Posted_By: Judy Date:
Saturday, June 30, 2007
News_Entry
This is
quite different from the norm because it's moving
weekend, hopefully. I was at the house all day
today checking things out and hanging curtains.
Tomorrow
morning (yes, Sunday) a tractor and trailer will take
the stove, washing machine, refridgerator, bed and
recliner chair plus many boxes and bags to the house.
It must be on Sunday because those who are doing this
for me work for the tea estate Monday through Saturday.
Sunday is their only day off. Tuesday morning the
furniture will be delivered.
I'll catch
up on all the Lord has been doing next weekend.
As always
thank you for your continued prayers, love and support!
Posted_By: Judy Date:
Saturday, June 23, 2007
News_Entry
Another
Church Is Born!
Last
Sunday, June 16, Setek Baptist Church was born. It is
located “down there” from Cheptabach. Cheptabach is “up
there” from Setek. That means I have no idea where it is!
The only way to and from is by foot on steep cow/people
paths. The members of Cheptabach, Temso and Chemartin went
“down there” for the first official service as a Baptist
church. They had determined it would take me one hour to
walk because of my balance problems and steep incline, and
they could make it in only 20 minutes, so they went without
me. I was elated to see them take on that responsibility,
sacrifice and zeal to begin a new church on their own.
They’ve grown so much in the last 11 months. It’s been
amazing to see what God is doing with these people!!!
Bwana asa fiwe! Praise the Lord!
I’ve spent
most of this week packing, tending to details and buying the
rest of what I need to live on my own. I went to Eldoret on
Tuesday and Kisumu on Thursday. On Monday I was told I
could begin moving in on Thursday. However, this is Africa,
so I hope to move in Monday or Tuesday. We’ll see.
This is
probably the shortest update you’ll receive. Even here
where most people don’t have watches or clocks (they use
their cell phones to find out the time), the hours whiz by
just as fast as they did in the U.S.—sometimes even faster
it seems.
Please
pray for the new church at Setek and all the other churches
that will be planted when the mission team comes in only
five weeks.
Mungu
awabariki!
Judy
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The generator house is divided into two rooms:
one for the generator and the other for storage,
i.e. garden tools, etc. The generator is huge
with enough power to operate all the lights,
stove, refridgerator, etc. if I have guests. I
also bought a smaller one to keep the fridge
going when the big one is off.
The iron gate will be painted another color to
match the house. It's rather funny to have that
huge gate while the fencing isn't completed
yet and anyone can walk around it. Right now
there's just barbed wire, but they'll be adding
chainlink probably next week. Until that's done
I'll have to keep Bush (my dog) chained.
That made me think of something else I wanted to
write about in the update. Waweru, the builder,
named my house Cleft Rock House, because it is
sitting where they removed so many large rocks
and it sits on bedrock. On the morning of the
day he told me the name, I had been reading in
Psalms about God being my Rock and a devotional
about the cleft of the rock. One of my favorite
hymns says, "He hideth my soul in the cleft of
the rock." Waweru is still not a Christian and
he was totally amazed at all of that. I typed
out the words of the hymn and the Bible verses
(Exodus 33:22 and Psalm 18:1-2) and gave them to
him. I pray God will penetrate his heart and
mind with His Word.
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Posted_By: Judy Date:
Saturday, June 16, 2007
News_Entry
Cold Weather
For two days this week I had
to wear several layers of clothes to keep warm. There’s no
such thing as air conditioning and heaters, except in
expensive hotels and similar buildings that cater to
tourists in Nairobi and Mombasa. Office buildings, banks,
stores, etc. just keep windows open and use fans, or shut
the windows and wear warm clothes.
The cold air is the result of
winds from South Africa which is having winter now. It’s
also the rainy season here with lots of clouds, rain and
mist. When all that is added to the above 7,000-feet
altitude, it gets pretty cold. In all my years in school
studying about life on the equator no one ever mentioned
cold weather. They said it was always very hot. Well, not
here!
Last Sunday was a comedy of
errors. I picked up Henry’s father, David, who was supposed
to show me the way to the new church in Kimwani, which is
located down the escarpment from Nandi Hills. We were
supposed to meet Henry somewhere along the way. However,
David couldn’t quite remember how to get there and we never
saw Henry. To complicate things, the cell phone system was
down so Henry and I couldn’t communicate to find each other.
