Kisumu Yoder's: May 2017

"Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty, if only we have eyes to see them." John Ruskin

"Nature is the art of God eternal."

"But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." Isa. 64:8

We have so many reminders of the work of our Father's hands all around us. Lately I've noticed the awesome tea fields in Kenya... acres and acres of lush green bushes, a lovely bright rainbow, very colorful birds in our lawn, some that I've never seen before, etc. But have you ever been amazed by some of the creepy, crawly things that God created? Last Sunday on our way to Dienya for church we saw dozens of people along the way bending over and picking up something and putting it into containers. We puzzled over what it could be. Finally we stopped and asked a man and small boy what they are doing. He smiled broadly as he showed us his container full of wiggling, ugly, flying white ants (or termites). We discovered that many Kenyans LOVE to eat these creatures, either just so, or they fry them with a bit of salt. They describe them as being "mamit ahinya." (very sweet!) Wow!! I don't know what it would take for me to be willing to eat one! When we got to church someone was collecting them off the roof of the church. During church some of the ants would fly into us, then drop to the ground, where they shed their wings. They were everywhere!! Sometimes I have to sweep hundreds of those wings off of my porch and they just want to float around. Nick's son Emmanuel, told Bradlyn that these bugs are like candy! :) Wayne did some research online and found that these flying ants are rich in Vit. A and C and are high in fat. They are a good source of protein and other nutrients. What an amazing God we serve!! These Kenyans have a lot to teach us... but I'm still very content to allow them to eat the bugs. I'll try to get my vitamins from other sources. :)

As mentioned we were at Dienya last Sunday for a Communion service. It was a good day and we enjoyed the fellowship. Brian and Mary Jane's family, as well as Charlene, joined us here for a late lunch afterward.

Monday was the famous chicken butchering!! It was raining that morning! So unusual! And it made for some sorry looking chickens that needed to be cleaned up! It seemed to take a LONG time but we're so grateful that its done now! Merle and Sue so kindly helped us! They've had many years of experience doing such things! :) We ate a wonderful breakfast at Gerold and Becky's house that morning and then the Pastor's left for their meeting and James' and Brians had language class.

Wayne had a big day Tuesday. He had a meeting with the Pastors at Kajulu in the morning in preparation for Communion and then went to Ahero in the afternoon for another meeting with one of the old mama's who is refusing to forgive another member for an offense. She finally walked out of the meeting. She says she will NOT forgive unless the other person comes to her terms. And when asked what she will do when she stands before God, she said she will just go to the fire! Oh Flora!! Please think earnestly about your soul!! Your prayers would be appreciated! On Tues. eve. the adults of the compound met at Joseph and Becky's house to watch videos and see many pictures of the 2008 elections. The videos were taken by someone who was right in the middle of it all and saw firsthand what happens when the mob loses all of their senses and goes crazy. It was really something to see all the fires, looting, and craziness that went on!! We sure hope we won't have to face that here this fall! We've had some unrest already but nothing to that extent. Yesterday we drove through some political processions where there were loud speakers blaring, many people on the back of trucks, and just a lot of noise. I was VERY ready to get out of there!!

I guess most of you heard the story of our night on Tuesday when the motion sensor woke us and alerted us to the fact that there was a thief on our porch, messing with the front door. But for those who only read the blog, I will just give you a brief story. Wayne discovered the thief and quickly turned on the siren which obviously scared the thieves away. Unfortunately they had already been inside our neighbors house where they found an unlocked door and stole some of their belongings and money. Our children were all awake and we didn't feel too traumatized at the time but Bradlyn did have trouble falling asleep the other night. He said he was afraid he would dream about robbers. So Wayne told him he could sleep in Clarissa's bed since she is in Nakuru with Tony's for a week or so. During the night Vanessa woke up and came to our room, she said she can't sleep because someone is in Rissa's bed and she doesn't know who it is!! Those who know Nessa well know how wide-eyed and befuddled she can be if she wakes up at night! It was rather funny to be sure!! :) Your continued prayers for us are appreciated! We feel quite safe inside our double and triple locked doors and barred windows but there are times that fear still wants to come!

