October 31, 2012

What is your life like? What is different? What is the same? We have been asked these questions many times since coming to East Africa. With the aid of notes shared on Facebook this past week, plus added comments in brackets, I will share a few answers!

Thursday: WOW moment! In '78 we thought our big adjustment would be to African life. WRONG! It was to living in a recent British colony! But as I prepared dinner last night, I realized that that making Yorkshire Pudding is now as 'normal' as making biscuits - the Southern bread, not British cookie! (Another recent WOW moment: While watching a Cricket Match on TV, I realized that I actually now prefer cricket over baseball!)

Friday: I say, "I need a perk," and walk out of the room housing my desk. Jack says: "What is that pecking in your 'office'?" God had sent a 'perk'! Great assurance of His constant care! (This happened as I completed last week’s update. The perk was two beautiful yellow birds playing at the window beside my desk.)

Saturday: I could skip the burning incense in the businesses owned by those of other faiths, but spotting their altars (corners/ decorated boxes housing their favoured gods) always leaves me challenged. Do they see me expressing my love and adoration for my God? (Viewing one of the altars, a silver box with doors mounted on a wall, while out shopping, I noted someone’s favorite mug and a roll of toilet paper atop the box. My first reaction, “Is this a gift to their god or simply an available but strange ledge for storage?” Then my critical thoughts switched to “What about my life shows disrespect to my God?”)

Sunday: What cannot be seen in this (above) photo: The brand new Mercedes Benz car which had just passed the donkey cart and our vehicle, an old, but very reliable Rav. Great reminder of the contrasts found in Africa, contrasts requiring lots of prayer and action!

Monday: (Three photos with the following comments.) 1/As we went to bed last night, I noticed a flurry of flying termites outside the bedroom window and as expected the side-walk was 'snowed under' this morning with wings! 2/A mat left to dry after heavy rains on Saturday night provided a great picnic spot for all the squawking birds which appeared this morning! 3/Not the greatest photo, but one busy parent sharing the termite feast!

Tuesday: Turned on the TV this morning before breakfast - can't remember when we last did that! Praying for safety and calm for all our family and friends as they deal with Sandy. (At least one of our kids, Jessie, did lose electricity, but she was excited! A good friend’s flight was rerouted due to the storm and the diversion took her to the airport a few miles from Jessie! Vajini also grew up in Africa, so the lack of electricity was ‘life as usual’!)

Wednesday: (Today’s Prayer Nudge from East Africa) Spotted yesterday in an East African grocery store. A missionary’s reaction: Never seen this in our part of the world AND it is on the shelf at the right time, not around another ‘holiday’ which usually happens! (Next thoughts shared in comments: Thanks to TV/DVD’s and travel, people are learning of others' special days. Another tool Believers can use! The shop owners and those of other faiths love to discuss American culture, which can easily lead to more important discussions!)

Hope you enjoyed this view of our lives and that it helps you pray for us. My specific need this week is for guidance as I seek better ways to share what God is doing in our part of the world via the internet. Pray for Jack as he seeks God’s direction in how to best encourage and strengthen the Baptist work in Kenya. BERT
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As of today, I am once again posting daily Prayer Nudges, which can be found at http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/

October 27 Nudge

Still taking a break from posting daily Nudges from East Africa, but they will return this week! But I will share what I posted today on Facebook with this photo that I took last week in my favorite shopping centre in Nairobi, Diamond Plaza.  In this shopping area, which some have called Little India, a Muslim prayer room, as well as a Hindu prayer room is located. There is no Christian prayer room, though both always lead me to a bit of muti-tasking - a shopping/prayer walk! The items in the photo were for sale during a special Muslim holiday.
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I could skip the burning incense in the businesses owned by those of other faiths, but spotting their altars (corners/ decorated boxes housing their favoured gods) always leaves me challenged. Do they see me expressing my love and adoration for my God?

October 24, 2012

No new tricks today, so hopefully this update will be completed in record time!  I can’t decide which photos to share this week, so I am posting three groups of photos:  ‘Window and door’ views taken during last month’s trip to western Kenya; kids who captured my heart during that trip; and photos taken yesterday morning in our yard!  Now for bits of our lives since last week’s update…

Wednesday bedtime: Still no electricity – not a great welcome for our upstairs neighbours who have been researching Unreached Peoples in South Sudan most of this year. After two days of difficult and dangerous road travel and one day of flying, they arrived home to flashlights, candles, and a local fast-food meal welcome.  One of the first things they unpacked was the solar lamps they used in South Sudan – unfortunately they couldn't bring their solar shower, so there were no hot baths in either of our apartments tonight!