So David and I decided to go
to church at Chemartin. However, no one was there. All the
pastors and churches were invited to another new church in
Lengut. A bunch of children showed up, so we sang some
songs and talked about the Lord Jesus, and then we decided
to go to Temso. David is serving as interim pastor there
and he knew they were having services.
When we arrived the service
was almost over, but because we were there it went for
another hour. The church was almost full and a new
Christian was present whom David had led to the Lord that
week. Bwana asa fiwe! Praise the Lord!
While we have wonderful men
serving as pastors in most of the churches, like David
Maritim, John Rotich, and Elisha Dome, we also have some
problems, but nothing like at the church in Kapsabet. We
found out recently that the pastor at Koisagat married a
second wife and the deacon at Chemartin did the same. Old
traditions die slowly, but they are going away. The
second-wife (and more) scenario is very prevalent. Please
pray for the people to have the strength to fight against
the pressure to give in to the past and go forward in the
power and truth of the Holy Spirit of God.
Hopefully, I’ll be moving
into my house within the next two weeks. Needless to say, I
can’t wait. With all the rain, the water tanks should be
getting full. The stove has two gas burners and two
electric burners, so I can cook without the generator being
on. I have a smaller generator that will run the
refrigerator so the huge generator doesn’t have to run all
day. Oh, the details to be considered in a strange,
wonderful land!
Thank you for all your
prayers and support. Please pray for the twelve members of
the mission team that will be here July 26-August 4, and all
the Kenyan people who will hear the gospel.
Mungu awabariki!
Judy
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Since
most of the people here have had no experience with
modern plumbing fixtures, it was highly recommended
that I include a pit latrine or outhouse or choo
(pronounced with a long o-not
like choo-choo train). The pictures show what it
looks like before the "house" is built around it. I
know these are not the most aesthetic pictures I've
sent, but I'm a city girl and the whole process was
fascinating to me. The man in the hole was about 20
feet down and had 10 more feet to go.
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Posted_By: Judy Date:
Saturday, June 9, 2007
News_Entry
Much Quieter Week
Last Sunday at Temso there
were about ten new members due to the many visits and
evangelism efforts by David Maritim, Henry’s father. David
has been instrumental in keeping the churches going during
the time between our mission trips here. He is quiet, hard
working, and has successfully battled heart disease and
cancer. He is a former Kenya runner, but never ran in the
Peachtree in Atlanta. God has used him in a mighty way to
bring stability to the churches.
At the Temso Bible study one
of the ladies in the literacy class wrote her own name by
herself for the first time in her life on the sign-in
roster. She’s 58 years old and her name is Sarah Chepkwony.
When the problems became so
bad at Kapsabet, I stopped going there for Bible study and
immediately began to meet with the new church in Namgoi
(just outside of Kapsabet). This is the church that was
born because of the problems. Two new members were present
due to the evangelism efforts of Pastor John Rotich. I also
saw a piece of property that’s for sale and in a perfect
place to build their church. In that area there are only
two other churches, which the people say aren’t very
spiritual. They’ve been waiting for a church that preaches
the truth from God’s Word, and they say they’ve found it in
our new church. God is working and meeting the needs of the
people. Please pray that if it’s God’s perfect will, the
property will be turned into a lighthouse pointing people to
Jesus Christ.
I met with Waweru, the
builder, this morning at my shamba. We talked about
all the things that still need to be done and a move-in date
within the next two or three weeks. Anna was with us as she
is the official landscaper. We planned where trees and
plants will go and all kinds of exciting things. I’m
working on the last pair of curtains, so I’m ready and can’t
wait!
Thank you for all your
prayers!
Mungu awabariki!
Judy
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I had
to show you a picture of a hand-made ladder everyone
uses inside and outside. It's very sturdy and won't
tip over because it's a tripod.
Henry
and Dorcas Maritim are standing outside their new
home. All they've ever lived in were houses made of
mud or rough-hewn wood. They're so excited to have
a nice home made of stone with indoor plumbing!
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Posted_By: Judy Date:
Saturday, June 2, 2007
News_Entry
So Much in Just One Week!
Bwana asa fiwe!
Praise the
Lord! We finally went to Kapsabet last Sunday with Linus
Kirimi of the Baptist Convention of Kenya. The people
showed what was truly in their hearts: more lies, anger, no
self-control, and many arguments. There were no fruits of
God’s Spirit evident in any of them. I was threatened with
a lawsuit after reading a Bible verse they didn’t want to
hear. It was unbelievable. Linus said he’s seen a lot of
problems in churches, but nothing like what he saw on
Sunday.
