Christmas tree . . . .

We are beginning to get into the Christmas, moving has rather dominated up till now!!!! Children enjoy having a tree in our new house!!!

This is our first time to have a traditional Christmas tree!! We have had fun making decorations, and decorating our tree. We are in our new house in Eldoret and the tree looks very nice in our half unpacked living room!!!!

Ben checking the lights and Chloe and Lydia decorating.

This is our fun tree, which we have had for many years and still put up because we love it!!!

A final trip and a new project

Last Saturday (13th November) I went to the Village for the last time before we move. I went to the Second village in the line of four I have been visiting. They had been asking for me to show the Jesus film and share the stories for Jesus for a while. I was really happy because we got there (me a group from Napak) and we were able to set up and show the film with out trouble.

The equipment, projector and P. A. system that we use to show the Jesus film

A sheet on the side of a vehicle is the screen. This is James setting up.

Seven people gave their lives to Jesus. We prayed with them and we planned when the Church people of Napak could go back and visit with them, to start a small discipleship group.

People gather ing to watch the Jesus film.

On Sunday morning we went back to Napak to do Church. James (Church Leader) shared. After I gave the church a small gift from us, Edapals!! Some time ago the church leadership team had been talking about income generation projects and had mentioned a solar mobile phone charger. So when I was in Eldoret I was able to get one.

The solar charging stuff, a light and some batteries.

The Charger can charge up to ten mobile phones a day depending on the amount of Sun. In the last week, they have on average charged four phones a day! The project is for the whole Church, but will be managed by one couple. In addition to charging they are going to also sell mobile phone credit!

Mama and Baba Eliza, who will manage the Solar phone charging project.

It is good to leave the village with is small gift. It was very touching to hear different people stand in Church and share a goodbye as I got ready to leave. I know that there are people in the village of Napak, who have decided to turn from being in a dark place of not knowing Jesus to a great place of understanding God loves them! God has done a wonderful Transformation of hearts and lives in Napak, wheich these people themselves can see and feel and want to take to those around them.

People have the Audio Turkana Bibles they love to listen to the word of God. Soon many more will be able to read the word of God too. When I was in the village I was so impressed by how committed the group of literacy people are working. Already three people are reading their primers really well, this is a real encouragement.

I look forward to seeing the progress of the projects and the hearts and lives of 'my people' (as Lydia my youngest daughter call them!!

Please remember them in your prayers.

Literacy in Napak, and solar Bibles!

Keshule and Ali painting the blackboard that will be used in the village for teaching Adult Literacy.

A couple of months ago James, church leader in Napak came to our house. He saw we had a blackboard and asked Keshule if he could have it. When asked why he went on to say that he could use it to help people at Church and in the village learn to read!!!

Blackboard at Church, the literacy programme being introduced last week. (31st October 2010)

For us it was really cool to hear this as it is in our hearts to see people being able to read and write. The fact that the idea came from James himself, and is not something we have asked him to do is, we think FAB!!!!

The materials we have provided for a class of ten.

After James came to talk to Keshule we desided to talk to our friend and fellow missionary, Lynn. In the past she has been involved in training Adult literacy teachers. We arranged with her for one of the trainers to spend a day with James, teaching him the basics and going through the Turkana Primers he will use.

Work books to be filled out by the students.

Next year Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF), who Lynn works will will organise another Adult literacy training of teachers course, as they have in the past. We have already signed James up for this course!!!!

Primers and Chalk!
The aim is to have the class reading and writing Turkana. Many of the people in the village do not understans Swahili so it is great to have the materials in Turkana language!

The first Adult Literacy class in Napak.
We are so excited to see these people enthusiastic about helping themselves and helping each other!!!

Keshule (far right)with the first class, and James (far left).

Turkana Solar Audio Bibles

In addition to the Literacy classed it was a good weekend for the whole church. Keshule was able to take three solar Audio Bibles out to the church (That some people in the UK donated money for!!!). They are in Turkana and can also be used to support the literacy work because we have hope that as time goes by people will be able to follow in their written Bibles what is being spoken on the Audio Bibles.

The Audio Bible being listened to.
The Bibles we designated to 3 different groups, the Women, the Youth and the Men. As the all meet independently through out the week. We know these Bibles will be a real blessing to the people in Napak.