Thursday evening (8 PM):  After 30 hours – Electricity!!!  Good news:  Hot showers tonight.  Bad news:  Some things were damaged when multiple transformers blew/re-blew in our neighbourhood yesterday; thankfully no major appliances or computers, but three things on my desk are fried!

Friday morning:  Took the volt-guard (photo in last week’s update) to the repairman.  Decided to give up on the transformer, an added ‘protector’ which transformed the local 240 current to 110 for my computer and desk items! It has blown its last time!  Also accepted it was time to evaluate/ examine/ restructure what and how I do my ‘job’, so I'm taking a ten day break from most of my regular work, including posting daily nudges.

Friday noon:  Jack returns home excited after a meeting with the Moderator of the Baptist Convention of Kenya and says over and over, “God is working!” One time refers to our concern for a Bible School in eastern Kenya.  We had debated/ prayed often about what we could do to help resurrect the Bible School.  Turns out the youth pastor at the Moderator’s church is from this area and their church is ready to respond – God is showing us again how to be ‘encouragers and strengtheners’ as others respond to His call for workers in His harvest field. 

Saturday afternoon:  The Frangipani tree beside our house is blooming.  How can something that smells so good make me so sick? Good day to watch a cricket match on television.  Realized once again that we now prefer this game over baseball!

Sunday morning:  Remembered that a marathon is today and the city centre is for runners only, so we attend Parklands Baptist Church rather than our church on the other side of the city. We remembered wrong – Church announcement: The marathon is next Sunday!

We laugh as a boy leads the church in prayer as the  kids head to Sunday School:  "May our teachers have courage for teaching us today." We did not laugh as all worshippers are ‘checked’ before entering the sanctuary or while watching armed guards police the church grounds for bad guys throwing home-made bombs!  Also learned of a new prayer group at church:  Warriors praying for peace before, during and after Kenya’s upcoming presidential elections (March 4, 2013). Another “God is working” moment as we leave church:  A man approached Jack asking for advice about another of our discussion/ prayer concerns – pretty sure this man is the one God is leading to ‘deal with’ a concern that affects local churches.

Monday afternoon:  I finally realized this morning why I've felt yucky for several weeks – the new malaria medicine we've taken since our trip last month to western Kenya!  I feel better already knowing the cause and that we took the last dose yesterday! Jack spent the morning writing a proposal which is his response to another of our concerns and he has already received good feedback.

Tuesday morning:  After a phone call with a Nairobi pastor, Jack shares another “God is working” moment:  The pastor wants information on how his church can reach an Unreached People in northern Kenya, a People Group that our missionaries lack resources to work among.

I will stop now, but not before saying:  THANK YOU for praying for us as we work in Kenya!  God is answering your and our prayers!   BERT

October 17, 2012

Lots of frustration at the moment!  I worked for hours on a new slideshow to share what touched our hearts this week and then tried a new trick to speed up the process.  Simply said:  IT DID NOT WORK! So, before I could begin writing this update, I had to redo all that was zapped.  Thankfully, the group of photos which share “What Touched Our Hearts”  this past week is finally ready!

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Just had to take another hour break from writing this update and to be honest, with all that has happened since I sat at my desk this morning, I’m debating if God is trying to send me a message or the devil is busy making sure I either go crazy today and/or fail in accomplishing my planned work!  The extra delay occurred when I remembered to check if those of you who are not Facebook friends could see this slideshow and discovered that only a fraction of the photos appeared!  THEN as I began redoing everything, there was a series of bangs which included a flurry of sparks around my desk! 

The bangs were transformers blowing in our neighborhood (an almost daily and or nightly event as a major substation is across the street) and the sparks came from the voltguard which protects my computer and other electrical items on my desk.  As the electricity has not yet reappeared, I’m not certain, but rather sure that the voltguard is dead!  I’m not sure about the other things, but my computer is working great and I’m hoping this means the voltguard did its job and protected other things!  You might like to know that we have multiple ‘voltguards’ all over our house, not just on our computers, but on our fridge and freezer, television, etc.  The one that is probably fried is the one in the photo!

