Kisumu Yoder's: February 2017

"Sow seeds of hope and enjoy optimism. Sow seeds of doubt and expect insecurity. Max Lucado

"Hope is a seed God plants in our hearts to remind us there are better things ahead."

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant." Robert Louis Stevenson

Some of our drought-stricken friends have been blessed with seeds of hope! We're so thankful for the presence of Christian Aid Ministries in Kenya! They have offered to donate seeds to the 3 churches that have been hardest hit by drought... Lela, Ahero, and Rabuor. It has been a tremendous blessing and I'm sure it gives them hope! Some church members had prepared the soil but didn't know where the seeds were going to come from. God answers prayers! I was so happy to see all the water standing in these drought stricken areas on our way to Church this morning! The rains have come!!! Pake Yesu!! The water holes that had been dried up for a long time now have plenty of water. God is good! The weather has changed from VERY warm temperatures to much cooler ones. I LOVE rainy season!

The last two weeks have been full but interesting! Time was spent preparing the house that Brian and Mary Jane Mast have moved into. Stacy Byler and Becky Hostetler get a lot of the credit for the work done there. They spent a lot of time stripping and waxing those tile floors, and did countless other jobs as well. The big cleaning day was well supported by the compound and we had a good day working together.

Valentine's Day was a day we won't forget right away! :) The youth on the compound spent a lot of time making the evening special for all the Pastor's and their wives. First of all we met on the lane and then each couple was taken to Joseph and Becky's house by tuk tuk! The youth rented one for the evening and it certainly made memories for us!! Then we were taken to a table where there was a chocolate fountain and we could dip fruit and pretzels (Yes American pretzels!!) It was wonderful! The bad thing was that it was windy that eve. and some of us were splashed by the chocolate! After that we had a photo shoot. And then were seated at a beautifully set table where we were served a WONDERFUL meal! Ham, chicken, potatoes, salad, green beans, crescent rolls, and individual cheese cakes for dessert!! It was so relaxing and a great treat to be served so well!

Last weekend we were blessed with visitors!! Carmen and Glen Gingerich arrived! They are Vernon and Rosy's oldest children.... Wayne's niece and nephew. We've been having a great time with them! Our children LOVE having their cousins around! Tony's and Kore were here for the weekend as well. And also Angie Miller, a good friend of Judiths from our home area. They stayed til Monday afternoon. Wayne had a Bishop's meeting in Kericho to attend on Saturday and I was kept busy making food for all the people around! The AMA Delegation arrived on Saturday as well! Mark and Rose Wagler, and Paul and Wilma Beachy. We know both couples and its special to have them here!! We served them supper that evening along with our other visitors. We attended church at Ombeyi on Sunday. It was Wayne's turn to preach there on our Pastor rotation schedule. They are also considering Ordination there so there was a short meeting afterward pertaining to that. It was the first time that we were there for a Sunday service. In the evening there was a Compound activity at Lester and Hannah's house. Plans were for Mark Wagler to share a bit and then Paul Beachy. But we had to change plans because of a ferocious storm that moved in! The rain came with force and the lightning and thunder was almost scary!! With the rain pounding on the metal roof we could barely visit without having to holler. We finally just gave up our plans and decided to go ahead and eat supper... some wonderful stromboli made by Lesters as well as many other yummy dishes provided by the other households.

Some of our activities this past week with Carmen and Glen included shopping at the Animal market, different stores downtown, a visit to the Orphanage, etc. Clarissa and Carmen went by tuk tuk to the Muslim shops to buy some fabric one day. Yesterday we went to the Ahero market to let them experience some real culture and also to buy some maize and beans for a few people that we know are struggling to have enough. After that we went to visit Wellington and Benter at their house. It's such a sad situation. Wellington is old and has dementia and is extremely hard to live with. He eats about anything in sight and complains that his wife doesn't feed him. He gets angry and chases people with a stick... also tries to beat his wife. He doesn't keep himself clean and I noticed that when he came into the house where we were sitting his wife took the cushion off of the chair that he sat on. Probably fears it will be soiled. Sigh... how do you help someone like that? At home he would be put into a nursing home, but that's not an option here.

Brian and Mary Jane's family arrived safe and sound on Thursday and we're very happy to have them here!! I think they will fit right in and fill their role very well! We're anxious to learn to know them better! That evening instead of prayer meeting we heard from the Board members who had planned to speak on Sun. eve. We really enjoyed hearing Paul share some of the history of AMA as well as his own call to Missions. Cake and homemade ice cream were on the menu afterward!

