February 26, 2014

Two ducks and...
a dolphin in the
 distance in Charleston!

What do missionaries on Stateside Assignment do?  Well, we get quality REAL (not SKYPE, etc.) time with family and friends and even sneak in a bit of vacation, which definitely led to enforced rest as a storm of ‘historic proportions’ hit the area we chose to visit two weeks ago, but the bulk of our time is spent with churches and Believers as we share what God is up to in Kenya  and among Sub-Saharan African Peoples.

We stay busy balancing work, such as visits, phone calls and e-mails with supporters, with family time, which yesterday included taking our four year old granddaughter along as we ran errands! Thankfully, the work part is usually very enjoyable, such as our time last week in an On Missions Celebration in  South Carolina, my quick visit to Alabama over the weekend to share my passion of transforming “Social Media to ‘Missions Media’” with Baptist Women, and our speaking in Jack’s home church last Sunday.

Huguenot Church in Charleston, South Carolina.  We're not
sure how, but our photos of FBC of Charleston
'disappeared' from our camera's file!

Jack’s special treat during the last two weeks was visiting churches during our vacation which he had read of during his studies of church history, which included our host church, First Baptist Church of Charleston.  He had another special treat yesterday as he not only visited one of his favorite places, a home improvement business, but buying a few new tools! My added perk in recent weeks was meeting many Facebook friends in South Carolina and Alabama and now calling them REAL friends!

Yates' display at the On Missions Celebration Saturday afternoon
Missions Fair at First Baptist Church of Hampton, SC.  

How can you pray for us and others on Stateside Assignment?  Pray for rest, for wisdom in scheduling our times, and for special times with family and friends.  Pray that we will be like Peter and “explain… precisely” (Act 11:4) what God had done and in doing, how the Holy Spirit (v.12) guides involvement in His work, and how when God’s hand is with us (v.21), we see people believing and turning to Him!

Pray specifically that Jack will continue seeking God’s guidance as he serves as the principal of Kenya Baptist Theological College.  Pray that he will be able to precisely and clearly share with others his vision for the ongoing re-launch of KBTC as it returns to a place where God’s children are entrusted with His message and equipped to share this message and do His work (2 Timothy 2:2, 3:17).

Pray that I will clearly and boldly report (Acts 4:23) what God is doing among Sub-Saharan African Peoples.  Pray that as I share stories of our workers, our Unreached Peoples, our God, others will follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and join in God’s work of shaking up the Unreached Peoples of our world, which will result in their being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31).

February 21st Nudge to Action for SSAPeoples

Pray also for me as I help you build a ‘Missions ToolBox’.  My desire is to add to your knowledge of social media sites which can strengthen and encourage your ability to join in God’s work among the Peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa as you pray, give and serve!  Over the years in our weekly updates and in Nudges to Action for SSAPeoples, I've shared internet sites which you can store and have ready to use in your ‘Missions Toolbox’. But get ready – I'm going to work more diligently so you will have lots of varied ‘tools’ at hand and be ready to join in our Father’s work, whether it be through praying, giving or serving! Thus, beginning today, there will be a new ‘Missions ToolBox’ section in our weekly update!

Once again, I've written twice what I desired, but joining in our Father’s work is exciting and I want to share this joy with you – you who strengthen and encourage us as you pray for us, give to support us and send more workers our way!  BERT

Tools purchased this week
for our use during STAS -
info found on the internet can
also be used as trusted tools as
we join our Father in His work!

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MISSIONS TOOLBOX
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God’s Beloved Booklet is offered free (shipping charges only) to women who want to respond to the Good Shepherd’s urging to talk with the Muslim women, but anyone who desires to learn more about sharing our Father’s love and salvation with other faiths will want to listen to the MP3 Audio files sharing these stories in English and in Arabic.   There is a minimum of 100 of the booklets per order for the booklets, but you can always share these with others in your church and with those in other churches. God’s Beloved Booklet at http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/2924.

Easy to download MP3 Audio files at https://oralitystrategies.org/resources.cfm?id=716&t=13.

Addition for your MISSIONS TOOLBOX shared last week:  Would you recognize an Islamic Call to Prayer and use this as a reminder to pray for those of another faith diligently searching to know God? Check out  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF2bf8hC_sU.  

New Nudges to Action for Sub-Saharan African Peoples found at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sub-Saharan-African-Peoples/100173880060607.

More from KBTC at https://www.facebook.com/KenyaBaptistTheologicalCollege. 

Links for finding Bert and Jack on Facebook:

BERT YATES        JACK YATES