Times of Refreshment....

 "Love is the greatest refreshment in life."

  "Our homes should inspire us to go out into the world, to do great things, and then welcome us back for refreshment."

  "A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Prov. 11:25 NIV

   We've been blessed with times of refreshment lately.  Pake Yesu!  We are SO thankful for the continuing rains.  And we hope and pray that Nakuru will soon experience the same!  We know how it feels to be bone dry and parched!  We're also thankful for the spiritual refreshment we've received at the 12th annual Minister's meetings here in Kisumu last week.  And the many kindnesses shown by our families and friends bring us so much refreshment too!  

  So much has happened in the last several weeks that I don't know where to start or stop with writing this blog.  Easter morning found our family heading to Chulaimbo for Church. I had never been there but Wayne and Clarissa were there once before. We were glad for the opportunity to see where the church is located and finally meet some of the members.  I was quite impressed. They seem to be a nice group of people and welcomed us warmly.  Jake and Janice Gingerich are the missionary family there and Stacy Byler attends as well. Wayne preached a challenging message while the children had Sunday school and then after the message the Church had a preparatory service for Communion.  We got home in fairly good time and then Jake's and Stacy joined us for lunch, also bringing some food.  

   Tuesday of last week found most of the compound heading to the area of Kipkelion, between here and Nakuru, where there is a coffee mill. It was a special day for the school field trip!!  We enjoyed a tour of the mill and the nursery area where they raise coffee plants.  It ended up being a very muddy tour of the plants!! We all took a packed lunch and had some great times... seemed like there were some jolly people in the crowd that day and we had our share of laughs... also did some singing.  We came home with some coffee plants as well as some fresh coffee.

   Wayne and I felt the load of getting ready for a group of 100 people at the Minister's meeting this year.  We had never been in charge before so it was a bit nerve-racking but we made out ok, thank God!  Wednesday afternoon was stressful because Wayne needed to take Samson from Dienya to the Dr. to get meds and it ended up he had to wait a LONG time.  Finally Wayne had to leave because he had the car that was loaded with food and supplies for the cooks at Rabuor and I was really anxious to get there before the head cook left.  Wayne and I had been to Nakumatt earlier in the day and loaded up with supplies for the cooks to make chapatis, ugali, cabbage, sukuma, etc.  We even took wood, charcoal, and kerosene for the fires.  All those attending the Minister's meetings were invited to the Rabuor church for lunch on Thursday and Friday.  We unloaded the supplies and talked to the cooks and I felt much better about things when that was done!!

  Thursday noon found us at Rabuor and we were happy to see the Nakuru missionaries and the native Pastors and their wives drive in. We were also happy to have Mark and Beverly Webb and their two daughters, April and Audrey, with us that day.  Mark is the new Recruiter for AMA, so they were sent to get a better picture of the work here in Kenya.  Another very special couple there that day was Merle and Sue Beachy!!!  They served here formerly for 11 years and had not been back since they left 6 years ago. I don't think many of the people here knew that they were coming and so when they arrived at the church that day it caused a stir!! :)  Wayne was trying to have the prayer for the noon meal and people couldn't stop greeting Merles!  And then after prayer I saw a very touching sight that I hope I will never forget!!  Apparently the cooks hadn't seen Merle's until after prayer and suddenly one of them spotted them... and then a cry rose up!  I whirled to see what was happening and here were the 6 cooks running toward Sue with arms outstretched and huge smiles!  They all grabbed her and each other in a big hug, swaying back and forth, and rejoicing to see their dear Mama Sue at long last!!  I could hardly keep my tears back.  This trip has been a very rewarding time for Merle and Sue, and they feel that the way God orchestrated all the details of the trip has been such a gift from God.  

   Unfortunately I won't be able to give a lot of details of the Minister's meeting sessions because I had to miss out on most of it due to being quite sick.  I didn't feel well soon after the ladies session in the afternoon, but I'm thankful I was able to be there for that at least.  Millicent Osur from Kasongo and Becky Miller each shared in a topic titled, "Daughters of Priscilla"... supporting our husbands in Ministry.  It was a special time.  Thomas Amata had a workshop for the men titled, "Tips for Developing Leaders."  There were also two topics earlier in the afternoon... "We are Laborers Together, by Marlin Yoder, and "Building Biblical Giving", by Samuel Njogu.  Supper consisted of rice and chicken stew, cabbage salad and bread rolls.  We were glad to host Thomas and Susan Amata and their son, Goldman, at our house.  We hosted as many people as possible in the compound but some had to sleep at the Kika Hotel outside the gate.  