I just took a few seconds to debate if I needed to delete all the above and restart this update, but realized that my purpose today was to share what we see and experience, so I will leave the above and continue by sharing the good things which kept us busy this week.  I’m trying to learn some new skills to help me better share what God is doing in our part of the world, which includes expanding the ‘our part’ to all of Sub-Saharan Africa rather than only the East Africa bit – and as I’ve already proven, some skills aren’t working too well, so pray for patience and perseverance for me. 

Jack has been busy this week encouraging pastors and trying to entice others to join in God’s work in Kenya – which included our returning this week to the church we visited a week ago on the edge of the Mathare slum.  It is part of this story that I’ve tried to share in the slideshow.  To be honest, there is no way we can fully share all our thoughts and reactions, as the opportunities for serving our Father are so great and the needs we encounter are often overwhelming.  So, pray that Jack and I will always be able to overlook the frustrations, delays and disappointments, and be sensitive to what God wants us to do whether it be guiding others to come and join in His harvest work or the bits of the work we are to do! 

As it is now hours later that I hoped to ‘mail’ this letter to you, I will stop – BUT I will add, thank you for all the ways you support us which allow us to be working in Kenya!  BERT

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"What Touched Our Hearts” – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151443333050130.587856.685050129&type=1&l=96084b21aa

Remember that daily 2012 Prayer Nudges from East Africa  can be found at http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/

October 14, 2012

A couple who have been researching unreached Peoples of South Sudan need your prayers.  It is time to leave and begin new work, which requires moving their vehicle to the nearest safe place. Their plan was to drive 12 hours tomorrow and 12 hours on Tuesday, before flying on Wednesday to their next work, “If all goes well and the creek don't rise.” Yesterday they heard, “It is still raining and the 'creeks' are rising, plus one road can get dangerous with bandits." Today’s revised prayer request: “Pray for wisdom as we make travel plans for tomorrow and for safety as we carry though the plan God provides!”
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1st Update:  Pray as the couple "are trying to think of other options."
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More Updates will be shared in this week's Nudges from East Africa at http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/

October 10, 2012

I have re-started this first sentence multiple times thanks to a positive/negative situation! Positive:  It is ‘spring-time’ in Kenya and our yard is filled with flowers and tweeting birds. Negative: Staying inside at my desk is almost  impossible as those sweet smelling flowers leave me rather groggy, with or without allergy medicine!  But trust me, a headache and being unable to think is more than worth all the beauty in our yard!

I considered taking a break from ‘updating’ this week, but I must share two experiences!  The first event was last Saturday’s meeting of the leaders of Parklands Baptist on Mombasa Road.  As we spent the day with our friends, we so wished that you could view what we were viewing – a group of mature, well discipled East African Believers who are fully committed to serving and obeying our heavenly Father. As we heard their reports, plans and dreams, we knew we were viewing the result of the past work of so many missionaries and East African Baptists who invested their lives in making disciples, baptizing and teaching other to continue carrying our Saviour’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20!

Words alone cannot share the second special event, but hopefully BEING His Heart, His Hands, His Voice in Mathare Valley can! The photos in this slideshow were taken last Sunday during a visit with Hope Baptist Church on the edge of Mathare Valley, one of Nairobi’s slums.  As we visited with this church family and their pastor, one of Jack’s seminary students at Kenya Baptist Theological College, we were once again thankful for Believers who are committed to sharing God’s love and salvation in difficult places. 

Which leads me to my true motivation for sharing these events with you – you are also a part of God’s past and present work in Kenya.  You have been and are a part as you pray, send personnel, and provide financial support through the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Offering.

We thank you for allowing us to have a ring-side seat for viewing how our Saviour’s multiplication plan of going, discipleship, baptising and teaching is getting us closer and closer to the day when the eternal gospel is proclaimed “to every nation, tribe, language and people” (Rev. 14:9).  Yes, I know this sound a little ‘missionary’, but it is exciting, SO EXCITING to watch God’s children not only claim His love and salvation, but to share it with others! 

Please pray for us as we encounter new events this next week.  Jack needs your prayers as he seeks to encourage and strengthen Kenyan pastors and church leaders as he prepares for teaching next month at our seminary.   Please join me in praying for wisdom and insight as I find a new balance in my work as my focus switches from East Africa to Sub-Saharan Africa,  BERT

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Please take time to view BEING His Heart, His Hands, His Voice in Mathare Valley  - which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151431015930130.585938.685050129&type=1&l=21b4786662

This week’s Nudges from East Africa are found at http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/.

