Kisumu Yoder's: King of the Mountain...

"If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you."

"A live not lived for others, is not a life." Mother Teresa

"Many would be scantily clad if clothed in humility."

"We rise by lifting others."

On Sunday Wayne preached a message at Chulaimbo titled, "King of the Mountain." He was trying to prepare the church there for Ordination. He stressed servant leadership. If we have the attitude that we must be on top (King of the Mountain) and we try to pull others down if we feel they are getting ahead of us... there is a problem!! A humble leader will work together with the Brothers in the church rather than just giving orders and expecting others to do all the work. He will help others to be good leaders and do a better job than he can. Please continue to pray for the work in progress here. We are very much hoping that in the next year or two there can be a number of new leaders in Kenya. We are so excited about the plans for a Bishop ordination at Rabuor on Sunday! Pray for Thomas and Susan Amata.

We are so thankful for God's healing hand on JoeAllen. A few weeks ago he was VERY sick with malaria and an infection that Dr. Allibhoy felt was sepsis. He spent several days in the hospital. After testing him for malaria and getting a negative they treated him for infection because they said his white cell count was far too high for only malaria. He felt some better after finishing his IV meds but still didn't feel well as well as we all thought he should. So he went to Acacia and had another malaria test done and this time it was positive! The Dr. had treated the infection but not the malaria. So he was put on IV malaria meds and is now feeling some better. He's still not quite up to power and I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers! I expect it will take a while to get his strength back because of all he's been through.

Recently Wayne had some contact through email with some Board members of MCC. Ron Byler and Kenneth Sensenig were in the area and wanted to visit the mission here. They were here for supper on a Saturday eve and we really enjoyed their visit! They were very interested in how the mission is run and shared some of their own stories as well.

On Tuesday, Wayne and I and Joseph and Becky sat together with Thomas and Susan Amata for their interview before the Ordination on Sunday. Wayne asked him to share his journey with God and we were very blessed by his story! There were many things about their past that we didn't know and we are so happy with how God has led them. He seems to have a very humble heart and leadership is definitely not something that he was seeking for. But we so much appreciate his willingness to serve! He's very open and honest about his failures. We know Satan will be busy and try to destroy his ministry so lets pray earnestly for him. On Tuesday evening all the ladies from the compound including the youth girls went to Josephs for an evening of fellowship. Stacy told us her life story. Every other month we plan to get together and have the ladies share their story. It's SO interesting! We live close together here but we come from different communities and backgrounds and there are so many things we don't know about each other. I've been amazed by some of the things I've heard and it's a great way of drawing us together.

Sunday a week ago we were at Dienya for a Communion service. It was a good day in spite of some disturbances during the service. Poor old James (the one with a leg missing) was very sick. He laid on the ground next to the mens benches and looked so miserable. He swallowed some Ibuprofen that Wayne gave him but soon was retching and throwing it up. Some of the brothers kindly got him onto a piki and took him to his house. The family situation is SO sad. They barely have enough to eat but his wife is partly to blame because of seeming laziness and a no care attitude. I was having a hard time keeping my emotions under control that day. I kept thinking about the fact that this might be one of the last Sundays that Brians will be there. The church needs them so desperately and they do such a wonderful job! Dienya definitely seems like a "high maintenance" church. There are still suspicions and insecurities because of the things surrounding the collapse of the church a number of years ago. God knows the need for a strong leader there and we don't understand why Brian would have to go but we trust God knows what He's doing. At this point it looks very much like Brians will need to leave by the 20th of May. We are still waiting for a final word from the Board. It looks like Brians will leave the country and then Johnny Zook will reapply for a work permit and we hope for a better outcome next time!!!

This past week Kore spent most of his time in the Kisumu area working in the flood areas, Oroba, Kasongo, Ombeyi, Nyakoko, Ahero, Lela, and Rabuor. Many needy folks in these flood areas had been given vouchers ahead of time that they were supposed to bring to the church. At the church they received some spiritual food and were also given some food items, water guard, and a mosquito net. We have already been seeing and hearing of people that are afflicted with malaria and typhoid both! I expect its because of all the bad water caused by flooding. Please pray that this won't cause another cholera outbreak!

