Take Up Thy Cross...

"Anyone can wear a cross, but can you bear one?"

 "And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me." 

  Matt. 10:38

"Take up thy cross and follow me... how can I make a lesser sacrifice when Jesus gave His ALL."

The words of this song "Take up thy Cross" have been on my mind a lot lately. Before church this morning I was listening to this beautiful song.  And I was amazed in church this morning when Maurice Ogwe (Ombeyi) read a Scripture about "taking up our cross" and later we sang the song, "I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me?" I remember before coming to Kenya how God reminded me of the words of this song. He was asking me if I can't sacrifice my family, lovely home, and wonderful church in Wytheville for the work in Kenya. I struggled but said, Yes Lord, of course!  How can I make a lesser sacrifice when Jesus gave His ALL! Looking back the sacrifice has been small, compared to what God has done for me. And I marvel over and over at the goodness of God in giving strength for the piece of work He has called us to. 

  Wayne and I have been learning what it's like to "let go" of our children. It wasn't easy for this mama when I had to say "goodbye" to Clarissa, knowing I wouldn't see her for about 8 weeks. And it was especially hard knowing she was flying all alone over the big waters. I prayed for angels to surround her and God answered prayers! Soon after dropping her off at the Kisumu airport we met with the rest of the compound at James Barkman's house for a special supper. After awhile we saw Clarissa's plane going overhead. It brought so many mixed emotions! She arrived safely in Charlotte on Christmas eve. and was met by a van load of wonderful Yoder and Bender cousins. She was in very good hands with her aunts doting over her and making sure she had everything she needs before she headed to CBS later in the week. Unfortunately we haven't been able to communicate much with her because of bad service but we heard that she is loving it there and has already made lots of new friends. Praise God!  We're so glad she has this privilege! It was very hard on her younger sisters to see her go as well, but I think we're all adjusting and now we can look forward to her return in Feb.

 Life continues to be full and busy. I won't attempt to say everything we've been doing. Jake Gingerich was in charge of the new church building at Dienya.  He and some of his brothers worked hard to complete the project.  Some of the other missionary men were out helping as well.  Wayne went out on the day they set the structure up.  It's nice that they now have a building that wont get eaten by termites.  Termites are a serious problem in some areas here and at Dienya they were a constant battle.  Wayne also attended a graduation in Maseno recently. Gordon, the orphan "son" of Pastor Tobias and Elizabeth graduated that day along with around 3,500 other graduates!! The crowds of people and all the traffic was amazing! Wayne was glad to get out of there to say the least! After he got home that eve. we headed to Jake and Jan's house where we helped serve a mystery supper to the school children and teachers. It was a fun eve. and all the mysterious food names had to do with Christmas... such as Wisemen's Choice, Shepherd's Belly, Virgin Myrrh, Bethlehem's Specialty, etc. We didn't have a Christmas program this year because of only having 6 students but the teachers came up with other interesting things to do. One eve. they came caroling at each missionary house in the compound and brought a plate of cookies. We laughed to think of carolers coming to sing with bare feet! :)

  We enjoyed a Christmas service at Lela on Christmas Day. Some of the members read a Scripture verse and others sang a solo or got a group together to sing. Joes and us sang "Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem" for them. Wayne shared a short message and then we passed out banana and pumpkin bread that Glenda made. They seemed to enjoy that a lot! 

  The week between Christmas and New Year we tried to do some special things with the children and tried to get our minds off of Clarissa being gone... We invited Joes to go with us to Ruma National Park one day, which is about a 2.5 hr. drive from here. That's a good place to go if you want to see giraffes!! They have a different kind of giraffe there than they have at the Mara. The markings are more distinct. They are BEAUTIFUL graceful creatures!! We probably saw around 100 of them!  We saw zebras, buffalo, and some other animals but didn't get to see the rhino, the roan antelope, and the leopard. We ended up being in our vehicle around 9 hours that day so we were a tired bunch when we got home!

  Last Sunday we attended church at Kasongo. Unfortunately 2 members needed to be excommunicated that day... Simeon and a sister named Rose. These things are hard!! Wayne is so concerned that we judge righteously.  We cannot see like God can and we need His wisdom so much. On the way home we had to wait on a funeral procession that was quite a sight to behold... there were tractors and sugar cane wagons, cars, pikis, and people marching waving branches, dancing, and shouting. 

