October 1995

His Work Among the Luo People Of Kenya Go ... and make disciples of all nations Matthew 28:19
October 2, 1995

We trust that this newsletter finds that you are all well. We are doing well. Have not even had Malaria now for over two months. Kit and Havilah are growing well, and Havilah is now talking and repeating everything that she hears at least three times.

The big event in south Nyanza for the month of August was the South Nyanza annual meeting which took place at the Winyo congregation. It started Friday the 18th and ended on Monday morning the 21st after breakfast. This yearly meeting is held with the intent of giving the congregations that are in South Nyanza and other areas the chance to fellowship and study the word of God. This years meeting was exceptionally well attended. There were 14 South Nyanza churches present and 3 churches from outside of South Nyanza. One of the churches from outside of South Nyanza came and taught all of the children (86) that were present from the various churches and the surrounding area, freeing up a lot of the Luo women so that they could participate in the adult teaching sessions that were offered. Over 220 people attended on Friday evening for the start of the meeting which had a theme of "Leaving a Worldly Life and Instead Living a Life for Christ". Sunday morning worship was attended by more than 250 people.

One of the congregations rented a vehicle to bring them to the meeting, and came with over 20 individuals. For the past several years these meetings have not been very well attended (60 - 70 Christians), so when we saw the eagerness of the congregations involved to attend and help with needed food items for the meeting, we felt that the Lord really blessed this meeting. All said and done we are very encouraged by the churches that attended and pray that they may continue to have this spirit of fellowship for many years in the future.

In September we were able to make arrangements to attend the All African Missionary Conference that was held in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 3rd till the 7th of the month. The theme of the meeting was, "That the World may Believe". This was a very refreshing time for us as a family, and Stacy and I enjoyed being able to take part in all of the lectures without having to worry about Kit and Havilah, since there were classes provided for Kit and people offered to take care of Havilah so that we could give our undivided attention to the lessons and topics that were being discussed. It was a nice change to be able to sit and be taught, instead of be the teachers all of the time. Even when we come home on furlough we are still in front of people as teachers and unable to be the students.

There is also another annual meeting that was supposed to be held in Mombasa this year in the month of December. This meeting unites churches of Christ from all over the country for what is called the "All Kenya National Meeting". It is a requirement of the Government of Kenya, and yearly it is held in different areas of the country to make it easy for each area to be able to attend at least once. The meeting usually takes the whole year to plan and make the necessary preparations to host all who attend. However, on August 28th I received a message from the missionary team that is in Mombasa that said they were not able to host the meeting this year. Their request was for us to host the meeting in South Nyanza. So with only two months remaining before the meeting we are hurriedly trying to tie up the remaining loose ends.

The main theme of this meeting is to be "Giving". Lord willing the teachers that are being chosen will be able to express the plan of God for giving in such a way that their brothers and sisters will start doing their part, instead of depending on outside help for every project that comes along. We have been teaching on this area for a long time in South Nyanza and are now starting to see the fruits of our labors. Those churches that are willing to give in their own communities, instead of wanting to always be given to, are the churches that are stable and growing in number. We ask that you pray for this meeting and especially for the topic that is being taught, that it may be received by pure and willing hearts that are ready to do the will of God and start giving to others.

We are continually thankful for your support and especially your prayers as we labor in the Lord's vineyard of South Nyanza. Please feel free to write or call at any time. Calling may be hard, since we have heard that several have tried to reach us by phone but have not been successful. There are those that have been successful due to perseverance on their part, and we have been overjoyed by the opportunity to talk with them for a short time. Consider trying to call us a patience building exercise.

FURLOUGH NOTE: Our furlough is less than a year away now. We must start planning soon for our visits with you. It's been four years since our last furlough and we are anxious to visit and share His love with you. We are hoping and praying that it will be a regular four month furlough and the necessity for raising funds won't make it any longer. Will you pray with us as we start planning for this furlough? We will be visiting churches in eleven different states and Canada. We'll be on the run, making reports to all of our supporters and sharing this work for Christ with you. We want to serve Him meaningfully while in the States, as we try to serve you. You can help us. If there is anything you would especially like us to do while we visit with you, please drop us a line and let us know so that we can plan it into our schedule. You'll each be hearing from us after the first of the year regarding dates when we will be passing through your area. Please think about our visit with you, pray, and let us hear your ideas. We love you and are looking forward to seeing you.