Home Sweet Home

The events of the last several weeks seem so unreal in a lot of ways. The roller coaster of emotions left us weak at times. Kenya has been partially locked down since March. Church services are still not allowed. The whole country seemed to wait with bated breath on June 7 when the time came for President Uhuru to give his speech in regards to whether the country will open up. Hopes were high and as you can imagine, it was devastating when restrictions were extended for another 30 days. Our family was hoping to be able to fly home in time for the wedding of my nephew, Lyndon Stoltzfus and Caitlin Snyder on June 20. We totally gave up the dream of being able to attend and decided God must still have a purpose for us in Kenya. I'm so glad now that we came to the point of complete surrender. Isn't that where God wants us? One of the hardest things for me was that we felt "finished".  We had accomplished most everything we had wanted to do before leaving. We needed to find new purpose in life. We decided to go to Nakuru to spend some time with the missionaries there. We planned to leave on Thurs. and stay until Sunday. But on Wed. eve. we were stunned when we got a notice from the Embassy announcing an evacuation flight leaving the following Monday, June 15. We decided we won't take the flight unless we had 100% support from the unit and the Board. Wayne sent some emails and then we started packing just in case the lights would all be green. It was a difficult day though because the thought of possibly needing to unpack later was rather nauseating. Finally on Thurs. afternoon we had the blessing of everyone we asked counsel of. What a relief to finally know how to plan after months of "hanging in limbo". We had 3 days to get ready. Things went well with our children pitching in to help. Compound folks were also very kind and helpful. They planned a farewell for us on Fri. eve. We were served a yummy snack and and enjoyed the eve. as well as you can when you're leaving folks that you've come to love like your very own family.

 On Sunday after another good church service in the compound and our last yummy fellowship meal, we prepared to leave for Nakuru. Allen drove our loaded down van. We were treated royally in Nakuru. Johnnys served us a very good meal that eve. We also said some more goodbyes that eve. The Luke Kurtz family came to the compound to give their best wishes. The next morning we were treated to a yummy breakfast at Winfred and Debbie's house. We also stopped in at Brian and Maria Wagler's house for a short visit. Shortly after that the compound met for prayer and to say goodbye. Three singles from Nakuru, Brad McGrath, Sharla Hostetler, and Carmen Beachy, also flew with us on the same flight. Carmen Beachy is the only one of those three who plans to return. Our family was taken to the airport by shuttle (matatu). Winfred drove the van carrying the youth and all our luggage. 

Joe and Marilyn Kuepfer's family also terminated their time in Kenya the same time we did, and they joined us on the same flight. We met up with their shuttle somewhere along the way to Nairobi so it was neat that all three vehicles were able to travel together part of the way. I was quite nervous about the police check. We came to a place where the road was completely blocked off with a big sign saying POLICE. Everyone needed to have temperatures checked and we needed to show the police a letter from the US Embassy granting permission for us to enter Nairobi, which is in lockdown. What a relief to be past that point with no issues!! Opake Yesu!!  Upon arrival at the airport we were met by men dressed in "space suits" who checked our temperatures again. Check-in and Immigration took a LONG time. I think we stood in line several hours. I felt faint from all the stress of previous days, etc. but we survived. Our waiting wasn't over even after we boarded the plane (an Ethiopian flight). I think we sat on the plane for about 2 hours before finally taking off for Addis Ababa. There was no such thing as social distancing. The plane was FULL and people seemed desperate to get on that flight. The security line at Addis was CRAZY! People pushed like cattle to get through there. The pandemic seems to have caused hysteria in many people... We sat on our next flight for around 18-1/2 hours!! That included the waiting for take-off and a stop for fuel in Ireland. We wore masks that whole time except while eating. I think we must've slept more than we realized because it was hard for me to believe that time went so fast. I guess people must've been praying too! I felt like belting out "America the Beautiful" when we landed in Dulles! :)  Bro.in law Vernon and a few of the children picked us up at the airport. I guess adrenalin kicked in because we weren't very tired on the 4 1/2 hr. ride home. What a thrill to drive up our very own driveway and be met by our wonderful family! It felt like a dream and a miracle!! Our family and church worked hard to get ready for us... everything was short notice for them as well! Most of our furniture was put into place and the house was clean from top to bottom. When I saw our table loaded down with food and gifts, I just had to cry. We're so undeserving of everything that was done for us! 

