Kisumu Yoder's: May 2020

"Beginning well is a momentary thing; finishing well is a lifelong thing." Ravi Zacharias (Ravi passed on to meet his Savior today)

"Crossing the starting line may be an act of courage but crossing the finish line is an act of faith." John Bingham

"The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it."

We so much want to finish our time well here in Kenya. God has taught us so much during our nearly 5 years here in Africa, and we have a whole host of new friends to add to our list of blessings. But now as time nears for our departure... plans were to leave next week.. we feel very much out of control and I'll admit we've faced a lot of disappointments and discouragement. Things aren't ending up at all as we imagined. Thanks to Covid-19. There were 7 Communions on schedule at the churches that Wayne is responsible for during our last several months in Kenya, and one of our dreams was to have a new Pastor at Lela by this time. We feel it would be such a boost to the church there to have their very own national Pastor. But here we are, stuck in the compound with none of those things accomplished. One good thing that has come out of this is that we've had plenty of time to get our house in shape for the next occupants, with very little pressure. As you can imagine, we are VERY ready to get back to our dear church family and loved ones at home. I don't think I've ever been so homesick!! It feels like it's time to move on and pass the torch to those coming. We would desperately love to be at my nephew Lyndon Stoltzfus and Caitlyn Snyder's wedding coming up on June 20. But we have basically given up hope of that happening. Kenya has still not opened their doors to international travel. We had tickets and hoped to fly home on June 2 but those flights were cancelled. We wait and pray and try to find joy in little things. We still have so many blessings.

There was some discussion at the Pastor's table yesterday about visiting our national friends. The consensus was that if we use caution such as staying outside to visit and possibly not eating together, it would be ok to go out more than we have been. There are still strict regulations in place, such as no church services, or other large gatherings. Everyone must wear a mask in public. You can be fined for not wearing your mask properly. Our temperatures are checked before entering a lot of stores, and sometimes even the police will stop you while driving to check your temp. There is also a curfew in place that was recently extended for another 21 days. Positive virus cases in Kenya are now at 912. Those recovered are 336. 50 have died. It's not unusual to hear tear gas being used by the police in the evening. They have to work hard to keep people off the streets. Unfortunately there have been beatings and other stories of brutality. Sometimes we can even feel effects of tear gas as we sit in our living room. In spite of all this it would feel so good to be able to have more contact with our national brothers and sisters and we're praying for church services to open up! We want to invite all the Pastors and their wives to our house for a meal before we leave, sort of as a farewell and encouragement to them. We'll probably need to do that in two shifts. I would feel so much better about leaving Kenya if we can do this for our friends here. Please pray that this could work out and be a blessing to them.

I believe flooding has caused our brothers and sisters far more stress than covid-19. There are no known cases of the virus in Kisumu. A number of our members had houses and shambas destroyed by water. We're very grateful to CAM for coming to the rescue of these folks and offering hope to them with a nice food parcel. It takes so much wisdom and patience when you get calls saying we're "starving", or there's no food in the house, or my house is surrounded by water, and on and on... God have mercy! And please give us grace and strength to endure... these things can really sap our energy and make us feel burned out. I won't deny that all the uncertainty and not knowing how to plan our days has been a real emotional drain and we need strength that only God can give.

I will close with this, allowing the pictures to tell you some of what we've been doing as we spend most of our time in the compound. I don't know what we would do without our compound family to keep us encouraged and give us fellowship. Our Sunday services are a real highlight even though all of us would so love to be with our churches again.

Our children are excited about finishing school this week. Shonda is very happy to have almost completed 10th grade, and Vanessa is almost finished with 8th! Brad is completing 5th grade. He will have some adjustments next term as the only school he knows is our small mission school here.

God bless you all and thanks for your prayers! Wayne and Clara