  On New Year's Eve. we compound folks were invited to Joseph and Becky's house for hot chocolate and fresh donuts!  So yummy! There were games of corn hole but most of us just sat around visiting. Some folks stayed up until the New Year arrived and others went home to their comfortable beds.:)  

  The Pastors have been busy taking care of year end church book records. A very time-consuming thing! Wayne went to Dienya one morning to meet with some of the brothers and then take care of the bookwork. Afterwards he attended Bible study with them at Joseph Odimo's house. Wayne also had an Agape Board of Director's meeting to attend here in the compound on Thursday.  That afternoon he and Joe went to visit Amani, one of the Lela youth boys that wanted Pastor and Bishop to come fellowship in his house and give him some counsel on Godly marriage and other issues.

  Derrick and JoLyn Unruh from the Kisii area (members of the Holdeman church) spent a few days here in Kisumu this past week. Their 9 yr. old daughter Amy had the misfortune of falling out of a tree and seriously breaking her arm. It was also dislocated. Derrick and Jolyn were on their way to Uganda for a youth conference when it happened so Derrick continued on to Uganda where he had obligations, and JoLyn came to Kisumu where she was met by the family that had been caring for Amy, Rustin and Raquel Toews, and their 4 children as well as Raquel's sister Kayla who is here for several months. I found out soon after 5:00 that there would be a number of extra folks needing supper so I added more rice to the pot, and pulled more beans out of the freezer. Thankfully I had plenty of chapatis on hand. We really enjoyed learning to know Rustin's family. We made some more amazing connections that eve. We discovered that Rustin's wife is related to my uncle Gilbert. Glenda and I were also quite amazed to discover that Derrick's wife, JoLyn, knows my step Gramma, Waneta Bender! She is her great aunt!! What a small world!  Amy had surgery at Aga Khan hospital on Friday. They had to put 3 pins in. Poor girl! She has been so brave. On Sat. we went to visit her and Vanessa presented her with some gift items that she had fun getting together. Jake's two girls also wrapped up some gifts for her. While we were at the hospital we got a call saying that Steve and Martha Esh were already at the airport waiting for us!! We had been misinformed or misheard the time we were to pick them up. So we quickly left the hospital and headed to the airport where we joyfully welcomed the Esh's back!! We are happy that their daughter Juli is also with them this time! They plan to fill-in at Dienya until the beginning of March. Last eve. Glenda and I provided supper for Derrick's family and 2 single girls with them. 

  Kore Beachy and his replacement, Jeremy Fisher, (Lee and Sadie's son) arrived here on Fri. eve. We enjoyed having them here for supper and afterwards there was a lively game of volleyball on the lane. There were a few girls; Linda and Shayla, school teachers from the Holdeman group here as well.  There aren't many missionary youth in this part of the country right now so they always love visitors.

  

 Today we attended church at Ombeyi. I enjoyed the nice cool breeze that blew through the open building, though the people passing on the path right past the church house can be distracting.  It would be nice if they could get the property fenced but the money for fencing disappeared twice now and the promises to pay it back have been empty.  Wayne preached a powerful message on "What is Truth?" He spoke very straight... Oh how we hope these people who are locked into this culture that is so full of lies can be free. Former Bishop Eric testified afterwards that he has lied and wants to be at peace. He gave a lengthy explanation of various money issues that surround him. Pray for him... there are still many words about him and things are so confusing. We get SOOOO weary of not knowing who or what we can believe. Pray for much wisdom and direction for the Pastors as they work through many difficult things. God knows the truth and we trust truth will be revealed in His time. Blessings to all of you, Wayne and Clara

 

Emmanuel and Amos (Chulaimbo) assembling The Dienya church house

Maseno Graduation

Mary (friend of Gordon), Elisabeth, Gordon, Tobias and Wayne

Elaine Schlabach and Jake's boys

Mystery Supper

Barefoot Carolers!

New Dienya Church building

First service in the new building

Elliot serving Christmas snack at Lela

Clara passing out family pictures

Old Mama Silpa carrying her Christmas gift of maize from Pastor Joe.  She was so happy!

The church "dishwashers"

Ruma National Park

President Uhuru actually came to Kisumu recently to a peaceful welcome  Kisumu has for many years been the opposition stronghold and he would not have dared come to town during the election chaos last year.

Brad with one of the puppies.

Jake and the Chulaimbo crew after they finished the Dienya building.

Vanessa with a school art project.

Dienya Bible Study at Joseph Odimo's

Rustin and Raquel Toews

Amani's "parents".  He is an orphan raised by his uncle.

Amani Kazimbiri

You want to take me home?