Be of Good Courage...

 "They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage."  This verse struck me this morning as I was reading in Isaiah 41.  It went right along with the thoughts that have been swirling around in my head.  Its my constant prayer that we could be a blessing and encouragement to those around us.  I know from experience how much it means to have family and friends shower us with encouragement and prayer.Our Church at home was constantly encouraging and affirming us, and showing love and support in many ways.  We were richly blessed! And I now look at that as a luxury! But I think God is wanting to teach us something... maybe He wants us to feel a bit of what He feels at times when people take for granted what is done for them and don't remember to thank Him.  We are learning to do thankless things... remembering that God is the only one who sees or cares. After all its HIM we're serving, so why should we care if our church folks show appreciation or not.  I'm thinking that maybe the encouragement and blessing that the family of God is to us, is just a side benefit on our way to Glory.  Our primary focus should be on Kingdom work without thought of praise or thanks from men.  On Christmas Day, after the service as we stood in the back to greet the people as they filed out, we handed them some small gifts... a kitchen "scrubbie" for the ladies, a bar of soap for the men and youth, and toothbrushes for the children.  I think they were probably thankful for what they got but I was amazed how few of them said, "Erokamano" (thank you).  In fact, a few of them wanted something more or something different than what they got.  It kind of took away some of the joy of giving.  But when I think of Jesus and how many people are "throwing away" the gift of salvation, it grieves me too.  How can we cultivate thankful hearts here at Lela rather than, "I'm poor, you owe it to me" attitudes.  Don't get me wrong!  There are times when they do thank us... they really appreciate visits in their homes, and transport when they want to go somewhere, etc.  but I'm still disappointed with how often they "beg" for things.  Oh we need the wisdom of Solomon!!  One thing I noticed about these people is that they can really identify with pain.  When I had surgery on my toe and had lots of pain, they were very sympathetic and touched by that.  They often asked me how I'm doing, etc.  Well... enough of my ramblings...

   Thurs. morning I went over to the house that Tony's vacated  to see if I can be of assistance in cleaning the house that Steve and Martha Esh planned to move into that afternoon.  As it turned out, Becky and Stacy were almost finished cleaning already and had things well under control so I just went home again and started cleaning my own house.  Since Wayne is the Principal at school we were responsible to have the Agape carport ready for the school program that eve. so I helped prepare for some of that.  Clarissa and Janette did a great job of decorating that afternoon and I helped get the food table set up for the abundance of good food we had that eve.  The program was very nice.  It was definitely different than what we are used to at home.This is a much smaller school, but they did a great job nonetheless and we certainly were blessed and encouraged.  Charity and Carolyn worked hard, as well as the music teacher, Marjie, and we much enjoyed the results of their hard work!  We also enjoyed meeting Steve, Martha, and Julie that eve.  They have been a real blessing already and we look forward to having them here for several months.  Steves brought us some treats from family members at home!!  What fun to receive new books, and some yummy things as well... such as BUGLES, PEPPERMINT PATTIES, etc!  Some of the things that were fairly common fare at home have become luxuries here.  When we came to Kenya I brought a pack of oreos along and stuck them in the freezer for a special time.  I decided that since its Christmas now we can eat them.  And I don't think an oreo cookie has EVER tasted so good to me! :)  We can buy oreos here but they are expensive and our budget doesn't allow such luxuries very often.

   Friday did not seem very much like Christmas.  It was a warm day and we're not used to going to church on Christmas.  It felt so much like a Sunday. Our service was a bit different...Wayne had a short message and we did a lot of singing (a lot in Swahili) and then we opened it up for individuals or family groups to share.  We have lots of widows here and they sang a song for us.  Some of the ladies who sang solos put some extra motions into them which added some smiles and interest. :) Christmas evening was very special!  MANY THANKS to the Marlin Stoltzfus family for making it a memorable day for the Compound.  They invited all of us to their house for the evening meal... and what a feast it was!!  Meatballs, chicken, gourmet potatoes, individual plates of lettuce salad, beautiful layered jello salad in goblets, pie, hoho cake, and an ice cream dessert, as well as date pudding!!!  It was a huge treat and I hope God blesses them real well for sharing with us. The tables were set beautifully and we had a nice time of relaxing and visiting for hours after the meal.  They youth so kindly washed the MANY dishes for us.  

  Wayne continues to be quite busy... he was out visiting a number of people last week and it seems there is always plenty to do here in the Compound as well.  We are so thankful that the sidewalk job is basically finished now.  Some large tree roots had made a big mess of things but it looks much better now.  

   We had our share of homesickness this past week!!  I haven't seen our girls missing home so much as they have lately.  I think the Christmas program at home was the hardest thing to miss.  And the future looks a bit dismal to them I'm afraid. :(  Their best friends are all planning to head back to America in the next 6 months or so.  We are hoping desperately that the new families will have some children for ours to fellowship with.  I have a feeling that fellowship for our children could be a big deciding factor in how long we stay in Kenya.  But its all in God's hands and we are making it a matter of prayer.  

   We trust you had a blessed Christmas and we wish you a wonderful New Year!!  Thank you for being our friends!!!  Clara for the Yoders