Kisumu Yoder's: Contentment.......

"If we have not quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do no more for us than a glass slipper on a gouty foot." John Bunyan

"He who is able to accept everything gladly from the Lord- including darkness, dryness, flatness - and completely disregard self is he who lives for Him." Watchman Nee

"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." Henry Ward Beecher

Contentment is a beautiful thing! But it feels rather elusive sometimes. Like now... There are times when we LOVE Kenya and want to stay for years, and other times we long for home... for our family, friends, comfortable home, and familiar things. It's hard not to feel a bit jealous of all our friends who have the privilege of going "home sweet home"... to stay, or for a visit. But patience is a virtue and Lord willing our turn will come. And meanwhile help us pray that we can find joy and contentment where God has placed us, even when things get tough. It doesn't work to run from hard things... I hope we've learned that lesson by now! We have MUCH to be thankful for... and we don't have to look far to realize that we are blessed FAR above so many who live around us. But still.... there's nothing like home!!! Agreed?

Monday was Pastor's meeting as usual here in Kisumu. It ended up being a fairly long meeting... nothing unusual. Clarissa did a bit of touch up painting on our kitchen cabinets that day, and after Wayne came home from his meeting he put the cabinet doors that had been painted on Sat. back on. It's nice to see a fresh new look in our kitchen!

Tues. morning Susan Omata, from Rabour, stopped by to chat a while. I was glad to see her and we had a nice visit. My girls brought some tea and choc. cake for her to enjoy. Her main reason for coming was to pick up a baby bundle for a lady from Rabour who had a baby recently. Tues. eve. we were very happy to have Luke and Jamila Kurtz and their family here at our house for the evening meal. We don't get to see them much since they live in Nakuru and don't work with AMA, but we enjoy seeing them occasionally. Joe and Glenda, and Stacy and Rhoda ended up eating here as well, and I was happy that there was enough food for all! Our children enjoyed making friends with Luke's children.

Wayne went to Ahero on Wed. morning to help haul water for one of the members who was building a house. He hauled gallons and gallons of water, that was dipped out of the canal, in the back of the van. They seemed to appreciate his help and of course he had to drink some chai before he left! In the afternoon he went to Bible study with Dean and Barbara Jean in Ugunja. On the way to Bible study they stopped in the Chulaimbo area to check out some land that they are considering buying for the Chulaimbo church. Wayne didn't get home til close to 6:30 and then we enjoyed our traditional Wed. night meal... chapatis, beans, and fresh salsa! One reason Wayne went with Deans is because he will be preaching there twice while Deans are on furlough and he had never been there before.

Thurs. was another FULL day for Wayne. There was a meeting in town that morning that Wayne and Joseph attended. They were meeting with a local ministry that works with orphans, widows and children in unfortunate situations. They work to provide spiritual guidance as well as schooling, financial training, micro loans etc.., to give them hope and a future. The ministry was the vision of a lady that was an orphan herself. In the afternoon Wayne visited some more members from Ahero, along with their Pastor Tobias. This is something he plans to do every Thurs. afternoon. Tobias is the only Pastor at Ahero, so they really appreciate when Wayne can come help out. I was busy that day getting ready to host Prayer meeting at our house that eve. I wanted something for a quick meal so I decided to do ugali, (Stacy helped me with that), sukuma, beans, and chapatis. Its a very quick meal if you buy the sukuma already cut up, use leftover beans, and buy the chapatis. It was SOOOO yummy!! :) Prayer meeting that eve. was so small. There were a number of sick children again. That's one thing that is discouraging to me right now. It seems there is more sickness around than usual and our children have been hit so often. Bradlyn and Shonda were sick this round. Hopefully no one else will get it.

Early Fri. morn all the Pastors left to go to their Churches and pick up members who wanted to help at Dienya (around an hour from Kisumu on the northwest side of the lake) where there was a work day. I think there were around 70 men total! They built a Sunday school shelter, mixed concrete, dug out stumps and leveled ground, dug holes for posts, moved dirt piles etc. No skidloaders... Wayne reported a very good day... everyone seemed to enjoy the fellowship... and the food!! :) Somebody found a black mamba snake there in a clump of small stumps they were digging out that day!! The mamba is deadly poisonous and one of the fastest snakes on the planet but praise God it was disposed of shortly by the quick reflexes of one of the men digging right there! Friday morning was chilly, and rainy here in Kisumu! I've been amazed how cold it can get here! I think we better enjoy it while we have relief from the heat!! With all the men gone we ladies decided to do something together. Bless Janice's heart! She invited all of us to her house for lunch. We all took a bit of food to help out and had a very nice time! Then we got the idea to go to Joseph's house after lunch and make donuts!! It was a grand success! We had a good set-up on the carport and it was so nice to have the mess outside. The donuts were GREAT! We decided we should do some more activities like that right now to keep our spirits up during this time of adjusting to all the changes, people on furlough... Deans left for America on Friday, and Carolyn is visiting her homeland as well. It feels so quiet and empty around here! Anyone offer to come cheer us up? On Fri. eve. we sat on the lane to watch a lively volleyball game... the few remaining youth played against the Pastors! The Pastors actually beat one game, the youth beat the next and the tie breaker was won by the youth in overtime!! :) We enjoyed those wonderful donuts and hot drinks that eve. as well!

Saturday was another long day for Wayne. He was gone most of the day for the funeral of Tom Ogema's mother, who was 99 years old. Tom is a member at Kajulu. The burial was in his homeland west of Bondo near the lake about an hour and a half from here. Wayne transported a bunch of Kajulu folks to the funeral. It was quite the day! There were a number of prominent politicians at the funeral... they even landed a helicopter there to transport the big shots. In this area funerals are seen as a good place to further political agendas. There was LOTS of food to eat and speeches made. Wayne was asked to talk a bit as well. I was so relieved to have Wayne home again and I sure hope he can stay at home for a while now!

This morning found us heading to Ahero for Church. Wayne preached a message from Matt. 5 again... "Blessed are the poor in Spirit." We were home for lunch by 1:30! Wow! This morning was the first time that the Ahero ladies had their own Sunday school class. Old Mama Silpa did all the talking, besides Elizabeth who read the Scriptures and Mary who interpreted. I think they enjoyed the class but I encouraged some of the ladies afterward to have share time in class, rather than one lady lecturing. I love to see them share what's on their heart, and ask questions when they don't understand Scripture. It's a great time to get to know people better.

Blessings to all! Have a great week! And don't forget us in your prayers! Clara

Ps. Continue to pray the Lord of Harvest to send us a family to replace Mark's in December. (We need them here in October!) We would love a family full of passion for the Kingdom, humble hearts and a row of children! Is God calling you?? -Wayne