Kisumu Yoder's

"Where words fail, music speaks." Hans Christian Andersen

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

"The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through music." Martin Luther

There are few things that "move me" like beautiful singing does. There is power in lovely 4 part harmony combined with words, that can revive our souls. Probably one of the biggest things that I have missed in our churches here in Kisumu is the lovely singing we were accustomed to at home. There's a group of youth from Faith Mission Home visiting Kisumu right now and their singing has been a real highlight for us! It just makes me cry... This group has special talent and we're so glad they were willing to share with us!

I'm not going to attempt to write everything that's been going on in the last month. I think I will let the pictures give you an idea of what's been happening. The group from FMH that was here visiting left yesterday. Joe and Glenda took them to the Masai Mara to finish out their time in Kenya. Our nephew, Lyndon Stoltzfus, is the one who planned this trip and brought friends with him. Randall Wagler, Eric Bontrager , Hannah Troyer, Melissa Miller, Caitlyn Snyder, Beka Peachey, and Katie Kurtz were the rest who came. They were a real inspiration to us and there was much laughter at times! :) They helped with different projects here around the compound such as mowing lawns, a concrete project at the Dienya church, stripping and waxing floors, etc. etc. Glenda and I will be forever grateful to this diligent group of girls who made our floors shine once again!! On Friday afternoon we had our school picnic and the FMH group was in charge of activities. The first thing they did was a pinata for the children which is always a highlight. There were also relay races, etc. Supper was great with meatballs, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and cheesecakes!! The FMHers also shared a pizza supper with American ingredients on Sunday evening!! SOOO yummy! This was served at the farewell for Gerold Millers and Jake Gingerichs. We all met at Josephs carport and enjoyed some special singing and a share time. These farewells are so difficult though! :( Gerold and Becky and son Wayne left Kisumu on Tues. eve and arrived in OH last eve. This is the beginning of many changes for us in the next year. Jake and Jan plan to leave in less than a week. Jake's parents John and Christina Gingerich, and his grandmother, Mary Coblentz, are here visiting for a short time and helping them pack up to go home. James, Christina and Kaylita Barkman, have also gone to America. Christina left a week and a half or so before James and Kaylita did. She was able to get on the same flight that Tommy Wagler's family was on which was a blessing! Her mother was very ill and not expected to live long. After her mother died last Friday James and Kaylita flew out the next day. We're happy that Joseph and Becky are back from furlough or we would feel rather forsaken! There's a lot of work around here, even when the houses are empty because lawns still need to be mowed, plants watered, chickens and dogs fed, houses prepared for the new folks etc. And since Gerold's son, Wayne, has gone there are no young fellows around to do maintenance work around here. Pray for strength for the Pastors who have a LOT on their shoulders right now! God will give strength but I'll admit it all looks big right now!

Wayne and I attended the Ugunja church on Sunday where we had our second to last Communion service this Spring... only Lela to go yet! James and Christina weren't there because of her mother's funeral so it was a small group there that day. Wayne had a meeting with the Brothers afterward. There are so few Brothers there who can lead out and their attendance has been very poor, which they say is mostly due to their jobs and distance from church. We question sometimes if the church there can continue but we trust God to show the way. Our children went with Joe's to Lela that day along with the group of FMHers, except for Beka Peachey who wanted to visit the Dienya church where she attended with her family in her growing up years. Melodie Beiler took her there.

This evening we look forward to seeing Joe and Janell Fisher, his brother Jeremy, and sisters Cynthia and Katie. They plan to stop here for a bit before they head to Uganda for a few days. They plan to return to Kisumu on Friday.

Our puppies are 7 weeks old now and doing well! One died a while back so now out of the 12 we have 10 left. We're all enjoying them a lot although they are quite naughty at times!! Thankfully we have a spacious pen to keep them in.

The first of our replacement families is to arrive in about a week from now. Allen and Rhoda Peachy from the Shade Mountain church in PA plan to come to replace Joe and Glenda at Lela. They will be living in Gerold's vacated house. Gerolds will not be replaced as of now... We are working towards helping the churches at Nyakoko and Oroba transition to indigenous leadership. Joseph plans to rotate between the two churches from now until their departure in December. We trust God to help us through the changes. It's difficult but with God all things are possible.

It's hard to believe that our children are out of school already!! Now we can look forward to furlough next month! Pray that we can keep singing in spite of changes, hard work, and weariness. God bless all of you! Wayne and Clara

Farewell breakfast with Tommy

Constructing the Ugunja church structure

Chai Time

Using the Word of God to build the church!

Tommy and Marji

Brunch after chicken butchering. Jakes visitors, Kenzie and Alicia on the left.

Jorim Atito's burial, Oroba

Lela people at Jorim's burial

Jorim's father in law, notice his prosthesis

Jorim's wife, Coletta (center)

Jorim's brother Noah

Communion at Chulaimbo

Gerold's last Unit Meeting

Chulaimbo Bible Study at Willice Agalo's

Dear old Mama's at Lela Widow's Seminar

Mama Hellena's Burial at Kasongo

Walking back from Lunch at Joshua's after Kajulu Communion

The youth girls made supper for the mom's on Mother's Day! Thank you!