Our days have been very full and busy... seems we see work everywhere we look. We just stay at it until we're too tired to keep on. We're wondering why on earth we kept so much stuff and stored it. We've already taken two truck loads of stuff over to our shop to be "yard saled" later this month and I think there will be a good bit more! I guess living on the foreign field has taught us that we don't NEED so much stuff! Life is so much simpler without it! It's fun to see how much our children have grown up since we left almost 5 years ago. They've outgrown most of the toys and the clothes we had stored. :) 

Three days after our arrival home we packed up and drove to Plain City, OH in time for the rehearsal. We enjoyed that a lot and then spent a relaxing night at the Best Western, along with other family members. The wedding was beautiful! It seemed strange to hear Wayne preach in a setting like that, so TOTALLY different than we were used to in Kenya! And I'm still not used to seeing him in a suit coat! :) We loved meeting folks there that we haven't seen for years! What a gift from God that we were able to enjoy that special day! We wish Lyndon and Caitlin many happy years together!

Wayne has been busy trying to get our lawn mowed. He's having so many mower issues... hopefully we can find a dependable mower soon. Wayne plans to start work for bro. in law JoeAllen possibly next week. It will be an adjustment to have him gone almost every day, all day!

 God has been SO good to us and we have wonderful memories of our time in Kenya. I hope we've learned a lot of lessons that will stick with us for life. Pray for us as we adjust to the American lifestyle. It will take a while and I hope people can bear with us.  I've enjoyed "blogging" and sharing our Kenya story with you. That chapter of our life has now closed, so I guess the blog is now finished as well. Thanks to our many friends and supporters who frequently sent notes of love, encouragement, and prayers. Our circle of friendship is bigger than ever and we treasure that!! God bless all of you!

Please pray earnestly for the workers still remaining on the field. Our hearts are still with them and we pray that Kenya's borders will open soon so that new workers can go, bringing fresh courage to the missionaries and reducing their work loads. God bless!  Oriti!! (Goodbye) Wayne and Clara

Please look at the pictures from the bottom up. The computer loaded them backwards and we didn't take time to fix it. Thanks! :)

Oroba, Kasongo, Ombeyi Pastor's meeting

School picnic games

Hosting the national Pastors and their wives

Compound supper at our house

Visiting Pastor Tobias and Elizabeth Ajuma

Sunday school presentation

Allen and Rhoda Peachy

Farewell in Nakuru

At HOME with the cousins and Gramma!!

Serving supper after the rehearsal

The happy couple (center)

Finish Strong...

"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

How many people do you need to bathe a dog?

The ladies listening to Martha's life story

Pouring a storeroom pad at Dienya

The road from Wagi toward Dienya is going to be paved!

Our go-to computer/phone repair shop

Shop class with Pastor Allen

Two baby snails get a ride on Mama!

Trying to get into the house at Lela church.  It flooded and a heavy chest floated over blocking the door.

Covid Brothers!

Awesome God!  He's given us some beautiful sky lately!

Flooding at our mechanic Ranjit's place.  The Lake is very high and many people have been displaced because of it

The Maasai are even wearing masks!

Brians treated the compound to a mystery supper... delicious food!!

Shop class taught by Pastor Allen

Kericho Mission Pastor's meeting

Beginning the work of repairing the Ahero church floor

End of year school program

Julie, Clarissa, and Shonda

Compound family

Washing dishes on Mother's Day

Brians and us spent part of Family Day at Milimani Beach. The boys did some fishing

Ahero church project

Chai time

Mama Monica outside her house that was flooded (Ahero)

Sit Still...

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." Ex. 14:14

"Be still (cease striving), and know that I am God." Ps. 46:10

"When you rest in His presence you rest in the knowledge He is in control."

Recently in our ladies Sunday school class, one of the youth girls shared a verse that is special to her, and I have also claimed it during this time of crisis. It's found in Ruth 3:18... "Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall:"  There are so many unknowns...Will we be able to find a flight out of Kenya when it's time to return to our homeland as we had planned, the end of May? James Barkmans are in the same boat, and have already stayed longer than they planned. Will the replacements be able to come on schedule? When can we resume normal church services with our beloved national brothers and sisters? How long will Nairobi be "locked down?" Will life ever return to normal? Only God knows the answer to these questions. I'm sure all of you have lots of questions as well. In spite of the unknowns we can be at peace, knowing God will work out details according to His will. Opake Yesu!!

