Napak Village Baptisms

Things you could pray for now - if praying is something you do!!!!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

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!!!!

1 comment:

Nils IngarSeptember 2, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Great stuff!
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appreciate feedback and encouragement!!

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For God so loved the world . . . . .

Napak Church (from the first village I went to) has a small group of people who go with me to the other villages. This was our first week to go to the third village.

I left Lodwar around mid day and arrived in Napak around 2:30pm the people were waiting for me at the tree where we do Church. So we left, drove through the second village and arrived at the third village. In this village there is a small school which served as our base for that evening and the next morning.

After arriving we spotted a clusters of people under trees nearby. So we went over to say 'ejok' - 'hello'!!!! They were relaxing and drinking local brew . . selling goat meat, which could be selected from a branch!! Some people were selling maize others just socialising.

We talked with a few of the people and invited them to come to our evening gathering. We planned to show the 'Jesus' film and to share about God's love and to pray for people.

Before I leave home I always check my equipment to check that everything is fine. To my amazement when I was setting up at around 6pm the generator would not start!!!! I checked what all that I thought could be wrong, changing plugs, checking the fuel . . . but the generator would not start. I was quite stressed, loads of people (over 200) were waiting for 'something' to happen.

I asked my friends from Napak to start singing, at least something to occupy people for a while. I kept looking and fiddling with the generator. I checked the oil . . .it was OK . . . so I thought. I really wasn't sure what was wrong. I looked again at the oil and thought to myself maybe I should top it up. Usually I have extra oil in the truck . . but I had just used it on the truck itself!! What was I to do????

I sent a couple of the guys from Napak to cross the river to see if the irrigation projects had any spare oil. However while they gone I had the idea of draining a bit of oil from the engine of my truck!!! This was successful . . I put it in the generator and . . . . it started. I quickly rigged up the PA system and got the Music started!!! The guys could hear the music from the distance they had walked and came rushing back!!!!

People really enjoyed the Jesus film, and after I shared with them. I really believe God wanted those 400 or so people to hear the message of his love. I go to the village because 'God loves the world so much that he gave his one and only son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal live'. (John 3:16)

How will people in these remote places hear about Jesus if we who have heard don't go and tell them. The love of God and the life that Jesus brings is transformational. God loves it when his people connect with Him, I feel privileged to be able to live here and take the message of God's love to people who have not heard it. This weekend Ten people said yes to the following Jesus.

There are now three villages with believers in them who need nurturing in the word of God and discipling. People from the third village where we meet this weekend told us about a fourth village about ten km away that they said also need to hear the message and the stories of Jesus!

Please pray with us about this work and how it is growing. For wisdom as we look for people who can partner with us here on the ground, and as we look that God will show us potential leaders for these groups of new Christians.

God is GOOD!!!

Supporting our work

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Act - get informed about Kenya , read the Local newspaper online (nationmedia.com), write to us and let us know your news and prayer needs!!!
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PS to the post below!!!!

On Friday (5th November) Keshule made a short trip to the village, tring to fit in an extra one before we leave. He was so happy when he arrived to find the literacy classes had already started. The class was taking place under the Church tree. People are so keen to learn to read and write. Happy people came to him to show him their work!! While he was there, he was told how the little church in Napak has been praised by the area chief for it's efforts in bringing development to the people. The chief also spoke in reference to the people who had been giving the church a hard time and said that it should stop!!! So we praise God for opening the way for the classes and for the local administration so see how the Church makes not only a different to people's Spiritual lives but to their general development too.