So exciting that we were able to get these things together before we leave. The people in Napak were very understanding when Keshule explained about our going to Eldoret, though a bit sad!! We hope and pray that they continue to seek a fuller relationship with God, through the truth of HIS word.

Wow

Today we are happy because our truck is getting fixed!!!! It is AMAZING how things get sorted!!!! So that is an answer to one of our prayer requests!!!!!

Our truck is being fixed in our garden!!!

Napak Village Baptisms

We have a joy and desire to see people not only making this public declaration of their new found faith in God, but in helping them understand God's word that they may live a changed life that pleases our Creator. A life of knowing that they are loved by God, and that he seeks to have a relationship, live and purposeful with him!!! Join us in prayer for these Turkana Chirstians.



This is the group of people who were baptised

The river was a bit merky . . . and if we moved too much in any one direction we would have been up to our necks!!! It was a very special thing to do to as a couple, and a total privalage to be with these young Christians as they said YES to following Christ!!!!!

It was really cool to have our children with us in the village, experiencing the WHY of our lives in Turkana. They really enjoyed their time there!






Keshule and Ken, with a Pastor from the other side of the village prayer for each of the baptised people.

We went to the village with our friends and THATmission board members Ken and Dorca Koyo, Ken (in blue t-shirt) shared after the baptisms, while Dorcas and Ali look on!!!

Thank you to all of you who gave shukas to the baptised people as gifts. It was really special and kind. Extra money went towards buying food for the church to have a nice meal togther after the baptisms!!!!

Weekend July 17th/18th 2010 - Napak

This is the old lady(in the blue blanket) featured in a previous blog, who gave Keshule 100/= Kenya Shillings (less than £1!!! She is a regular at Church and has come to love Jesus.

Keshule is teaching about baptism and Pastor Paul is doing the Bible reading!

At church people like to dance, Ali likes the colours or the mama's clothes!!!

People really enjoy Church and it is growing. The amazing thing is the hearts of the Napak Church members to reach out to the next villages with the bible Stories.

Keshule now has 4 - yes FOUR villages he need to take care of!!!! We are praying about the way forward to be able to nurture these young Christians!! And the how to reach the unreached of the area . . . Pray with us!

this lizard thing was in our garden the other day!!!!

Our 'baby' is three!!!!!

Keshule at Church in Napak

Church in Napak - under the tree!!!

Keshule and Bne check out motor bikes

Turning up to the village unannounced!!!

This was an unusual Sunday because I arrived at the village without the Church knowing that I was coming. I had missed last week due to a trip to Nairobi. I decided to go this Sunday early in the morning, to continue with the chronological Bible stories.

This week we were talking about the prophecy of Isaiah, the coming of a Messiah. There was a big turn out for Church, which encouraged me as I had been wondering if they really meet when we have not gone on a Saturday afternoon. They were happy to see me arrive.

After the service I had a meeting with the team of leaders, just getting to know how they and the Church are doing.

One major concern for the village is a sick Grandmother who fell almost 3 months ago when she was fixing the roof of a hut (traditional woman's work!!). She injured her hip and has been in Lodwar hospital since with her hip being held in tension. she will need over a hundred pounds to pay the hospital bill and medication, the Church is doing what it can and will likely manage to sell goats and traditional mats worth about 20 pound , they just can't raise all of it. If you want to partner with the Church in Napak to help this Grandmother clear her hospital bill feel free to contact us via facebook or e-mail to find out how.

Next week I am planning to go back to Napak to pick up people to go on to the next village and show the Jesus film (in Turkana language). Then Sunday service will be in Napak where I am starting to teach about Baptism!!!!

If you pray please do include the following

1. The Grandmother in the hospital, to be able to raise the money to clear her medical bill!!
2. For the showing of the Jesus film that people will have open hearts to the message of the gospel.
3. For teaching about baptism and preparations for a first baptism service!!!
4. That I will continue to have the resources to keep going to the village and beyond. Sometimes we struggle to find even the fuel money!!!!
   

A baby, some rain and a Sheep!!!

On Friday, after coming from Eldoret, having a tooth fixed Ali started getting us all ready for going to the village on Saturday! Tents - check, drinking water - check, blankets - check, food - check, projector of the Jesus film - check, generator - check . . . . . . .

