What's Happening

There have been many good and wonderful things happening here in Kenya. However, most of them are not easily described. I have been too busy experiencing them to write about them. God is working both inside and outside our church touching people’s lives and reviving their hopes. Through many and varied circumstances God is taking us deeper into people's lives. In the midst of tragedy He is bringing joy, in the midst of pain He sending comfort, and in the midst of adversarial attacks …He is bringing victory.

Probably the best approach to communicating everything that is happening would be to take each thing separately and describe what we are seeing. If you don’t already know about Amma’s blog, here’s the link    http://haviylah.blogspot.com/  ; she does a much better job at keeping everyone up to date than I.

                                                  The Church                                                  

                                                  

Much has happened in and surrounding our little church family; even the location of our meeting place has changed as reported in one of Amma’s blogs. Truth was that if God hadn’t stepped in and revealed our new meeting place we would have been “placeless”. But, as always, our good Shepherd had already picked a new and better location before we lost our old one. Moving was easy as we, like the Israelites of old, just pulled up the tent stakes in one place and put them down in the next. Then we celebrated! 

Our new place has opened up a complete new neighborhood and we already have new people coming to visit. In fact the nice lady who owns the property and leased it to us lives in Nairobi and was with us on Sunday.At the gathering she was saying when she is in town she will always come and be with us. She then stood to her feet and told us that she could have gotten more money from other people who wanted to rent the land, but she felt the Lord told her to rent it to us for less. She said after the gathering this morning she now knew why.

                                             Gideon, Robert and Adrian

Among the new people who have come to be with the church are a number of talented and personable young men and women. Three of the young men that particularly stand out are Gideon, Robert and Adrian. All three young men are musically gifted and have added a whole lot of life to our praise and worship. More about them can be found on the latest installment of my blog about the Kingdom Hikers. Here is the link… http://kenyakingdomhikers.blogspot.com/ .

Other people who originally attended our fellowship and left are returning. Two of them some might recognize are nice young man called Dickson and a lady named Alice.

                                      

                 The Kingdom Hikers

Speaking of the Kingdom Hikers; they are working together on a small talent show that will target the teenagers in our area. They already have a couple of dance groups and two bands committed to play. Please keep the talent show in your prayers that the Lord will bless it and encourage their hearts.

By going to the KH blog you can  learn about the band ‘Tamasha’ (celebration). Two of the three previously mentioned young men Gideon and Robert are members of the band. To get a small taste of their delightful music you can go to my web album at https://picasaweb.google.com/abbanoah  where I have placed a small delightful video of them singing a wonderful folk song called ‘Jumbolia.’

                                             Tamasha

 Our Hiker meetings are becoming more organized and are slowly starting to ‘run’ themselves. It is our hope that one young student called Johnny will begin to work the Kingdom Hiker blog.

After the two or three hour Sunday gathering is over we are having an hour long men’s meeting. This is the first time there are men coming who are genuinely interested in growing spiritually. There are about twelve counting the older teenage young men and they are really starting to ask some great questions. They seem to be sincerely grateful for the teaching and are starting to feel like their lives really matter discovering that Christ has something for them to do.

   

                                                The Pastors                                                 

"The Indian is making an amazing discovery, namely that Christianity and Jesus are not the same - that they may have Jesus without the system that has been built up around Him in the West." 

- E. Stanley Jones

Another encouraging happening is with our meeting some the pastors around the Nakuru area. The first week George invited four of his pastor friends. We met at the Kokeb restaurant and talked for almost 3 hours. Their hearts were precious and quick to acknowledge the disintegrating condition of contemporary Christianity. Among the problems they spoke of was the terrible deficiency of love and spirituality among  members of their respective churches, worldliness and unbelief among members, gossips, rebellion and people not wanting to ever to be corrected. Sound familiar? As they spoke of the despairingly vivid difference between what is seen in the scriptures and what is now being practiced in Christianity, some of these precious men begin to tear up.

George and I began to speak of recovery and what it would take to wake God’s people up; of how only by the power of God could things be stopped from their downward plunge. And if anything was to be done the work had to begin with them. As we spoke you could visibly see the hope returning in their eyes. At the end of our talk, all of them were excited and committed to meeting every week for more discussions.

The next week there were ten pastors present and the meeting was a repeat performance of the first one. All decided to make meeting once a week together a priority and to seek God for meaningful changes. As you might imagine George and I are excited. Please pray that God protect this little band of men who want to find the truth about what it means to lead God’s people in an authentic faith.

                             Saying Goodbye

Lastly; we had to say good bye to Tabach and Chloe. Tabach was not only his usual "rear guard" wonderful self, but became, all over again, one of my best friends. I don't think I would have come through some very unpleasant situations without his compassionate, calming presence being there. Everyone here loves him and wants him to return whenever he can. 

