IMPORTANT: NEW WEBSITE and LAST BLOG POST

Greetings to everyone in the name of Jesus Christ!

We have been very busy preparing some things for you all...

Just recently we have totally re-done our website (it is actually under the same web address www.cwfan.org)! You will be able to find a lot of new things there. Keep in mind that we are still working on it, so not everything is up to date or has content. But God willing in the coming weeks, we will slowly be adding more and more content to the site.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

We will no longer be doing blog posts on this site. Instead, you will find all of our blog posts on the new site, and all you have to do is click on the "CWFAN News" button. Or, from the home page you will be able to our most recent blog posts / updates. Additionally, we hope to be posting a weekly "video update." This will basically be Leah and Phil sharing about the experiences of the week and what God is doing in and through us in the country of Kenya.

Also, unfortunately we have lost many of your email addresses. If you want to receive our monthly updates (this also has been re-done), please go to the site, and from the home page, you can sign up simply by entering your name and email address.

Additionally, you will find a section called "Walk in His Word." These are simple Bible studies and reflections from God's Word - it is like a daily devotional.

In regards to financial support, you will find a page that will give you an opportunity to donate to CWFAN through PayPal. There are several options there... You can do a one-time donation, or as you will see, you can set up a monthly donation through (also PayPal). site (whic

Feel free to look around and explore the site! Just remember that we have not finished setting it up yet.

Once again, I wish to remind you that we will no longer be posting to this blog. Instead, you will find all our updates from our new webh is simply the same address as the previous one). www.cwfan.org

Blessings in the name of Jesus! May He be honored and glorified! Amen!

THANKING GOD FOR PEACE and Praying that it continues

Greetings in the glorious name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

We thank the Lord of Earth and Heaven, the Sovereign of all the Universe, that He in His grace and mercy has granted peace to the nation of Kenya! Indeed, we do well to recognize that true peace (whether that be within a believer or within a nation) can only come from God the Father!

With the exception of a small town near Mombasa, there was peace throughout the entire nation. In Mombasa, there were some radicals from a sepratist group called MRC who attacked police officers. About 15 people died. And indeed, we know that even one death is too much - yet, this is significantly better than the thousands killed and hundreds of thousands who were displaced in the post election violence of 2007.

It is the privaledge of those who prayed to rejoice with thanksgiving in the work of God through the prayers of His saints.

This peace is a reflection of the peace that we can have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ! We called upon the name of the Lord, we sought Him for months, we prayed, we worshipped, we fasted - and God brought peace. It is indeed a great comfort to all who follow Jesus to know that HE HEARS OUR PRAYERS!

But please, please continue to pray!

The constitution of Kenya allows those who feel the process was not done with integrity to go to the courts and file their complaints. The other popular candidate (who lost by only by a small percentage) is going to the courts today (Monday) in order to challenge the outcome of the March 4th elections. Should the courts decide to re-do the vote, the supporters of the President-elect would be extremely upset. Should the courts decide NOT to re-do the vote, the man who lost could really cause some havok. He had something like 4-5 million voters (nearly 45% of the voting population) strongly on his side. If he told them to take to the streets, there would be great chaos and the loss of many lives.

Please continue to pray for Kenya! But please also pray for us as we try to minister to the people of Kenya throughout this time.

Blessings, and May the GOD OF PEACE rule in our hearts!

Amen.

Upcoming Elections - URGENT PRAYER NEED

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ!

We pray that this small blog post finds you well and seeking the face of our Lord Jesus! May He be praise for all that He is doing and is yet to do in our lives!

While there are many more things involved with the story of 2007, I will briefly summarize what happened.

In 2007, there were elections in the country of Kenya. The election was between two political parties; and their leaders happened to be from the two largest tribes in Kenya. Whether or not the elections were good or corrupt - God knows - it is not ours to be pointing fingers and making any statements about various people. But what we do know is this: after the elections, violence broke out across Kenya and claimed the lives of many people.

The violence was largely between different tribes. If you were a part of tribe A and you were living among tribe B - all of a sudden, you were no longer welcomed in the community. Not every place in Kenya was like this, but more than enough were! In some places, people were evicted. In others, people's homes and business were looted and burned. In other places, some were hacked to death by machettes.

One of the biggest scars on the nation are the many IDP camps that are scattered throughout Kenya. (IDP stands for Internally Displaced Peoples.) Still today there are people living in UN Relief tents and practically neglected by the government - however, we must say that the government has done many things to try and relocate the IDPs and give them homes.