  Friday morning Eric Ogwe had a topic on "Avoiding the Pitfalls of Leadership" and then Mark Webb shared a topic... a character study of Peter.  Freeman Byler then shared a topic on the "Rewards of Faithfulness."  The meetings seemed to be much enjoyed by all!!  Such refreshment!! I loved the singing!! By Saturday morning I was very sick and called Dr. Sokwala to see what could be done for the horrible diarrhea and nausea. I also had a fever the day before.  Sokwala wanted me to go to the hospital.  And that was NOT what I wanted to hear although I knew that if things didn't turn around soon I wouldn't have a choice because I was so weak I almost felt like I couldn't talk.  Wayne took me to town for a malaria test since I remembered getting a big bad mosquito bite when I was at Mama Silpa's house close to two weeks before.  The test was negative but a chemist that Wayne talked to wanted me to take meds anyway because those early tests can have a false negative.  So I started meds and I soon started improving... thank God!!  It was awful to be so sick but I really can't complain because that's the first time since we're here that I've been that sick.  We don't know for sure if it was malaria but I'm just rejoicing that the meds definitely seemed to help!  

   This past Sunday the family went to Lela while I stayed home recuperating.  They had a Communion service there and Joe kindly preached the message so that Wayne could have a break!  (Joe had not preached a Communion message before so Wayne thought it was his turn!)  Wayne had a flannelgraph lesson for the children. The whole compound met at Joe's house Sunday eve. where we were privileged to hear Merle Beachy preach for us!! He brought us an encouraging message from the 1 Kings 17-19 where we have Elijah praying that it would not rain and God answered his prayer, to the high point on Carmel and Elijah beating the chariot of the king back to the city, to a discouraged, wish I could die, Elisha running for his life and claiming that he alone was faithful and that he didn't deserve the circumstances he found himself in because he had been "jealous for God".  God told him what to to next and maybe in a sense told him to get his mind off of himself, "I have 7,000 who have not bowed to Baal".  What a good reminder.  Sometimes, even in ministry, we lose focus.  Mark Webb shared a bit too but was cut off because of a big rain storm.  

  We are happy to welcome Charlene Stoltzfus to the compound!  She came to help Brian Mast's family (Mary Jane is her aunt) while they are in language class.  I believe she plans to stay for 3 weeks or so.  Brians and James and Christina started language on Monday of this week with Josephine as their teacher.  

   Jake and Jan have had some stress because of their sick little boy, Jediah.  They thought he had mumps.  In fact some of the Nakuru folks didn't come to Minister's meeting for fear of it but it ends up he had an infected tonsil and it moved into the lymph nodes.  He has a hard, red lump on his neck.  He's on antibiotics and seems to be getting better but the lump is still there.  I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers. 

  Plans were to go to Bible study with the Ahero church today and Merle and Sue planned to join us there but... you never know what a day will bring forth.  Stan came over this morning and told us his mom and dad are stuck at the A to Z pharmacy.  There was protesting going on outside on the street.  They were hollering and burning tires, etc.  Hmmm... didn't sound good. They were eventually able to come home by carefully navigating around hotspots. Joseph and Becky had already left for Bible study and Jake and Jan had too.  Merle's were on the way back from Nakuru but considered possibly staying in Kericho until things calm down.  The protesting in town today was because of unhappiness with the reported results of a major political party's primary elections yesterday.  There are some that believe that the incumbent governor of Kisumu County actually won the vote, but that his political party gave the nomination to a favored opponent, the father of Luo, Hollywood actress Lupita Nyongo. Both candidates were actually given "nomination certificates".  God knows what really happened.  As of now, we praise the Lord, that everyone is safely home except for Merles.  They decided to come on home after they were given a route that did not appear to have any serious incidents so hopefully they will be back soon. Thank you for your prayers and support!  It would be a blessing if the Presidential election in August would be this "calm". God bless!  Clara for the Yoders

Pastor Jake with Brian as interpreter

Stacy leading her class in song

Some of the Chulaimbo "family"

Greeting line after church

Jediah

Kipkelion Coffee

Notice all the coffee hulls!

Coffee nursery tour

See the coffee "cherries"?

Mud!!  The white mans contraptions aren't always the most efficient here!

Kenya Christian Academy

Bible Story books!!

Joe's gift of two nice coffee plants!

Joseph got a plant instead of "coffee", because he doesn't drink..

My "honey" gets some coffee from Mr Sammy, the head honcho.

Cooking for the Ministers Meetings!

Mama Sue is in there somewhere!

"Bishop" Merle and Bishop Eric enjoying conversation

Mark and Bev and Gerold and Becky

Pastor Thomas and Bishop Marlin

Pastor Thomas and Pastor Joshua

Dishes..

