Thanks for praying for everything which was included in our last blog. Here's an update on those things mentioned last week.
We made a lot of final decisions regarding the upcoming meeting with the Kenyan children. We are spending more time preparing this evening and finishing touches to the programme will take up much of tomorrow and possibly beyond. More details on the actual programme after the event, but meanwhile, please do pray much for us over these next few days. We need help from the Lord in final preparation and especially pray for us on Sunday as we teach the children. We are excited, yet a little nervous. Pray that the children will really respond well to the Gospel. Indeed do pray for all of those parents and others who will travel to Northern Ireland from England for the weekend. Pray for those here who are planning activities for the whole weekend for them. Pray for safety in travelling and for a good weekend to be had by all. Praise the Lord that we made contact with Joyce. All is well and it was simply a network problem. Continue to remember her and her family as they labour for the Lord and also pray for her as she plans the distribution of Bibles recently purchased. Eunice is also doing well and tomorrow I hope to spend time going through a report which she has emailed this week. At first glance I can seen encouragements and suggestions....so it will make interesting reading. The insurance issue has just about been finalised and I hope to be in contact with the company again tomorrow to make final arrangements and start cover. The issue mentioned last week about having some specialised people on the ground has been on our minds for some time, though we have only just mentioned it here. We have discussed with one person the Lord laid on our hearts for one of the roles and they are very keen. We are continuing to discuss and will let you know more details if things go ahead. We have also contacted a second person and are waiting on a reply. We will keep you updated. Paperwork is needed for these roles and we really need help in preparing all of this. Over the course of the next month; in addition to the meeting with the Kenyan children; we will share in a prayer meeting regarding the work of Feed my Lambs and William has been asked to take two services; a prayer meeting and a Sunday evening service in two different Churches. These will not be specifically concerning the work of FML, but normal preaching/teaching meetings. Pray that the Lord will guide concerning the right message for each of these services. There is also an event in England relating to Kenya that we would love to go to. We have considered it for the past two years and it has never worked out. We still continue to pray that God will bring us there if it is His will and time. In the midst of all of these activities we will celebrate our first wedding anniversary in under two weeks time!!!! It has been a wonderful year and we give thanks to God for His hand upon us and for His leading in our lives. I had mentioned last week that it is holiday time here. William and I enjoyed a lovely break away from work and home over the past few days. We drove many, many miles and explored various places. As we journeyed through various towns in both the North and South of Ireland, we reminisced on years gone by before we knew each other and shared our experiences and memories from the views around us. It was sunny; it rained. We talked; we sat in a comfortable silence. We remembered; we discussed the future. We enjoyed the slow pace of country/village life as well as the hustle and bustle of the city. We loved the freedom of taking turns to drive, and loved the break while travelling by train. We enjoyed being together and we are thankful to God for time away; time with each other with no stresses and no hassles. We still have a few more days to take later on but for now we were glad of the rest before another busy time. We had some idea of the direction we were taking on our road and rail trip...but we also had spare of the minute changes in direction. The map isn't that accurate, but the red line will give you a little indication of our journey over the past few days! (click on the photos to enlarge them) With reference to last week's blog, we still don't know when we are returning to Kenya, but we even managed to get a good deal on a suitcase on our travels..... it's good to be prepared!
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Another week and there seems to be a lot of things on the "To-Do-List" this week!
There are a number of tasks which need to be completed this week. Here in Northern Ireland one of the big tasks is finalising our programme for the Sunday School with the Kenyan children from England which will take place in a few weeks time. We are hoping to confirm everything this week so that we have the remainder of the time for preparation. We are excited about this opportunity and ask you to really pray for us as we get ready for this. Pray on for Joyce and her family in Uganda. We have been having some problems reaching her and ask you to pray that all is well. The phone network isn't that reliable in her area so we are trusting this is the issue. Pray on for us as we finalise new insurance cover etc. We need wisdom in selecting the correct package. We are also contacting other companies this week in regard to other necessary "cover" that is needed and we ask for your prayers as some of these issues are just so complicated! We have become aware that there are some specialised aspects of the work that require a lot of attention and we feel that perhaps we need specialised people on the ground to take over the responsibility of these issues. Pray for us as we work through these issues. As always we are still being asked when we are returning to Africa. We love people to show an interest, but sometimes this question can frustrate us. Of course we are keen to go out again, but as always there are different issues to consider both here and in Africa; in the work and in our personal lives; and it is important that we know God's timing. Another big issue is God's provision. We can't book flights until we have the funds to do so. When God provides the funds, this in itself will be a large part of the guidance that we need to show us it is time to go. Pray on that we will know the Lord's leading, a peace regarding the time, patience when we don't seem to have the answer that people require and the provision to make it possible. Because of holidays, family time and a different routine in these days, our blog is a little irregular in being posted. We hope you will bear with us over the holiday time and keep checking back for updates. We still try to update it at some point each week. Daily prayer points can also be found on our facebook page so don't forget to "like" our page if you are on Facebook. Keep praying. We appreciate your prayers, support and encouragement very much! Our blog is later than normal this week. Monday and Tuesday were holidays here and William and I had two lovely days together. We also had a great day away last Saturday so all in all it was a great few days. The week has felt a little topsy turvy since and we hardly know what day it is.
