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!