Newsletter August 2011


	News from THATmission and the Edapal family in Kenya.... August 2011 We hope that you are all well and enjoying the last of the summer sun!! We have been in the rainy season and enjoying the occasional open fire – something Keshule really missed when we were in Eldoret! As many of you will know, and some of you won’t, Ali made a rather impromptu trip to the UK for four weeks in June and July. It was hard for the family to be separated but we felt that it was important for us to be able to reconnect with churches, friends and family. We are so proud of how our kids managed during this time and are happy to be back together again. It would be good to take a moment here to express some thanks! For the last 12 years the Edapal family have been sending out a newsletter in one form or another, at varying degrees of frequency, which has mostly been facilitated by John and Louise Westwell, who have also been our contacts in the UK. We are very grateful for the time, effort, prayers, encouragement, support, love, logic and dedication they have invested into our Ministry and our life here in Kenya. The ‘Job’ of communication and being the main contact person for us in the UK will become that of Vicki Vaughan who is a long term friend of Ali’s from Chelmsford days. So it will be her name and contact that you will be seeing on newsletters and may at some time in the future be contacting you regarding your involvement with THATmission! The trip Ali made to the UK really was a chance to communicate about how God has been using us and to talk about the scope that we have to expand the exciting ‘work’ that we, and especially Keshule, have been doing in Turkana. There is so much that THATmission could get involved in, as well expanding what we are already doing in terms of the Church planting, Discipleship, Literacy projects, Agricultural support and Micro Finance Projects. It was exhilarating for Ali to share the many miracles that God has done and is doing in the lives of the people in the rural villages who are growing in faith. We know that Ali didn’t get to see many of you but we hope that with the links to the blog and our Facebook pages you will be able to feel a bit more connected to the work here in Kenya. As most of you will have heard there is a terrible drought in Kenya at the moment, not only at the boarder of Somalia but also in other parts of Northern Kenya. One of the most affected areas is Turkana. According to the UN, more than 4 million Kenyans in the region are at risk of starvation in the worst drought in 60 years (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14417545) People are dying of hunger and many more are at risk. We are praying for the October rains to come. It is so sad that the government has acted so slowly to PREVENT famine occurring AGAIN this year. Their solutions are very ‘reactionary’ and tend to be concerned chiefly with rescuing the situation rather than preventing it. We want to support the efforts that some of the people we know are making in order to help themselves out of the problem. In August, Keshule went to Turkana to buy food, seeds and tools with the money some of you gave to us, to give to families that are suffering there. Thank you for your generosity – your money makes a real difference. You can see pictures of families receiving a panga (machetes) and jembe (digging tool) with their seeds on our blog: www.thatmission.blogspot.com Because the harvest was so poor, some of the seeds that families have will not produce a good crop next harvest. Keshule was able to buy good quality seeds as well as watermelon seeds, which grow well in the climate and mean families can have a ‘cash crop’ that they can sell to support themselves. There is still a huge need so it is not too late to help. £20 will buy seeds and tools for a family in Turkana. If you would like to give to the people of Turkana, please reply to this email and we will send you the bank details to make a donation. While Ali was in the UK, many of you were asking how you can regularly support our ministry and us as a family. We have included as an attachment a form for Stewardship giving, so that taxpayers can give though the Gift Aid system. We thought this might be the simplest way to get the information to people who want to give and also for those of you who have ever wondered how you could give. For those of you who are not taxpayers but still want to give a payment to our account, feel free to reply to this e-mail with a ‘request for bank details’ message. So as we settle back into life the following are things that if you pray you could join with us in talking to God about. · Thank God for the time Ali had in the UK, and that Keshule and the kids did really well while she was away!! · Thank God for the ‘formal’ time and commitment of John and Louise to our life and Ministry over the last 12 years and for the transition as Vicki takes over. · Ask that God would be with those suffering in the famine in East Africa, for food to arrive to those in need, for compassion to be in the hearts of those who at each stage are distributing the food so that MORE gets to the starving and less to the greedy! Ask God for us to have wisdom as we do our small part in an attempt to help the people we have contact with to be more self sufficient. · Thank God for his faithfulness and love and his commitment to seeing each and every one of us fulfil his potential in our lives. CONTACT INFORMATION Edapal Family – PO Box 5105 Eldoret, Kenya. Telephone: (Keshule) +254 (0)738 130880 (Ali) +254 (0)704 153680 e-mail: Edapal.turkana@yahoo.co.uk Facebook: Keshule Edapal and Ali Joy Edapal Blog: www.thatmission.blogspot.com UK Contact Vicki Vaughan – 12 Court Farm Road, Birmingham, West Midlands, B23 5ND. Telephone: 07976 592990 and e-mail: vjv1979@gmail.com

October 2010 Newsletter

THATmission and Edapal Family Newsletter October 2010

Hello – Jambo – Ejok

Dear all,

Please feel updated by this newsletter. To those of you who are already aware of our situation, thank you for your continued prayers and for your encouragement.