Good Morning!!?  (What my poor wife saw when she opened the washer)

Pastor Thomas, Bishop Joseph, Pastor Mark

Johnny and Sue Ann (I took these for you, Esther)

Pastor Samuel and Bishop Freeman

Sunday Morning at Lela, Pastor Joe preaching.

Feet washing, what a meaningful ceremony!

Feeling Vulnerable.....

"There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community."

   "Jesus often calls us to risk. He asks us to be vulnerable, to be authentic, so others can see Him through us."

   "Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection."

   It's a beautiful day in Kisumu but we're praying for rain again!  Some shamba's are very dry.  We are SO dependent on God for everything... for our next breath, for good crops, for health and strength to fulfill our calling in life, etc. etc.  We are vulnerable!   We as missionaries are in a position where we face a lot of criticism at times.  There are misunderstandings on the field and sometimes wrong impressions given to our friends across the waters.  We live in "glass houses'' here in Kenya.  Our faults are obvious to many.  We are SO grateful for our Kisumu family who loves and accepts us as we are... faults and all!!  Missionaries should be "perfect" right?!!  We are responsible to be a good role model for the Churches. We are expected to do without many of the conveniences and modern lifestyles of our homeland. We are on call and expected to respond quickly to emergencies, both physical and spiritual. The Pastor's are expected to be humble, kind, but firm leaders who preach only the Truth, not their own ideas. We are expected to cheerfully host many visitors and  make sure that they get their "money's worth" out of their trip of a lifetime! :) By the way... keep coming!! We LOVE when you come! We are expected to spend mission money wisely... after all it comes from generous givers from America!  I'm sure you don't want us to use your hard-earned money to do too many fun things.  Well actually, the fun things we do here are personal expense, such as eating out, etc.  But anyway... you get the picture.  Some days we become weary of trying to do everything right, and trying to please people.  We want most of all to please God!  We are just so vulnerable!!  Satan tries hard to wreak havoc where he can... we feel the struggle more here than we did at home.  But in spite of all these pressures we face and the discouragement we face at times,  we are rejoicing because we have GOD!!  We are at peace because we said "yes" to His call!  He is taking good care of us and loves us in spite of our MANY failures!  Thank you Jesus!!  

   Last week on Tues. Wayne left at 6:00 in the morning to go with a group of Ahero brothers to Migori, which is close to Tanzania.  They wanted to talk to the family of Carolyn, "live-in" of Andrew.  They wanted to explain to them why she needs to go back home for a while until the marriage can be legalized, etc.  They explained the truth of the Word and how God wants marriages to be holy.  It took a LOT of time and the family wanted to feed them well so it was a LONG meeting.  It ended on good terms and the family agreed to work with us in pursuing a Godly way forward.  We expected Andrew to do things the Bible way now, but  sad to say we heard this week that Andrew still is not willing to put her away.  So Wayne and some brothers are meeting with him again today to explain things clearly and see if he is willing to return to God and follow His way.  He is clearly struggling with repenting, releasing it all and trusting God to take care of it. Please help us pray!!  Wayne didn't get home until after 8:00 that night and his wife was VERY anxious to have him home!  I hate when he's on these dangerous roads after dark!!

   On Wednesday morning Wayne had devotions at school, then in the afternoon Wayne and I took a van load of Ahero members to Bible study at the home of Tobias and Emma Odongo.  Tobias' father passed away suddenly from an electric pole falling on him, and the church wanted to show support to Tobias by meeting at his dala.  Tobias' father was a polygamist.  It gave me a strange feeling to see all the houses set up in a semi circle, knowing that they were the homes of his 4 different wives.  And so in one instant there  were 4 widows!!  What a terrible life that would be!  I'm SO thankful for the Bible way!  

  The next day Wayne was on the run again!  I think it was one of his busiest weeks since we came to Kenya.  Home was just like an airport for him.  He had business to do at the marriage office in town, visited Hesbon from Lela who wanted to talk about his health problems and was feeling deserted by his Bishop.  And so the days went... full to the brim.  We were blessed to be able to sit together for a refreshing time of prayer and singing with our compound family at Brians that eve.  

