Kisumu Yoder's: The way of peace....

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Hendrix

Peace... It does not mean to be in a place where there is no trouble, noise, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart."

"To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Luke 1:79

I found this verse in Luke a while before Christmas and was so blessed by this prophecy.... Jesus will guide us into the way of peace. Pake Yesu! (Praise Jesus!) What a wonderful promise! I love quotes and verses about peace. If we have peace in our hearts regardless of circumstances, we are blessed indeed!!

We have been enjoying a few days of partly cloudy skies and even a few drops of rain! It makes the temperatures so much more bearable! I hate to see our lawn completely brown and crunchy. It's hard not to get discouraged and especially when I think of our dear friends in the various churches who are suffering from drought. Please pray for them!

Mark and Mary Ellen Beachy, Markus, and Micah, have gone to their homeland. It wasn't an easy thing to say goodbye and I confess it made me struggle with homesickness for a while. But I keep praying and asking God to help me be content where He has called us. And He is faithful!! The day after Marks left we attended Bible study at Dorice's house (a member from the church that Marks left). I had a nice talk with a few of the ladies and I was SO blessed when I asked Mary Aluoch how she is doing... with the change and all. She replied, "I have God, I'm OK." Those were the exact words I needed to hear! I have God too, so I will be ok. I thought some of the members seemed a little disheartened when we first met that day but Wayne encouraged them with the stories of Elijah and Elisha, and Moses and Joshua and how God will continue to supply their needs in spite of the change in leadership, etc. God has a plan for the future of His church. We are trying to make the change as easy as possible for these dear people!

Thursday eve. a week ago the compound met together to hear the Christmas program by the school students. We really enjoyed the presentation and were very blessed in spite of the fact that there are only 8 students right now! Wayne Miller (Gerolds), and Westin Miller (Deans) helped them out by adding some tenor and bass parts. I was so relieved that Bradlyn did ok with all his parts and didn't act too shy or ashamed to speak up! :) I've always been a bit nervous about my first graders! :)

On Friday there was a wedding in Oroba. The couple's names were David and Leah. Most of the folks from the compound attended but Wayne, Clarissa, and Shonda were the only ones from our house that went. I stayed home to cook supper for Stacy's family. We really enjoyed getting to know them a bit and it appeared that they had some great family times in Kisumu! In case some don't know who they are... they are Robert and Sharon Byler, Heidi, Amy, and David. Robert is Bennie Beiler's nephew. We were so happy for Stacy! We know how much it means when family comes!

Christmas is a time that makes us keenly aware of what we're missing at home! But even though we didn't go anywhere for a vacation like most of the compound folks did, we tried to make the time special for our children, and we had a very nice week! Josephs, Jakes, and us were the only ones here for most of the week. Joe's went to Nairobi to pick up Elliot's passport and then stayed a few days for a break from the norm. Deans spent the week at Marks house in Ngiya. Gerolds went to Mount Elgon. We had the "privilege" of doing other people's chores. :) Last Sunday we went to the Dienya for the Christmas service since Mark's had already gone and they had no Pastor. They made the day special by having some groups sing for us, and a few shared testimonies. Wayne preached a message titled, "The 4,000 year promise." After church we handed everyone a lollipop and they were happy with that! That eve. we, along with some of the rest of the compound were together at Joe's for an evening of fellowship and food around the fire.

On Tuesday our family was invited to Nick and Lillian's house in Ngiya. As usual Lillian got my girls and I to help cook the food and we enjoyed that although it made me extremely thankful for the convenience of my kitchen here , with a gas stove, etc. It's a really good experience for our children to see how things are done in this culture! We were served beef, ugali, wonderful chapatis, eggs, beans, and cabbage. So nice!!

Wednesday was the day we took time to do special things with our children... first of all we did some shopping at Jubilee market and then headed to Impala Park. Such a quiet, peaceful place beside the lake where we can enjoy the animals... monkeys, giraffe, impala, zebras, etc. We saw a HUGE monitor lizard that day! Probably 6 feet long! Ugh!! We took a packed lunch with us. Thanks SO much to those from home who helped make our lunch special by providing us with ham and cheese!! Such a treat!! That eve. we went to Kiboko Bay to enjoy the sunset as we ate our meal. Such a lovely place and we got to meet some interesting people from the Coptic church in Maseno, that knew Jim Harries. On the way home we stopped to check out a brand new supermarket on Ring Road, close to the compound. It's called Tumaini and the place was rather crowded. The thing that amazed me was that we had one of the two vehicles that were parked outside!! You would never see an empty parking lot in America! But this store caters to the people who don't have cars and are within easy walking distance. It's a very nice place and from the looks of all the people they should make out alright! I was happy to know of a place just down the road that I can go to if I don't feel like going to busy Nakumatt!!

Yesterday was a special day for us! We were happy to welcome a new family to the compound! Lester and Hannah Stoltzfus arrived with 5 of their children last eve. and they plan to stay until the end of March! They will be taking over the Dienya church that Mark's left, until Brian Masts are able to come. It's SO special for our children to make new friends here! Yolanda is close to Clarissa's age, Janessa and Hadassah are close to Shonda, and Latisha and Vanessa have already "hit it off" really well! :) We hosted Lester's, Joseph's, Joe's, Stacy, and Rhoda at our house. Wayne grilled some yummy chicken and I made potatoes, salad, and a chocolate trifle to go with it.

Today Lester's and us headed to Dienya. Wayne introduced them to the church and Lord willing next Sunday they will be on their own! I think people were impressed that Lester greeted them in Luo. Their family will be a real blessing to the church there! Wayne preached a New Years message... taking lessons from happenings on New Years days in the Bible and also the Passover and death of Christ that happened soon after the New Year. The thrust of the message encouraged us to: Walk in the Light (leave the darkness) (from day 1 of creation), Remember God's Mercy (dry land after the flood), Remember your Deliverance (Passover, Death of Jesus), Return from Captivity (sin)(Ezra 7, 10), and Consecrating our lives to God (Tabernacle, Ex 40, Hezekiah, 1 Ch.29)

We wish you God's blessings in 2017! Its hard to believe that we have been here for two Christmas seasons already! Thanks for your prayers and friendship! Clara for the Yoders