“We have been so excited by the work in the villages. By the faithfulness God has show to His lovely people in Napak village and beyond by revealing Himself to them and for God allowing Keshule to minister in their lives. It is so cool to know that there is a church, a community of believers in that place now. It was hard waiting on God for His timing but we know God sees the bigger picture.

We love Turkana, we love the people and we also love the place. However due to a number of factors we have been wondering, searching out hearts and asking God if this is where he wants us right now, for this moment. It seems that we speak and think in contradiction because in one way it is amazing to see the ways in which God is using us especially in the village ministry yet in other ways we feel that things are very hard.

We don’t have all the resources we need to live and work in this place. To educate our Children and be nourished as people. We are exhausted, emotionally, physically and spiritually. We can live in Turkana and do the work we do because of the grace of God. It is frustrating to see so many needs and not to be able to reach out and help. It is a daily test of faith to trust God that our kids (or us) won’t get sick or in an accident because the health care in Lodwar is soooo minimal and we don’t have health insurance. It is draining to have people come to your door who have not eaten for 3 days and to chose to give food you have budgeted for the month and to trust that God will in turn meet our needs (which he does even if it is not how we think he will). By involving ourselves in the lives of people in the village we also have become their ‘friend’ which has implications when they come to town, have a need or are sick (like snake bite girl, low HB boy, broken hip old lady!!!Or people dying and needing the body transporting back to the village).

It is tough not having so many people we can relate to on a deeper level, it is hard (especially for Ali) to not be able to go to church and worship God corporately in her mother tongue, the challenges of Turkana are vast and we are tired. Most mission organisations recommend that their people working in Turkana take a break every 6 – 8 weeks, we have had one break out of Turkana this year and one trip to ‘rescue’ our missing niece.

We feel that we have pretty much been doing this life and the ministry on our own. (Of course we are with God but in a human sense we feel very lonely). We KNOW we are loved and we appreciate each of you, but we know you have your lives, you have your joys and your sorrows. Some of you told us, in 2006/2007 when we were last in the UK that we needed to communicate more. We feel like we have really tried at this, we hope you get our newsletters. We have really tried especially this year, since we have had good internet to communicate more. We have tried to connect using Facebook and our blog. We hope that you enjoy getting glimpses of our life.”

We have had to think a lot about what we can do about the situation we find ourselves in. It was really cool to write so some key people in our lives the letter from which the above is extracted and to RECIEVE back some wonderful encouragement. We felt very uplifted and positive by the comments people made back to us. In that letter we had gone so far as to outline what we saw as the possible options for moving forward. Although we had the idea in our head to as what we thought was the ‘best’ plan we were open to other ideas! In the end however it seemed that most people agreed with us and now we know what we are going to do. Below is from the communication we sent after we finalised what we feel is the right way forward.

“So the update is that we have decided to relocate to Eldoret, we plan to put the children in school and to take some time establishing a new routine. Keshule is already studying and he plans to continue with his diploma. Ali hope to make good use of her time with the children going to school, perhaps do some short courses in counselling.

It was really good that recently an American Missionary came to Lodwar, who had been here many years ago; we both had a chance to talk to him a bit. He was a real encouragement. He and his wife had left Turkana mostly to be able to give their kids the education they wanted to. In the course of talking to him he said something which was really cool and kind of sums up how we feel, that moving out of Turkana is not the end of our Ministry here, it is the beginning of a NEW way of us doing Ministry in Turkana!!!”

We will be able to go to a church where the preaching and some of the worship is in English! Kids will be able to go to Sunday school. This is really important for us as a family.

When a missionary usually goes on furlough, it is seen not as just a holiday of a break from the usual life they lead but it is a chance to be build up and refreshed ready to go back to the job God has called them to do. It is also usually a chance to get involved with people face to face and to share the passion and direction and needs of the work they are involved in. We don’t know when we might next get a ‘furlough’. We have to do what we can do NOW in the situation we are in to get refreshed and renewed.

As one friend said when she called us, this is like a tactical retreat, a chance to reload, get patched up and be ready again to get out on the front line. We have been on the front line in Turkana for a while and we could stay, push on but we think that sometimes you have to be smart and re-think the plan! If we don’t take this time now we could end up unable to serve in the longer run . . . .