   Friday and Saturday were special days for the men and boys of the compound!  They all loaded up camping supplies and went to Jennifer's Gardens for a time of great food and fellowship!  Unfortunately it rained a lot while they were trying to make supper but it sounds like they enjoyed themselves in spite of the discomforts.  We ladies took the opportunity to get together too!  Most of our time was spent in sewing.  It was fun to socialize and get work done at the same time! :)  A woman's work never ends you know! :) Glenda invited all the Moms with small children to their house to sleep that night and anyone else who felt like having a sleep-over was welcome to stay at S8, the house that Lester's vacated.  Soon after Wayne and Brad came home from camping we were blessed with visitors!  Tony's and Esther Beiler came to spend the weekend!  Tony's stayed until Monday and Esther stayed until Tuesday, then flew out of Kisumu to Nairobi.  It was special to have her here!  We have connections from our childhood homes in Buffalo Valley, PA.  On Sunday we went to Rabuor for the first Communion service of the season.  We really enjoyed our time with those wonderful people!  I was a bit disappointed that Wayne had to leave the service early.  He had a very important meeting that needed to take place at Ombeyi... a clarification of the Ordination there being put on hold.  He came home while we were still eating lunch, so at least he didn't have to miss out on all the fellowship!  We had a relaxing evening at home visiting... Brian and Mary Jane came over for a while and we enjoyed that a lot! I could mention another thing that made me feel very vulnerable that day!!  When I stepped into my pantry that morning I noticed that the access hole cover that goes into the attic was open!  A creepy feeling to say the least!  None of us did it so we know someone was in our house sometime when we didn't find it out!  We're very particular about locking our doors, even to go next door, so we have no idea when it happened but it's likely that it had something to do with the security camera that is outside our gate.  The security guys were here Sat. and probably went up into our attic because that's where the camera is wired.  But I just don't like the idea that we were never informed.  Oh well.... all's well that ends well.  And we're locking up a bit tighter and trusting God to continue taking care of us.  

   Monday morning the Pastors headed to Kericho for a Joint Pastors Meeting with the Nakuru Pastors.  We had supper at Joe's after they got back that evening.  Supper was a simple, easy, meal that Glenda and I worked together on.  Tuesday was Esther's last day with us so we wanted to make it special.  She wanted to get her hair braided like the Africans do because of 3 special little girls at her home (Allegheny Boy's camp) where she serves.  They wanted her to come home looking African I guess! :)  So Joe took Glenda, Clarissa, Esther, and I to Mama Zilpah's house in Lela that morning and after close to two hours of work Esther had a different look!! :)  We had a nice time visiting and relaxing while Zilpah worked and a fair number of Mama Zilpah's friends who were walking past her dala that morning stopped by to greet the wazungu's! It's easy to tell that Zilpah has many friends and a good reputation in the community.  Zilpah sang a traditional song for Esther before we left and also showed Esther how they mud their houses.  Esther even tried her hand at it!!  It was neat to watch! In the afternoon Clarissa and Esther and I visited the Orphanage.  Esther loved it!  I'm always so happy to see how well cared for those precious children are!!  After an early supper Esther headed to the airport with Brian and Mary Jane who went to pick up our newest family in the compound... James and Christina Barkman!!  We are delighted to have them here.  I didn't think I knew them at all until I saw Christina.  I remembered her from FMH days when my family served there from 1981-84.  She remembered me too!  Amazing!!  Who would've dreamt that  we'd serve together in Kenya someday!!  We look forward to James' two daughters coming in June.  Kaylita plans to stay but Karla plans to go back home in Aug.  

   We had prayer meeting and a welcome for James and Christina at Jake's house last eve.  We hosted James' and Deans and Kore at our house for supper.  Deans and James' had a LONG day visiting, showing them around town, etc.  They must've been EXHAUSTED by last eve.!! 

  Here's a prayer request for Esther from Lela.  She is enslaved to alcohol again and the other day when Pastor Joe confronted her about it she readily admitted her sin and told him to just "throw her out" of the Church.  Makes us SO sad!  Also Andrew was not willing to hear Wayne today and give up his lady. He also says we can just "put him out."  Pray for the defeat of Satan in their lives!!  

   We need your continued prayers!!  The work is hard but rewarding too!!  God bless!  Clara for the Yoders

The walk into "Carolyn's" parents dala in Migori

The "home place"

The beautiful countryside!

"Carolyn's Dad, Mom and Aunts", at the "talk".  We waited about 5 hours for a talk that took about 1 1/4 hours!

Pastor Tobias explaining our position..

Carolyn's 7 year old son Collins

Kenya Christian Academy

Brad and Buddies (Gerrel Mast, left, Javon Mast, right) on the way to "camping"!

Politics is serious business!

The good old KAW!

It's a pastor thing, you wouldn't understand!

Baba, waiting for his soup to boil

Zacchaeus??

It's raining folks!  Trying to keep chef Joseph a little dry!

Almost breakfast time.

Kaiden Zook and Elliot Yoder

Joint Pastors Meeting in Kericho