October 14, 2009

Writing these updates brings many emotions – Enjoyment as I write/prepare pictures for you; awareness that we need your prayer 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

October 7, 2009

“Describe your typical day as a missionary?” A question recently sent my way. My response: A typical day soon after returning from a Stateside Assignment or a normal mid-term typical day? There is a difference! The devil works overtime dishing-out discouragement as you make new plans to be about God’s work!

The day after our return to Nairobi on September 6th, my laptop crashed and a few days later our desktop blew-up not once, but twice. Local internet services are in fluctuation at the moment and choosing affordable/adequate temporary services took more time than expected. In the midst of the computers’ saga, my e-mail address lists disappeared. After doing what probably isn’t recommended, I found the missing file, but had to totally re-insert much of the information. This took time, but I was so happy to find the lists that I was in a definite PRAISE mode!

Since our return, we also faced alternating days of electricity rationing which ended on Tuesday of last week – the very day that water ceased running into our house! We have a storage tank, but are uncertain when this will refill, so we are once again living in “shoestring days” – The ball within our toilet is secured-up with a shoestring so that the limited fresh water is used for showers/cooking/etc and we refill the toilet tank with water saved from our showers/dish washing/etc. We’re not complaining – most of our friends have been without/with limited water for months!

We have enjoyed two great times of rain since our return, but the hoped for El Nino rainy season has not begun and things are dry, so dry. Please continue praying that ample rains will come soon to end the drought that many have faced for over two years. Pray for those who cannot afford the increased prices of foods/services resulting from the drought. Pray especially for the 10 million plus residents of Kenya (more than 1/3 of the total population of the country) who are lacking any food or water and those who have watched their livestock, their livelihood, die.

While I was unable to relate our prayer needs, I know you were praying as we dealt with these problems and got back to our work. The IMB is in the process of a re-organization and we are all still learning/translating how this relates to our work. Pray for patience during this process and that things will quickly settle, including how current economic problems affect budgets/etc, so that all of us can be at our “maximum work levels” for our Father. Bert Yates

Your Gifts Are Being Used and Your Prayers Are Being Answered!

Want to see how Southern Baptists are responding to the drought in East Africa with your gifts to the World Hunger Funds? A short video on the drought and the food distributions can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqUh3PL7zDwv=QqUh3PL7zDw

The missionary friend who sent this link in response to yesterday’s prayer update also shared: “Oh yeah, it is drizzling today. It won't help the food/water situation, but at least it is settling the dust and greening up the grass a bit.”

I asked you earlier to pray “that the rains will come early.”* SO NOW, I need you to pray with NGUVU (a great Swahili word that means strength, power) that this will be more than a drizzle and continue for “several weeks, not just a few days as in recent years.” Pray that the rains will be sufficient for growing good crops and ample pasture and that rivers, lakes, and groundwater will be quickly restored.

With faith that your prayers are being answered, begin praying even now for the people who are always hurt by the floods that result when it does rain, especially after a time of drought. Pray for safety and good health for these people. In all of this continue praying also that “Kenyan Christians will be strong witnesses of their Saviour, the provider of living water and everlasting life, during this time.” Bert

* You prayed for this in an earlier prayer update!