We travel many miles around the country as we represent and share the work of Feed my Lambs. We don't mind the travelling at all. When I used to travel on my own I enjoyed the quiet time. A time to clear my head after a busy day and be prepared for the meeting ahead. I used to secretly dread the few times when someone else would come with me (other than my dad) as I missed the quiet.
Since William and I began travelling together to meetings; both before we were married and especially since we were married; I have changed my view. I have come to love these times in the car together as we travel. It's a time just for us away from everyone and everything else. A time when we can prepare our hearts after rushing about during the day and a time when we chat....lots of chat! Those chats are usually centered around the same subjects. Feed my Lambs being the main one. Talking about the work. The challenges in the work. The memories of trips. Planning about the future. Talking about how God has led us this far and about how He is leading us for the future. Many things are covered in those little car chats. Sometimes I chat too much....but on the whole we are likeminded when we have these conversations and I desperately miss William on the rare occasion I travel a long distance alone. We have had plenty of opportunity for these chats this past week as we have travelled back and forwards every evening to Bangor. We had the Feed my Lambs stand at the annual missionary convention. We thank God for every opportunity we had to share about the work of Feed my Lambs. It is a privilege to serve the Lord. We thank Him for those who showed an interest and asked questions about what we do. We are grateful to have fellowship once more with many other missionaries which is an encouragement. We met one such missionary at a previous similar event in another Church and he put our names forward to yet another Church for an upcoming missionary convention. We thank God that we will have our stand there in a few weeks. It is amazing how God connects and gives more opportunities. Please pray for us as we prepare. Please pray that more opportunities will come in for us to share the work at meetings. Please pray for numerous ministries we are currently praying through and planning. Pray that we will know God's leading in all.
0 Comments
Thank you for your prayers over another week. Pray for Eunice in the Nairobi office as she has a lot of lessons which need marked at the moment. As a result of our committee meeting a few weeks ago she also has various other task to complete which will then enable others to do their part, so please pray that she will have opportunity to do this. Pray for her as she communicates with those who using the lessons with children. Pray that she will continue to be a help to them. Petty cash is currently needed in order for her to travel around as part of the work. Pray that this will soon be available. It is very difficult to work without this. In our office we also have lessons packed and ready to be sent to Joyce in Malaba. Pray that funds will soon be available to enable this to be transported. Do pray on for Joyce as she works in that area. She also needs petty cash to enable her to travel with lessons to some centres. It is so vital that children are able to avail of the lessons. Joyce also has been asked to teach the Word of God in a few Schools and plans to take one week each month to do this. Pray that funds will be available for her to travel. It is our aim that children will have a good grasp of the Word of God as a result of using our lessons. We do not just distribute the lessons and leave them to get on with it. They are encouraged to memorize Scripture. Recently we made the decision not to present Bibles to a particular School as we felt the lessons had been rushed and copied. Our reasons were explained to the teachers and the children are retaking the lessons. This has happened a few times; it is hard to take this stand, but essential if the lessons are to be used correctly and children are to learn effectively. This past week William has been busy; along with others; painting the hall we attend on Sunday evenings. He has really enjoyed doing these practical tasks for the Lord. The week has gone fast as he has been working as normal during the day and then painting in the evenings and on Saturday. We thank God that every occupation and talent can be used in HIS work. Yesterday, (Sunday) we were due to be back a the Old People's Nursing Home for our monthly meeting. It was to be William's turn to share God's Word. However, the home has been closed for a number of days due to sickness so the meeting was cancelled. We will return, God willing, in September. Please pray for this ministry. It is out of our comfort zone, but the Lord has really helped us in the 4 meetings we have taken so far and we have enjoyed serving Him in this way. I have been in the office this past week; a little during the day, but mostly in the evenings. A slightly different routine at the moment. As always after a mission trip, there is a long to do list. We thank God for progress made in the various tasks I was dealing with last week. This involved initial planning of new teaching materials; typing up minutes from our committee meeting in Kenya; listing items for printing over the coming weeks and planning amendments for them, as well as other tasks. We thank God for new opportunities for ministry which have opened up during and since our recent time in Kenya. Some of these were new ventures which were revealed while we were there, while others are ministries we have been praying about literally for a number of years. We thank God for bringing things together and making things clear that we have prayed about for some time. We look forward to sharing more about these ministries over the coming months as things are finalised. Pray that these will be