Thank you for your prayers over another week. God has been good. Following a reasonably quiet day at the market on Friday, it was more than made up for on Saturday and the result was that we made even more of a profit financially than we have done in quite a number of weeks, even though we had already been doing well. I did have to deal with a couple of shoplifters this week, but thankfully I noticed the item was missing before they got too far and I was able to go after them. We thank God for His help in the various unexpected situations that we face and we thank Him for wisdom.
We continue to need God's wisdom for the days ahead, particularly in regard to our next planned trip. We have had airline tickets booked since Christmas, however, these are now due for payment and we are a considerable amount of money short of what we need. However, we can't help but feel this is maybe part of God's plan as they have increased considerably in price making them the most expensive tickets since we first went to Kenya. In addition, as we have previously shared, medical issues with those close to us may affect our plans and as dad's insurance was taken out after we became aware of this he wouldn't be covered if we had to cancel or change our flights. As the flights are so expensive this time, this would be a huge amount of money to loose. William and I would be covered as we have annual insurance. We are feeling that perhaps rebooking closer to the time may actually work out
cheaper and less of a risk for us, but whether there will still be availability
with the flights once we would be in a position to do this is another question. In short, we really need God's direction, provision and wisdom so that we may know which is the right path to take. Meanwhile, we are at peace that God is in control and we continue to make plans for our trip until such times as HE tells us different.
We also need wisdom as we deal with the land situation. We have a number of procedures to follow over the next week or so before we can make the next payment which is due at the end of May. Should there be a delay or a problem with these checks, it will make payment difficult which we know will cause a lot of frustrations and issues. Please pray again that God will guide and direct and give us wisdom.
Thank you again for standing with us.
As a ministry we work in Kenya and Uganda with the children, as well as here in Northern Ireland. However, we thank God for those we have contact with around the world. We have those from Myanmar and Tanzania who enrolled on our email course. Our prayer letter reaches to India, DR Congo, America and many other countries. Our facebook page has fans from Vietnam and Russia and this website has been visited by 30 different countries and over 1200 unique visitors from across the world. By going to our home page, scrolling to the bottom and clicking on the visitor square which contains the flags, you can get more information about the country and visitors who come to this website. Perhaps you would like to click on the red comments link at the top right of this post and mention which country you are visiting from? Whether we are at the market stall in our home town or reaching out through this site, we thank God that people near and far can hear the Gospel through our ministry.
This week I was doing a lot of work on our child protection email course and hope to continue this during the incoming week.
William continues to be busy sorting the blocks and coal as well as doing collections of furniture etc. for us to sell.
It was really cold at the market on Friday, though Saturday was better. However, we still had a good weekend with good sales. Once again, dad was the record seller!
News from Pastor Aringo encourages us that all is well with the work in Kenya and we hope to have photos soon from his recent trip to Western province.
10 new centres have enrolled on the course in the Nakuru area and we thank God for this.
Interest continues in our work in Uganda and we pray that God will continue to help Joyce in this area.
The latest news from the Bible bookshop in Nairobi is that 200 Bibles are available for us at a cost of Ksh 83300 which is around £640.00. We need every one of these Bibles so please pray for God's provision so that we may bring the Word of God to many boys and girls.
Please pray that God will continue to guide us in developing a Sunday School teaching curriculum and that we will know wisdom in this area.
Remember that we have a cd of children in Kenya singing Gospel songs in English. Contact us if you would like to purchase one or more at a cost of £10 each.
Please continue to pray for us as we organise our programme for our next trip in a few months time. Remember the need for training manuals when we are there, funds for practical work in schools and at the office, the balance of our flights, car hire, accommodation and also the purchase of the land. Every trip costs around £5000 and usually more. God is able.
As always we value your prayers for the work of God.
Pastor Aringo had an encouraging time in Western province, Kenya. We thank God for the openings we have in this area of the country. We hope to present Bibles to children here during our next visit and also conduct teacher training.
We thank God for His help at the missionary prayer meeting on Thursday evening. I was able to share the powerpoint presentation from our last trip and to share some of our plans for the future. I also shared from the book of Nehemiah and we were reminded of the work that God has for us to do. Those in attendance were keen to take copies of our prayer cards, information leaflets, pens and dvds. We also sold a few copies of our CD.
