Thank you for your prayers throughout another week.
Pray on for Eunice in our Nairobi office. She had a fall recently and was injured; though not seriously. She is doing well now, but appreciates you continuing to remember her. Pray for her as she begins to use some new record sheets. Pray that she will be able to adjust to the new system. Joyce has been using this system for a while now and finds it helpful. After discussion with our team regarding our Nairobi office, it was decided that we would produce a flyer/leaflet which included a small map of the location of the office. Addresses in Kenya are different to here in Northern Ireland. We have a post box for our mail; but then people will use landmarks and road names to guide visitors to the physical location. So, in order for us to produce such a leaflet; a friend of ours took a motorcycle on Monday and traced the route; marking down roads and landmarks etc. We hope this will be available in the near future. We have quite a lot of items being designed and updated at the minute which will need printing as soon as possible in Kenya. We thank God for gifts received in recent days, but do please pray that funds will be available to process all of these very necessary projects. They include application forms for our lessons, certificates and other items. We are thankful for help in compiling everything for the printer and look forward to receiving the proofs and being in a position to have them put into circulation. Technology makes communication with Africa so easy these days. Website, email, texts, calls, facebook....they all help. What's app is especially good as it allows a number of us to communicate between here and Africa and discuss things together. Of course we also have our email course, which currently focuses on Child Protection. However, whilst the email course has been very straightforward with people in Kenya and indeed in other countries; it has often been slightly more complicated with Ugandan people. For some reason they seem to have trouble receiving the assignments. We can't seem to get to the bottom of whether our mails are going into spam for some reason, but it has happened again a few times of late so we thought it was best to look at another option. So, we have worked on our website and have managed to create a private members section. Students will be able to access their own private page. On this page they will be able to download and upload assignments and view those which have already been marked. We are also able to communicate with students via the web page and give them feedback on their assignments. This is very much in the trial stages at the moment. All tests have been successful and today we have just sent it out to one student to try. We are waiting patiently on some feedback. Although the set up involves some extra work each time a new student begins the course, we hope it will make for a better system in the long run. We are also thinking of other ways in which this system could be used and appreciate prayer for this. Two years ago today William and I were in Kenya. It was a day of mixed emotions. We remembered how my dad had passed away exactly one year before; we looked back and remembered his part in the work of FML. We really needed God's help on that first trip without him. But, we also celebrated our marriage with our dear friends in Kenya and we looked forward to continuing to serve God together. Today, 3 years since Dad died and 2 years since our Kenyan wedding celebration, we are again filled with mixed emotions as we remember. We thank God for memories and past blessings; but we continue to look ahead, to service for God and a special reunion one day with dad, and; for William; to meet my mum for the first time...something he has said to me many times.
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This past week has been so encouraging. It has been great to discuss new ministries with Joyce and Eunice. Technology makes communicating even easier than when we started 10 years ago. We thank God for the work these ladies are doing and for the input they have into the ministry. We thank God for being able to discuss with them and make decisions together.
