Kisumu Yoder's: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God....

"The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the Kingdom of God. Leo Tolstoy

"If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead." William Law

"Humility is the ultimate standard of greatness in the Kingdom of God." Mike Bickle

Hello Friends! It's very warm and dry in Kisumu and we are praying for rain. Our lawn is crunchy brown and our hearts go out to our national friends who are fearing to plant crops because of lack of moisture. They depend so heavily on rain for the food on their table. Oh God please hear their prayers!! Praise God we have the confidence that He will hear and answer in His time. My mind has been going a lot to "seeking the Kingdom" and what it means in our everyday lives. I've gone through a very difficult time recently. I'm not sure if I was overdoing it or if I was "burned out" or if my fears of the road and especially the trauma of seeing that little girl get hit on the road was too much for me or what was going on but I had difficulty sleeping... pills didn't work and I was having anxiety symptoms. One night when I was in deep distress I asked God what He has to say to me. Immediately He answered, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God." Hmmm... I thought I was doing that, but the more I thought on it the more I realized that had been seeking my agenda before God's at times. I waited to have my personal time with God until it fit into my time schedule during the day and my prayers were often on the run. Forgive me Lord!! I decided that I was going to depend on the Word of God instead of on my sleeping pills. I kept a list of verses beside my bed and asked God to help me relax. I've also been trying some natural things to help sleep such as camomile tea, etc. The anxiety symptoms such as heart palpitations, nervous stomach, etc. have basically disappeared and God is blessing me with wonderful nights and restful sleep! I can't thank Him enough!! I guess God needed to get my attention somehow. Now I'm wrestling with... How do I know when I need to slow down? And when shall I say "no". I'm relying heavily on my Husband to give me direction in those areas as well as God. I decided that if God called us here He will provide the strength to continue working... so we're trusting Him a day at a time.

The week started out fairly normal. Wayne was at Pastor's meeting most of the day Monday. Tuesday he was at the Registar's office in town several times working on marriage forms for a couple from Ugunja. On Wednesday Wayne went to the workday in Ahero for a while in the morning. In the afternoon there was Bible study in Chiga at one of the Kajulu members houses. Joe's and Carolyn joined us for supper that eve.

Thursday morning Wayne and Joe went to visit Mama Penina who is a member at Lela. She wasn't home so they left and ended up eating lunch at the Ahero market with Maurice. Maurice is happy with all the MZL books that he is selling at the market. We're so glad for him... it definitely helps give him purpose in life and supports them so much better financially. In the afternoon Wayne went to help Pastor Tobias plant tomatoes in his shamba. They planted over an acre of tomatoes. Wayne was busy watering them. We hope and pray that God will send them rain! In the afternoon we were happy to see Mark and Mary Ellen's visitors for a bit before they headed to Ng'yia. Nurse Lorene Miller was here as well as James and Rhonda Gingerich from OH. We learned to know Lorene when we were in Crique Sarco, Belize. We hope to see more of them before they head home. In the eve. we hosted Prayer meeting at our house.

Friday was an exciting day for us! We took our children out of school for the day and headed to Nakuru to see the new little member of Tony's family... Kaiden Anthony! We ate lunch at Bradegate pizza in Nakuru and were joined by Freeman and Mary Beiler. We enjoyed our little visit with them and from there we went to the Lamp and Light office where Freeman and Wayne had a meeting in the afternoon. I drove the van to Tony's from there and we had a nice relaxing afternoon with them. Melodie Beiler who is staying with them to help out right now made a wonderful supper for all of us. Tony grilled chicken for us and Melodie made rice, beans, and other goodies to make fajitas. It was SO yummy!! It was nice to have Kore there too! We slept at the AMA compound that night. We stayed in the empty house that Dave Stoltzfus' family vacated. We enjoyed having the whole house to ourselves. In the morning we went back to Tony's for a delicious brunch that Melodie cooked up for us. After that Melodie, Clarissa, Shonda and I went to the Muslim shops to do some fabric shopping. It was fun to see more of the Nakuru town. Our drive home that afternoon was fairly uneventful and to this Mama that is a HUGE blessing! Driving on these roads is too adventuresome for my taste! :) We always enjoy driving on the Landiani highway... its SO beautiful!!

Today Baptism was scheduled at Ahero. There were two applicants who planned to be baptized but because of the funeral of one of Isca's family members she was not there. Mary Otieno was baptized. She's a sweet little lady with a withered foot who hobbles around with a big stick. Wayne preached a good message about the Church. He talked about how we need to enter the Church of God and the fruits that need to be evident in our lives. I couldn't hide my grin when a cow came and stared at us through the open door beside the pulpit! :) I was also entertained by some gecko's that ran around on the wall and I think I saw one fall to the floor and heard a plunk! There was a men's meeting after church and we were afraid it might be a LONG one but it actually wasn't! And we had the bonus of listening to the choir sing while we waited! The singing was lovely!! Miss Carolyn wanted to visit the Ahero church this morning so she joined us and we enjoyed having her join us for lunch. Blessings to all of you! Let's remember to seek God's Kingdom first!! Clara

I guess I should tell you what happened while I was writing this blog! I was typing away when I saw a movement on the floor beside the chair beside me.... OH NO!!! A rat!! This is the first one I've seen in our house! It didn't see me until I moved a bit and then it jerked and ran for the kitchen. I threw my sandal at it but missed of course. It ran behind the stove so I quickly closed the back door, the pantry door and door between the kitchen and dining room. Then I called my dear Honey to come to the rescue while I blissfully typed away! :) Wayne and Bradlyn took care of the big ugly creature for me. Tiffany was intrigued by it and to her Daddy's horror she even touched it! Good riddance!! I hope that's the end of our rat adventures!