July 1, 2007

Dear Praying Friends,

Greetings from Kitale, Kenya. Our summer is speeding by. In June, we had two sets of visitors. Our daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, and their team of eight from the University of Michigan were with us for six weeks, and now, the BFM team is here. Pam’s sister, brother-in-law, and their team of nine have really encouraged us. It has been so great seeing our family, and being able to spend time with them, as well as meeting new friends who are interested in the Lord’s work here in Kenya. How we praise God for the encouragement of these who have come to be a blessing to us, and our people. As well as family, my mentor, Hollis Walter and his wife, Mary Jo, our very good friend, Pastor Brian May, and new friends, are with us. They have taught in our Bible Institute, and in a Bible club, the ladies have taught the women in the community close to our newest church, and most have been involved in our evangelism ministry visiting door to door in homes. The three preachers on the team preached on their last Sunday here when we combined our churches for a special service. We thank God so much for the many who love, support, and encourage us.

On June 2nd, I preformed the wedding ceremony for six couples from our churches that had never had a church wedding. Since poverty is rampant here, many of our people cannot afford a church wedding, due to the necessity of paying a dowry for the wife before they can be wed. Pam and I wanted our pastors and church leaders to be have a scriptural wedding in a New Testament church. Our son-in-law’s team helped us by providing dresses that they had worn, they made the cake, and we had a service combining all three churches. What a blessing it was to us and our pastors and church leaders to be officially married before God and many witnesses.

On June 10th, I baptized ten from our churches. Five who were baptized were from our newest church, Wananchi Baptist. Among those baptized were five young men who are being discipled by Fred, the pastor of our Imani church, and Evans, the pastor of Wananchi Baptist. We are very interested in discipling young people who can catch a vision for their generation, and help our pastors to visit, witness, and be involved in our Bible clubs, and bringing their friends to Christ.

Our hearts are heavy as we have to give up a little boy that we have come to love. Isaiah is a five month old who was abandoned by an unknown mother a few weeks ago by the railroad tracts in Kitale. He was naked, and spent the night in the rain before being rescued by some workers coming home from work who brought him to the hospital. Carrie and Pam found him in the nursery when they went to do their ministry there. Carrie asked if she could take him home to do foster care until a home could be found, and she was given permission to do this. Carrie and Nathan applied to begin the adoption process to make this precious little boy their son, but it was denied. Two years ago, there was child trafficking being done here in Kenya, and babies were being sent to England to be sold and adopted. The government of Kenya has now made it very, very hard to adopt. There are only two orphanages that they recognize for adoption, and these two will not take Isaiah, as he is over three months old, and this is their cut-off. So, he will be placed into a home for abandoned babies here in Kitale, but it is hard to give him up. Nathan and Carrie can see him as often as they want, but we will miss seeing him prosper and grow in their home. Please pray for Isaiah, as he is God’s child, and we all want to be involved in his life, and watch him grow.

Lord willing, we will be coming back on furlough for six months in August. We want to do a video presentation of our work, and spend time with our friends and family, so we will be available to visit churches from September 1st until January 15th. If you would like for us to present the work here to your church, please contact us soon, as we are trying to make a schedule, and would love to show you what God is doing here. Our contacts are on the top of this page. May our Lord bless each of you, and thank you so much for your love, support, encouragement and prayers. We could not be here without you interceding for us, and the ministry here in Kenya.

Your missionaries in Kitale, Kenya,

Mike and Pam