January 27, 2010

Today’s update begins today with an invitation to “Tag along for a Church Planting Seminar in rural Kakamega, western Kenya. A great look at what God is doing, as well as an added bonus of how Kenyan WMU members are ‘God's Fellow Workers’ in their homeland.” I promise that you will find it impossible to not smile at some of these pictures or to praise God for what is happening in Kenya. Plus, anyone in need of program material for the upcoming WMU FOCUS WEEK will find needed inspiration and pictures to copy and use at this site. It is downloaded on FACEBOOK, but you do not have to be a FACEBOOK member to log on to the Photo Album found at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=190915&id=685050129&l=1efbd53fb5

We are depending upon your prayers! Jack is halfway through teaching the second of the third CHURCH PLANTING TRAININGS, one in each of the local Baptist associations in Kakamega, during this trip . Our prayers for clarity as he teaches and understanding by the participants was answered in the first training which was Sunday and Monday, pray the same for the conclusion of the second training which will be completed today (Wednesday) and for the third round on Thursday and Friday. Thank you for praying for my ability to share what is happening through my “travel” internet system - it is working great! Your prayers were answered for safety as we traveled last week, THANK YOU, now pray for our return trip on Saturday to Nairobi. Two long sections of the road to be travelled is in horrible condition with lots of hazards.

And finally, last week I asked that you “ Join us also in praying for those suffering and for those ministering in Haiti.” A friend with Baptist Global Response - http://gobgr.org - asks that you go to their website to find a downloadable Haiti bulletin to share with your church and friends and learn how you can help in the current situation and others in need. Thank you for your prayers, BERT YATES

Build a House - Start a Church

I don’t want to over-send information, but I have to share a bit about the exciting side trip we made yesterday (Saturday, January 23) as we travelled to Kakamega (western Kenya). We left the main road in Ahero, not far from Kisumu, the town on Lake Victoria, to view a house raising/church start – all happening in one day! In June 2008, with the help of special gifts from Southern Baptists which provided the needed mbati (tin) roof, nails and one day’s pay for a skilled carpenter, a local village built a home of twigs, sticks and mud in the traditional manner for a family who had lost their home in the Post-Election Crisis.

The two room home we watched being built yesterday was the 50^th home built in the area in the same way – this one for a young widow with three small children. Her home had been the thatched hut beside the building project which had two special features – you could see the stars at night and unlike other homes in her village, she had running water in the house, but only when it rained – not the piped kind of water, but straight through the holes in your ceiling! House churches have begun in most of these new homes and yesterday’s house was no exception – a local pastor taught choruses and Bible verses to the children of the neighbourhood as the house was built – then prayers were held in the old house, followed by the first worship service in the new house while it was being built! EXCITING!

I will send more information later when I return home to unlimited internet – I’m recuperating today from getting sick yesterday, a combination of allergies and dehydration – but for a few pictures which I promise will leave you wanting more, go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=190303&id=685050129&l=de74a3d192

BERT YATES

"Colours of Kenya" or "Views I wish my American Friends Could See" or "Views to Make You Homesick"

It seems that I’m always sending you “heavy information” that is based on meeting our and/or Kenya’s needs, so today I want to offer you something simply for your enjoyment. I have downloaded 30 “colourful” pictures from Kenya on FACEBOOK for you – Don’t worry if you’re not a FACEBOOK member – you can still click and view these pictures. So…enjoy the following gift from Kenya:

“Colours of Kenya” or “Views I wish my American friends could see” – Pictures from a trip this past Wednesday to Nyeri, Kenya to meet North Carolina volunteers working at the Nyeri Baptist High School. Along the way, I took pictures of things I wish I could share with those who have never been to Kenya and as a special reminder of life in Kenya for friends who love this place! Prepared simply for enjoyment, but if a picture leads to prayer, you have my full permission/encouragement to do so!

Found at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=189490&id=685050129&l=d22de1068f

You can stop reading now or you can continue and receive a bit of the usual “heavy information” of prayer items from us:

We are leaving for western Kenya early tomorrow morning where Jack will be leading Church Planting Training in several areas and we will be checking out new areas for further work before returning home on January 30^th. This is a trial trip to see if the new internet set-up I purchased this week will allow me to work outside Nairobi and travel on other trips with Jack.

