Barry and Stacy Rosie

P.O. Box 2568

Kisii, Kenya

East Africa

April 6, 1987

Fraley's Chapel Church of Christ

c/o Jim Brown

Rt. # 8 Box 320

Corinth, Mississippi 38834

Dear family in Christ,

We love and miss you all, and are getting so anxious to get home to see you, and to share in your work for Christ for a little while. But, the work here is so urgent, we are having difficulties trying to plan for our first furlough. We find ourselves pushing it back a month at a time. I'm just beginning to understand how Paul felt when he wrote, "my beloved brethren whom I long to see." We are longing to see our family of Christ in America (YOU), and we are longing to reach all our family of Christ in Luo. At times, it is difficult to feel "one" in Christ when there are so many miles between the brethren. Please don't forget to pray for these brethren, as I often hear them pray for you as you work for Christ there.

We have been involved in 6 baptisms this month! Six new souls are in the kingdom of God! I'm sure there were many more baptisms than that in S. Nyanza this month. But because of so many different congregations, we do not hear of them all immediately. Two of the baptisms were in the new Ruga Gem congregation that Barry has been teaching. When Barry returned home last Wednesday after a teaching session at Ruga Gem, and I asked him how his lesson went, my heart sank when he said he had no lesson. My initial response was, "What has gotten in the way of the Lord's work now?" But Barry just smiled and replied, "I spent the whole time going to the river." And immediately my heart leapt for joy! Anything! Anything! Anything! is worth two more souls for Christ.

The other four baptisms were special too, in a very different way. We would like to take some credit for them, but all we did was to drive them to the river, and that's what was so special about them. These four precious souls were the product of a Kenyan Christian, and the power of our Lord. Five years ago, Simeon Mumanye was an awkward teenager, brand new in Christ, and afraid to even greet a "white" missionary. Roy and Nora Lane, missionaries among the Kisii tribe, slowly nutured Simeon in the Lord, and set the example for him. A year ago, Steve and Claudia Greek, another missionary family, taught Simeon deaf signing and showed him a very special ministry for God. Lately, Barry and I have been encouraging Simeon in his teaching about Christ among the deaf community.

Four, of the deaf community have put on Christ this month in Baptism (Gal. 3:27) because of Simeon's dedication and the power of our Lord.

Physically, this has not been an easy month. It started out with a water shortage, and then when the rains came, we literally found ourselves up to our ears in mud. After a highway cave-in, a major vehicle breakdown, and several hour-long detours over some of the worst roads in Kenya, we had nights when we were too exhausted to sleep. Even getting to the river for the baptisms was a major undertaking. As I was sliding down a steep river bank (in a dress, no less),

I prayed for a way to stop myself before I slid right into the rapidly rushing waters. But! Anything! Anything! Anything! for those precious new babes in Christ. If you sometimes wonder where the blessings in Christ are, come visit us, and share in the abundance of blessings

God is showering on us here in Kenya!

We love you,

Barry and Stacy