We knew, when Ben was born that education would be one of the biggest challenges of the life we live. Ali does not feel that she is cut out to be a home school mum!!!! In addition we feel like education is not just about what kids learn academically, but also how they develop as people, how they learn to interact, how they relate to the wider world. We have done the best we can for our kids in terms of education but we feel that now Ben and Chloё need so much more of the socialisation aspects of going to school.

As the Missionary who recently visited Lodwar said moving out of Turkana is not the end of our Ministry here, it is the beginning of a NEW way of us doing Ministry in Turkana!!! Keshule hopes and plans to be able to come back to Lodwar frequently to be able to Support the Church in the village. We are arranging for James the emerging ‘Pastor’ of the Church in Napak to go to a Bible school in Turkana Language. We are hoping that this will help to equip him for the task of Church Leadership. We were delighted when he came to Keshule talking about illiteracy. He asked for us to help him to be able to teach people to read!!!! So we organised for him to have a day with a literacy teacher to get him going. He will attend a week long training in January.

So the work in the village will continue and we hope and pray for God’s protection for his people there!!! We have expectation too that Keshule will be able to organise a team or two from Eldoret to be able to come and bless the Napak and the area around Napak.

Something we would like to put out there is the opportunity for a team from the UK to come to Turkana. We would need someone ready to take on the UK organisation side and to act as liaison with us. If you have always wanted to be involved in planning and or attending a short term mission trip in Africa – this could be your chance!!!!! Talk to us!!

We are hoping to move by the end of November at the latest. However . . . . .

“There are still lots of things to pray about for this move. So please stand with us in prayer if praying is something you do, in the following areas. Thanks!!

· A very immediate challenge is our truck. It is broken. The damage is not as extreme as it was first thought is was but it still needs fixing. It is clutch issues and not the gear box – phew!!!

· Living in Eldoret does have extra costs involved. Mostly that the education of the kids is roughly three times more than we are presently paying each month. Also we will have to rent a house. So to make this move we REALLY need to rent out OUR house in Lodwar, so please pray we get renters REALLY FAST!!!

· We also need to look for ways of moving our belongings to Eldoret. Of course there are no moving companies!!! We need to find a lorry which had bought goods to Lodwar from Nairobi or Eldoret and is planning to go back empty. We need to find a lorry in good condition so it doesn’t break down half way and one that is available at the time we need it to be and for the ‘best’ price!!!!

· We need to find a home in Eldoret. Keshule plans to go to look for a house. He was not able to last week as planned but is hoping to go this week. Please pray for Ali and the kids as they stay in Lodwar, without a vehicle. Pray too for Keshule as he travels by bus on the terrible road. We do not want or need a big or flash house but we do want one which is secure and in a safer area so Ali and the kids feel peaceful when Keshule make trips up to Lodwar.

· Once we move please pray we can get the kids into the school we have heard about that we feel would be good for them. Also pray that they will settle well as they have been out of the ‘school’ system for two years now.

We thank God that although this was not in our ‘plan’ for NOW, we can see the goodness of our faithful God in this plan to move. We know that wherever we are we will have daily opportunities to reach out to people and we also really thank God for our being able to register THATmission, which gives us the legal framework to operate any Ministry we feel lead to!!!”

This is not easy for us. Although there have been many challenges in Turkana we know it has been GOOD!!! We were comforted by these words from the book of Psalms which a friend suggested we read.

“The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with Joy. Restore our fortunes o Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping carrying seeds to sow, will return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with him.”

How wonderful!! Continue to pray for us, think about whether you are interested in a short term mission to Turkana!!! We will keep writing newsletters and we look forward to hearing how you all are doing too!!!!!

June newsletter

THATmission and Edapal Family Newsletter June 2010

Hello – Jambo – Ejok

THATmission

Village ministry is a wonderful opportunity to touch the lives and hearts or rural Turkana people. Keshule continues to go to Napak twice a month, and to the next village, Kalomegur (Kaa – lo – mare – gure) once every two months. He has been going to Kalomegur with people from Napak, and has been able to show the ‘Jesus’ film as well as tell the chronological Bible stories. 400 people continue to come to watch the film and hear the stories in Kalomegur. Napak ‘Church’ has around 40 people regularly attending.