We continue to have rain almost every day in Kisumu! Last eve. it rained over 2 inches. The weather is about as perfect as could be, except for chilly temperatures some evenings. Most of the nationals have their shamba's planted by now, I think. Pray for a bountiful harvest.

A few weeks ago there was a burial in Kasongo that Pastor Tobias Osur wanted Wayne to attend. There were more people there than technically allowed by the government at this time, but what do you do? We heard that Anastacia died and I was sad to hear about it, because the lady I know by that name is probably in her 40's, a very friendly mama who has epilepsy. We thought she must've died of a seizure. But to Wayne's surprise, when he arrived at the burial Anastacia was walking around there with the other church ladies. :)  Turns out that the mama Anastacia who died, had been sick for some time and we didn't know her. 

We've pretty much been stuck in the compound here and sometimes we get a bit "antsy". But thankfully we have plenty to keep us busy, and if we need fellowship we can always find it here with our dear compound family! :) We ladies had a number of "sewing days" together in the last several weeks. We've made over 1,000 masks to distribute... mostly among our 11 churches. We've also invited some of the national sisters to come so we can teach them to sew masks. Sewing teachers, Pamela Ogema, and Hellen were here, as well as Pamela Odhiambo (Ahero). People are SO grateful for them! We are not allowed to go anywhere in public without a mask. Social distancing is also stressed a LOT, but in this culture... hmmm. Seems impossible. It's rather amusing sometimes. At some police checkpoints they check your temperature and make very sure the vehicle is not overloaded. Some businesses also require temperature checks and handwashing stations are everywhere. I never thought I'd see the day...

 Wayne has made several trips to various churches where he meets the Pastors to deliver the masks. He had plans to go with Bishop Thomas Amata to Vihiga on Friday, to deliver masks to a hospital that is not well provided for by the government. But just a bit before they were to leave they found out that the hospital was going on strike that morning. The contact lady there told them not to come. She was afraid it could be dangerous for them to be there at that time, because of people being upset. I feel sorry for those who aren't being cared for now. Life is so difficult for many in this country.

Our family has also been busy getting our house ready for the next occupants. There was painting to do, floors to strip and wax, etc. I'm SO grateful for Clarissa's help with these projects since the oil-based paint smells so strong and makes me sick. We moved over to the empty house next door for a week so we could get away from paint fumes. The youth girls from here were also a huge help with painting one day. We still have a ways to go on our "want to get done" list but I think we're getting there!! Wayne and Brian spent some time at James' house working on a plumbing project. 

Last Sunday we had a special service here in the compound.. an Easter sunrise service! It was a beautiful morning! Wayne shared the resurrection story with us on flannelgraph. We serve a risen Savior! PTL! We enjoyed a delicious brunch afterwards. Sunday services in the compound are becoming the norm now, and we enjoy it very much, but we still miss our churches so much and look forward to the day we can go out again. Our church services consist of singing English and Luo songs, one of the youth girls teach the children's class while we ladies take turns teaching the adult ladies. The men also rotate teaching S.S. and preaching. The fellowship meal afterwards is always a highlight! 

Last evening the youth girls treated all the couples to a fine dining experience. They set up a beautiful table and served us chicken alfredo, olive garden salad, garlic knots, lava cake, and ice cream. It was SOO delicious!! We enjoyed some games of corn hole afterwards.

There is some limited visiting going on with our national brothers and sisters but for the most part life seems to have "ground to a halt". I'm SO grateful that our small mission school can continue in the compound!! May God have His way in the coming days and weeks. Current numbers of cases in the country that have tested positive for Covid-19 stand somewhere between 200-300. Deaths are around 14. Please pray that we could truly "sit still" and allow God to do His work through all this. Thank you for your prayers and support.

                                                                                             Wayne and Clara

Burial of Anastacia (Kasongo)

Road going to Lela

James and Christina treated the compound to a wonderful Low country boil!

Counting the offering money at church

Sunday service

Mask making project

Trevor :)

Dixie whined and carried on... she was sure there was something under the hood or car (maybe a rat?)

More masks...

Painting!!

Sunrise service on Easter morning

The children entertaining themselves while the ladies work

A reminder of God's promises

Pastor's appreciation supper

Brian and Rosie Miller (looking smart:))

Our wonderful youth ladies!