So… Pray for safety as we travel long distances this week, good communication skills for Jack as he shares his passion for Church Planting, discernment as we seek God’s will for future work in western Kenya by volunteers and others, wisdom as I choose the best stories/pictures to help you understand how you can be a part of God’s work in Kenya, and a selfish prayer – that my new internet set-up will work so that I can be a part of Jack’s trips and able to share with you what is happening! Bert Yates

January 19, 2010

“Arise, take your place, King of Kings … O that men would say, Rejoice in the Lord always … We fall down at the feet of Jesus, We cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb” We sang these words with fellow Christians during our Sunday worship service which included special prayers for Haiti. As I looked around at my Kenyan friends, I recognized that there was a special fervor in their praise, prayers and attention to God’s Word – many knew what it was like to lose everything and be filled with fear for themselves and their families after the post-election chaos two years ago – they knew better than I how to lift the people of Haiti to their Father.

As I was taking pictures – yes, during one of the prayer times – I captured for you a picture of a toddler watching a lady deep in prayer. The two year old then wandered next to a young woman, who gave the little one a hug and then returned to prayer. I missed the picture of the child working at placing her hands in the exact position of the young woman and striving to copy even the facial expressions she was viewing. I don’t know how God speaks to you, but as He spoke to me through the songs, prayers, and reading/teaching of His Work, He reminded me through my little friend, that my greatest witness and service to Him is often not my planned, goal-oriented work, but my friendships and my relationships with others and what they see in my daily actions.

This morning, God spoke to me again through the family whose father guards the property beside our house. Their home is one tiny “room” framed with a roof and only half walls made of tin and a dirt floor and zero furnishings – yet when I pass to run errands, the mother is always smiling. When she is not cuddling her toddler and infant son, she is making beaded crafts to sell. This morning, she proudly announced that the baby was 3 months old today. I wish you could have viewed the infant seat she had created by filling a discarded tire with all her blankets. Propped in the circle, the baby was thrilled at watching his big brother playing nearby. I wish also you could have seen and heard the joyous giggling of the toddler when I offered him bananas when I returned from shopping. God’s lesson to me – a reminder of the true joy He offers that is based simply on love and life and appreciation for simple gifts.

Once again, I’m not sure why I felt compelled to share these things in this week’s Prayer Update, but… Pray that Jack and I will use every opportunity to not just share, but to live our Father’s love and salvation. Pray for us as we travel to Nyeri tomorrow to meet with NC Baptist volunteers constructing a building for the girls of Nyeri Baptist High School. Pray for us as we travel on Friday for an 8 day visit to Kakamega (western Kenya) where Jack will be offering training in Church Planting and we will survey the area. Pray for me as I seek to find the best ways to connect/strengthen/encourage our missionaries in Equatorial Africa and share with you how God is at work in our part of the world. Join us also in praying for those suffering and for those ministering in Haiti. Bert Yates

January 13, 2010

As friends in the northern hemisphere emptied bread and milk shelves last week, Kenyan weather also led to increased buying – of rain gear such as umbrellas and rubber boots, but by the weekend, these were useless. Our rain gauge registered an average of two plus inches daily last week and the 6 inch tube, which Jack emptied Saturday, was overflowing on Sunday morning! We live in a sturdy house – thanks to the giving of Southern Baptist – but many Kenyans were not dry and safe. (Daily Nation article link is below.)

After waking on Sunday to continued rain and no electricity (out for 11 hours), we expected few people at church. Roads were flooded, but there were more than the usual number at church. It was a chilly, gloomy morning and the cheerfulness of three little girls sitting in front of us warmed our spirits. The sisters were likely wearing Christmas gifts – the oldest wore a red/black/white cape, the youngest was wrapped in orange/yellow/burgundy, and the middle girl was warmed by a hooded aqua/pink/lime sweater with a rainbow of pompoms – sorry, I forgot my camera! They reminded me of my Kenyan friends’ ability to find joy in the darkest situations and their alertness to praising God for all things and realizing their need for Him in all situations – lessons they are teaching us.

This reminder affirmed my desire to take a different focus in this week’s prayer update and share our family praises/needs rather than focus only on our “work”. Our first praise is for the internet which allows us to keep us with our three children – we even had a LIVE view of our granddaughter unwrapping her Christmas presents and enjoying her greatest joy of the day – eating the wrapping paper!

We are praising God for how He is at work in our children’s lives. John, living in Zebulon, NC, successfully opened his own home improvement business last year. Pray for him as he seeks to build a business known for quality, dependable and “ethical” services! We are also praising God that Melanie is now a part of his life. Join us in praying that she will soon be among the fully employed! Pray for them as they overcome obstacles in planning their lives together.

Jennifer and her husband both have jobs they love in Aaron’s home town, New Bern, NC – an answered prayer as Aaron was among the unemployed for over a year; thankfully, he was blessed with part-time work during this time. Their greatest joy of the year was Isabella’s birth last April. Another blessing of internet is the constant flow of pictures and videos we receive of our first grandchild! Pray for them as they await Aaron having a third surgery early this year to correct a fluttering heart problem.

