April 27 2011

We are back at home in Nairobi for a few days, after an incredible time of “fellowship, sharing, learning, and praying” (April 25^th Prayer Nudge – sites listed below) with old friends and many, many new ones during last week’s East Africa Cluster Meeting. Thank you for joining Jack and me in praying that we would find ways to strengthen and encourage our co-workers were answered! God provided many openings for me to share my desire to assist colleagues in sharing their stories, their praises and needs. We also found many opportunities to use our seniority and experiences, the good and bad ones from the last 32 years as we talked with others, especially some of our newest co-workers.

Another blessing of our week-long meeting was having more than 80 East Africa Missionary Kids at our meeting! A special event was a baby dedication on Sunday morning for five of our little ones – a 15-months old niece, two 3-months old nieces and one 3-months old nephew, as well as one who celebrated his two week birthday last week – and yes, their parents had lots of offers for arms to hold these little ones during the week!

Being with all our MK’s last week was a good reminder of a ‘general prayer’ I should share more often – prayers for our missionary kids as they and their parents seek their best method of schooling. Do pray for many older kids who travel far from home to Rift Valley Academy, our missionary boarding school for those who don’t live in cities such as Nairobi. Pray also for the kids who attend local national schools – one youngster arrived at breakfast one morning with his backpack and announced, “I’m going to school today with teachers who speak English!” Usually this little one and his primary-aged brother attend school in their host country where another language is spoken! Pray also for the many parents and the kids, some in high school, who must rely upon home schooling!

As always one of the special highlights of our ‘mission meeting’ was the giving of service pins, with pins given on different nights for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years! During the morning service on Easter Sunday, 120 of the 400+ years of service recognized during the week were added as a couple working in Theological Education in Tanzania received their 30 year pins – after Jack and I received our 30 year pins! Yes, it was an honor, but to be honest it really doesn’t seem that we have been in Kenya for 32 years plus (we were on leave during our last meeting in ’09, thus the delay in receiving our pins).

Our meeting ended on Easter afternoon as we joined together as teams to pray for our work – Jack and I prayed with other couples from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda who serve on the Theological Education Team. Using our meeting theme, our prayer was that we would each use our gifts to enable our students, church members and pastors to share our Good News until “every tongue" in East Africa will "confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God OUR Father." (Philippians 2:11) We also thanked God for the volunteers who provided VBS, Bible Studies and lots of fun for our kids during the week and our supporters who gave the funds that paid for our meeting, lodging, travel, etc!

Now a short explanation of the being “back in Nairobi for a few days.” I will not be sending our usual Prayer Update next week and likely will send shortened updates during the remainder of May as we are heading to North Carolina for a much needed month of vacation! Pray that we will have quality time with our family and have many opportunities to share why after 32 years we are still not talking about retirement! BERT YATES

PS: Sorry, if any of you had to return to the blog to find today's post - yet another day of electricity taking a break!

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2011 PRAYER NUDGES FROM EAST AFRICA: http://easternafrica2011prayernudges.blogspot.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=351345&id=685050129&l=47f55a92ab

Easter 2011

Praising God on this Easter Day for His Son and His gift of Salvation and Eternal Life, our gift which He described in John 10:11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." (Photo is not of sheep, but a herd of goats being shepherded through an East African city, a familiar scene especially in coastal cities and towns.)

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Thank you for being a part of our work of Strengthening and Encouraging our IMB co-workers and East African brothers and sisters as we engage lostness together – and you are a part of our work as you support us through your prayers, sending co-workers and support through the Lottie Moon Offering and Cooperative Program. BERT and JACK YATES

April 19, 2011

Yes, you are receiving this a day early this week as we will leave this afternoon for a week-long meeting of our East Africa IMB coworkers. We are not looking forward to hours of sitting, but we are eager to be with old friends and make new ones. We are especially excited about hearing how God is at work in their areas and how we can support them in prayer and through our work! Which leads me to the theme of today’s Prayer Update – a shortened bit of my recent reply to an IMB writer preparing a story on “using Facebook and other social media strategies to share prayer requests and promote missions.”

My response began with a praise for the much stronger/faster/more affordable internet in our part of the world (still not the best, but SO MUCH BETTER than what we had in the past!) which allows sending frequent e-mail Prayer Letters to the USA, rather than the once/twice a year mailed-via-volunteers newsletters which was costly and difficult. I did not add our praise for staying in instant touch with our children – a true blessing for missionaries! A blessing that I was especially thankful for this past weekend when tornadoes hit our ‘home area’ in North Carolina where all three of our kids now live! We learned of the destruction and terror via internet news yesterday morning and thanks to e-mails and Facebook, we also learned immediately that our kids and other family members were safe and sound. Thankfully our son waited a day or two to tell us about spotting one of the tornadoes crossing the highway ¼ mile behind him on the highway. He said the policeman in the car beside his truck was also too busy speeding away out of danger to have any intentions of giving tickets at the moment!

Another blessing of the better internet was that during the Kenya’s post-election chaos after Christmas ’07, we were able to receive unedited news about the situation and let our families/friends know that we were safe. Most importantly, as I was then serving as the Prayer Advocate for Kenya, I was able to share up-to-date prayer requests from our Kenyan friends and churches. This is when I quickly learned to use blogs as a mission tool. (1)

I also shared my current goal as the Internet Connector for East Africa: To use blogs/ Facebook/ e-mail messages to share what God is doing in our part of the world. Why? Because I believe strongly that when people know how their prayer and personnel support, as well as their financial support through the Lottie Moon Offering and Cooperative Program is being used and blessed, they will respond with more prayer, greater involvement as volunteers/ coming as long-term personnel and continued financial support – which allows us to be more capable workers in our Father’s Harvest Field. A second motivation: I can freely share what God is doing in our part of the world and how they can join in His work via prayer, but many of my friends and co-workers live and work in restricted areas and they cannot freely share their stories, praises and prayer needs. So I desire to use our stories/ prayer items to guide others in supporting them. (2)

What I did not add, is my prayer request for this week: Pray that during our upcoming mission meeting, I will find ways to strengthen and encourage our co-workers as I help them find ways to share their stories, their praises and needs with prayer supporters. Another prayer request for this week requires admitting our seniority! Pray that Jack and I will be alert and responsive to opportunities for using our experiences, the good and bad ones from the last 32 years, to strengthen and encourage our newer co-workers. Thank you also for praying for me – the allergy/sinus problems had me back in a doctor’s office last Thursday morning, but the new round of medicine is succeeding and I’m finally working with energy again! BERT

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(1) For many of the blogs/ prayer walks/ past updates placed on the internet, go to: Yates-IMB-Kenya - http://bertandjackyates.blogspot.com

(2) For part of my current work, which includes the photos in today’s Prayer Update, go to: 2011 PRAYER NUDGES FROM EAST AFRICA: http://easternafrica2011prayernudges.blogspot.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=351345&id=685050129&l=47f55a92ab