On Friday the whole compound spent the day together for a school field trip. We went to Fairleigh Farms which is about an hour and a half drive from here. This farm sells a lot of milk, butter, and yogurt etc. in Kisumu. We saw where they make jaggery (a molasses type product) from sugar cane. It wasn't the cleanest place but I think the dairy section is probably more up to date and clean. At least I hope! We were disappointed that we weren't able to tour the dairy because of the fear of disease. We saw where they make lime and the quarry where the men work with picks and shovels. Amazing! The farm is located in a LOVELY spot! We loved driving the roads and enjoying the fresh clean air that smelled like flowers. The mountains are absolutely beautiful and I love all the tropical vegetation. There are cabins on the property available for rent so we're hoping to go back someday. Our day turned out different than we thought it would. Gerold got a phone call that day saying that one of the members of their church was sick with typhoid and malaria and was in the hospital in Muhuroni which was on our way home. Wayne also got a call that day saying that Paul Juma from Ahero was very sick and needed to go to the hospital. So after discussing the situations the Pastors decided that Josephs, Gerolds, and Wayne and I would take one of the vehicles and stop to see the sick lady in Muhuroni and then go to Paul's house and transport him to the hospital. Poor Helen was so weak she could hardly talk to us. But she seemed grateful for the visit and appreciated the prayers offered for her. Next we went to Paul's house. We had to navigate a rather bad mud hole to get there! Paul was in bad shape and seemed to be in pain. The Pastor's were trying to figure out what the best way would be to carry him to the van when suddenly his wife came out of the house carrying Paul like a baby! I couldn't believe my eyes! She didn't even seem to be struggling with the weight. He was skin and bones but I still thought he would be heavy! We took him to the Ahero Medical Center. I felt so sorry for him when they put him on a hard metal bed and wheeled him inside. I'm sure it would've felt so much better to have a mattress pad underneath! We had to wait quite a while because the insurance card they had wasn't up to date and they would have refused help for him if the Pastors hadn't offered to help a bit. Two days later we received word that Paul passed away. We trust he is now enjoying the beauties of Heaven and is finally pain free! Opake Yesu!!

On Saturday we attended the marriage Legalization of Kevin and Lillian, a nice young couple in Instruction class at Rabuor. The Rabuor church is so happy to have them and they planned a special day that was basically like any normal wedding. It took the Bridal party about 20 minutes or more to walk into the church and up the aisle!! Sigh... Yes it's interesting to watch but seemed rather unnecessary and to hear the same song sung over and over got a bit old too. Oh well... there are some cultural things that we need to accept and I suppose they would find the way we do things in America a bit strange at times too! Wayne preached a short sermon. The food afterward was very good!

As mentioned earlier we were at Chulaimbo for church on Sunday. Wayne filled in for Jake who flew across the pond to Phoenix for his grandfather's (Jake Coblentz') funeral. He took two of the children with him while Jan and 4 of the children stayed behind. We enjoyed the day with the church there. Esther Jahenda was her usual bouncy self and welcomed us well with a special song that she got her Sunday school class to sing for us. :) We continue to be amazed at how well she can speak English. Esther has a strange looking funnel shaped tumor that is growing from her chin. Hopefully she can find help for it soon. Sunday eve. we had a nice time sitting on the lane and visiting with whoever came along... mostly Brians and Joes.

Today was our joint unit meeting with Nakuru. We had a beautiful day but now it's been raining since late afternoon. We sat in Joseph's nice big lawn under a tent and enjoyed the fellowship. We enjoyed potato haystacks for lunch. There was a farewell for Delores Mast who plans to return to Whiteville, TN after 6 years of service in Kenya. She will be missed! Also a goodbye for Janell Stoltzfus who plans to return home and be married to Joe Fisher in Sept.! Congratulations!! :) That's one wedding that will be hard for us to miss!

Thank you for your prayers for us! And remember the victims of flooding. We hear stories of people who have ankle deep water in their house. And I'm so sad for those who's shamba's are destroyed. What will they eat? God be merciful to them! Blessings to all, Wayne and Clara