I was unexpectedly out of the office for the week, but trust that we will be back in routine for at least part of this incoming week.
Please continue to pray for the work in Kenya, Uganda and Northern Ireland. We continue to value your prayers in the coming days.
This past week Pastor Aringo travelled to an area outside of Nairobi to visit centres there who are studying our lessons. We look forward to receiving his report of how the Lord is blessing. Joyce is also now planning to visit; once a month; each centre that she is responsible for. This covers Uganda but also the Western Province of Kenya. In Nakuru, we are thankful to have heard from a School Principal who wants his children to resume the lessons after they previously had dropped off from studying.
The Bible Bookshop we are now dealing with in Nairobi have contacted us to say that they have received another shipment of Bibles and they will be back in touch with us to let us know how many they can make available to us. We are negociating now with a young lady who is being very helpful and we are trusting this arrangement will continue to work long term and at last we will have somewhere definite established for the purchase of Bibles.
The purchase of the land in Nairobi has been very much on our minds this week and I had a long telephone conversation with the Pastor of the Church which is selling it to us. We require some further documents and ask you to pray that we will have those soon.
Our flight costs continue to be a matter of urgency and ask you to pray that God will provide all that is needed in the coming days.
The Solicitor's bill of £600 is also due for the work done with the charity registration. Pray that God will provide in His time.
We made some enquiries about the possibility of having a stand at a Christian exhibition but the prices are just way above our heads and to be honest we feel it wouldn't benefit the work enough to justify the cost. There is a less expensive area but it is sold out, however there is the possibility of more space being made available in that area. We feel that even that section is quite expensive, but would ask you to pray that if God wants us there for some reason that He will make it very clear. At the minute we are feeling it won't happen and are at peace with that, so if He wants us there He needs to make it very clear. We are praying however, that we will be successful in obtaining a stand at the Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention in August. We had a stand at it last year for 5 nights and found it beneficial. Pray that God will open this up if it is His will.
We had a quieter weekend at the market, but once again were able to pay the rent and still have money left over so we are still happy. In the past few weeks we have been made aware of people who know about us or have heard of us and, although we dont' know them, we realise that the market has been largely responsible in raising awareness of our work.
Please remember that we continue to be able to accept donated items for our stall. These could be books, household items, toys or unwanted Chrismas presents. We can also take furniture as well as adults or children's clothes, bedding, curtains, shoes or bags. We would also ask you to consider donating any cd's or dvd's which you no longer need. It is not necessary for them to have their original box or cover.
This incoming week we are thankful that we have been asked to share at a missionary prayer meeting. We are looking forward to this. Generally, April - August are the quieter months for meetings with most of our bookings being between September and March, so we thank God for this opportunity of sharing about our December trip to Kenya and of the work in general.
Please continue to pray for us. We realise that we need God each day to give us wisdom for the many decisions we face and to guide us for the days ahead.
I thought you might be encouraged to read an email I received this week from a dear lady who attended one of our teacher training seminars in Nairobi a number of years ago when FML first began. We thank God for Beatrice and for her burden for the children which recently led her to begin a Bible Club in the slum area where she lives. We have been able to assist her by providing her with some visuals to help teach the children and she has also enrolled them on "Treasure Seekers"...our Bible Lessons which boys and girls study and then receive a Bible from us. As you will also read, some Scripture rubbers which we gave were also well received and all the children are keen to own one. We thank God that we can help people like this in their ministry to the children and we are humbled that simple little gifts mean so much to them. Last, but definitely not least, we hope you will be encouraged to read the news of children coming to know the Lord.
"Praise Jesus Pam,
Hope you are well with your family and God has been good to you.We are also well and grateful to Jesus for his goodness and mercy.The children are growing in numbers and they are excited about the treasure seekers series thank you so much.I also thank God for providing every Saturday lunch for this children on 7th April we had a small Easter party and 170 children came it was alot of fun and 25 gave there lives to God.I wanted to make a request i don't know if it is possible there are some rubbers for rubbing that have God's bible verses on Pastor Aringo had given me like 10 for the children now all children always asks me teacher can we have such and every Saturday i tell them i will ask but i haven't asked now is when am requesting.Here are the photos of some of the children at the bible club.