Linus will return to the
church after making a report to the convention and planning
a strategy with other men who will accompany him in order to
remove these people from the church. None of us will be
involved in that procedure, thank the Lord. Please continue
to pray for this situation that the people will repent and
that Linus and the others will be kept safe during the
process. I guess they’ll be the SWAT team I wanted!
Monday Henry and I took his
sick computer to Kisumu to some gurus who took care of a few
viruses in it. It was emergency surgery because Henry is in
the process of taking end-of-term exams via the internet
from Baptist Theological College in South Africa. Please
pray for him that the Spirit will give him total recall and
help him with his English!
Tachasis School for the
Disabled, run by a Catholic mission, is located in Tinderet,
one and one-half hours from Nandi Hills. That’s where
Japhet (Jeffrey) Kipkorir attends school and where we
delivered his brand new wheelchair on Tuesday. There were
22 disabled children whose physical condition broke my
heart. The strength of the Lord helped me share some
encouraging words and the gospel with them, and then we
presented the wheelchair to Jeffrey. He was so happy!! All
his friends cheered and clapped for him. What a precious
time it was for God to show his love for His special
children! The needs there are very great, but the teachers
and helpers do a wonderful job with the children with what
little they have. The school was clean and the children
were clean, neatly dressed, looked well fed, happy, and well
taken care of. It was an experience I’ll never forget.
Wednesday was
generator-testing day at my shamba, and it passed!
There were no sparks, smoke or fires in any of the wiring;
and the lights and plugs all worked perfectly. Boy, am I
ready to move in! Lots of activity was going on with
carpenters, plumbers and electricians all busy somewhere
making noise. Interesting fact: If you go from Chemartin to
my shamba by tractor, it takes about one hour.
That’s how the generator was moved.
The generator test took all
morning, and then in the afternoon after the Bible study at
Temso, we had our second literacy lesson with two
grandmothers who speak only Kalenjin. One of them started
the week before. Her letters then were all shapes and sizes
and all over the page, disregarding the lines. I was amazed
when she showed me her homework—it was like night and day!
The letters were neatly written and only two or three needed
some more help. Both of them are overjoyed at learning so
late in life and are trying so hard to do their best.
On Friday three of us
attended an all-day (8-5) seminar in Eldoret to learn more
about MotherWise, which is part of an international
organization based in Houston, Texas. I thought it was
based in Kenya, but Kenya is only one of many countries
where the program is used. The weekly meetings include
Bible study, intercessory prayer, and mothering skills.
It’s a major answer to prayer.
Presently, I teach three
Bible studies in three different locations. The plan was
that ladies would come from churches nearby and participate,
and several do. However, most attendees live in the
vicinity of the church where the Bible studies are held.
When I arrived last July 2006, there were eight churches in
Nandi Hills. Now there are fourteen with five more areas
wanting a church. We need more Bible teachers and
MotherWise provides them through videos. We’re in the
process of getting DVD players, projectors and power sources
so that each church can have its own MotherWise program.
Some of you have asked about projects where you can help,
and this is one of them if the Lord leads you to do so.
The two ladies who went with
me to the seminar are Teresia Rotich and Dorcas Maritim.
Teresia is an accountant at one of the tea estates, and she
interprets for me at the Bible study at Kapchorua and
teaches the literacy class there. Dorcas is a school
teacher and wife of Henry, my right-hand man. (Henry and
Dorcas will be living in their own home being built on my
shamba and taking care of me like they would their own
mother!) Teresia and Dorcas are fully capable of
organizing, coordinating and leading the MotherWise program
for all the churches. We’ll work together to set up the
program one church at a time as the Lord leads.
The Lord is answering prayers
and revealing sources to provide for the spiritual needs
here in Nandi Hills. I am in constant awe of all He has
done, is doing and will do in the future. I am amazed at
the details He has taken care of before I knew there were
details to deal with. I marvel at the number of people He
has brought into my life here who were sources of help
later. The web He has woven of projects, resources and
people is a miracle! We serve an awesome God!!!
Thank you for your prayers,
love and support!
Mungu awabariki!
Judy
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In the
group picture at Tachasis are all the children, teachers
and helpers. Standing on the right in the white robe is
the priest who is in charge of the Catholic mission that
sponsors the school. Standing on the far left is the
headmaster of Taito Secondary School in Nandi Hills.
His brother is the headmaster of Tachasis, but he was
not able to be there that day. |
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