support; and fear that what I share may lead to your thinking we are “suffering for Jesus.” The truth is the blessings always outweigh the problems.Our last week included my having the joy of helping friends prepare an evangelistic tract for their very hard-to-reach people group, Jack sharing quality times with Kenyan Baptists in need of encouragement, as well as a great day at Nyeri Baptist High School as parents/students/staff celebrated their annual Awards Day. It was a special joy to watch female students take many of the top academic
awards in the sciences and math – which in most Kenyan schools are won by boys! Join us in praising God for the opportunities for academic study and spiritual development provided by Southern Baptists (thanks to past gifts to the Lottie Moon Offering and the Cooperative Program) and Kenyan Baptists at schools like Nyeri Baptist High School. Pray also for Kenyan students in Form Four (high school senior) who will begin sitting for national exams next week. Nyeri’s headmaster asked that we pray for “confidence and courage” as the students take these exams which determine their opportunities for further studies. (For pictures of this great day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/omba4kenya/NyeriBaptistHSAwardsParentsDay?feat=directlink )
I was reminded of how little I suffer as I snuggled my squeaky clean body into a freshly laundered bed last Friday night – yes, we awoke to water in our taps that morning and have enjoyed it since! As I added a praise for water to my bedtime prayers, I remembered the young woman I had seen earlier in the day in her “home”. The young woman, her husband who is the head guard on the property beside us, their toddler son and an infant, as well as the ten youth in the guard crew live in two hovels of wood frames with a roof and half-walls of tin and no flooring. As I thanked God for my crisp bed, I thought of these people whose beds are pieces of fabric or cardboard on the ground. Their only water comes from the nearby dirty river. 
They may be among the few in Kenya thankful for the drought – At least they are sleeping on DRY ground. When the rains start, which the meteorological department says will be this week, how will they sleep?Viewing suffering daily does lead to sadness, it also brings a new resolve to be involved in our Father’s work in our hurting world. Pray that Jack and I will be very alert to sharing our Father’s love and salvation with all we encounter. As you pray for rain, pray for health and safety for those in poor housing when the needed rains arrive. Thank you once again for being among our prayer supporters, Bert Yates
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