God bless you.
Beatrice"
We thank God for His hand upon us here in Northern Ireland, in Kenya and in Uganda over the Easter break. Pray that He will continue to be with us as we get back into the work again over the coming days.
We would ask you to pray specifically for Pastor Aringo as he plans to travel to a few areas over the next week or two to visit new centres that enrolled on our course. One area he will go to is Eastern province where a good number of children have recently enrolled on our lessons. Please pray that he will have a fruitful and blessed time.
Pray that the Lord will very definitely lead and guide us in the coming days and show us very clearly how to bring the work forward.
Thank you all once more for standing with us in prayer.
Every Blessing.
We thank God that He gave the gift of His Son to die for us and take the punishment of our sin. We give thanks at this Easter that we worship and follow a LIVING Saviour and we are glad that it is this LIVING Saviour that we can share with the boys and girls of Kenya and Uganda. Pray that many of them will come to know Him as their personal and LIVING Saviour.
Moses had an encouraging meeting in Nakuru with centres enrolled on our course and was able to distribute many lessons. Joyce also had an encouraging time in Western province, Kenya and distributed lessons there. They were also delighted. Joyce is responsible for Western as well as Uganda. Pastor Aringo, Mike and Evans continue to be busy in the office and we ask you to pray for them and our other representatives.
Billy and May who faithfully helped at our market stall continue to value your prayers for them as Billy is unwell. We trust that God will be very close to them in these days.
The market was unexpectedly busy on Friday....I think the cooler weather encouraged people to stay at home rather than go away for the weekend. Saturday was much quieter, but all in all we were happy with trade over the two days.
Please continue to pray for us at the market and as we travel around collecting items for sale and making deliveries. William has found a trailer which he feels would be very suitable for this part of the work and we are just praying that God will provide for this if it is His will.
We also value your prayers for our needs over the next few weeks. By the beginning of May we have to pay the final balance on our flights for July and the next installment on the land is also due in May. In total we need a little over £3000 to meet these needs. We thank the Lord that because He is LIVING He knows our needs and hears our prayers!!
Please remember our Child Protection course and pray that we will get back on track again as problems with my laptop and email has affected us badly. The laptop needs to be replaced but we thank God that we have got good use out of it for the past 6 years so we have no cause to complain.
As well as purchasing the 50 Bibles in Nairobi this week, we were also able to give 50 Bibles which had been purchased here to a friend of ours who was travelling to Kenya yesterday, so we thank God for making these available. Continue to pray that we will be able to purchase more Bibles on a regular basis to keep up with the demand.
A LIVING Saviour and a faithful Saviour and one we are humbled and honoured to serve both here in the UK and in Africa. We trust that as you continue to follow this blog, it will be with the genuine purpose of praying for us and the work of Feed My Lambs and not just for the latest news. We continue to appreciate your support.
The Word of God is the most important book that anyone can ever own. It is our desire to ensure that as many boys and girls as possible in Kenya and Uganda receive a copy of the Bible. We thank God that we have made really good progress this week with the Bible Bookshop in Kenya which we had previously mentioned. We have another 50 Bibles reserved ready to be collected within the next few days. We thank God for a gift this week which has made this possible.
Two things spoke to me yesterday. At a children's service yesterday evening, a child shared a poem about a lamb. It finished with the line that if a lamb is lost a sheep will have to answer...I was thinking how that is a challenge to each one of us....if we do not bring the Gospel to the little lambs, the children...then we, as the sheep, the adults, will have to answer to God!
Following the service I was with William at his home and saw a little lamb that his younger sister is looking after. I was able to feed it with a bottle....a first for a town girl! It was drinking so quickly....so hungry....our prayer is for the little lambs of Africa to be hungry for the Word of God. We, as sheep, will have to answer to God if we do not feed the lambs!