Work has continued as normal in Kenya and Uganda. Pray on for our team there. Because of the holidays we haven't quite finalised where the Bibles will be distributed but we are hoping to have this all confirmed quite soon. We've been spending quite a bit of time this week trying to sort insurance for FML here in the UK to include some new activities we are hoping to introduce over the coming months. We think we have finally found a company able to meet all our need. We have had good news from a publishing/printing company regarding our materials. We are still discussing a few things and deciding what is best, but we are hopeful that we will soon be able to print a sample of our first teaching pack of visuals and resources. Making these available to Chidren's Workers feels a step closer. Yesterday we were contacted by a Christian worker in Africa with whom we have a good friendship and working relationship. They were putting an idea to us and in many ways it ties in with how William and I have been feeling led as well. Please pray with us as we all pray regarding this possibility of ministry. This is really only the beginning of praying about a long term project so we are just taking it a day at a time and seeking the Lord's will. Finally, over the past few weeks and over the holidays we have been meeting various people and I have been asked a number of times the slightly strange question "Do you work?" We've realised that quite a lot of people don't really understand our set up or are clear on what we do and perhaps think FML only operates when we are in Africa. So, here, in a nutshell is a little explanation. FML operates daily in Kenya and Uganda. We have local people there, a few who receive allowances and a large number of volunteers. There are those who work in our offices and those who mark and distribute lessons. Lessons are distributed, marked. Records kept in offices. The Gospel is taught to boys and girls and we train children's workers. We have a small library in Nairobi also. This is ongoing every day. The question "Do you work?" is usually directed to me! My work is mostly FML work. There was a time when I looked after my nephews while their parents were at work. The oldest no longer needs a babysitter! The younger is now 11 and he comes to our home before and after school and in school holidays. While he is at school my work is in the office for Feed my Lambs. In school holidays I work FML work around the hours he is with me. I am in daily contact with Africa, emails, administration work, accounts, writing new materials, keeping the website and Facebook pages running, planning for next trips, going through reports from workers in Africa, organising materials, Bibles, preparing to speak at meetings here, planning for future activities here. William is very much called to the work of the Lord and to Feed my Lambs. We make the decisions together. On a daily basis I will have things to share with him when he returns from work and we have decisions to make. The responsibility sometimes could overwhelm us. As things stand, most of the FML work here in UK is office based. Therefore William works in a secular job on a farm. This does provide some income for us but we still have to trust the Lord for our needs as my income is minimal. Many Pastors look after their flock while their wives work. They are both considered to be in the work of God. Somehow with us, people see William as a farmer and me staying at home all day doing nothing except keeping my nephew for a couple of hours. This is certainly not the case. We are both called of God, we are both in His work, we are both doing His will and we both eat, sleep and breath Feed my Lambs. We may be farmers and childminders for some hours of the week but we are also evangelists/missionaries or whatever title you wish to use for even more. Of course we are also a husband and wife with a home and all of the responsibilities which go with these roles. We are both thankful to God for the privilege he has given us of serving Him. I am also thankful to my husband who works so hard in order to bring in some income for us and therefore frees up FML funds; and who supports and encourages me so much in my everyday work. I realise I have been quite direct in how I have tried to explain this. Time and space limits me in going into too much detail, so it does come across quite blunt but our aim is simply to answer the question that we are often asked. We hope this helps. Joyce made the journey to Kampala at the end of the week and collected 350 Bibles from our supplier there. She has kept 100 to distribute in Uganda and forwarded another 250 to Nairobi for distribution in Kenya. However, one of the officers at the Uganda/Kenya border confiscated a Bible. He said he needed it to check if it was genuine. Pray that he will read it and that God will speak to him through it. That leaves 249 that will be collected today in Nairobi.
Eunice; in our Nairobi office; yesterday sent me an up to date list of all centres which have children waiting for Bibles and also a list of those children who will very soon reach the stage of needing a Bible. We hope to go through it over the next few days in order to finalise where these particular Bibles should go. Pray for wisdom in this as it isn't always straight forward. We thank God for this latest supply of Bibles and pray that God will speak to the children through His Word and help them as they continue with the remaining lessons. Pray that we will continue to have sufficient lessons over the incoming months until such times as more are printed and arrive in Kenya. New centres have enrolled over the past few weeks in Kenya and I have had a few email enquiries which I have referred on. On Saturday, Joyce was also visiting a new centre in Uganda. We thank God for the hunger there is for the Gospel. One particular area in Kenya is causing challenges for us at the moment due to one of our helpers no longer being available. Others are willing but are not known very well to us. Though they have assisted in the past we need to be sure we appoint the right person. Meanwhile, we are having to try and manage quite a bit ourselves in that particular area, which obviously isn't that easy from the other side of the world. Pray that the Lord will really make the way clear and help us to get things back on track. Thank you for your prayers. |
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August 2022
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