Early Friday morning Wayne went to the Kisumu airport to pick up James Yoder who just arrived from America. He works for CAM and came to spend the day with Kore Beachy and Brian Wagler who were in the area doing distribution. He ate a light breakfast at our house and then a few hours later Wayne took him to Ahero to meet Kore and Brian. Glen went along as well to spend the day with them. Carmen and our girls had an interesting afternoon with Sylvia who took them to the slums to visit a family they know who lives there. It sounded like it was a very good cultural experience! :) That eve. the whole compound including ALL the visitors went to Kiboko Bay for a wonderful meal provided by AMA!! What a treat!! We loved it!! :)

This morning we attended church at Ahero. Wayne preached a good message on "Giving". It was intended to teach members the importance of tithing and setting aside the amount that is "Gods" as soon as we get paid instead of only giving Him the leftovers. Once again I'm reminded that we "plant the seeds" here in Kenya but it is God who gives the increase. Thank you for your prayers!! Clara for the Yoders

Story Time

Becca repainting wall art

Cleaning!!

Joe and Chrit making some benches for Lela

Dean preaching at St.Mary's School (A ministry to orphans, street children, and other underprivileged youth

A JZ Barn delivered by Fisher Transport??😅

Happy Birthday Brad!

Ahero brothers visiting Andrew

Gerold and Becky

Stan, Jake and Jan!

Joe and Glenda

Paul and Wilma Beachy

Pastor Peter (L) Ombeyi

Bishop Eric at Ombeyi

Rain!! PTL!

Hangover Hotel!!

Joint Pastors Meeting with the Board

Good times with cousin Glen!

Great hat Philo!

Workin hard or hardly workin?? Pouring concrete at S8

Great job Chrit!

It was hard work!

Clean up! Great job fellows!!

African ingenuity. Closing a bag of charcoal with grass and leaf to tie it.

Bartering at Ahero Market

"For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." Ps. 107:9

"The only one who can truly satisfy the human heart is the one who created it."

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread." Mother Teresa

Some of these dear Kenyan folks amaze me so much! Last Sunday Rosebella, a sweet widow lady from Dienya, walked two hours to get to church!! She hadn't been able to attend church for quite some time due to a broken hip. But last Sunday she slowly and carefully made her way to church. I'm sure her soul was hungry for something... for the Word of God and for fellowship with like-minded Brothers and sisters. And she was willing to endure some pain that I'm sure comes with walking a long distance after breaking a hip. I couldn't help but think about how easy it is for some who have snazzy, comfortable vehicles to skip church, even if they only have a 10 minute drive. I've been guilty of that kind of thing as well! God help us to have a hunger for the Word and for Truth!

There was a LONG Pastor's meeting on Monday! I think it lasted from 8 am til close to 6 pm. I was responsible for Pastor's chai time in the morning and then served them a lunch of chapatis and beans along with sodas. That eve.Wayne and I went over to Joseph's house a bit to visit with Mervin and Lois Peachey who were there for supper. Lester's were there as well. Mervins are former missionaries who served in Nakuru for 6 years or so. We don't know them real well but were able to make lots of connections.

On Tuesday, Jake and Jan Gingerich moved from their house to the one that Dean and Barbara Jean vacated. Deans opted to move out to Ng'iya where Mark Beachy's lived rather than move into the small guest house here on the compound for a number of months until they go back to America in June. We are getting ready for two new families in the near future! Brian and Mary Jane Mast with their 6 children plan to arrive on Feb. 23 and move into Jake's vacated house... the one beside the school. And then in April James Barkmans plan to come and move into the house that Lester's are in presently... next to the guest house. So as you can imagine there has been some extra work and activity but many hands make light work! These moves are definitely not as difficult when you don't have furniture and household things to move, the basic things are food and personal belongings. I didn't help Jan with actual moving but offered to make supper for them instead, since it seemed like that was more necessary at the moment. Wayne was out visiting in Ahero that day. He is quite burdened for George Owino and his son, Joash. Some of you may remember them as being members at Ahero years ago. (WY writing) They both left the church and fell away from God as well. About two weeks ago they were in the Kenya/Uganda border area (I'm not sure what they were doing there) when they were attacked by thugs and robbed. Joash put his hand up to protect his father from getting slashed by a punga. In protecting his dad he got a nasty cut to the hand that bled profusely. He was beaten further and George pled with them to leave his son alone. They eventually left, leaving Joash badly wounded in no mans land and far from help. They decided to try to make it to Kisumu. It's a miracle that Joash did not bleed to death on that several hour ride. When they boarded the matatu they kept the injured hand hidden inside a coat. The truth was revealed however when the occupants noticed blood running down the floor of the van. As I understand Joash passed out from the loss of so much blood, before they reached Kisumu. His dad seemed to have thought his son was dying in his arms, because he told us several times that he "died". This incident shook them and they are both "thinking". Join us in prayer that they would be broken and surrender to God their Father. Joash was truly given the gift of another chance. Wayne talked quite frankly with them about their need to repent and come back to God and the church.

