Kisumu Yoder's: A Heritage of Thanksliving.....

"Christian men pass on to their children a spiritual heritage that is more valuable than any monetary estate."

"It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind."

Dr. James Dobson

"Perhaps no custom reveals our character as a nation so clearly as our celebration of Thanksgiving Day. Rooted deeply in our Judeo-Christian heritage, the practice of offering thanksgiving underscores our unshakable belief in God as the foundation of our nation and our firm reliance upon Him from whom all blessings flow. Ronald Reagan

Our thoughts keep going across the waters to Wayne's dear Grossdaudy Yoder (Kore) who went to his reward on Nov. 30. God blessed him with over 96 years in spite of the fact that he had a heart condition since his youth. For most of those years he was blessed with good health and was able to live alone and care for himself. Within the last year he went to live with his daughter Judy (Perry) Beachy. They lovingly cared for him until his death. Grossdaudy faced many difficult things in life including a stillborn son, an infant daughter that died as a result of a buggy accident, an 18 year old son that was killed in a car accident, another daughter that was killed in a car accident after she was already a grandmother, as well as the death of both of his companions. He will be remembered for his quiet ways, his humble heart, his love for God and His people and his uncomplaining, grateful outlook on life. One of his favorite songs was, "Praise to God Immortal Praise". He has definitely passed on a godly heritage, a heritage of THANKSLIVING to his children and we are so blessed to be part of it!! How we will miss him! It is HARD not to be able to attend the funeral! But we feel our responsibilities here very keenly...

Kisumu continues to receive welcome rain showers and the grass is lush and green! Thank you God!! Today is very warm and humid and it feels like dry season is coming soon. Gerold Miller's family arrived back in Kisumu this morning. We're glad to have them back! They went to America for the funeral of Becky's mother. Joseph and Becky are also "home" for the funeral of Joseph's Grandfather. They received word of his death the same day that Gerold's left. So many deaths!! God is reminding us that this world is not our home!

Thanksgiving Day was a great day spent with our compound family, but we missed the two families who were gone! The single ladies did a beautiful job of decorating tables and making the setting special for us. The food was wonderful! Some visitors from America blessed us with a nice ham that tasted absolutely wonderful!! Haven't had anything like that for a LONG time!! The afternoon was spent doing some interesting activities such as playing King's base and doing a scavenger hunt. Thanks to Jake and Jan for their creative ideas!

The day after Thanksgiving we received some very welcome visitors from home sweet home!! The Zook family came! Tony and Judith and younguns, Mary Ann, and her 5 boys... Randall and Mary and daughter McKenzie, Justin and Jessica, David, Jeremy, and Carlin. I still can't believe Mary Ann was here! :) I'm so glad she was willing to brave the trip to Africa! They had a really nice time at Masai Mara before they came to Kisumu. They were happy to see the Big Five! The first evening we ate a grilled chicken supper at Joe and Glenda's house. The youth played some spike ball on the lane in spite of a drizzly rain. The next day was spent doing some shopping at Jubilee market, Animal market, swimming, etc. Supper was at the lake. We enjoyed a nice sunset but were rather cold after the rain and wind came! Sunday was our 7th and final Communion service of the season. It will be so nice to attend a normal church service again!! The Kajulu church was VERY happy to see Justin's wife, Jessica, (who they called the daughter of the church). She is Steve and Martha Esh's daughter and their family was much loved when they served here a number of years ago. They sang a special song for Justin and Jessica since they weren't able to attend their wedding. They also wanted Mary Ann and a few others to stand and speak a few words. It means SO much to them to have visitors!! Lunch for our whole crew was served at Jennifer's house. She also invited all the Pastor's and their wives from Kajulu so it was a good sized crowd. The food was great! Chicken, fried beef, boiled beef, potatoes, rice, beans, chapatis, ugali, cabbage... the whole 9 yards! After eating Jennifer and her children all sang for us and then our group sang a few songs for them. We really enjoyed our time although it got a bit late. The ride to and from Kajulu was awful!! Our visitors got a taste of some of our worst roads around here! In the evening we were invited to Brian and Mary Jane's house where we enjoyed bread sticks and fixings. Monday morning we went to the orphanage and enjoyed helping to feed the children. Such a wonderful place with well-cared for children! Before the Zooks left for Nakuru, Pamela Ogema served some tasty mandazis and Glenda made some chai. Rosemary also came to greet them a bit. Thank you Mary Ann and family for coming and blessing us so much! And MANY THANKS to our church family who sent so many wonderful things with them! The letters, money, and goodies make a person feel so unworthy and much obliged. God bless you richly!

On Wednesday Wayne enjoyed attended Bible study in the Nyakoko area since Gerold wasn't here. The Bible study was at Joseph Muga's house. Joseph had the misfortune of falling many feet down a well recently and has broken bones in both feet. Joseph seemed to be doing well and was very happy to have everyone at their house. (I discovered today that he is having severe problems in his back) He is very fortunate to be alive! Continue to pray for him.

Mark and Mary Ellen Beachy arrived in Kisumu that day. We are happy to see them again! They have plans to be ministering at CBYC (Christian Believer's Youth Conference) next week where Mark will be teaching Music and Mary Ellen will teach a class for the young ladies. They wanted to spend some time with their church friends in Dienya. They have been sleeping in their former house in Ngiya. Plans are to come back here to the compound Sunday eve. CBYC will be starting on Wednesday afternoon and will be held at the new Lamp and Light Compound. Clarissa is looking forward to being a student this year for the first time.

Kore also came to Kisumu on Wed. with plans to stay almost a week to do CAM work in the area here. The next day we got word that Grossdaudy Yoder died, so his plans changed and he was soon working on buying tickets for flights home for the funeral. We're glad he can go! Bryan Wagler's family is here now to fill in for Kore. They're staying in Joseph's vacated house. We enjoyed hosting them here for supper last eve.

When Wayne picked up Gerold's family at the airport this morning he also brought Charity Yoder and her friend, Miriam Yoder along to the compound. It's great to have Charity around again! :)

We're thankful that things have been calm in town the last few weeks! Such a blessing when you can go about “business as usual.” We hope the worst is over, although we know the political situation is still very uncertain and the tensions lying beneath the surface could erupt again.

A national sister, Consolata, has been coming to the compound quite a bit to help some of the busy moms and I enjoy having her come to our carport every Wed. morning to make chapatis. They're SO delicious and nicer than anything we can find off the street. We were saddened to hear that our friend on Ring Rd. who used to make our chapatis has died. We don't know what the cause of her death was. Let's all be ready when our time comes to go. May we pass on the heritage of faith that we've been blessed with! Nyasaye Ogwhedu!
Wayne and Clara Yoder