Now, it is 2013. It is an election year, and basically every political office will be up for grabs. In Kenya today, there are 8 presidential aspirants. Everyone has kicked their campains into the "High gear." On March 4th, all registered voters will go to the voting booths and cast their votes on who the next leaders should be.

We are asking you to pray. We ask that you would pray for PEACE during this time. Everyone is holding their breath, waiting, praying, hoping that what happened in 2007 will not happen again! We also ask that you would pray that a good leader would be elected - one that would actually serve the people and say "NO" to corruption. And lastly, we ask that you would pray for the Church of Jesus Christ in Kenya to stand up and be the voice of Christ! That we would be peacemakers and agents of His Kingdom!

Please also pray for us - that the Lord will use us during this time.

May Jesus alone be glorified in all that we do and say and think!

A Future Direction

So often we sit and ponder what God has instore for those who serve Him.  Often the way seems so uncertain until you have practically stummbled upon it.

We have been asking God to guide us and lead us in regards to what direction to go.  We have arrived in Kenya, we have had a chance to do various ministries, we have started learning Kiswahili, we have got a place to stay for the mean time... Yet we needed direction from God.

Well, after the many medical adventures, Phil's doctors suggested that for a period of time, it would be best to remain within driving distance of a good hospital.  Not that anything is wrong - but just to be safe incase something were to happen again.

Also, just recently, Phil was involved in a planning meeting for another Men's Conference.  In that meeting he met several people who are in charge of the Christian Education Department for the entire Region (about 100 churches).  In the course of conversation, Phil shared about the ministry and what we are doing here in Kenya.  From that conversation a door opened up...

We have been asked to write material in English and Kiswahili that the Africa Inland Church (AIC) can use for their Christian Education Department... Not just in one or two churches, but for the entire Region!  We would be involved with both writing and teaching.

So, with this door having flung open, we are planning on remaining in Kijabe for the next two years.  During this time we will be working on Kiswahili and writing materials.  Additionally, we will be traveling all over the Region to various churches to teach... But these things are not to the neglect of evangelism!  No, even within the Region are many locations that are lacking in both biblical teaching and in a steady witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Please continue to pray for us as we have seek God's will for our lives in the coming days and years.  We thank you for your continued prayers and support.  May God alone be glorified in His Church!

A NEW PLACE TO STAY!

We are excited to inform you all that Leah and Phil have been blessed by the Lord to move into a place they can call their own!

For the last two months, we have been praying and asking God to provide a place for us to stay in Kijabe.  We have been staying Rev. Simon Muhota - our dear friend and fellow co-laborer.  However, as we have been praying about where to go in the near future (something we will discuss in the next blog post) - were thinking where ever we go, we need to have a place where we can work and rest at our own schedule.

An opportunity opened up for us to look at an appartment / office in Kijabe.  And by God's grace, we were permitted the chance to rent it!

It is amazing what a different having your own place makes - not only with the ministry of CWFAN, but also with ministry in the community - people love to visit you in your home!  We have connected with many people because of this new place. with

Our new appartment is inside of a large office building, we have about half of the second floor... Here are some photos from around the place...

The front door


The "sitting room" where we will have guests sit (Some day we will have a couch for them to sit on...)


Our bedroom (closet and bed)



The bathroom



The Kitchen



The Office / Dinning Room



The unfinished room (future bedroom)



Indeed, we feel as though God has given us this opportunity in order that we might serve Him new ways and give ourselves even more to the work of the ministry!  If we have this place, we have it for God's glory.  And we cannot cling to anything too tightly in the world - for our true desire is to find that city whose founder and builder is God!

Rejoice with us as we rejoice in having a new place to stay and do ministry!

Tunajifunza Kiswahili

For those who do not know Swahili, that says: We are learning Swahili.

We appologize for being so late in updating you on the issue of language learning...  In January, we began the long and difficult task of learning a new language.

In the country of Kenya, there are 42 tribes - and each one has their own beautiful, native language.  Indeed we would be in trouble if we had to choose just one language to learn from 42.  But in the country of Kenya, most people speak 3 languages: (1) their native language, (2) the national language of "Kiswahili" (which most people know as Swahili), and (3) English.

One of the benefits of learning Kiswahili is that most people (in the more populated areas, and many in the more rural areas - if they have been educated) know at least conversational Kiswahili.  This language brings Kenya together - and it allows us to communicate with just about anyone, from any tribe in Kenya.

