Sisters On A Mission

This is Ruth, our good friend from Wales.  She graciously opened her home to us for a three day women's leadership training. She invited us for a sleep over the last day of training and also let us invite our "nieces" Eva (junior), Esther, and Philis. There were not enough beds at Ruth's, so we took over a couple mattresses. Philis is often the spokesperson for our group of quiet teens, whom we have been teaching about God. Children are taught to be "seen and not heard" in the presence of adults.  So learning to chat with us can be challenging, especially since our elementary understanding of Swahili, means we use English.  They have an excellent mastery of English, but it's not the language they are comfortable in. These mattresses, which originally came from the U.S., were much heavier than the Kenyan mattresses.  We carried them up four flights of stairs. I surprised Esther! We enjoyed singing and worshiping t

Hello Everyone! I was SKYPing with dad the other day and was surprised to find out from him that I I had been carjacked. Then I realized my video blog may have been a bit confusing.  My apologies!  I was not carjacked.  Rather, many months ago I found myself on a matatu (14 passenger van) without a seat.  That matatu happened to be pulled over by a policeman and he began to harass me about not having a seat.  Had the matatu driver not put on the gas, the policeman would have arrested me and taken me to the police station, and tried to bribe me.  I was saying how grateful I was to Sidney First for giving the car, in which I no longer had to take matatus, such as the one I had ridden that day. The car has been a blessing as we have transported people to and from church, helped missionaries move, and have had many adventurous drives across the city of Nairobi to and from ministry events. We are truly grateful for God's provision! Christy & Jody Our garden!

Beatrice came in to clean the apartment and I could tell she was sad and downcast.  Over a cup of tea, she told me how her landlady decided to sale the homes they were renting in Kibera slum.  The cost of each home (clay and wood homes with cement roofs), 50,000 shillings ($500.00 USD).  I knew that was three month's salary for her.  She said she wanted to buy two of the homes, one for her family and one to rent.  Beatrice explained how renting a home would give her what was needed to pay her daughter's school fees. I asked her what God had told her.  She said she had opened her Bible that morning to the passage where Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you." I said, "Beatrice!  This is from the Lord!  He's given YOU a message, not me!"  Because locals often hold the view that foreigners are better than them, they also think God only speaks through them. But I knew God was speaking directly to Beatrice. She wasn't convinced.  So we prayed tog