Washing dishes with the FMH group Clarissa, Hannah, Melissa, Caitlin, Shonda. Katie and Bekah

Lyndon, Randall and Eric with Joe

Dienya Bible Study

Concreting at Dienya

Team work!

Miss Rhoda and Vanessa wrapping up the year's Bible Memory

The principal and students at the school picinic

Shopping at Kibuye Market

A dredging vessel at the Port of Kisumu. They are preparing to renovate the port.

Boat Ride!

Brad and Dr Dishon

Story book distribution at St Peter's Konim School in ahero

Lunch at Tobias Ajuma's

Farewell Gerold!

"A flower blooming in the desert proves to the world that adversity, no matter how great, can be overcome."

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope."

"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." Isa.35:1

Last weekend we spent a short vacation in a semi-arid area of Kenya about 2 hrs. north of Nakuru. We were on the shore of Lake Baringo at a place called Tumbili Cliffs. We wanted to spend a bit of time with Tonys before they leave for their homeland. It was lovely there! The desert has it’s own kind of beauty. There was LOTS of cactus. We also saw many bee hives in the trees along the way. We enjoyed seeing a herd of camels beside the road, and later some ostriches off the road a bit. The HUGE termite mounds we saw were amazing!! Some of them must’ve been 8-12 ft. high! Wayne had a grand time taking pics of many beautiful birds. The monkeys would’ve liked to raid our dwellings but we keep a lookout for them. The worst thing was the HEAT! We were so grateful when it cooled down overnight. We were able to lie in our beds and watch the sun rise over the lake in the morning. So awesome!! I’m so glad we have hope of rain in the near future! That area has not seen much rain since November. Nakuru is also extremely dry!! Kisumu received some welcome rains but now they’ve mostly stopped again and our hearts go out to our church brothers and sisters who are praying and waiting for rain. So many thousands of people depend on rain for their daily food. Oh God please allow the desert to blossom very soon!!

Three weeks ago we enjoyed a Baptismal service at Dienya. We rejoice that a youth boy, Naaman Ogilo was baptized. Brothers Paul Obare, Maurice Omondi, and Dickson Otieno were also appointed as lay leaders for 6 months, to lead the Dienya church after Tommy's leave. Lord willing we will have a missionary pastor to walk along side them in the future but we are praying that this will be the beginning of a move toward indigenous leadership at Dienya. Uncle Sanford and Laura joined us that day. Tommy and Marji invited us to join them at their house for lunch. It was delicious and such a treat to be with them again!! We dread the day they will leave Kisumu again. They add a lot of life to the Compound and our Thurs. night singings have a lot more volume when their family joins in!

On Wed. Wayne and I joined Joe and Glenda at the Lela Bible study at Walter’s house. There was a good discussion that day. In the evening we had our usual chapatis, rice, and beans. Joes, Rhoda, and Melodie, joined us.

What excitement on Thursday morning when Bradlyn woke up early and heard new little puppies outside the window!! In short order the whole family was outside and in awe of the many puppies!! Our dog Dixie has had two false pregnancies in the past, much to the dismay of our children, and their mother. J I had pretty much given up hope of her ever having puppies but Bradlyn made this a serious matter of prayer. Almost every night he prayed for puppies. Well, God answered exceeding, abundantly!! Dixie had 12!! One died, but the remaining 11 are thriving and doing well so far. I think God must’ve had a smile on His face when He answered that prayer for Brad! J We’re enjoying them although it takes extra time to keep the mama dog well fed so she can feed all those babies! The puppies eyes are open now and our children spend a lot of time playing with them. We hope it won’t be too hard to get rid of all of them! Wayne advertised them online and we’ve had some interest, so we’ll see…

Wayne has been busy planning seminars and meetings the last while. He spent part of a day with Pastors Tobias and John Omondi making plans for the Kisumu Youth Seminar. Another time Wayne and the same Pastors visited Charles and Pamela Ochieng. There appears to be some lingering clanism that surfaced over the recent commissioning. These issues can cause pain and roots of bitterness if they are not uprooted. Though these things may look a little different in this culture than they do in ours we are at times also guilty of the same kinds of divisive, ungodly bias. How we wish these folks wouldn’t have to deal with all these cultural things that cripple them.

On Friday eve. Steve Eash’s from Nakuru were here for supper as well as Lamp and Light workers David and Charles from the Mbaruk church. There was a Lamp and Light seminar hosted by the Kajulu church the next day. It was a VERY warm day but it was also a blessing to those who attended! The seminar was for any students or potential students in the surrounding area so there were a variety of denominations represented and some interesting questions fielded in the question and answer time. Wayne had the final message in the afternoon.