For one hour per day and for four days per week we have Kiswahili classes.  We are extremely thankful to God for our Kiswahili teacher: Edward Amalu.  Instead of us going out and sitting in a classroom with 20 other people, Edward comes to our home and teaches just the two of us at our own pace.





Our classes are mostly practice with the little vocab we cover each day -  but we are slowly by slowly learning how to communicate in Kiswahili.  God willing, we will be having these classes for a few months - then it will be learning as we speak with other people.

One of the ways that we practice what we learn is by simply talking with our neighbors.  In learning a language you must be patient, willing to be corrected, humble, and able to laugh at yourself and be laughed at.  :-)

While it is easy to feel as though we are not accomplishing much while studying vocab lists - we are reminded of the great importance of learning this language every time we meet someone who struggles with English... How can people receive the Gospel if they never understand a word you say?  How can a community, a village, a district, a country - or even one heart - change if the truth of the Gospel is not communicated in a language they understand?

So even though we feel like we are not doing a lot of ministry - we know that learning Kiswahili will be foundational to any kind of long term ministry in Kenya.

Please pray for us that we might understand the language and that God will enable us learn quickly - to the Glory and Honor of His Holy Name!

A time to Rest

As Leah and Phil have been in Kenya for nearly 6 months, the CWFAN board decided that we needed a little retreat.  So, Phil asked around for a good place to rest for a few days.  Someone suggested Panaroma Plaza - a resort that is practically on the side of a cliff and overlooks Lake Naivasha.

With the help of gifts from our board members and family, Leah and Phil we to Panaroma for two days as a person retreat.  Our time there was wonderful!  We had two day just to relax, read the Word, pray, and just feel free without pressing needs or any interuptions.

Here are few pictures from the place:















We ate some of the best food we have ever had in all of Kenya!  It was amazing!  Everyday we had a huge buffet style breakfast. The first day we had a buffet lunch - but the second day we had our choice of anything from the menu.  One meal consisted of a salad, soup, the main course (usually with two sides), and desert!  Then dinner again was buffet style.  All the food was prepared by highly qualified cooks.

But far more important the eating fancy food, far more important than resting in a fancy room - we had the chance to really study God's Word and to pray. It was great to have two days without any pressing needs... We simply read the Bible and connected with our Lord!  This was very refreshing to our souls!  It was like taking a deep breath after being under water for too long.

We praise God and thank Him for letting us be refreshed in Him!

A few simple thoughts...

As we have been living here in Kenya, we have seen God move in mighty ways - open up crazy opportunities, people coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, people crying out for more of Jesus and asking for prayer meetings, even things which cannot explain except a supernatural move of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We look back and reflect on all that has happened - the good and the challenging, health and sickness, the days of burning passion and the days of personal laziness.

Here are just a few recent thoughts for those who care to read them...

The responsibility of personal holiness is not in external circumstances, but in internal resolve to press on and press in!
Location and circumstances cannot be blammed for your failure and neglect in seeking God. The failure is not that God hasn't put us in a situation where seeking Him is easy - the failure is on our part! For we have neither the desire nor the discipline to seek Him!

Think upon some of your favorite stories...
In which stories did your heart rejoice and take you to a place of wonder?? The ones when everything was easy and people did what they always do... Or the ones when despite the circumstances and despite the cost, the people sacrificed, they didn't wait for change to find them, they brought the change in the story.

Our Faith is not one which remains in despair, our faith is one which calls us to fly higher, to go deeper, to press in and press on, to rise above the circumstances! Anything less than this kind of faith is not Christian faith.

May the Lord take you beyond the boarders of your faith and move you into "new and uncharted territories," where your only hope is Jesus Christ and your only desire is to see His glory. May your delight be in His Word, and may your food be to do the will of your Father in Heaven. May God grant us the grace of walking with Him in boldness and humility. May He lead you as you follow Him.

Blessings!

A Hunger Rises in the Night

Here is another poem by Phil...

A hunger rises in the night,
A throng of souls aching for the bread of heaven!
They cant wait for morning's light,
Death - the penalty of their transgression.

Anguish fills their hearts,
As they see the dawning of the day.
The executioner shows his darts
Tears are falling as they begin to pray.

A cry fills the morning air,
One last chance to plead for grace.
The judge now takes his chair,
As their hearts begin to race.

He grants them a short delay,
Giving His Church a chance to answer.
The extension is for only a day,
And so to them He raises His banner.

Eternal souls now in their hands,
The Church has heard her Master's call.
Will they move the Gospel from their lands?
Or will they let all those souls fall?