On Wed. Wayne and JoeAllen and George Ombwayo attended the funeral of our gate man Sammy's brother and nephew who were killed in a piki piki accident. Poor Sammy! He has been through so much in his lifetime!

On Thurs. morning the whole compound here headed to Nakuru where we met for Unit meeting in the afternoon. Wayne was asked to share our personal call to Missions that day. It was interesting to reminisce and see how God has orchestrated the details of our lives so far. Merle Beachy shared in a devotional... 7 points on "Motivations for Ministry." The meeting went well although it was a cold and rainy afternoon! But we are so glad God has answered prayers and brought rain to Nakuru! The farewells that day were for Dean and Barbara Jean Miller and Marcus and Wanda Burkholder. Kathryn Byler also plans to terminate soon. Our family slept at Tony's that night, except for Shonda who went to Freeman's to be with her friend, Abigail, and Clarissa was with the youth girls who were together. The next morning we met for breakfast soon after 7:30 at the school and then we gathered together for Orientation. The new ones on the field are Brian Mast's, James Barkman's, and Johnny Zooks. The messages were VERY good and so encouraging! Marcus Burkholder shared on "Relating to Mission Finances, Dean Miller on "Maintaining Vision- Avoiding Cynicism," Joseph Hostetler on "Developing Healthy National Relationships", and Merle Beachy on "Mission focused Family Life in the Unit and Church." Merle kindly agreed to take Marlin Yoder's topic. Marlin was in the U.S. for his grandfather's funeral. It was great to be together with fellow laborers and be enriched! Some of the new families had never heard the story of what happened to Ken Miller, Gene Beachy, and Joshua back in 2000 I think it was when they stared death by the mob in the face... so Merle told us that story while the Nakuru ladies were getting ready to serve lunch. It was touching!! And its good for us to hear these things and learn from past experiences. The trip home was good and we enjoyed having our own family vehicle and spend some quality family time. We missed Clarissa though... She was excited about spending some time with Tony's and helping Judith with some housecleaning. I tried to quickly do some laundry yet on Fri. eve. because there was a funeral we wanted to attend the next day.

Yesterday we took our children with us to Dienya to attend the funeral of 6 or 7 yr. old, Wendi, daughter of Alexander and Emma, and granddaughter of my good friend Mary Aluoch. Wendi died of malaria. It must've been a very bad kind because she was gone very quickly! She went to school one day but had to be helped home since she couldn't walk well and by the middle of the night she was gone! They had taken her to some small local hospitals, but were sent to a larger district hospital. The ambulance was not available in the middle of the night and she died on the way. So sad! Brian Mast preached a good message and many people heard TRUTH and were encouraged to think seriously about life and death. Wayne was in charge of the committal. We were served a good meal afterwards. I hope our presence was an encouragement and it was a good cultural experience for our children!

I'm sure Joe and Glenda would appreciate your prayers for little Elliot. He tested positive for malaria. He was a very sick little boy yesterday but seems to be responding well to malaria meds. He looked very pale this morning when I went over to check on him but he reached for me with a sweet smile like usual! :)

We had a Communion service at Kajulu this morning. It was a blessing!! I couldn't help but smile again as I thought of the differences in our cultures.... during feet washing the ladies seemed to all be talking and laughing at once! They were joyfully washing each others feet and greeting each other!! Gotta love them!! :) At home feet washing tends to be a quiet, sober practice, and there's nothing wrong with that either! Wayne had a good message titled, "Look and be healed." At the end of the service he told the people about our plans to go on safari to our homeland. He told them his mother hasn't seen him in her "dala" for a long time and she might be crying for him! :) This brought smiles and we were given many "good journey" wishes before we left today. Kay Peachey if you are reading this... your little namesake, Kay, wanted me to greet you when we go to America. I don't know if we'll see you or not so I decided to mention it here. :) Vanessa says there are 22 days till furlough!! :) Blessings, Clara for the Yoders