Sunday found us at Kasongo for our first Communion of the year. Things went well and we were home in good time. The churches out there do seem to be more at rest since Erick's excommunication. The next morning, we had a joint unit meeting with Nakuru in Kericho at a place called “Ray’s Place”. It’s a nice place and was a bit cooler than what we’re used to in Kisumu. We ladies joined our Pastor husbands for the day. We had a time of prayer for those who are leaving in the next several months… Becky Miller, Janice Gingerich, and Glenda. We also had a good time of sharing whatever was on our hearts. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to be with the Nakuru folks in this way.

On Wed. Wayne, Joe and Glenda, and a number of Lela members, went to the Sondu area to visit the clan of Irene. Moses and Irene are both in Instruction Class at Lela and want to become members but need to get their marriage legalized first. Joe and Wayne met with the clan to get their approval and to make sure the relationship is cleat and has a Biblical foundation. They reported a good day!

Thursday was the youth seminar at Ahero. This was for CBF youth who wanted to attend from any of the Kisumu churches. Marji and I went a bit later since our schedules are very full and busy these days. But I was glad we had the opportunity to be there part of the day. The Ahero cooks do so well in going ahead with food preparations but Wayne and I were still responsible to make sure they have all the ingredients they need.

We LOVED the school children’s Easter program that was held at the Compound on Friday eve. They did a super job and it really helped the singing to have Tommy’s children there as well! The snack afterward was pretty amazing. Becky Miller did a superb job of decorating and the food was extra special and very attractively done.

We Kisumu ladies had an enjoyable time Tuesday shopping at the Kibuye market, Food Plus, and finishing with lunch at Java House. We don't take a lot of time to do things like this together so it was special!

The big event of this past week was the annual Ministers Meetings held here at the Compound. This seminar includes all Missionary Pastors and wives from Nakuru and Kisumu as well as the National Pastors and their wives. There were approx. 100 people here. Wayne and I are responsible for this big event and I must say I was out of my comfort zone many times. It was exhausting but rewarding as well. We changed a few things this year… instead of eating lunch at the Rabuor church on Thurs. and Fri. everyone ate here. We had a tent set up on the lane outside of Joseph’s and Tommy’s gates for the cooks to use and enjoy some shade. The Rabuor ladies did all the cooking except for the Fri. morning Breakfast which was served by the Missionary ladies. It took a LOT of organizing and food needed to be bought for all those meals. Water needed to be hauled… etc. etc. But in spite of all the work we feel things went well and maybe by the time another year rolls around we’ll have some more wrinkles ironed out of this new way of doing things. The topics were VERY good! The theme this year was “Passing on the Faith.” The speakers were Winfred Miller, John Omondi, Enos Kalos, Wycliffe Asira, and Thomas Amata. The workshop for the men was taught by Tommy Wagler and the ladies were taught by two health workers, Rosemary Ondeyo and Jane Juma. They talked about safe drinking water, HIV, and more. I’m really hoping the Pastors and their wives will take what they have learned and teach the members in their churches.

Please pray for the future of the church in Kenya. We praise the Lord that many of our members are first generation members but unfortunately unless there is a drastic change, many of them will also be the last generation in the CBF church. Very few children are embracing the faith of their parents. There are obviously a variety of reasons. Be very thankful if your children have the opportunity to go through school in a setting that embraces and enforces your values. Many here do not have that privilege. Families are also under huge pressure from their surrounding clan and their "religion". Biblical faith that is fleshed out in daily living is very rare in this "very religious" country. It also seems that many parents have low expectations for their children and possibly have more of an "earthly focus" than a "heavenly" one. What is my expectation and vision for my children? (This paragraph was by Wayne)

We went to Ombeyi for their Communion service this morning. We were past Nyamasaria when we suddenly thought of the grape juice we had left in our fridge at home. Sigh!! So we ended up turning around to get it and ended up being 10 minutes late for church. Benard Omondi from Ahero went with us to help with translating. There was a fairly stiff breeze blowing through the shelter this morning so we didn’t feel the heat like we do sometimes. Please pray for Gaudensia, wife of former Bishop Eric, that she could be strong and courageous through this difficult time with her husband being excommunicated. Our hearts go out to the family of Jorim Atito who passed away suddenly yesterday. Bishop Joseph had just arrived at his home when the wailing started. Jorim was a very strong man physically and a faithful member at Oroba. He had been sick with typhoid in the previous week but he also had some other problems so we aren't sure what caused his death. This is difficult for the church and Josephs. Pray for them. Josephs leave for furlough tomorrow (Monday) so they will not be at the burial of this loved brother.

God is answering prayers for workers in Kisumu!! Opake Yesu! I believe there are 4 couples who have committed to coming! God is good! This answer to prayer for workers is an example of the desert “blossoming!” J When things seem hopeless, God allows the desert to bloom and bring us hope! Pray for Tony and Judith and family as they fly across the waters in a few days. We’ll miss them! It wasn’t easy to tell them goodbye! We’ve been blessed to have “family” in Kenya with us! God bless you all! Wayne and Clara