Well, we officially have a daughter who is two years old. It is hard to believe but so much fun! She is quite the talker and ball of joy and energy. I tell her how much I love being her mommy and it's the truth! She truly brings so much joy and laughter to the people around us and we thank God for that! She continues to pray for people and sometimes she will look out the window and say, "Jesus is coming!" She will even point. What a gift to have a little girl who reminds us to look for His return and live as if He were coming back today. :)
The birthday week was special but with Mama down and sick we are just praising God for His grace and mercy on us all. Pamela and Joyce (the women who work for us) took amazing care of us and everything really for KG's birthday. We had a small celebration with the school staff and their families and our household. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and people played ball and Frisbee, while others played with playdough and still others chatted. We started with the cake while everyone was there and sang to her and then in Kiswahili. If you ask me I think she preferred the Kiswahili. :) We then ate and some played some more while others looked at some photo albums and then it was over. We had a Mickey theme which was so fun. It was a blessing to find Micky things at a toy store here. To eat we had mandazi (Kenyan doughnut)fruit salad, banana bread, sugar cookies, chips and guacamole, sodas and cake. :)
We have been so blessed with so many packages from so many people.Thank you to all those who blessed us and all the special birthday wishes. God is so good! We praise Him for his blessings!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Kisumu Adventure
Many of you know that over our spring break (a couple weeks ago) we took a trip to Kisumu (our future home Lord willing). Over all our trip went very well (both the journeys to and from as well as our time spent there). We wanted to brief you on a couple of the highlights from our trip.
The first and probably most exciting one was the progress made towards our future ministry there. One of the days we were there we went out to meet up with our friend Steven and his family (who had traveled with me in the car from Nairobi to Kisumu). While visiting with him (a fair distance outside of the town (aprox 40 miles) we met his extended family as well as some of the men he has been studying the Word of God with. I (Matt) got the chance to sit with Steven and two of his friends and share with them our vision for seeing a sound Bible teaching church planted in that area. They were so excited to hear the vision and are eager to be taught the word of God. They reiterated their desire to grow deep, and to understand God's word, especially so that they could also share that with others. They are already in the practice of doing home visits and witnessing to many people in there area, it's only that they don't have a place to fellowship in the Word of God that hasn't been polluted by doctrines of men and other things even worse. Also during this time Peg was able to share a little bit with Maureen (Steven's wife) who also showed an eager desire to be discipled and to grow in the Lord. We are excited that after we move there, this seems like a likely group of people to begin investing in (along with a few others who have also shown great interest in growing in the Word). And it is our desire that this could potentially be the beginnings of a church in Kisumu.
Another aspect of our time in Kisumu was making friendships and connections with the existing missionary community. We were blessed that almost every meal we had was shared with another family, couple, or group of people. We were so welcomed by the missionaries there and several also expressed a desire to have a "Bible Study", as they are hungry for more of the Word. So many of the couples blessed us and gave us some very helpful wisdom as we prepare to be long term missionaries there. Some of the couples we met had been living there for over a decade, and we found there experiences very helpful. Although we know that we've not been called to target and reach this group (as they are already believers) we do have a heart to encourage them and to spur one another on in the Word of God and the works to which He has called each of us. We also recognized the invaluable resource of having people near by who know your culture and background and can be there to help you through certain things that a national couldn't understand. We are praising the Lord for this new family in Kisumu.
Lastly, one of our major objectives in this last trip was to "begin" our house hunt. We knew that the practicalities of finding a place to live probably would mean that this trip wasn't going to secure a place for us, but non-the-less we did want to become more familiar with the different neighborhoods and areas. In searching and seeing several places, as well as getting a good idea on prices, we feel much better about our next visit, that we know what we are looking for. So although we didn't get a place yet, good progress was made in that direction.
Now we are in our 2nd term of school and although we've only had a little over a week of classes, they are already seeming to fly by. It feels like we have just arrived here in Kenya a little bit ago, and now our 6 months of school are winding down. This week we take our 3rd major test (mid-term) on Friday, and thus are preparing for that. We have been saying a lot lately how blessed this time has been to learn, adjust, befriend, grow in our understanding of culture, etc. We do feel so blessed by this time God has had us here in Limuru at school. And on the flip side of that, we are also excited and looking forward to what is ahead.
We have so much to praise the Lord for. Thank you for praying with us as we learn to do His will here!
- Matt for the P3
The first and probably most exciting one was the progress made towards our future ministry there. One of the days we were there we went out to meet up with our friend Steven and his family (who had traveled with me in the car from Nairobi to Kisumu). While visiting with him (a fair distance outside of the town (aprox 40 miles) we met his extended family as well as some of the men he has been studying the Word of God with. I (Matt) got the chance to sit with Steven and two of his friends and share with them our vision for seeing a sound Bible teaching church planted in that area. They were so excited to hear the vision and are eager to be taught the word of God. They reiterated their desire to grow deep, and to understand God's word, especially so that they could also share that with others. They are already in the practice of doing home visits and witnessing to many people in there area, it's only that they don't have a place to fellowship in the Word of God that hasn't been polluted by doctrines of men and other things even worse. Also during this time Peg was able to share a little bit with Maureen (Steven's wife) who also showed an eager desire to be discipled and to grow in the Lord. We are excited that after we move there, this seems like a likely group of people to begin investing in (along with a few others who have also shown great interest in growing in the Word). And it is our desire that this could potentially be the beginnings of a church in Kisumu.
Another aspect of our time in Kisumu was making friendships and connections with the existing missionary community. We were blessed that almost every meal we had was shared with another family, couple, or group of people. We were so welcomed by the missionaries there and several also expressed a desire to have a "Bible Study", as they are hungry for more of the Word. So many of the couples blessed us and gave us some very helpful wisdom as we prepare to be long term missionaries there. Some of the couples we met had been living there for over a decade, and we found there experiences very helpful. Although we know that we've not been called to target and reach this group (as they are already believers) we do have a heart to encourage them and to spur one another on in the Word of God and the works to which He has called each of us. We also recognized the invaluable resource of having people near by who know your culture and background and can be there to help you through certain things that a national couldn't understand. We are praising the Lord for this new family in Kisumu.
Lastly, one of our major objectives in this last trip was to "begin" our house hunt. We knew that the practicalities of finding a place to live probably would mean that this trip wasn't going to secure a place for us, but non-the-less we did want to become more familiar with the different neighborhoods and areas. In searching and seeing several places, as well as getting a good idea on prices, we feel much better about our next visit, that we know what we are looking for. So although we didn't get a place yet, good progress was made in that direction.
Now we are in our 2nd term of school and although we've only had a little over a week of classes, they are already seeming to fly by. It feels like we have just arrived here in Kenya a little bit ago, and now our 6 months of school are winding down. This week we take our 3rd major test (mid-term) on Friday, and thus are preparing for that. We have been saying a lot lately how blessed this time has been to learn, adjust, befriend, grow in our understanding of culture, etc. We do feel so blessed by this time God has had us here in Limuru at school. And on the flip side of that, we are also excited and looking forward to what is ahead.
We have so much to praise the Lord for. Thank you for praying with us as we learn to do His will here!
- Matt for the P3
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Happy New Year!
The girls excited about a box!