We left just after nine am, Keshule, Ali Ben Chloe and Lydia, together with our nephew Isaac we set off to meet Pastor Paul on the way! We arrived at the village(after a brief stop to collect firewood) and already people were beginning to gather to pray and thank God for little Elizabeth!! So straight out of the truck and over to the church (tree). Napak (Previously known as Keshule's village) people had invited a Pastor from another village in the area and his church members to be a part of the time together. There was a fun time of singing Turkana Jesus songs, with lots of enthusiastic jumping and dancing.

There was a time for Ali to share and she encouraged the people who had come to try to teach their children what they learn from the Bible stories Keshule is telling them. To try and make the roots of their family to go deep into God and then like a tree with good roots their family will grow strong and have healthy fruits. (trees with deep roots is a good image doe the Turkana, who know lots about the depth of water in the land because they often have to dig for it to drink!! So they know a tree with deep roots will be a healthy tree!!)

After sharing we prayed for baby Elizabeth, her mama and Baba, bothers and sisters. It was special because both her Grandmothers (Ata) were there so we prayed for them too!!! Immediatly after the baby prayer time was closed it started raining!!! This was around 2pm. Usually rain in Turkana lasts for about 20 minutes, this time it rained until 7pm!!!! So our plans were all confused!!! Afer two hours of sitting in the truck (all our family, pastor, and 3 more - 10 people in total . . . ) someone came up with the good idea of going to the 'shelter' with a tin roof which is used as a nursery school. we set out tents and got busycooking our dinner on a fire with 3 stones. By the time we were eating our dinner it was dark after we finished off the evening with a nice cup of chai we turned in for the night . . . . .

People were a bit disappointed that we had not shown the Jesus film and that they had not been able to slaughter a sheep, which the young people of Napak had contributed too for us!!! We promised that next time we all go we will eat sheep and that Keshule will go with the film on his next trip out.

On Sunday we had a fun time at church. It was wonderful to again our Napak friends danicing and jumping in the praise to God!! Pastor Paul read the Bible story (they have reached Leviticus and are learning about forgiveness of sins, in Old Testament times.). So Keshule elaborated on the text that Pastor had read and he asked questions, which they answered and discussed how the principles apply to them today!!! After Bible stories there were prayers and a bit more singing!!

On the way home we were astonished by the fact that so many of the dry rivers had been flowing from the rain the night before and that now they were dry again. If we had wanted to go home on Saturday after the rain . . . . we would not have made it!!!!

So this was a good weekend, a baby was dedicated to God, the blessing of rain poured down and the sheep . . . was spared . . . . until next time!!!

• Do keep praying for the people of Napak, for baby Elizabeth and her family.

• Pray for Keshule as he keep on going with the Bible stories, that people will seek to live what they are learning.

• Thank God for our safe going and coming and that our kids had a good time too!!!!

There is Hope

Last weekend I went to the first village with Pastor Paul for our usual overnight evangelistic meeting. We borrowed a projector and went with the portable PA equipment and we were able to show 'The Jesus Film' - which is translated into Turkana!! There were over 500 people watching - from neighboring villages and around. People LOVED being able to hear Jesus words in their mother tongue!!! We stopped the film half way as it was getting late and promised to show again next time!! After we stopped the film we prayed for people, who wanted to become Christians!!! Lots of follow up there!!! On Sunday people gave testimony of how we started going to the village, God has turned their lives around. There is peace among themselves, people have hope and they are very much encouraged!!!

This also gives me hope and faith and strength for what we are doing in the village. We give all the glory to God. We hope to be able to continue to go to the villages!!!

Keep praying for these people!!!!

The Widow's offering

From Sunday . . . .

Pastor Paul (who I partner with in the village ministry) and I together with a group of around 10 people from the first village we visit went to the second village this weekend. We went on Saturday and stayed overnight. We were able to do some evangelism and visiting people. We had a good meeting. It was good it didn't rain (it has been raining lots in Lodwar this week) as we were sleeping under the stars.

In the morning we went back to the first village for a Sunday service with chronological bible stories. We are up to the ten commandments now!!!

People really connect to the stories as storytelling is important in Turkana culture for the passing on of information.

