Kenya Report January 20

Greetings from Kenya! Hamjambo!

We greet you from East Africa. Sorry it has taken us this many days to give an update. We have been "out in the bush" and away from Internet access but wanted to give a brief update on what God has been doing.

We'll start from tonight. Margaret and I have just returned from an open air crusade in a market in the Kenyan region known as Busia. The churches in the area set up a sound system, held wonderful praise and worship African style, then I shared a simple gospel message. One of the local pastors, Pastor Boniface, translated into the local dialect of Swahilli. Praise God, about 100 responded to the message and came forward to accept Christ. There were also several healings that took place.

The trip has been very different than our expectations. We drove in a rented van from Kisumu to Webuye to Pastor Mudenyo's home. We were there only a couple of hours when we packed up again and drove into the very rural parts of this region near a town called Busia. The conference we were teaching at was held in a church with mud walls and a steel roof and a mud floor. The road to the area was dirt and in places more like a Jeep trail.

This is truly something we had not expected but we have fallen in love with the people in these villages, many still live in grass and mud homes. They love the Lord, love to praise, and love to share the gospel. I shared several messages with the group of pastors, pastors wives and church leaders about studying and teaching the Bible verse by verse. They were very well received.

Margaret shared powerful messages about how important it is that the Lord who shapes our lives and that we let His life live out through our lives to bring others to faith and strength in God.

We have had the pleasure of dining on authentic African food prepared in love and served in the traditional African way. The Kenyan people are very hospitable and friendly. They have accepted us with open arms and love. The conference is now complete and the pastors have headed home to teach Sunday morning.

We are happy for what the Lord has done, while pretty exhausted from the travelling and busy schedule. Pray for strength to do what remains. We look forward to visiting the orphanage Monday and bringing the many gifts our body has provided.

Life for many of these people is very hard. Many walk or bicycle many kilometers each day and earn less than a dollar a day. They suffer from famine and drought and disease. Yet they have a love for Jesus. We so much enjoy their singing and praise as you can see from the photo. We look forward to returning home soon to give more details!

God bless you!