Same with Chloe. She has a way of getting in there with people that's wonderful to watch. My favorite thing was to pray with her. When all of us prayed each morning I witnessed a side of Chloe that I wasn't fully familiar with but grew to really love. I really believe she is beginning to know God. Yet, alas, they have both flown away. Take good care of them both, we already miss them.

Since we have arrived in Nakuru, we have experienced losing our luggage for almost a week, losing the only place we had to meet in, with little or no hope (outside of God) of finding one, the tragic and unexpected death of Mary’s husband, a blown engine in our only means of transportation, and a major attack of the devil to try and divide the church through carnal men here in the church. But there are many more good things happening than bad. I don't think I have ever felt God's anointing stronger.

                              In Conclusion...

We are rejoicing, not complaining, because similar events and much more difficult situations than ours are happening in Mexico, the Village in Tennessee, Kerala India and all over the earth where men and women of faith are committed to establishing the Kingdom of God and not their own kingdoms.

 I know that in all these things we will prevail; that these difficulties and the attacks that accompany them are but signs that we are having a fair measure of success.

Bwana asi fiwi.

Safari

Monday we decided to take a little safari (journey)for two hours or so from our house to Lake Beringa and Lake Bogoria. It was very refreshing. Staying in a dark house in the city can, in the words of John Denver’s song “Fly Away” can … “make you hungry for things that you can’t even see”.  We were hungry for the wonders of nature and the refreshment they always seem to bring us. So after a couple of hours of driving on some of the bumpiest roads on earth, we arrived at Lake Beringa and prepared to embark for another 2 hours in small boat on this beautiful African lake.

Our guide took us around the banks of this beautiful lake while pointing out all the many beautiful birds that live on the lake. Here are just a few.

Shortly after our trip through the water grass we encountered the first of the two families of Hippos we would meet that live on the shores of Lake Biringa. I was amazed at how laid back the laundry lady was in the back of the picture knowing that hippos are the most dangerous animals in Africa. I guess you can get used to anything, I mean after all, we live by Gary’s dogs. More people in Africa are killed by hippos than lions. Another point for Judah.

As the grass began to thin out we came upon some local fishermen. As soon as the saw us they came paddling over to show us their catch and  try their luck with talking us out of a few shillings. This is entirely ok, as most of the local people believe that all Mozungus are walking ATM machines. We gave them 50 shillings to split between the three of them. They smiled and paddled off. The two main eating fish in Lake Beringa are Tilapia and Catfish.

Leaving the grasslands where most of the birds hang out, we then hugged the bolder strewn shoreline. There crouched between the huge rocks and barely visible to the undiscerning eye was a monitor lizard. It was amazing how he blended in with the rocks. Now that attribute serves him well in hunting and comes in real handy when he himself is being hunted by the locals who would love to have him over for dinner.

Soon the small boat turned toward a small but beautiful island which we were told was owned by only one family. We were also informed by our smiling guide that the person who owns the island has five wives and twenty-six children. Wow!  I would imagine that his household keeps him pretty busy. Yet, probably not as busy as a Rose Creek Village mom. Unlike our children there would be little problem finding his children unless they had become excellent swimmers.

The island was enchantingly awesome. It seemed to be almost a solid rock and the flora growing there provided good examples of showing how “life will find a way” where it seems there is no way to exist. There were Aloevera everywhere and other plants that were amazingly skilled at thriving on a lot of nothing. The prettiest of the smaller trees was called the African Rose Tree. As you can see we liked it a lot. George decided he would try and imitate the tree… but it didn’t work.

We found some little bleached bodies of some sort of crawling insects so I decided to investigate. The first rock I turned over I found these cool little millipedes. I let them crawl on me, much to Chloe’s disgust and then pretended to eat one. Chloe rolled her eyes, made the funniest of little sounds and walked hurriedly away.

Soon we were back in the boat headed back to the other side of the lake. We then came into the shallow part of the lake and met the other hippo family. They stared at us while we stared at them and then they began to get a little excited and started grunting very loudly. We took the hint and continued heading back to the van.

Before we arrived our guide stopped the boat and pulling out some dead fish “called” some crocks to lunch. It was fun watching them eat… something else other than us I mean.

He then tried to “call” some Fish eagles to come and dine on some fish he was waving in the air above his head, but alas too many other tourist boats had already been there and Mr. Fish eagle was full.

When we returned to shore we all loaded up in the Van and headed toward Lake Bogoria. Unlike Beringa Lake Bogoria is completely saline (salty) and perfect for the gazillion flamingos that live there. It is also where the “Hot Springs” are. After a short visit to the springs we headed home or at least we thought that’s what we intended.