Then I watched as the lamb followed William's sister around the yard. It followed her closely wherever she went, when she ran, it ran. When she called it's name it came skipping to her. Our desire is that we can lead the little lambs to the Saviour and that they may follow closely by His side. We as sheep will answer to God if we are unfaithful.
What about you? As a "sheep" will you pray for these lambs and ensure that they are brought to the Good Shepherd???? Can you help us to purchase Bibles to ensure that these lambs are fed on the milk of the Word??? What would God have you to do?
We were able to speak this week with Joyce and were encouraged with the news from Uganda and also her plans to visit Western province, Kenya where she also oversees a number of centres.
A recent meeting in Uganda proved encouraging as 17 Pastors from different denominations gathered to hear about our ministry and to collect application forms. There was also a great interest in our teacher training and we are now considering a possible seminar during our trip in July. So far, over 100 children have been officially enrolled in Uganda and have started the lessons, however, from the interest shown and the applications taken, Joyce expects the number will reach 2000 in a very short period of time. If these numbers are reached we will very swiftly need markers in Uganda. Please pray for this need.
Pray for us as we try to sort out our programme for July. There is some practical work to be done at the office in Nairobi, a few important meetings to attend and we plan to visit Western province and Uganda. Training will be held in Western, possibly in two areas and those in Uganda are keen for us to hold a seminar there. I have also been asked to provide one or two days training for the children's workers of quite a large Church denomination in Kenya, so we have a lot to try and fit in.
A Bible book shop in Nairobi which we visited in December has emailed me this week regarding Bibles and after some negociation, we think we might have reached a slightly cheaper price than the recent copies I bought here in Northern Ireland. Please pray that God will guide in this matter. KJV Bibles tend to be the more expensive version in Kenya and lack of stock is often an issue. Bookshops don't like to order a small quantity for us, but because of so many committments we often can't purchase very large quantities in one go. This particular bookshop, so far have been very helpful and accommodating and we are praying we can finally reach a long term agreement and avoid the constant searching.
At this time of year our bookings for meetings always go down. Wtih the end of the season of ladies' meetings and most weekly children's meetings. Such gatherings are always a blessed opportunity to share God's work with those who attend. However, realistically, these also help to meet our needs financially. With no meetings over the past few weeks our funds are a little stretched at the minute. There are various needs which must be met including allowances, some printing, the need for Bibles, our flights and the solicitors's bill re: charity status. And of course the work must go on regardless, Pastor Aringo needs to travel to numerous areas, Joyce needs to travel to Western with lessons and Moses in Nakuru is planning to hold a children's rally soon to try and encourage a number of centres who have fallen behind in the lessons, to resume them. We know that God is faithful.
The market was quieter this weekend for most of the stall holders. However, we thank the Lord for His help and praise Him that we were still able to pay the rent and have some left over.
There is so much to be done in the office here in Northern Ireland over the coming weeks. We would ask you to pray that we will know wisdom and guidance. This day week, 1st April, I will be bringing a children's talk at the Easter service of a weekly children's meeting. Pray for me as I prepare over this week.
Finally, we would like to stress that if anyone has received an email, supposedly from myself, requesting urgent funds for an orphanage in Uganda....PLEASE DELETE, DO NOT ANSWER and DO NOT SEND MONEY. The emails are very convincing but THEY ARE NOT from me!!! They have been reported and hopefully that will be an end to them.
We continue to thank you for your prayers and trust that you will remember us in the coming days.
We thank God for encouraging news from Pastor Aringo. This week 5 new centres enrolled their children on our course. 1 is from Masai land and the other 4 are from Eastern province. Eastern is a relatively new area for us. Please pray for Pastor Aringo as he plans to visit the area next month.
We are also encouraged with news from Moses in Nakuru. We now have around 700 children studying in this area and 12 new centres are ready to begin as soon as they receive the lessons. However, we face a massive challenge as over 400 children are ready for Bibles! Please pray for this urgent need.
Encouragements too from Uganda following a meeting which Joyce held with Leaders and Children's workers there. We hope to share more news regarding this next week.
Please pray that the Lord will continue to bless in the coming days in each area we work in. We thank Him for the opportunity of sharing the Gospel with so many children.
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