"Sometimes through the winds of change we find our true direction."
"Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. John Maxwell
When the winds of change blow, some build walls, others build windmills." Chinese Proverb
"When you can't change the direction of the wind, adjust your sails."
It seems I have a hard time concentrating these days... I find my mind is constantly thinking ahead with many questions about how life will be in our homeland when we return in May, LW. We're thinking about buying vehicles, we think about a job for Wayne and the girls, we wonder how our children will adjust to a big school that is vastly different than they' re used to. Our "baby" was 5 when we came to Kenya, and now he is 10 years old!! So much has changed in our lives. I try to remember what all we have stored in our basement at home, but memory fails me at times. It feels like we may need to start over somewhat. I think about having a huge garage sale when we get home because I'm certain we have MANY things we don't need!! CHANGE... it can bring fear, uncertainty, excitement, and so many mixed emotions. Please pray that we can keep our focus where it ought to be while we're still here. We want to finish well and not be distracted by things in our future. One thing we KNOW!! God doesn't change! And the One who has called us here will certainly be with us as we cross the waters and begin a new life in America! Opake Yesu!
Whew!! The hot part of the year has arrived!! The grass is still green though, for which we're thankful. We surely appreciate our fans and look forward to evenings when it cools off nicely.
The big guest house project is nearly completed! What a good feeling! The Pastors and Deans boys spent a lot of time plumbing, replacing the ceiling, trimming, painting, etc. Our girls and Julie also got in on some painting. We ladies plan to get together tomorrow to clean it and hopefully move some things back where they belong. It will be so nice to have a better place to accommodate our visitors!
The ordination of John Omondi took place the end of January. Marlin Yoder's family travelled here from Nakuru and he shared a very good message. Paul Oda (from Oroba) also shared a message and Wayne was in charge of the Ordination. A good meal was served afterwards but I think they ran a bit short with food. There was a good sized crowd that day... the Rabuor church attended as well to show their support.
We rejoice with the commissioning that has taken place at Kasongo! Washington Otieno was chosen for the work. We enjoyed the special day with them. Joel Lusi from Nyakoko preached a message, as well as Jacob Obiero from Ombeyi. The whole church at Ombeyi joined us for the special occasion. There was a meal served afterwards. It's so exciting to see the churches moving forward in this way, and to see how happy people are to welcome their new Pastor.
A very special event of the last month was the arrival of Wayne's brother Tim for a 10 day visit! (including travel time) We so much admired his wife Ruth and their children for being willing to give up Husband and Daddy so he could spend time here in Kisumu. This was Tim's Christmas gift from the family! :) Wayne flew to Nairobi to meet Tim at the airport on the 28th of January. It was supposed to be partly a business trip as well, since Wayne wanted to meet with a land officer concerning land titles, but unfortunately the person he needed to talk to was not there that day. Wayne and Tim slept at an AirBnB house close to the airport that night and then flew to Kisumu the next day. Tim amazed us with the amount of energy he had that first day! He mowed lawn, fixed a mower, trimmed hedges, etc. It was fun to see the brothers have a good time together!
On Friday of that week Wayne and Tim along with all the missionary pastors, national pastors and a bunch of church brothers from Kisumu and Nakuru met at the Lamp and Light building in Nakuru for the CBF churches annual general meeting. On Saturday Tim accompanied Wayne to the burial of Wilkista Oda (an old mama from Nyakoko). Dean Miller preached the message that day.
On Sunday we went to Ombeyi for church and Tim preached a very good message. Wayne has been blessed to have a break from preaching!! :) That evening most of the unit was together on the lane visiting. Rhoda Wengerd had visitors... her brother Titus and Kathy, with their 3 children were here for a while. Brian and Rosie Miller also enjoyed a visitor, Norman Steiner from their church in Grove City, MN. James Barkmans were blessed with a visit from his brother Martin and his wife. We've been so blessed to make many new friends here because of all the folks who come see Kenya! :).
On Monday eve. we enjoyed a meal served to us by Dean and Barbara Jean. The next day Wayne and Tim left to go to our Masai friend David's church which is situated in the area of Masai Mara. There were a number of people there who wanted Bibles so Wayne and Tim delivered those and Wayne preached a short message for them. They were served a meal afterwards there on the church property. Wayne and Tim could tell you some wild "mud stories". That area has had an awful lot of rain and some roads were basically impassable. Thankfully they had the Prado which does really well in mud, but I think they had enough adventures to last a long time! :) That afternoon they took a drive through the Mara, accompanied by the Pastor of the Masai church whose family owns some of the Mara land. They were privileged to see a good number of animals but unfortunately no big cats. The grass is quite high with all the rain so I think it probably hid a number of animals. That night they stayed in a house close by that was offered to us free of charge as a way to promote more folks renting from them. The next morning they did another game drive on the Mara with their own vehicle. This time they got stuck once, but thankfully there were some Rangers close by who came to their rescue. The day after the brothers returned from the Mara Tim flew from the Kisumu airport to begin his long journey home. It seemed time flew by on wings... Thanks for coming!!
On Sat. a week ago, Wayne and I attended the burial of Ruth Kisera from Lela. She was not a member there but her husband Joseph is. Ruth was a cripple and always enjoyed when visitors stopped in. Life will be even more difficukt for her husband Joseph who is also handicapped but able to walk with two sticks. He is old and not always mentally alert but he loves the Lord and has been very faithful in coming to church. Hopefully our presence was a comfort to the family. There were many good words spoken about Ruth that day.
We had some more special visitors this past weekend. Earl and Edna Peachey have been visiting their son and family, Jason and Nancy, who are serving in Nakuru. Earls wanted to spend a bit of time in Kisumu so we picked them up at the bus station on Sat. and enjoyed having them here for a meal that eve. It was a bit hurried because there was a time of fellowship hosted by Allens that eve. Earl was asked to share some words of encouragement with us as missionaries and we were richly blessed!! The next day Earls accompanied us to Lela church. The people were very happy to have Earl preach. After a quick lunch with Earls and Allens, Wayne took them to the Prestige shuttle service for their ride back to Nakuru. The visit was short and sweet! God bless you for coming and for blessing us so much!
Continue praying for the work here... the needs look so big at times, and especially when we have more questions than answers about who will fill the needs after we're gone. Dean Millers plan to leave in March and James Barkmans the beginning of April and at this point we don't know when replacements will come for them either. It's really hard to have to tell our national brothers and sisters that we don't know... but we point them to the ONE who does know the future and will continue to provide for them. God bless! Wayne and Clara