used for God's glory. From the elderly to the children and I thank God for His help as I shared from the Word of God using an item from our home during the children's spot in our Church yesterday morning. Thank God for these opportunities. We also give thanks to God for helping in some "official" things. One particular issue has been an ongoing struggle for quite some times. We have been trying our best to do what we needed to do but continually seemed to hit a brick wall. No-one really seemed to be able to guide us through to completion. After more hours of searching online, I finally was connected to a person who could help and who works for the organisation in question. Previously even the "official" people couldn't advise us! Thankfully we now have a clear picture of the procedure, requirements and what we need to do. Whilst we are able to put some things in place while here in the UK, most of the work will have to be done when back in Kenya. We do not anticipate it will be an easy or straightforward process, but we are delighted that we finally seem to be getting somewhere and at least know what we need to do, what we can do here and what we need to do when we return to Kenya. Praise God for this breakthrough. Please continue to pray for the financial needs of the work. As well as the petty cash needs mentioned above, we also need just over £1000 by the end of this month in order to pay various bills which will become due then. This includes; but is not limited to; the rent for our Nairobi office. We thank God for His provision for this over recent months, especially in regard to the arrears in our previous office. We thank God that everything was paid up to date and we appreciate very much the interest shown in this need and the prayers of God's people. However, now that we have moved, the need is not over, we still need to pay the rent each month and we ask that you continue to pray for God's provision. We have had a few issues over recent weeks which have been out of our control and we would ask you to pray that things will soon be sorted out. The week we really appreciate prayer as William and I represent Feed my Lambs at the Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention. We will have a stand/literature table at the event and look forward to sharing about the work we do. We appreciate your prayers for us as we head shortly pack the car and head off to get set up. Then, as we travel back and forwards each day, please pray that the Lord will be with us. We will be coming and going from home at different times of the day and evening this week so pray that the Lord goes before us in all of the activities. Pray that there will be those who will be interested in the ministry of FML and that there will be those who will take our literature and pledge to pray for the work in Kenya, Uganda and even here in Northern Ireland. Thank you again for standing with us. We appreciate it very much. It is such a privilege to serve the Lord and we are thankful for every opportunity to do so. We thank God for helping William as he spoke in a meeting last night. God is good. The next few weeks will be busy here as we prepare for numerous other meetings and events. Pray that God will prepare our hearts to speak to children, to speak at an old people's nursing home and to share about the work of Feed my Lambs.
Pray on for Eunice and Joyce and others as they work directly with the children, specifically with our lessons. We thank God for helping them. Most of you will know that we have recently returned from a time in Africa. We thank God for His help throughout the time we were away. We are also thankful for the time we have had to reflect since returning a few weeks ago. There is always a lot to process and we thank the Lord for His leading and guiding. He is leading step by step regarding new ministries and opportunities and we are excited about what the next year will hold. Pray that we continue to know His guidance and that we will continue to obey. We believe that many things we have prayed; some over recent months and some over the course of years; are now beginning to fall into place. Pray that we will know wisdom in every situation and be sensitive to the voice of God as we step out in His will. We thank God for the faithfulness of Joyce, Eunice and the others who assist us. We are so glad to have those who are burdened for the salvation of children working alongside us. We thank God for local people who have a desire to serve the Lord amongst their own people. They will be effective in reaching the children and indeed the adults in a way that we never can. Please pray on. It has been a very busy number of weeks and we thank you for your continued prayers for the work even while there has been no update here.
August is also shaping up to be a very busy month and taking on new commitments at this stage doesn't look possible because of the amount of days on the calendar that have something written on them! Please do pray that we will make time to be still and listen to the Lord. It is easy to be overtired in these days and to be always rushing around like Martha, serving. Pray that we will take the time to be like Mary. To sit at the feet of the Saviour and listen to His voice and direction. In recent weeks Feed my Lambs has been approached about various new ministries and opportunities to share the Gospel. Each will involve quite a big commitment of both time and resources. Pray that we will know the leading of the Lord and guidance in every individual ministry we pray about. Pray that our team in Africa will also know the Lord's leading and guidance in these matters also and that we will be united as we go forward. Thank you for your ongoing prayers for each one of us and for the boys and girls we are reaching. |
Read on for...regular updates and thoughts from Northern Ireland and Africa... Archives
August 2022
Categories |