Joyce is making plans to visit 4 new centres next month to engage with them regarding our materials. We thank God for her vision and pray that the Lord will provide for her to travel to these places. One particular ministry she will visit is quite a distance away and she will very much appreciate your prayers as she prepares and travels. The number of Bibles currently needed in Uganda stands at 1048. Please pray that God will provide these. Pray for Eunice as she also continues with ministry in Nairobi. As she is relatively new to the role, she doesn't travel just as far as Joyce. However, we pray this will be possible in the future. Discussions in July when we met with the ladies led to the conclusion that a period of practical training; for Eunice, with Joyce; would be very beneficial to her in regard to teaching the children. Pray that she will be able to travel to Malaba in the near future. One Pastor who has been a great help in the work of FML is Pastor Samuel. He is based in Jinja in Uganda and marks many of our lessons. He has been a good help to Joyce. He will be getting married in November and we ask you to pray that God will bless him and his fiancee as they plan over the coming weeks. Pray that God will guide them and bless them in their future together. William has been very busy working away this past week. Much of his practical work on a daily basis, not only provides an income for us, but also gives him added experience and teaches him new skills which he is currently able to use in Africa and which is providing a good foundation for future ministries which are being prayed about, discussed and planned. We thank God for how He has been opening doors and guiding in this regard. The Lord helped William as he shared a message from Psalm 23 at the Old People's Nursing Home yesterday. We thank God for around 11 residents who stayed for the entirety of the meeting and for a few others who came and went a little. They enjoyed the singing so much and especially enjoy the children's choruses. It reminds us of the importance of teaching children now. When older people become confused they often seem to go back to their childhood and remember things they were taught then. We look forward to returning next month. I thank God for helping me throughout the week in many administration duties and planning ministry. I had good communications with a friend in Kawangware in Kenya regarding a new ministry we are hoping to launch in January. We covered a lot of ground and he gave us a lot of information which was very helpful. My nephew was also very helpful in a very practical way in regard to this. It is amazing how a 12 year old can have more knowledge of technology than us adults and can be such a help in these situations. William and I also worked on another new ministry which will be launched very soon and were encouraged to receive very positive feedback from a brother in Kenya who we are working alongside in making this possible. We look forward to sharing more details in the very near future when some more details are confirmed. I knew the Lord's help as I taught a memory verse and the Bible Lesson of the Centurion's Servant at a children's meeting on Thursday night. Indeed the lesson proved to be a challenge to my own heart over the past few days; reminding us to have faith in the Lord. William and I were really encouraged to meet with a number of other mission workers during the week also and we believe this opportunity was very timely and has been of real help and benefit to us. We thank God for opening this door. We also had a very encouraging first evening at a missionary convention last night and thank God for people who have requested our prayer news and updates. We were also delighted to meet ladies who have been knitting for the children in Africa for quite a while now. We ask for your prayers for the remaining meetings. This past week we have also been booked to have our stand at yet another missionary convention (our 4th this year) later in the year. We were previously able to share at this particular convention and look forward to being with everyone again as well as taking the Sunday School once more during the weekend. God is good. So, it has been quite a busy, varied, eventful and encouraging week. We thank God for how He has led, provided and spoken to us. In the midst of the encouragements, this week also brought difficult decisions and we thank God for His speaking voice, His guidance and His peace to our hearts. Thank you once more for praying for us. This is the most important thing you can do and it is certainly never time wasted. And finally, one of many reminders I will leave with you regarding our 10th Anniversary meeting in Portadown on Friday 28th October. Please keep a note of the date and plan to attend. It would be encouraging to see you. Another week has gone into Eternity. I wonder how many souls have gone out into a lost eternity? I wonder how many of those had an opportunity to trust the Lord or how many did not hear the good news because someone, somewhere did not obey God's call upon their lives??
Our minds are constantly thinking of mission work and far off lands that we know and love and which have a special place in our hearts. However, lately it has been good for us to attend numerous missionary meetings and to be reminded of other lands and mission fields other than those we work in ourselves. We thank God for those who are serving God at home and abroad today; seeking to share the good news of the Gospel with young and old. We also are reminded that we have a mission field right here on our doorstep. Not everyone is called to go abroad; God needs people at home in every walk and occupation of life. God can use you just where you are. We believe that Kenyan people are the best suited to reach the Kenyan children and that Ugandan people are the best suited to reach the Ugandan children. This is why we provide lessons, materials and training for these dear people. To help and encourage them as they share the Word of God with those in their vicinity. As we have met many dear Kenyan and Ugandans over the years, we have always been challenged by the vision and determination they have to serve God. Please pray on that we will continue to be an encouragement to them. Please pray that we will always have willing hearts to listen to their ideas and their advice as we work alongside them. Our Bible lessons for children continue to be available in Kenya and Uganda. However, the next intake of application forms will not be until October. Please contact us or our offices in Nairobi or Malaba for more information. If you are not aware of our lessons and would like to know more, please also contact us. Please pray on for Eunice and Joyce as they distribute and mark lessons and also visit Schools and Churches to explain the materials and share the Gospel with the children. They visit many places and this often brings it's challenges as they meet with many people from numerous backgrounds and beliefs. Pray that they will know wisdom as they face various situations. Funds for transport in Nairobi have been very low in recent weeks and this has held up the work. Please pray that God will provide for Eunice to return to her normal duties and to be able to be of assistance to children's workers in the area. Please remember William and I here in Northern Ireland. We have quite a number of commitments over the next few weeks and appreciate your prayers for these. This includes sharing in two children's meetings, a house meeting and having our stand at a missionary convention for a number of evenings. We are also looking forward to meeting with other mission workers at an upcoming meeting. William will be bringing the message at the Old People's Nursing Home this week and will be arranging and leading some other meetings over the next number of weeks. William will also be working on an aspect of the presentation which we are planning for our 10th Anniversary Service and I will be putting some things together for that as well as continuing with other aspects of the ministry each day. We appreciate your prayers. We value very much your prayers and interest in the work and trust that you will continue to stand with us in the coming days. This morning I was chatting online with a Pastor in Kenya. He was sharing some needs that are in his Church regarding children's ministry and some construction. We got to talking about how God is faithful and always knows our need. I shared with him something which I had read earlier this morning.
