were all tired last eve. and ready for bed!

This ended up being a very long letter!! I won't blame you at all if you don't take time to read it all! Thanks again to all our wonderful church family and friends who sent all kinds of nice things for us with Mahlons! We feel indebted to you and unworthy! God bless you real good!!! Clara for the Yoder's