Kisumu Yoder's: A New Beginning.......

"What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year.

"We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and it's first chapter is New Years Day."

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." Mother Theresa

2017!! How can it be here already!!! When we came to Kenya I thought our furlough time in 2017 was a LONG ways off! But it's coming faster than I could imagine! God is giving us another opportunity in this brand new year to begin anew... to serve Him with fresh vigor and energy. We have this moment... lets not waste it!

We were up bright and early Monday morning for the famous chicken butchering day! JoeAllen called it the "great gettin-up morning"! And Janice thought, "There's a better day a-coming!" Amen! I agreed with that! :) All in all things went well but it just takes longer than it used to when we had more manpower around here. We were SO thankful for Lester and Hannah's help! Every little bit helps so much! It's a nice feeling to have our freezer cleaned out and now fresh meat inside! After butchering we were treated to a WONDERFUL breakfast at Josephs. Becky made pancakes, gravy, eggs, and we had grilled sausages that someone from America shared with us!! The single ladies made some fabulous pumpkin crepes and we had fruit salad. Such a nice way to end that gruesome job!

We attended Rabuor's Bible study on Wednesday at Lucas and Dorine's house. Poor Lucas is in bad health and I was rather horrified at the sound of his breathing. It sounded to me like he is basically finished running to Doctors and is waiting til the day God will call him home. He pointed to his hard couch where he spends his days and says he is waiting there for Jesus to come. The day was hot and the house had no windows so it felt like a test of endurance for me. Sigh... I wish I wouldn't have so much trouble falling asleep on days like that! It feels like it takes all the energy I have to keep my eyes open! It was a relief when we ladies finally went outside where we were served chai and rice. Joe's came over that evening for our traditional beans and chapatis meal.

Wayne had a meeting with some Kajulu folks on Thursday. The wife of one of the members has not attended for a long time but after some encouragement she says she wants to return to the church. Please pray for.... Wayne spent the afternoon visiting members with Pastor Tobias. In the evening we had prayer meeting at Deans house as well as a welcome snack for Lester's family. We had soft pretzels and coke and fanta floats with homemade ice cream. Yum!! We are all so happy to have some "new blood" around here! Our girls are especially excited about their new friends. Our teachers had a sudden change when 3 new students arrived!

Friday was another VERY warm day and joint unit meeting with Nakuru was scheduled! Jake and Jan hosted the event. The Nakuru folks said it was 51 degrees that morning at home! Hard to imagine! They certainly had a warm welcome here and the dust was rolling in the brisk breeze! The meeting didn't seem as long as sometimes and the food afterward was great!! We had a visitor arrive during the meeting and he stayed with us overnight. His name is David Musikenya and he is from the Masai tribe. We met him at the Masai Mara where he works at Fairmont Safari Club. He became good friends with my nephew Lyndon and Wayne and David "hit if off" as well! He is a Believer and we hope he will share the good news of the Gospel with many others that he meets! He was very pleasant to have around. He enjoyed playing volleyball with our youth on the lane that eve.

On Saturday Wayne, Joseph, and Dean attended a funeral in the Mamboleo area. Our next door neighbor Ann's daughter-in-law died during childbirth. The beautiful baby girl that she delivered died as well. They had one 8 year old son and were so excited about this baby. It's been tough for the family. Ann mentioned in her speech that when death comes to their house it doesn't come knocking... it comes roaring in. There were hundreds of people at the burial.

Ahero was our place of worship this morning. It seemed like a fairly small group.. don't know where everyone was. Wayne preached a New Year's message. We're having a nice evening at home. Some are out on the lane playing spike ball. Vanessa and Bradlyn are very much into playing Dutch Blitz these days! It's hard to imagine the fierce cold weather that many of you are experiencing!!! How I wish we could even things out a bit! "I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content." (At least I'm trying). :) Clara

The great guttin up table!

Lester and his new job!

Lucas sitting on his couch where he's waiting for his Lord to come.

We were visiting an elderly sister on Thursday, when she brought this out to show us the "medicine" she bought to treat her foot wound!!! (Google it..)