JESUS IS BORN - Celebrating in Kenya

November 2017

Since we will be gone from Tenwek the month of December, we bumped up some of our celebrations.  We especially did not want to miss an opportunity to reach out again to our late friend Anna's children and grandchildren, few of whom are living for Jesus.

Always a highlight for our family, this was our ninth annual "Christmas" with this precious family. We have been involved with them over the months since we returned, but this is a special day for them to gather all together as a family, which they rarely do.  A meal is shared, and then the fun.

The children have grown and changed over the years, but they insisted we enact the Christmas story once again. Here the shepherds and their sheep come to see Baby Jesus

Cynthia highly values her annual role of carrying the star that led the wisemen to Jesus.

After coloring and making Christmas cards, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. And our local pastor friend again lovingly shared the Good News of Jesus, challenging them to make this the year they decide to give their lives to Jesus.  

Pray with us that some of them will turn to Jesus to join Amos, the youngest child, a sophomore in high school, who loves Jesus.

Another day we invited Peris's granddaughter and friend, and Robert's oldest children to our home to share the Christmas story through drama, frosting cookies, and coloring pages.  We pray these young children will choose to follow Jesus, too.

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a day of sharing with our top Tabitha leaders, some of whom are pictured above.

Ladder ball is the Tabitha official sport, and some get quite competitive.

Their competition also came out in the  Bible quiz over the Christmas story facts, and our eight memory verses from the last three months.

 They are so expressive in being grateful for the gifts of thermoses they received. 

 Pray for all of our leaders that they will use every opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus with their families and community during the weeks of December.  And that we will, too.

Karibu Nyumbani! (Welcome Home)

This was our greeting as we returned to Kenya the end of August.

 

Thank you for your prayers for us during our transition from one home to the other.

Leaving all three of our kids this time was not easy, but we are so grateful for a very special week together in August, canoeing in the Boundary Waters of Canada.  Gorgeous scenery, quiet respite, fun times together – all gifts from the Lord that we have each taken with us to our respective places.

Since our family has decreased in size, our first order of business at Tenwek was to move from our former dwelling to one new to us, a duplex down the hill, and close enough to the river to enjoy the soothing sound of the rapids.  

We are still unpacking and getting settled, but we are appreciating the beautiful view, our new neighbors and the peaceful setting.

John quickly jumped back into his work overseeing the 40-bed medical service, with additional patients in two critical care wards, training medical and clinical officers, and family practice residents, and helping in other responsibilities as assistant medical superintendent of the hospital.  He is stretched every day, not just by the training and medical needs of the patients, but by the emotional drain of seeing so much severe illness and death.  He recognizes that Tenwek is not only a place for healing of the body, but also a place for families going through difficult times to find comfort and hope in Jesus Christ.

Visiting Robert, Beatrice and family.  Robert, a sold out man of God, has worked with us for 12 years in our home, yard and in Tabitha Ministry.

Reconnecting with friends has been our highlight so far, as we enjoy the Kenyan hospitality of friends, and appreciate working alongside colleagues who are also sold out to serve the Lord Jesus.

Linda’s reunion with the Tabitha Bible study leaders has been sweet.  It is so good to hear the stories of what God has done over the past year, and be united in worship and the study of God’s Word together. 

These first months Peris and Linda are leading the top leaders in studies to deepen our walk with Christ,  focusing on our “simple and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). 

This is our prayer as a couple, too,  that in our busyness, our minds would not be deceived, as Eve’s was, to stray away from our simple and pure devotion to Christ.