One week Keshule decided to make a ‘surprise’ visit to see how Napak does Church on the weeks he is not there! The Church service had started by the time he arrived people were gathered under the tree. When Keshule is not there still they sing and pray. Rather than the stories Keshule reads and explains there is one guy who we have begun to support to go to Turkana language Bible training who simply reads from the Bible. There is high illiteracy so most of the village only hear the Bible if it is read out to them.

There is one older Mama who Keshule took from Lodwar this week, back to Napak. She had been in Lodwar hospital since April! She fell from a hut roof which she was fixing and hurt her hip. She was referred to Eldoret (big hospital) to have a hip replacement, but because the funds could not be raised she stayed in Lodwar hospital and got a bit of pain control and waited until the Doctors were ready to release her . . . accumulating a bill of over £120!!! Her family managed to pay half and then the rest was waivered because she is old. Life is hard for the people here in Turkana, health care is extremely basic.

Mama James is now home in the village, and this active lady is now restricted to minimal movement and dependant on family members. From climbing on roofs to fix them to not even being able to stand unaided is tough! We helped her with a bit of money for food while she was in the hospital and it was great that her going home and Keshule’s trip to Napak coincided and she got a lift!!! We pray for her to find peace in her new situation and for the pain to be minimal.

This week (20^th June) Keshule began teaching about Baptism. People in Napak started to talk about Baptism some time ago. It is something they have seen in the Catholic Church. People are very ready to make a public declaration of their new found faith. Keshule has just started to tell the Stories of the New Testament so to add some simple teaching about baptism seemed to make sense. We are planning to have a big baptism service in August. When Turkana’s choose Christ there are some traditional ceremonies and practices we encourage them to look at and to reconsider in relation to their new faith. In seeking to be disciples of Christ, Turkana traditions which involve ancestral connections and worship no longer hold appeal or relevance to people. However these practices are often times of community getting together and having fun. We feel like it is good to show the Christians that they can still have celebration times – but with Jesus at the centre!!! We hope that this baptism service will be a great time of celebration and a time for the village to connect with GOD!!!

As you probably know we don’t get a salary living here in Turkana. We trust God for our needs and thanks God for the friends and Churches He uses to support our lives here. As the ministry in the villages goes on we do have to consider the financial implications it is having on our family. We have no problem sharing what we have in order for the love of God and His message of hope and transformation to reach the Turkana people. However we feel that there are loads of opportunities for people to partner with us for some of the things which we feel would really help this work go forward and to have a great impact in the villages Keshule reaches out to. For example:

1. THE WORD OF GOD. We have 10 New Testament audio Bibles (solar charging) in storage, which were left with us to buy, from some Missionaries who used to work in Turkana. For a one off donation of £28 you could give a small group of Turkana people the word of God in a format they can understand!!!!

2. BIBLICAL TEACHING and DISCIPLESHIP. Presently we fund the trips to the village from our own pocket. It would be cool to share this with others who think it is important. If 10 people could commit just £5 a month – the fuel expenses would be covered and Keshule continues to go with our truck twice a month to teach and reach out to ‘His’ villages. Anything more than this will help with fixing the vehicle, servicing and general maintenance!!!

3. An Alternative we have looked into is Keshule using a motor bike. Although there is an initial expense of around £900 (just 20 one off donation of £45) the twice monthly expense of trips to Napak could be reduced significantly and we could used any Village ministry Partnership funds that come in to make a practical difference in people’s lives. Helping out with Hospital bills? Supporting a Nursery school teacher to get out to the Villages? Start some adult literacy classes? Sending more young men and women to Turkana Language Bible training? . . . . . other ideas . . . . .

Please pray and consider if any of these are something you would like to partner with us in!!! Donations can be made into our UK bank account contact us for detail!!!

Edapal Family

For those of you who have been following our newsletter you will know we have a niece who went missing from boarding school. Two weeks ago we received a phone call from one of Keshule’s sisters telling us Dede had called and wanted to leave the place she was at. After unsuccessful attempt to talk to Dede ourselves we made the decision to go to Kakamega, Western Kenya to ‘rescue’ her. This was a 12 hour drive! When we arrived at the nearest police post to the village where Dede was living we informed the police of the story (underage girl taken out of school and missing for 2 years). Keshule went with police to the village, while Ali and the kids waited at the police post. Dede and the guy who she has been living with (Oscar) were bought back to the police post (together with the addition of Natasha – their six week old baby). Oscar was arrested and taken to Kakamaega police station and Dede was told to come with us to stay in a guest house overnight. She said she would rather stay with Oscar in the cell!!! The police were not being as helpful as one would hope. We left them in the cell and went to our guest house. We had a bit of a pray and talked over the situation and decided that in the long run it was better for Dede and for the chance of a good relationship with her, to drop the charges we could bring against Oscar.