Will the Church bring them the bread of heaven?
Will they take this chance to intercede?
Will they release the captives from their prison?
To the Lord of the Harvest, will they lift a plea?

The day now is coming to a close,
Millions of souls still are left to reach.
Christ's blood is ready to interpose,
Yet it is still our job to go and preach!

Oh dear believer, the night is coming,
And then we can no longer labor.
Preach to those who are drowning,
Never let your purpose waiver!

Their day now is closing - do we have the same urgency as those who would see their coming death?

New Car and Car Trouble

A while back, God provided an amazing tool for the ministry: a Subaru Forester. It was back in October that a missionary was moving back to Canada and was needing to sell his vehilcle. Even the night before the news was given to us, we were praying and asking God to provide for the needs of the ministry.

After a long, drawn out issue with wire transfers, we finally got the vehicle we had been praying for.

Here are some pictures of the car:







We have been using the vehicle to do all kinds of work in te last few months. It has been such a great blessing to be able to use the car as we travel all over the country to preach the Gospel. Just as America`s early circut preachers would travel all over the frontier on a horse to preach the Gospel, we now are using a different kind of horse.

With the using of a vehicle, you always find things which need to be taken care of... Well, it just so happens that we have a few things to take care of...

After the "check engine" light came on, Phil took the car to an elder of the church who is a mechanic. It ends up that te shocks are totally dead, the breaks are nearly worn out, there are some sensors that need to be changed in the engine. All of that, and a few other smaller issues end up costing about $1,000.

Yet, we are praising God because we still have a very reliable vehicle that, once fixed, will take us to people who yet to hear te Gospel of Jesus Christ! We are trusting God to provide for all our needs - cars being the least of our needs.

But God really is providing for us! After prayimg specifically for a couple of weeks, God has brought in more support in the first two weeks of January than in te entire mont of December.

Praise God with us! And please keep praying that God will keep providing for all our needs.

Kaithe Day 2... Continuing the Story

On Wednessday the 10th, we got up and prepared for a full day of teaching and preaching.  We were excited to see everyone hungry for the Word.  Phil was scheduled to teach three lessons and Leah, one.

Phil taught the first lesson on the importance of "Preparing to study the Word."  The second lesson was giving 5 simple steps to "Studying the Word."





After the second lesson, Phil commented on how his shoulder was hurting.  Normally having an aching muscle is not a concern.  But after looking at the shoulder, he immediately called the Doctor who had been taking care of him in Kijabe.

There was a swollen area which felt like a rock under the skin.  The whole shoulder was  blue and had spots of dark red areas.  After calling the Doctor, Phil and Simon did as instructed: get an immedate blood test.



They drove to the nearest town - Meru.  In Meru, they had to go through a couple different clinics to find one that could run the right blood test.  Finally, they found a clinic that could do the blood test and give the results within an hour.  The results from the test were shocking!

In order for you understand the weight of the situation, we need to explain a few medical things.  Phil was taking blood thinners in order to clear a blood clot.  Now, the thing about blood thinners is that it makes your blood really thin (as it should), but if you get a cut or experience some kind of trama to the body, you run the risk of bleeding to death because your blood will no longer coagulate.

The reason why Phil needed frequent blood tests is because the doctors needed to monitor how thin Phil's blood was.  When the test is run, a safe number to see on the result is somewhere between 1-2 (at the high end, 2.8).

Now, when Phil got the blood test in Meru, the result came back as 34.  According to the doctors, this isn't really even possible for Phil to be living and at that number.  But the doctors in the clinic confirmed that the test yeilded those results.  So, Phil called the Doctor in Kijabe.  He was instructed to leave immediately to go to Kijabe.

So, Simon and Phil returned to Kaithe, we all packed our stuff and left for Kijabe.  We sadly had to cut the seminar short, but better to cut the seminar short and to let Phil's life be cut short.  It took us 7 hours to make it back to Kijabe.

We arrived in Kijabe at 10 pm.  We saw the Doctor and he assessed Phil.  But because of the complexity of the situation, Kijabe Hospital did not have all the necissary equippment to treat Phil.  So, off to Nairobi to the nation's best hospital.  We were leaving Kijabe around midnight and were seen around 1 or 2 am in the Aga Kahn Hospital in Nairobi.

After being seen by a nurse, Phil got another blood test.  We waited for the results... Wondering if this test would confirm the results of the first test that day.  After an hour and a half, we were called into a hospital room.  The test results were somewhat releiving.  Instead of a 34, this result showed a 4.