October 7, 2012 Nudge from East Africa

A Missionary Kid was asked what she wanted as a high school graduation gift.  “A trip to a game park in one of the ‘tour’ vans for me and my best friend!”  The parents became suspicious when she added, “We will need the tourist safari hats, jackets and slacks to wear.”  The girls were not hoping to watch animals - they wanted to view the antics of the tourists!  As Believers in Sub-Saharan Africa are watched, pray that their observers will be impressed by what they see and desire to know more about their Saviour and His Good News!
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To view recent daily Nudges from East Africa, go to: http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/

October 3, 2012

“One can get real tired in Kenya.”  When a new friend shared this comment he was not only talking about the sleeping lion we spotted in the Nakuru Game Park, which I used in today’s Prayer Nudge(1), but about his and our recent personal experiences!  Our trip to western Kenya with leaders from the Baptist Convention of New Mexico was incredible, but it was really, really, really tiring! 

As often happens, things did not always go as planned! Last Wednesday’s early morning flight to Kisumu was cancelled, so our trip with volunteers began with a 6+ hours road trip, requiring Jack and me to leave home at 4 in the morning!  This was difficult for us, but the volunteers had arrived the night before after two 8+ hour flights and didn’t get to bed until midnight!  BUT all the scheduled ministry opportunities with the Baptist Convention of Kenya did go as planned once we arrived – which meant a very long day after a very short night! 

Our first stop was at a rural Baptist church with a nursery school for kids, many of them orphans.  The teachers, volunteers from the community, not only teach the kids songs (2), numbers, reading, etc., but they feed the children a nourishing lunch when funds are available.

Afterwards, we visited a village in need of clean, pure drinking water and prayed as we walked through the market among people who also need Living Water!

Next came a visit to the site where local Baptist Believers dream of having a rural hospital providing a place for safe arrival of babies and health care for families.  The most heart breaking part of the day came as we arrived at a national hospital and met a young boy in great pain leaving the hospital without medicines for his very treatable infection – the hospital had none to offer! The volunteers prayed with the boy and his father, with a special prayer that  the larger hospital in the next big town could offer the boy treatment the next day!

After praying with those in the hospital’s children’s ward, we travelled to a high school and heard the dreams of teachers and students to improve the lives of all in their rural area.  The volunteers were able to share of the greatest thing the students could learn – our Father’s Good News!

The next two days were just as hectic and just as rewarding as the volunteers helped communities build homes for two widows – the volunteers provided money for the tin roof, nails and a carpenter and the community provide a spot for the homes and logs for the house frame which the women fill with mud that hardens to become a secure wall!

On the first day, the widow and her two children were living in a ‘borrowed’ room. On the second day, another woman and her children were provided a home with a roof that did not leak and without leaning walls or extra ‘sky-lights’ or windows!  Below are two before photos of the second widow's home and photos of her new home as it was being dedicated!

Both families are now living in their new homes – they lived in their new homes on the night of the construction!

This trip was quicker than most made by volunteers, but we did find time on Friday morning for a boat ride around one of Lake Victoria’s  bays where hippos can be found.  Then on the return trip to Nairobi on Saturday, we drove through the Nakuru National Park and viewed lots of animals, including the sleeping lion!  We arrived just in time for our guests to take quick showers at our house before they returned to the airport for a midnight flight which would begin the reverse of the two long flights taken earlier in the week!

If you have taken time to read ALL of this Update, I want to thank you!  God is at work in East Africa, allowing both local Believers and those from other continents to join in His work.  It is tiring work, but it is also exciting work!  And as always, the  house buildings and other activities included times for the volunteers to share their testimonies and their Good News.

This week’s praise:  Many people did respond and claim our Father’s love and salvation.  Pray for the pastors and other Believers of this area as they disciple these new Believers.  Pray also for the Believers living near the first home built during this trip as they plant a new ‘church’ in their village, which reminds me of another potential ministry site which we visited last week, the Kenya Baptist College seminary extension in Kisumu, where pastors are trained!  Pray also for the leaders of the Baptist Convention of New Mexico as they encourage Believers in their state to join in God’s work in the Harvest Field of East Africa!  BERT

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(1) For a view of recent Nudges from East Africa, go to http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/ .

(2) For a few seconds of the kids singing songs, go to https://plus.google.com/photos/105343089902291545775/albums/5793933491763666033?authkey=CMjE3tTRx6222wE