On Wednesday Lester and Hannah and Wayne and I took separate vehicles and went to Dienya area to a special service at Rosebella's house. We both had vehicles full with people who needed a ride to her house. Rosebella is the lady I told you about with the broken hip. Since she wasn't able to be at church on Communion Sunday, when we were also going to receive her as a member, it was decided that we would go to her house and have Communion with her there. Wayne also received her into the church as a full member. It was a blessed time sitting outside under a big tree. Not exactly the place you would expect to witness Communion and feetwashing but it was evident that the Church was happy and rejoicing with Rosebella and I think God was smiling! She seemed to appreciate our coming so much. I could see that she had pain at times and was wincing a bit but she is able to walk!! Lester's kindly blessed the whole group with a special drink and mandazis.

On Thursday Wayne was gone again with a meeting in Kericho... an ADM (Agape Development Ministries) AGM (Annual General Meeting). It's really hard keeping all these different kinds of meetings straight! At least it is for this mama! :) That evening Kore Beachy joined us for supper and then Prayer meeting was held at Gerold's.

Friday was an interesting day for JoeAllen and Glenda, Wayne, and the young folks of the compound. They went to two different schools in the home area (Kebonyo) of Noah and Evelyn Atito to pass out Bible story books. They sang a few songs for them and acted out a Bible story as well. There was a misunderstanding on time so they got there early enough to visit two of the neighbors as well. We will include some pictures but since I wasn't along I can't tell you too much about it. Sounds like they had a good day though! Evenings on the lane continue to be enjoyed by all! Lester's son Christopher (Crit) arrived in Kenya last week and plans to be here for a month. So now we have more youth which is great!! Our family is looking forward to the arrival of Carmen and Glen Gingerich (Wayne's niece and nephew) the end of this week!! Tony's plan to be here for the weekend too as well as Angie Miller, also from our home area! Visitors are a blessing!! And family is extra special!!

(WY) Wayne was at another funeral yesterday in the Nyakach area. The father of Mary Lusi (Ahero) died. The funeral was conducted by the Catholic church which was educational. I do enjoy listening to the Catholic Choirs as they are usually pretty good. At a Kenyan burial you never quite know what to expect. Anyone attends, rich or poor, dressed smart or shabbily. Some people go to grieve with the relatives, some go to eat, some go to talk, some go to spin stories in one of the many, often lengthy speeches, some go in the name of business (anything from cold drinks or ice cream cones to taking your photo and hoping you buy it), some go to make a name for themselves and hopefully get a few more votes when election rolls around. It was humorous to watch rival political candidates get up and blow their own horns. There was a lady MP (Member of Parliament) in attendance that apparently has quite a following. She gave a rousing speech to cheers and hoots from the crowd. One of the reasons that politicians are tolerated at burials is that they always bring money to give at "offering" time. One of them publicly shelled out 2000/= and put in the donation basin. Another one promised 10 tins of maize to any new voters registering at a certain place. We would wish that the passion for obedience to God would exceed the current passion for politics.

We attended the Rabour church service this morning. Wayne preached a challenging message on ... I Have Sinned, But Honor Me Now.. out of 1 Sam.15. We always love to hear the choir sing!! They do an amazing job! After Church this mom was in despair with her tired, hot, hungry, impatient children! Daddy had meetings again after church. It seems to happen almost every Sunday the last while and it tends to be a test of endurance for all of us at times. Please help us pray that we can all be patient and accept this as part of the calling God has placed on Wayne. The work is not easy, especially when they have to terminate memberships like they did this morning! :( Depending on your prayers, Clara for the Yoders

Winam Gulf and the City of Kisumu in the background. The gulf is currently locked up with Water Hyacinth, a beautiful but troublesome parasitic aquatic plant. There are about 60,000 hectares of this weed on the lake.