The next morning Keshule went to the Police Station to see Oscar and Dede and to give Dede some money. When Keshule talked to Oscar, he actually apologised to Keshule for all the trouble! Dede asked for her Aunty Ali! After registering the money for Dede with the police Keshule left, making a statement that we were dropping all charges and that we were allowing Dede to stay with Oscar because she seems to be happy and they have made a life together. Then he came back to the guest house .As we were leaving Kakamega we all stopped off for a last good bye. As I (Ali) hugged Dede through the bars, and kissed baby Natasha I was glad that she was OK, but so much wanted to bring her home to Lodwar. We talked somewhat and it seemed like Dede and Oscar had really discussed things and they told us they wanted to come back to Lodwar. So that was how we left it. They had to be processed and then they were to go back to Oscar’s village and plan to come to Lodwar. I (Ali) think this is one of the hardest things, leaving Dede in the hope that she will come home. Knowing that forcing her to come home could have lost her forever. We have chatted on the phone and this little girl that left us two years ago has grown up so much, she is a Mama! We hope that she and Oscar do come home to Lodwar and we can encourage them as them grow as a couple. Hoping Dede will get into some tuition and finish school!!

After a brief stay in Eldoret we got back to Lodwar the day before Lydia’s birthday! It is amazing that our ‘baby’ is three years old already!! Ben and Chloё had picked up classes again and life is ‘back to normal’. Our nephew Isaac is continuing to do well in school and is growing in maturity too!!! God continues to be our source of peace and the reason for being here in Turkana! We love that we got to serve him here!

If praying is something you do, please pray specifically for the following (and andthing else you gather from the newsletter!!)

PRAYER

· Thank God that we had safe travels and that Dede is OK and for a good outcome to our trip!

· Thank God for the hearts and lives being changed by the work Keshule is doing in the villages, consider partnering with us for this work to continue.

· Pray for the baptism service being planned for August. This will be a first and an example for those to follow. So we need wisdom in the planning. Pray that people will really grasp the teaching about baptism and that this will be a really joyful time!

A BIG thank you to all believe in what we are doing in Turkana, and support us with your prayers and financial giving.

Contact us

Via John and Louise Westwell (thewestwells@yahoo.co.uk) or phone 0161 7642049 in the UK or us via e-mail, Facebook(Ali ‘Allman’ Edapal and Keshule Edapal) or phone (+254 (0)738 131931)!!!!

April newsletter

THATmission Newsletter April 2010

Hello – Jambo - Ejok

As this is the first newsletter we have written in a while and some of you reading it might be new to us and to our ‘work’ perhaps a VERY brief history would be good!!!

We got married in 2000 after meeting at YWAM Athi River in Nairobi, Kenya. It was with YWAM Kenya that we came to Lodwar, Turkana, Northern Kenya in 2004, with our 2 kids and 6 nephews and nieces!!! In 2006 just before went to visit the UK we felt that we should branch out into our own ‘Ministry’ and we left YWAM Kenya with fond memories and a huge gratefulness for everything we learnt while with them!!!

In 2007 we came back from the UK, Ali was quite sick and we went to stay in Eldoret - a more developed town than Lodwar, for some time before and after Lydia was born. After lots of prayer and help from a great guy in Nairobi we were able to register THATmission as a Society of Kenya. The end of 2009 saw the beginning of True Hope And Transformation mission.

THATmission

Since August 2009 Keshule has begun ‘Village Ministry’. Every other weekend he goes to a series of villages the first being around 40km from where we live in Lodwar. He tells chronological Bible stories, beginning with creation!!! This is a fantastic way of communicating with the Turkana people as story telling is their way of passing information. These villages are very ‘Traditional’. The typical pictures of sub – Saharan Africa, these people have settled a by a river and have made attempts at farming. In fact there is one old man who always gives Keshule maize when he goes to the village!!! Most of the older people are traditionally dressed; however the young women though adorned in their colourful beads wear more ‘normal’ clothes. Houses are made of locally found Material and wealth is not estimated in monetary terms but in cows, camels, sheep and goats.