It read.... "When we wait ON God, HE is waiting till WE are ready; when we wait FOR God, WE are waiting till HE is ready." We talked about how God knows our need and is always on time. Sometimes we are waiting until He is ready to give us our desires. For whatever reason and whatever purpose, sometimes God sees fit to keep us waiting. Sometimes He is ready and willing to give our desire, but we are not ready to receive it. Maybe God just wants to teach us patience, to teach us to depend upon Him and not on man. Maybe He knows there are things we need to learn and making us wait, pray harder and lean harder is the best way to teach us. Maybe we will appreciate the answer more when it comes. There may be things we don't know or understand, but we know that God's timing is always best. As I talked with this Pastor this morning; the need he shared about was financial. Funds which were needed for the Church. Genuine funds which were needed to enable the work of God to continue. As we shared together, there was something that Pastor didn't know. We, in Feed my Lambs, also had a financial need. There are always funds needed for the work, but this was an urgent need. Something which was due and today was the deadline. I had promised those concerned in Kenya that I would email them today. William and I and our team had earnestly prayed and sought God. Today came and we were wondering what was going to be written in that email. However, as I spoke online with that Pastor about God's timing being perfect; I heard the post come through the door. It contained a cheque for the amount we needed. Praise God. He is never late. He is always on time. Please pray that this Pastor friend and His Church also experience God's provision in the same way and if you feel you could help please do not hesitate to contact us and we will share more about his ministry and what the funds are required for. In this instance it was financial. However, when we talk about God meeting our needs, it isn't always financial. Pastors, Missionaries, Children's workers, we all have needs in our personal lives and in our families. Farmer, Teacher, Housewife, Parent..... we all have needs. Those needs can be so varied, but they are the desires of your heart, that you seek God for. If only we can all learn to wait on God's time and to know that He will give us our desires when HE is ready and when HE knows that WE are ready. Of course, for the unsaved, the greatest need is that they trust the Lord as their Saviour. We thank God for playing a small part in God's work. Pray on for our team in Africa as they faithfully serve amongst the Children's workers and the young people. Pray on for the many Pastors and others who volunteer with us and help to distribute the lessons. Pray for the children who are taught the Word of God in Schools. Pray on for William and I as we seek God's will for our lives. We have quite a lot on over the next few weeks with very few free evenings. When we are at home, there is preparation to be done for numerous meetings. Pray for us as we work on the charity registration which has a deadline of 12 October. Pray for us as we plan the early stages of new ministries. Pray for us as we soon will prepare a new prayer letter and new presentations for meetings and also for our anniversary service. There are so many things to be doing in these days and we thank God for the opportunities to serve Him. As we all seek to live for God each day, let us remember that His timing is best and our lives are always the richer for waiting on God to work things out rather than trying to put things in order ourselves. When we wait ON god, HE is waiting till WE are ready. When we wait FOR God, WE are waiting till HE is ready When we wait ON god, HE is waiting till WE are ready. When we wait FOR God, WE are waiting till HE is ready |
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August 2022
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