Now, as I mentioned above, 3 is considered a high number.  So, when the test came back showing 4, it was still a concern (but we were glad to hear that he wasn't dead yet).  After hearing the results, the Hospital staff decided that I needed to talk to a few doctors.  So, we waited -  and in the course of 2 hours, we were seen by four doctors.

We were sent back to Kijabe with note for our doctor here.  We arrived around 5 am.  After taking a cup of tea, we all crashed into bed to rest after such a long day!

The Seminar didn't turn out the way we thought, we had a bit of crazy day with running around the country of Kenya, and we were going on very little sleep.  BUT, God was glorified.  In being a missionaries, we knew that it meant we would face these things.  We knew that it meant sacrificing comfort and convenience for the sake of preaching the Gospel.

We don't know what is in the future, but we know Who holds the future!  And this is our peace, this is our rest, and this is our motivation to keep going.  We are serving the living God!

Kaithe Day 1

We will be very brief in our re-telling of the Seminar in Kaithe.

We are very excited to be in Kaithe. One year ago, we had the chance to teach a brief seminar in this hidden village. Today we are teaching in the same place. This is our first target area and we are looking around this place with excitement and expectation. There is much to be done here, but there are always beginnings... :)

(In an upcoming post, we hope to show you the needed repairs in this place.)

The Seminar we are leading this week is about Christian Leadership.

Today, there were 4 lessons. First was Simon Muhota teaching about developing Christ-like Character.



Second, Leah taught about Servant-Leadership as a necessary part of a leaders character.



Third, Godfrey taught about Shepherding as the identity of those in Christian Leadership.



And last, Leah taught about the necessary work of discipleship by the leaders of the Church.

Tomorrow will be a busy day and many more people will be coming. Please pray for us as these days are very busy - but we praise God for the opportunity to teach people in the Word of God! There is nothing more exciting than the opportunity to teach the Word of the Lord.

Keep tuned... more updates on the way.

Happy New Year!

In 2013 we experienced many "firsts." The most recent of course would be the holidays: Christmas and the New Year in Kenya.

Christmas was very simple. In Kenya, if you are a part of the Church, you will go to a Christmas morning worship service. The Church was very full that morning... and we could not help but rejoice with our brothers and sisters in Christ as we worshiped our Lord, remembering the advent of His incarnation. We also felt a deep sadness. Never in the US could we imagine a group of 600 people getting out of bed on Christmas morning just to praise Jesus... yet this is normal to Christians living in Kenya. While we came here to teach, we are the ones being taught more and more about a genuine hunger for Jesus and a longing for His Word.

After the service, Leah and I made biscuits and gravely for the other Americans who celebrated Christmas with us. Shortly after eating a large breakfast (@ 11:00) we began to roast a goat... In Kenya, it is not Christmas if you don't have Nyma Choma (roasted meat). About 30 people came over to Rev Simon's house. So we ate a feast for our lunch (@ 1:00). Everyone was stuffed and could not image taking another bite! So everyone sat around and talked until it seemed that we could fit a little more food in our stomachs.

After some rest and silence, we sleepily heated leftover goat and potatoes and rice. One more meal, and then it was off to bed.

Over the next few days, we prepared sermons and tried to get things together for our next seminar. On Friday, the 28th, we went to Godfrey's house to celebrate Christmas with his family. We exchanged presents and enjoyed each others company.

On the 30th, Phil preached about seeking God with all our hearts. The sermon ended with everyone on their knees praying and asking God to bring a New Year's Revival.

New Year's Eve, the Church holds what is called a "mini Kesha." This is a prayer meeting that lasts from around 8pm until a little after midnight. The people like to usher in the New Year with prayer and worship to the King of kings. At this event, Leah had the opportunity to preach the Gospel to a group of over 400 people. She spoke about the importance of living for eternity and the nearness and reality of Jesus's return. Many people were challenged by the message and were forced to think about 2013 as a year which must be spent eagerly awaiting the return of their Lord and Savior.

There is no better way to end 2012 and enter 2013 than by preaching the Word of God. We hope that this will only continue! And by God's grace we know it will!

May the Lord bless you and Keep you this new year as you go through the days to come. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and your feet on the narrow path. We pray that God will send His workers into the harvest field... and perhaps even use this blog to encourage others to count the cost and give their entire lives to: seek Jesus, preach the Gospel to the lost, and spend our very few days in order to purchase more glory for God.

(many more updates coming just around the corner!)