Happy Thanksgiving! As we enter this special time of year, we are reflecting on our Lord, and His goodness to us throughout this year. God has blessed us much more than we deserve, and we praise Him for His many blessings. Our freedom here in the U.S. cost so many lives, and the privilege to worship our Lord should never be taken for granted. Before we are tempted to complain, we should stop and count our many blessings, naming them one by one, and we will be surprised at what the Lord has done. Our greatest gift was the giving of our Lord Jesus Christ to come to earth, live a sinless life, and die in our place, so that we could receive His forgiveness for our sins, and have a home in heaven. What an indescribable gift! II Corinthians 9:15
It has been great traveling around this past month from Michigan to Florida meeting new friends, and renewing acquaintances with so many old friends. We started the month at a mission conference in Science Hill, Kentucky at Pastor Ed Massey’s church, and went from there to Southside Baptist in Florida, and meeting with the members of Pastor Jonathan Turner’s church. What a blessing it was for us to fellowship with Roger and Julie Tate, who will be joining us in Kenya next year to work alongside of us in ministry there. We left there and went to Tennessee, then Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, and finally home to West Virginia. Thanks so much to each of you who hosted us, and are interested in what God is doing in Kenya. It is truly our privilege to serve our Lord, and represent so many of you who support us on the foreign mission field.
Many have asked about Kaily, our little granddaughter who was born prematurely on August 30th. She is growing and doing much better, after being on a ventilator for six weeks of her young life. She had a bad infection earlier last month, but is much better now, and is off of the ventilator on nasal oxygen. Please keep Kaily in your prayers, as well as our daughter and son-in-law, Graig and Sara Austin, that Kaily would be able to leave the hospital this month and come home. God has been good to help us as a family in this time of testing with our much loved little granddaughter.
We have heard reports about the ministry in Kenya. The pastors are getting together regularly for prayer about the works, and have had to withdraw fellowship from one of our Bible Institute students for leaving his wife, and living with another woman. His wife has had difficulty carrying a child to term, and their last baby died. So, they have no children. In Kenyan culture, having children is of utmost importance, so a woman who cannot bear or carry children to term, is scorned. However, this is not a Biblical reason to leave. We are pleased that our men have dealt with this situation, and the churches, Bible clubs, and community ministries are continuing on in our absence. How we miss our people there.
A young man who works with us in children and youth ministries has completed four months of training with Child Evangelism Fellowship in Nairobi. We sent Amos to Nairobi to be trained in children and youth ministries, so that he can teach others who are working with our Bible clubs and Sunday Schools, to know how to reach and teach them more effectively. He has sent us his goals after completing his schooling, and he desires to teach others, as well as start Bible clubs in some public schools in our area. So, we are excited about seeing the fruits of his labors when we return.
We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the Thanksgiving conference in Michigan later this month. Thanks so much to the many that we have met and fellowshipped with this past month. We are excited about meeting more of you this month as we report to your churches on what God is doing in Kenya. What a honor is ours to be your representatives on the foreign field of Kenya. Let us all remember to count our many blessings, and thank our Lord for all that He has done for us. Until next month, we love each of you, and thank you for keeping us before God’s throne in prayer.