His Work Among the Luo People Of Kenya Go ... and make disciples of all nations Matthew 28:19
August 1, 1992

Fraley's Chapel Church of Christ
c/o Jeff Young
Rt. #2 Box 421
Corinth, Mississippi  38834

Dear family in Christ,

This is it!  After four long years . . . this is the last month before we come visit
you, and share our work for Him with you.  I am very excited.  Barry not as much so.
And Kit has absolutely no idea what America is.  He's just excited because I am.
Furlough is not easy you know!  Many have already written to say how excited they are
about our coming vacation.  Furlough, on the other hand, is anything but a vacation.
We will travel over 10,000 miles by car, start in Canada and drive through 12 States in
the USA, stay in 25 different homes, give 32 different talks on the Luo work, preach,
teach, keep in contact by letter with our teammates and the 50 churches in Luo land,
raise additional support, etc., etc., etc., . . . and all this in four months, with a
four year old in tow.  Kit will begin his Kindergarten education in the back seat of
our Honda with Momma as his teacher and Poppa as his chauffeur.

So . . . what have we been doing to prepare for the hectic four months ahead?  Well . . .
resting has not been one of those preparations.  Barry has been working hard turning
all the work over to Roger Moon and David High, keeping up regular appointments, and
building on our African style home that we will move to upon our return to Kenya in
January 1993.  The brick walls are up, cement floor has been poured, wooden windows and
doors in, fence is up and a border hedge planted, and Barry hopes to begin raising the
tin roof this week.  I have been busy packing up the house in Kisii in preparation for
the movement of our things to the new house, wrapping up Kit's preschool program that
we have done for the last eight months, and writing materials for the next Luo ladies
course that will be held in the new year, not to mention packing, planning, and
preparing for our trip home.

In addition to all the above, July has been a very difficult month for the Luo's and
we've been busy as a result.  The Luo's call this month "the month of death" and it has
certainly lived up to its' name this year.  We've lost Julius Adika, a Christian man
and church leader in one of the smaller congregations in South Nyanza, Rose Ogembo, a
new Christian and a new wife to one of the newer preachers in Luo land, two children to
acute food poisoning and a few others to whose funerals we did not even have time to
attend.  We've been praying for relief from this serious bout of sickness in South
Nyanza.  Please add your prayers to ours.  This month seems difficult every year.
Perhaps it's because many are hungry and run down waiting for the next crop to come in.
Perhaps it's because the rains combined with the cooler season make recovery difficult
for those who get sick and live in damp mud houses.  Or maybe it's because medicine and
medical help is so scarce.  Whatever the reason, death has been so rampant this month
that many Luo's have commented on the lack of time to conduct proper funerals.

One special family we would like you to pray for is the family of Julius Adika.  Julius
lost his wife less than a year ago in this same month of death.  Now he is dead.
His second wife is left with the ten children from his first marriage.  And Luo
traditional custom allows Julius' brothers to take all his belongings from her, leaving
her destitute and alone with the children.  The Kanjiri church was established in 1987
and started out well, but many in the community including Julius'  brothers turned back
to the world out of desires for physical wealth.  Julius, his family, and a handful of
neighbors have carried on for the last five years.  What remains after Julius' death is
just his widow and children.  Barry and I showed up at the Kanjiri congregation two
Sundays ago.  We didn't know quite what we would find when we arrived.  But there they
were, under the "worship tree" where they have held Sunday worship for the last five
years.  Susanna Adika and her ten step-children, trying to carry on as usual.  One of
the teenage boys was leading the worship.  Our hearts went out to them, but our spirits
soared at their show of faith.  We are praying for God to intervene here and provide
what they need, not only concerning physical things but also concerning their spiritual
needs.  Please pray too.  Surely, He will grant what we ask in behalf of these precious
few of our family in Christ who are struggling so.

We will see you soon, Lord willing.  And we are praying for you.
 

For Him,
 
 

Barry, Stacy, and Kit