Kisumu Yoder's: Rescue the Perishing...

"God uses rescued people to rescue people."

"The Church used to be a lifeboat rescuing the perishing. Now she is a cruise recruiting the promising."

(We hope this is not true!)

"People on earth hate to hear the word REPENT! Those in Hell wish they could hear it just once more."

My mind has been going to several messages I heard Wayne preach recently. He likens the platform where the Preacher stands to a boat out on sea. Some people start walking around the edge of the boat and some fall over the edge and drown. Do we do everything in our power to rescue them or do we just look away and only care about ourselves, making sure we are safe. He reminded the people of how MANY members have been lost to the world. The numbers in our churches have drastically reduced. Do we care? Are we doing anything to bring them back? God help us to know how to help them!!

We are trying to do some special things with our children before they return to school. Many of your schools have already begun but ours is later this year because of Jake and Jan being on furlough. One day we went to Kajulu where we planned to drop off a sewing machine for Silpa who recently purchased one. She met us at the church but then we offered to take it to her house which wasn't too far away. We helped her carry it back the trail to her house. And ended up staying to visit. Her very young looking daughter (maybe 14 or 15)? has a baby boy named Martin Bender! From there we went to Pastor Andrew and Christine's house to drop off some papers and then they invited us to stay for chai. It was SO warm in the house but we appreciated their kindness even though it wasn't comfortable for us. From there we went to a place that sells plants and big clay pots and bought some for the flower beds. We SO much appreciate the nice landscaping that Aaron Peachey did while they lived in our house. We want to keep it looking nice! The girls ended up doing most of the work and did a great job!

Some of Wayne's activities have included visiting some of the Lela members. Caroline is still very sick! Maurice is building her a new house now and we hope that some of her terrible fears about the house falling in on her, etc. will now be alleviated. Wayne bought some iron for her to take since she is extremely weak and anemic. On Saturday Wayne attended our gateman George's grandmothers funeral. My girls and I spent time cleaning Kaylita's room at school since we didn't plan to be here the next week when the official school cleaning was scheduled.

On Monday morning the Pastors had a joint unit meeting in Kericho. The children and I had plans to drive a separate vehicle to Kericho later in the day where we would meet Wayne and then go on to Nakuru to spend several days with Tony and Judith. As it turned out Stan offered to drive so that I didn't have to. I appreciated that very much! The Pastor's day turned out a bit different than they expected! Everyone was a bit on edge when it was discovered that Brian and Mary Jane's visa's ran out that very day!! They had been renewed late and it was mistakenly assumed that they were good for a few weeks yet. A few weeks ago Brian's work permit was denied and we were not sure what was going to happen because they had already had their visa's renewed once. (One renewal is all that is allowed) A better description of who we are and what our mission here is was submitted to the office of a top government official by Freeman and Johnny with hopes that it would help the government understand us better and make it easier to get our work permits. After discussion and fervent prayers that God would "part the sea" once again, Johnny made a few phone calls to see what our options are. There was a real possibility that Brians would need to leave East Africa that night yet! Johnny was finally able to talk to an official that told him to come to his office in Nairobi in the morning and he will take care of it. After discussion the pastors decided to trust this man and continue to commit the issue to God. Steve quickly left Kisumu and brought all of Brian's passports to Johnny in Kericho. The next day Johnny and Freeman went to Nairobi. Praise the Lord, He performed a miracle and Brians were issued new visas!! God is good! It's such a blessing to know that He cares! Continue to pray about the work permit. It appears that the denial was overturned and it is back in immigrations hands!

Our drive to Nakuru was enjoyable and we arrived at Tony's in time for a WONDERFUL meal!! Judith served us rice and Paneer butter masala! It tasted exactly like something we'd get at an Asian restaurant! Oh it was yummy!! After supper we enjoyed watching the youth play volleyball in the big CAM warehouse. The next day was so relaxing! We went to Salai farms... a BEAUTIFUL garden with many tropical plants and nice walkways. It reminded me of the Garden of Eden! Kore was with us that day as well as Janelle Stoltzfus. It was a great time with some good discussions... That evening we were treated to more of Tony and Judith's good cooking... we had pulled pork, homemade french fries, and some of the most wonderful handcranked frozen yogurt that we've ever had!! We loved those few refreshing days spent with family!

On Wednesday we headed home and Kore beat us here. He was at Rabuor when we drove past... taking orphan pictures, etc. He was here in Kisumu until Saturday and we enjoyed having him here as usual. Next week he heads to America! How we would love to join him as he attends his sister Janet and Arnold Eby's wedding next weekend!!

Friday morning Wayne took me to Tusky's to see if I can find some of the things I had on my list and always depended heavily on Nakumatt to have on hand. It appears that Nakumatt might have to close it's doors because of financial difficulty. It makes us SO sad!! It's been hard for me to imagine life without that place but I'm sure we'll survive! We won't starve but we will have to do without some things that we enjoyed. Another thing that has really taken me for a loop is the plastic bag ban that is going into effect this week. Can you imagine life without any plastic bags, except for garbage? In fact, it will be a crime to be seen walking with a plastic bag! You can be fined million of shillings or spend time in jail... 4 years mind you!!! I appreciate that they are trying to get rid of trash along the roadways but oh it blows my mind how this is all going to work. I hope I can remember to always take a basket or something with me when I go to town for groceries!

We attended church at Kajulu this morning. I think the road to Kajulu is worse than it's ever been!! Sigh! I wonder if I will ever get used to being bounced and jarred around so viciously! It was another very warm day and I was so thankful for the open sides at church that allowed some breeze to come in. After church we were invited to Pastor Andrew's house for lunch along with the rest of the CBF Pastors, Joshua and Millicent, John and Margaret, also a few members, Thomas and Joseph. The meal was great... the usual Kenyan fare.

I forgot to mention that we took our children to Impala Park for a few hours yesterday afternoon. The monkeys entertained us as usual and I enjoy seeing Impala up close. We enjoyed watching the hippos in the lake although they were a bit too close for comfort. Especially when I found out that hippos can run 19 mph. on land or in water! But someone told us that when there is a group of people hippos will not attack. It's more likely when there is only one person. Hippo's cause more fatalities than any other large animal in Africa.

We continue waiting with a bit of trepidation for the Supreme Court ruling this week. Things are fairly peaceful with a few skirmishes here and there. Last week someone had the audacity to put up a Uhuru victory banner on a billboard. That drew a crowd quickly! The guy who had climbed the pole to place the sign had his ladder taken away. The people grabbed the sign and burned it. The police saved the man's life. I'm quite sure he would've been lynched if the police hadn't intervened. So we put our trust in God and hope for peace in Kenya!! God bless you with a good week! Clara

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Prov. 29:18