Kisumu Yoder's: A Baptism, Hard Meetings and Good News.........

"We plough the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand." Wayne has a motto with this saying on his desk and I've been thinking of it quite a bit recently that we don't need to worry so much about numbers and how much our labors yield. That is in God's hands. All He wants from us is faithfulness in planting the seed. Somehow that helps me relax and not feel so pressured.

How exciting it is to have Miss Jess here! For those of you who don't know her, she was Vanessa's school teacher back home and an important part of church and school in Wytheville. Her family lived here in Kenya a number of years ago so this is kind of like coming "home" for her. She brought one of her good friends along, April Mast, and they have been making themselves useful here in the compound this week. They are definitely not afraid of work!

Monday morning we ladies were invited to Steve's carport for a tea party. And what wonderful treats we had! Fresh squeezed juice, and lemon grass tea, as well as delicious pastries of different kinds. We had a blest time together laughing and even crying together.

Tuesday eve. we enjoyed hosting Steve's, Jess, April, Charity, Carolyn, and Stacy at our house for the evening meal consisting of barbecued chicken and oven fried potatoes. I didn't need to make dessert since a farewell was planned for Steve's on the lane afterward. We had coke and fanta floats, made with homemade ice cream! The youth had a very lively game of volleyball that eve. We miss Steve's now that they left for America. Their enthusiasm for the work here was much appreciated and gave us renewed courage. We welcomed Mark Beachy's back to Kenya but don't get to see them much since they live in another compound out close to their church.

Bible study Wed. was at Elizabeth's house and fairly well attended. As is custom, we ladies go outside or in another house to eat after the Bible study and the men stay in the house. I'm always so glad to get outside and get a nice cool breeze after being stuck inside for so long! Wednesday eve. we ladies were treated again to some delicious food prepared by Marlin's daughter Janette. She planned a very nice Birthday party for her mom out on their lawn and we enjoyed the food and fellowship very much!! Its possible to make some really nice delicacies here but I think it just takes more time and effort here than it does at home.

On Friday the pastors and some brothers from each church headed to Kaptembwa in Nakuru for our Christian Believers Fellowship Society's Annual General Meeting. We are required to be registered as a society with the government of Kenya. You can help us pray that renewal will go smoothly. Some years it has been a bit difficult.

On Saturday Jess took all the compound girls to a big pool to go swimming. The weather was beautiful and sunny and they came home with more sun on their faces. They had a "visitor" at the pool who stole their cookies!! Once when Clarissa was out of the pool by some of the tables she was amazed to see a monkey coming to where some of the food was! She ran toward it waving her arms to scare him away but quick as a wink he grabbed the bag of cookies and left. He went down over a bank and then dropped the cookies. There was a hole in the bag but they were still able to eat and enjoy the cookies. :) They saw more monkeys later on. I guess its not surprising that monkeys are in that area because Impala Park is next door to the hotel where the pool is.

Wayne had a heavy load this past week. There was a meeting planned for Saturday morning because of some serious accusations by one of our sisters against one of the brothers in Church. Oh how it hurts to hear things like this and just not know for sure if you can believe what is being said. Historically there is much lying and so many "hidden" sins to deal with in these churches. (Lying in many cases; especially to protect someones honor, is culturally viewed as acceptable) Wayne and I both hate conflict and would rather just ignore things but of course that won't make the problems go away, so we need to face the challenges "head on" with the help of God. The meeting went fair I think but then Wayne needed to go investigate some more along with support and help from some native pastors. We're feeling a bit better about things but we know relationships are still far from being what they should be. The relationship issue is between a man who years ago "inherited" this woman who is bringing the accusations. They were together for quite some time. He says the "inherited" woman had HIV and tried to keep that hidden from him. Now he is HIV positive and his real wife is negative. There is much more to the current issue but this gives you a small glimpse into some of the things faced in our culture here. What a huge mess is made when people don't follow God's way of "one man, and one woman". Polygamy is a big issue here and causes much heartache. HIV has taken the lives of many men especially, leaving a lot of widows and fatherless children. Please pray that these people can let go of the past and have a new beginning with Christ as their role model.

We had a special service today... Seraphina was baptized and Maureen was reinstated as a full member. Attendance was great today and people seemed happy with adding new members. Bishop Marlin was there to take charge of the Baptism and he preached for us as well which gave Wayne a nice break!! After church we were invited to Marlins for a nice lunch along with Jess and April.

One of the uppermost things on our minds now is the wonderful news we heard last week!! Replacements have FINALLY been found for Marlin Stoltzfus's after a year of looking for someone who is willing to come!! And guess who??!!! I feel like I'm dreaming but its my own dear sister, Glenda, and her husband Joe, and sweet little Tiffany!! And they will even be living next door to us!!! Oh it feels like a dream! I'm only feeling so bad for my mom and dad and the rest of the family at home!! I'm not sure how I'm so blessed to have them here... but thank GOD!! He's the one who did the "calling" and NO we did NOT give their name to the board as a suggestion!! :) I tried hard to stay very neutral and out of it while they were making their decision because I wanted this whole thing to be from God and not because of pressure from us. I don't know how well we did but anyway we look forward to their arrival in April. Pray for them... the responsibility looks BIG to them!! Blessings to all of you, Clara

Pics by Wayne

"When you are going through something hard and wonder where GOD is, Remember... the teacher is always quiet during the test."