After the service an old Mama who I had met the first time I went to the village came up to me. This old woman had rags for clothes and that first visit I felt compelled to give her my blanket . . . the kind people wear. On the second visit I took her a skirt Ali had made and she was happy!!! So today she came up to me and handed me 100 Kenyan Shillings (about one British pound). I almost refused to take it but I didn't want to deny this Mama the opportunity to give or to discourage her generosity. I was almost moved to tears by this act of kindness. I took the money, humbled by this widow. She said how much she appreciated our coming to share the stories with the village, it means a lot to her.

I was reminded of the story in the book of Luke in the Bible where people were giving. Rich people gave LOADS of money but it cost them NOTHING, a poor widow gave LITTLE money but it cost her EVERYTHING.

"But she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." - Luke 21:6b.

If praying is something you do please pray for the following . . .

1. Thank God for the opportunity to share God's love with e people in the village, for their receptiveness and open hearts.
2. Thank God for the PA system I was able to buy second hand from another Missionary, no more SHOUTING!!
3. We are trusting God to be able to buy a projector to be able to show good films like the 'Jesus' film and others, translated into Turkana.
4. Always pray for safety when travellling backwards and forwards to the village.

Thank you.
Keshule.

sharing with some mamas

sharing with Mamas is a cool thing I love to do. I have been invited a couple of times now to share with a group of woman from a Baptist denomination (not that that really matters) they are from different local churches but all Baptists.

I have been invited to share at the time when babies are being 'prayed for'. I think it is a really famtastic opportunity to speak directly to the Mamas (wamama) abou tissues that effect us. This time as I was preparing to share with tem I really felt in my heart to share about 'Who I am!'. So often we can forget we are someone when we are called wife, mum, sister, daughter. I shared with te Wamama that they are LOVED by God for who they are without those titles. They are CALLED by God, SAVED by Jesus and a CHILD OF GOD!!! It was cool!!!

These Wamama also like really practical stuff so I managed to blend in a really fab 'peom' that I had been given by my Aunt. It talks about the child who grows in for example . . . .conflict . . . learns to fight or the child child who live with fairness learns to be just . . The point I was trying to drive home was that we can really effect how our kids will grow by how we treat then now , , It seemed to hit a cord with them . . . I gave some off the cuff examples . .. which I like because I tend to think they are less me more God inspired when I've not planned them so much . . . ???

I was really happy that MOST of my teaching was in SWAHILI!!!! Directly translated to Turkana . . . . I was happy that there was a young woman who could translate from English to Turkana at one point when I was confused with Swahili grammar . . . . even happier when I realised something she said in Turkana was not what I had said in English . . . this MUST mean I'm picking up bits of Turkana!!!!

So that was sharing with the Wamama, I went with Lydia and she was great . . . I really thank God for any opportunity to share about HIS love for us!!! It was ace too that Rose remembered me when they were looking for a speaker . . Rose works for a friend of mine here . . .

So praying for more times of sharing with Wamama!!!

Visiting THATmission

Posted from Lodwar by David while on a 5 day visit.

Visiting THATmission in Lodwar may seem a daunting prospect because of the distance and the fact that Lodwar is not on the tourist trail. But the reality is that a visit can be easily organised and will be one of the most rewarding trips you ever make. The easiest way is to fly overnight to Nairobi then fly straight out to Lodwar with FLY540 ... all flights can be booked from the UK! The Lodwar airstrip is just 5 minutes from the Edapal house and they provide a great airstrip collection service. You can of course extend your visit to spend time in Nairobi or on safari or at the coast ... these options are a little more work but not so hard.

Whilst in Lodwar you will of course experience life with the Edapals ... but you will also see the real Africa and it is worth seeing! You will learn too first hand what THATmission is all about.

Of course you need to be conscious of the costs that you visit will incur and make sure that the Edapals are reimbursed and hopefully more besides!! Be aware too that your visit will impact them in their mission ... so work to make that impact positive while you are here and when you return home.

So if you get the chance make that visit ... bless the Edapals and yourselves!!

David

Christmas and new year

Fab Christmas with friends!!! HAppy children, happy parents.

Lots of rain since Christmas . . . . .ruined the road to our house but we'll (Keshule) fix that!!!!

Loooking forward to 2010, waiting to see what is in store for us!