October 28, 2009

How important are your prayers to our work? My FACEBOOK post last Wednesday afternoon answers this question – “Our God has a sense of humour. To save space, I cut a sentence in our weekly prayer update asking for prayer for patience as I worked on the computer - Almost immediately, my internet went from "speedy" to "snail speed" for an hour!” This really happened! We are serious when we say we need your prayer support!

I try to share specific needs, but sometimes there isn’t enough space in our “short” Updates – such as my not asking for prayer for last Saturday’s MasterLife workshop at Parklands Baptist Church. My role was to be “Mrs. Skeptical” as I challenged the “practice” testimonies of three young professionals concluding their year-long study. Yes, I did throw each of them at some point, but it was amazing to sense the depth of their faith and their desire to share of their Father’s love and salvation. It was also a special reminder of the need to praise our God for how He is and has been at work in Kenya as I remembered the past discipleship work of so many missionaries in Kenya and recognized once again the potential of Kenyan Baptists to win their world to Christ!

Failure to ask for prayers for Jack as he preached this past Sunday was simply he wasn’t asked until after last week’s Prayer Update was sent! BUT even if I had asked for prayer, he didn’t know everything! When we arrived at Ruiru First Baptist Church, on the far edge of Nairobi, he thought he was preaching for an Ordination service. As he met with the pastor and candidates for ordination, he didn’t know that a wedding party was congregating outside the church. It wasn’t until he saw my pictures* that he realized that the wall behind his seat in the church was decorated with the large words: Anjelicah WEDS Joshua. But you prayed well! Jack felt your “general” prayers as he preached for the first time in months in Kiswahili and as he made quick changes to his sermon. Actually, the couple have been married for years by traditional law, but not in a Christian service – one of the requirements for the husband to be ordained!

We also often cannot ask for prayer due to the sensitive nature of some items and at the moment, many prayer needs fit that definition! We ask that you pray that the Holy Spirit will fill us with wisdom, patience and guidance so that we will bring glory to God in all our actions! Another specific request is the continued need for rain – the rains are sporadic and there is fear that they may be insufficient to alleviate the problems of drought. There is also a “flip-side” to this request. We live in third-world country where if ample or extra rains come, new problems will emerge due to illnesses, flooding, poor housing, etc. We ask that you pray that whatever is happening, Kenyan Christians will be strong witnesses and servants of their heavenly Father! Bert Yates

*Extra pictures to make our Prayer Updates “real” at: http://picasaweb.google.com/omba4kenya/YatesPrayerUpdate091028?feat=directlink and on Bert's FACEBOOK page.