As many of you know, Kit and Havilah have started their studies at Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya.  Kit is studying in 10th grade and Havilah is studying in 6th grade this school year.  Since the children were required to be accompanied by an adult for their first arrival at Rift Valley Academy, this gave me an opportunity to go to Kenya, to visit with some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to worship with three different congregations on Sundays.
 

I was able to see James and Rose Karunga (right), who worship with the Winyo congregation just down the road from where we used to live.  Since we left Kenya to start working in Madagascar, James, along with Zacharia Ngoje and one other man, have started serving as elders at the Winyo church.  This congregation is one of the bright spots in South Nyanza.  They started the “Winyo Christian Academy” several years ago, and they continue to grow both physically and spiritually.  The average attendance for worship on Sundays is 170 people.

Winyo congregation is in the process of building a new brick building for worship.  This is a picture of some of the Winyo Christians.  Winyo is becoming so large that they are starting to divide the congregation into bible study or prayer groups.  This way they are able to have weekly meetings in different areas and keep in contact with the Christians on a regular basis throughout the week.

As well as meeting Christian friends, I also had the opportunity to see Havilah’s aunt, a nephew, and one of Havilah’s older sisters that are shown in this picture.  Havilah’s sister is standing on the right.  This sister’s name is Debora Anyango and she is presently 13 years old and studying in the 5th grade.  Havilah’s family were disappointed that Havilah was not with me so that they could all visit together.  They asked that we find a time in the future that Havilah, Kit, and Stacy can come and visit them in South Nyanza.  Many of the Christians of South Nyanza also expressed this feeling.  The women of South Nyanza especially want to visit with Stacy.  We were last in South Nyanza in September of 1999, so it is now more than 5 years since we were in South Nyanza as a family to visit the Luo Christians.

The picture to the left shows some members of the Gembe congregation.  This congregation was always one of our favorite places to worship, even though it is located in one of the most remote areas of South Nyanza.  One can always rely on good hospitality and good cooking while at Gembe.  Because Gembe is located near the shores of Lake Victoria, there is always good eating of the local fish that are found in Lake Victoria.  The Christians at Gembe have always struggled because they live so far away from everything else.  But these days things are getting a little bit better.  They still do not have electricity and running water, but the mobile phone system in Kenya is almost Kenya wide now, and it is easy to communicate with the Gembe Christians via phone these days.

            Zacharia Ngoje and myself were able to go and visit the Gembe congregation.  We were able to teach there two different times, we were able to encourage the Christians, and to catch up on all of the news that has gotten away from us over the many years of our separation.  It was, needless to say, a good visit.
 
 

Mariwa Church of Christ	Nyarach Church of Christ

            One of the things that was not good about my visit to South Nyanza was the fact that I was without private four wheel drive transportation.  This severely limited me in where and when I could go places.  I always had to be careful to get back to Winyo (where I was staying) before nightfall.  I also had to be careful of the weather.  Getting out into South Nyanza and then being caught in a torrential downpour while traveling on dirt roads was always a concern.  Because I could not penetrate into South Nyanza easily, I visited the Churches along the main paved roads, where public transportation was readily available.  This allowed me to be able to worship with two other larger congregations in South Nyanza.  These congregations are the Nyarach and Mariwa congregations that are pictured above.

            All in all, it was a good visit to South Nyanza.  I was able to see quite a few of our past Christian friends and encourage them to keep serving our God.  Some of the congregations are continuing to worship on a regular basis.  You have seen pictures of four of those congregations in this newsletter.  Other congregations, I heard, have not faired so well.  Tradition of the Luo people and sin continue to be a problem for the churches.

            Please pray that the South Nyanza Christians can put their eyes on Christ and trust Him for their daily needs.  Please pray, also, that they can look to the future and not dwell on the past.  Those Christians that have let go of the former missionaries are living for Christ each day.  They are the Christians that are reaching out and teaching others about their Savior, and the church in their areas are growing.  Others, however, made a special plea to me to ask the churches in America to send back the missionaries to continue to work in South Nyanza.  These areas are not growing due to misplaced allegiance.  Please lift up your Kenyan brothers and sisters in Christ as you, “Pray without ceasing.”  1 Thess. 5:17

“I tell you the truth, this poor (child) has put more into the treasury than all the others.”
                                                                                            Mark 12:43

Milk for Malagasy Children
            It’s still one of my favorite things to do, pass out milk to those little bodies that are starved for calcium.  The Milk for Malagasy Children program is still going strong thanks to the desire of a long time friend to help feed Malagasy, and also thank you to several other individuals and two congregations who have caught the fever and are responding to the need with much generosity.  I’ve been forced to slow down a bit because of Barry being gone to Kenya and because of me not being out on the streets so much while he was gone.  However, daily I still had the joy and privilege of handing a glass of milk each to three little munchkins who sit beside my front door waiting for their daily treat.  They are so cute.  They never ask, they just sit there and smile at me, and everyday I give them a pep talk about how the vitamins in the milk are helping them to study better so I expect to see terrific report cards soon.  I also remind them, when they say thank you so politely to me, that they should not thank me but our Father in heaven, who sees that we have what we need, if we follow Him.  Since we have moved the orphans to their new home, I’ve had opportunity to compare them to the children of the congregation that existed at the orphanage home even before the orphans moved, and what I see breaks my heart.  There is no comparison between the church kids and the orphans.  The orphans are bigger, more active, and obviously healthier.  To date, we have taken milk twice monthly to the children who attend Bible classes, but now we will step that up to giving milk every week.  I wish they could get it everyday.  The need exists and the funding is here, but those children are scattered over three different villages and miles of countryside.  When we get together for Bible class I can at least make sure they get a cup of milk then.  Barry purchased ten more cases of milk as soon as he got home from Kenya.  The vehicles are stocked up and the Milk for Malagasy Children goes forward with much joy.  We wish you could experience it first hand.  Thank you so much for caring and for loving.

•   Pray for spiritual growth in the churches of Kenya and Madagascar.  Much still needs to be done to strengthen the churches in South Nyanza and other parts of Kenya.
•   Pray for the well being of our children as they study at Rift Valley Academy.  Pray that they may be accident free, and that they can excel in their studies.
•   Pray for us as we continue to work with the churches and Betikara Orphanage here in Antananarivo, Madagascar.  Pray that we can lead in such a way that the Christians will see Christ is us as we serve here.
•   Pray that the Lord will raise up more congregations that have elders and deacons, both in Kenya and Madagascar.