Going to the village to share the words and the love of God is a great privilege. In the first village there are around 40 people (3/4 of the entire village) who attend the Bible stories and Sunday gatherings. While talking with some of the people recently the effects of this ministry become apparent. They were saying that since Keshule began going to the village to tell the Stories and to share about God there have been real changes. There used to be a lot of division among the people but now they seem to have peace between them. They have hope and feel so encouraged. Every visit someone will come to thank Keshule for taking the time to bring the message. No one else has shown this commitment.

It is our intention to continue reaching out to these villages. Two visits to the next village along, going with people from the first village. Each time around 400 people have shown up wanting to hear the Bible stories. It is our hope to continue with this work, bringing the word of God that leads to TRANSFORMATION in the lives of people.

Ali has had a couple of opportunities to share with local church attending women. She has twice been invited to share at meetings for child dedications!!! Both times she was able to share in Swahili (85 – 90%) and translated directly into Turkana which is cool because she is convinces that she gets a better translation from Swahili than from English!!! The Women asked to be taught about Christian parenting! This is a good topic as so much can be included.

Ali loves the chance to encourage the women and to later hear feedback about the impact of the teaching. Ali was touched when she heard about a lady who told a friend that she went home and cried after the meeting. She felt guilty in her heart after something Ali had said. Ali had talked about being encourager of our children, to build them up with words and not to push them down. This particular lady had gone to Rose (who organised for Ali to share at the meeting) asking her to pray with her for forgiveness for always calling her kids a Donkey and other names, that she wanted to put good words in her children’s lives!!! Sharing with women and seeing TRANSFORMATION in their lives is cool because it has the power to reach down to kids too!!!!

Edapal news!!

Since January 2009 Ben and Chloё have been taught at home. They were in a regular non government school for sometime but bullying made it hard to keep sending them!!! So we hired a wonderful lady to be their teacher – following the Kenyan curriculum – with the hope that one day they might go back into ‘real’ school!!! Ben is doing well in Class 3 and Chloё moving along in class 2!! This year in January Ali took on the teaching English part of their schooling. English is taught as a second language in Primary school here so we thought is good for Ali to try and make it a bit more challenging for them and fun too!!!! It is challenging for her but we can see the benefits for the kids!!!! Lydia is always running over to the school room and would love to be in class . . . she joins in with arts and crafts and stuff like that!!!

Our nieces and nephews have grown too!! We have had LOTS of challenges with them. One of our nieces good married – and is independent of us. When we came to the UK in 2006/7 we had Keshule’s sister come to Lodwar to take care of her kids (she had stayed in the village to look after aging parents who had since died) during that time our other niece became rather a handful and in 2008 when we thought she was in boarding school, she had in fact run off with a young man!! We don’t know where she is, when she first went we heard from her a couple of times but we have heard nothing for over a year now. We pray for her and hope for her well being.

The nephews – one did well at Primary school and is now in his second year at high school, getting good marks!! The two older lads run Keshule’s workshop – though at the moment it is not doing well. Pattie, one of those lads recently became a Dad, he is living with his girlfriend and their baby, Martha. The tow younger nephews are plodding on with primary school and we hope they will pass their exams to get the chance to go to secondary school!!!

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

1. Thank God for the chance that we have to live and in Turkana. To share His words and the message of hope.

2. Pray for the village ministry for clear direction and even the resources to go every other week!!!

3. Thank God for good health and for his looking after us. Pray for our niece to be safe wherever she is, pray for all our kids to continue to learn well or work hard in their Job taking advantage of the opportunities they are being given.

If you are interested in supporting our ministry, our family or our nephews in school (or any child in school ) PLEASE feel free to get in touch with John and Louise Westwell (thewestwells@yahoo.co.uk) in the UK or us via e-mail, Facebook(Ali ‘Allman’ Edapal and Keshule Edapal) or phone (+254 (0)738 131931)!!!!

You can also check out our blog at http://thatmission.blogspot.com/

THATmission - Kenya (True Hope And Transformation)

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Wednesday, September 1, 2010