Jessica, our youngest, lives in Raleigh, NC, where she is job hunting and applying for master’s programs in Library Science. Blessings include her graduating last May from Wake Forest University and her circle of Wake friends who are her support system as she deals with unemployment frustrations! We praise God for her finding a church home in Cary First Baptist – a major difficulty for many Missionary Kids. Pray that she will quickly find a job that will not only pay the bills, but guide her in decisions about her future.

Thank you for joining us in these praises and requests. Jack and I continue to be certain that we are exactly where God wants us AND we know without a doubt that your prayers, support and encouragement are a part of our confidence and our ability to be a part of our Father’s work! Thank you, Bert Yates

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* “Flash floods wreak havoc killing 7”-Daily Nation, 1/11/10 - http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/839504/-/votgkx/-/index.html

January 6, 2010

“So glad that the water is back on at the house here in Maralal (Samburu). We got enough rain in 3 days to refill the dam enough for the water company to turn the tap back on!” “Seems we have gone from one extreme to the other!! Loving the green grass and dust settling down. Praying for those displaced by flooding!" “Rains have washed out roads, many people have been displaced from their homes, all rivers, creeks, and dry water beds are running over and flooding low lying areas. We will make a decision by Friday about our planned trip... Keep praying!”

Reading these comments from FACEBOOK friends, two from fellow missionaries and the last from a volunteer who brings teams to work with the Maasai, I wondered how you react to my conflicting prayer requests. I ask you to pray for an end to drought and when the rains come, I immediately request that you pray for flooding problems! A reality of third world countries: With so many people living in simple and too often poor housing located in areas with risks, even good rains can result in problems. Another common result of drought is that when the rains do come, extra flooding will occur due to run off problems on the hardened land with no grass or plants. Therefore, when the rains are as torrential as much of Kenya has experienced since Christmas week, the floods lead to suffering, not the hoped for renewal of life.

Via the internet, I read on Monday that the cold snap of a generation is being experienced in parts of the US! Then yesterday the cover articel of our Daily Nation* reported that Kenya was experiencing its own happening of a generation: "Normally dry areas hit hard as torrential rains bring death and destruction ... Scores of villagers in Turkana West were marooned after the dry valley they settled on when River Kerio changed course in 1967, suddenly retraced its former route." So today I must ask that as you praise God for the end of the drought, that you also pray the rains will be sufficient to allow growth of needed food and cash crops. Add also a prayer for relief and protection for those who are suffering due to the floods.

Another major local news item of the last week was the announcement of the scores for the national 2009 KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) exam which will determine the future for last year’s Standard (Grade) Eight students. January 1 of 2009, I shared this request with my Omba4Kenya prayer list: “Pray for the kids entering Standard Eight next week – kids who are already preparing for next year’s KCPE. Pray that their studies will not be interrupted…” Your prayers were answered. Unlike the past year, other than the drought related problems, schools had a smoother year. It was also shared in the news that prayers were answered and many students, including the best boy and girl student in the KCPE Exams overcame the problems of being among the IDPs (Internally Displaced Peoples) after the December 2007 elections.** To strengthen your prayers, I added a picture last January of Joy, a girl who would take the exam later in the year, standing beside her father. Then in November, I used an updated picture of Joy, now best defined as a young woman, to share thanks for your prayers and I am using them again in this posting!

Joy’s Dad said last Sunday that prayers had been answered. Joy was the Number One Girl in her school and only the Number One Boy did better than she. Her dad also proudly shared that unlike most of her classmates who are now searching for a high school, Joy has been offered a place in a top Nairobi high school! So as you praise God for Joy’s good news, pray for the thousands of students who are now searching for places in High School or facing an end of schooling. Begin praying also for strength and wisdom for the new Standard Eight students who will take the exam later this year – these kids are the future of Kenya and of our churches!

Answered prayers like this do keep me charged and ready to share more with you – my greatest problem is deciding what to share with you and keep this update short! So pray for the specifics that I share and general ones that you remember! BERT YATES

PS with a little humor: The Maralal co-worker who posted the note about the returning tap water immediately received this FACEBOOK message from his wife at a Home Schooling Conference in South Africa: “yay! now you get to wash all those sheets and towels...”

* “Emergency Mode as Flood Death Toll Rises” (Daily Nation, January 4, 2010, pp.1,2) - http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/836156/-/voram3/-/index.html

** “Top Achievers Recall Life as Election IDP” (SUNDAY NATION, January 3, 2010, p.3) - http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/835010/-/voqkeq/-/index.html