No sooner than we pointed the van towards home we discovered we had a flat tire. No problem; this time we have a spare. We fixed it and headed out again in the direction of home. Half way down the road there started this obnoxious noise under my seat. Upon investigation it was discovered that the shock mount had broke from the too numerous to count pot holes we hit. So we looked for someone with a welder and pulled in to have it fixed. While we were there George took his seat out and had it welded too. I think he welded the battery cover as well. We were there for well over an hour with at least 4 different people working on it and all for a shocking 400 shillings ($4.47). Meanwhile we played with the local kids. Soon the van was fixed and we were on our way back to Nakuru. 

When we finally made it home we discovered the electric was off so we got ready for bed by flashlight and candles. That night we went to bed exhausted but happy and refreshed from our safari. Such is life in Africa.

Tragic News

This morning we woke up to some tragic news.

Last night I heard George get up and go out in the middle of the night and not return till 2 am in the morning. I didn’t think much of it because being a shepherd in Nakuru Kenya means being on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week just like it does in the Village.

George came in our room and told us that Mary’s (the one we call the priestess) husband Syrus was killed last night in a terrible hit and run traffic accident. It happened as he was riding his motorcycle home from work late last night. He was hit and run over by a semi tractor trailer. The details are sketchy but it seems the driver of the semi after running over Syrus kept on going. Sirus was pronounced dead on the scene of the accident.

Syrus was a good man. He was a good father, provider and a good brother. He is survived by an incredible wife and some wonderful children and grandchildren. Most of the readers of this blog know who Mary the Priestess is and how she has been an inspiration to all of us here and in the Village since we met 4 years ago.

Syrus’s daughter Janet is one of the sweetest girls in the Kingdom Hikers. She is a 16 year old that can really dance and sing. 

When we went to see them today  I hugged her and she just went limp and sobbed. It helped me under stand a little more why we're here.

Just the day before she left me a note expressing her gratitude for our coming to Kenya and loving them. She is such a sweet girl. Here is the note…

Going to Mary house this afternoon for the “time of grieving” was a bitter sweet experience. The last time we were there was only 8 months ago and she was only half done with her house. We took tea in the unfinished house. She said the next time we drank tea together it would be in the finished house. Yet neither of us could have imagined under what circumstances we would drink that tea.

This afternoon we drove up to the cutest little house with a functioning mini farm. The crops were full, the cow and chickens were in their pens and almost every inch of the land was being put to use. There was even a pit dug that Syrus was planning to make into a Tilapia pond.

When we entered the beautiful little home there was family and friends smiling and praying with Mary. Mary greeted us as we walked in and put on that great smile of hers while hugging us and welcoming us into her home. 

Shortly after we arrived a few Kenyans drove up in a large white expensive car with a white man who spoke fluent Swahili. He was the head man of a large ministry and who Syrus had worked for. He came in, introduced himself, his associates and his body guard. He then began to preach to Mary about sin and “being ready ourselves” for death. Mary’s face indicated she was not enjoying the sermon. He said all the right things you’re supposed to say and yet it felt extremely impersonal.

It was awkward to say the least and I am trying to be discreet. When he was done I felt, at the risk of being rude, that I needed to state that Mary’s testimony was incredible and that we were happy to be considered by her as family. He thanked me and proceeded to leave.

After he left we sat for a time while George talked to Mary about the funeral and how we could help. I got up and went outside and met Syrus’s son Tabu. We talked while he played with his little son. Then he took me over to the little pit that was being dug for the fish and told me it was his father’s wish to do the pond so he would finish it himself.

All in all it was a sweet time with people in whom we have come to love and respect. In our short visit we were allowed to share in both their grief and praise. Please keep Mary’s family in your prayers and hearts. The next week will be difficult for them. Yet we are tonight praising our great God for taking the sting out of this death and giving us the abiding hope of seeing Syrus again.

We have seen in Mary’s face the same unbelievable grace that we read in every email from our beloved Shammah at home. He said He would never be far when we needed Him. Our God…is God.

Latest YouTube Video: Operating From The Ham Radio Shack of 2E0HTS

The video above was filmed in my recently finished radio shack, I hope you enjoy it 73!

Video Information
Stations worked in the video are: LU1IV - Argentina & GI1CET/p - Northern Ireland.

Bands worked in video: 40m, 2m, & 70Cms

Equipment used; Yaesu FT1000MP MARK-V & Yaesu FT-847. Antennas used in these contacts were 5 element Yagi (2m) 15 Element X Yagi (70cms) and a Carolina Windom wire antenna (80m - 10m) 131 feet in length.


Thanks for watching and if you would like to see more amateur radio videos from my self, check out the 2E0HTS YouTube Channel