It is so hard to believe that we are almost at the end of another year. 2017 has been encouraging in the work of Feed my Lambs. There has been much progress in areas of the work and most of all we are aware of children trusting the Lord as their Saviour through the ministry.
As always there have also been challenges and areas of ministry which have moved slower than we would have liked and we really want to make these issues a priority for prayer in the coming days. None of the ministry would be possible without those who pray, give and do and we wish to thank each one of you for the part you have played in bringing the Gospel to boys and girls. From William and myself and indeed all in Feed my Lambs, may we wish you and your family a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. We trust that you will know much of God's presence with you over the holiday season and throughout 2018.
0 Comments
December is here and it seems like Christmas has suddenly arrived. Children are receiving and opening Advent Calendars. There is the excitement of opening that little door each day and finding a treat hidden behind it.
From 1st - 25th December we are publishing an Advent Prayer Calendar on our facebook page. Each day a ministry, need or prayer request will be shared. If you are on facebook we would encourage you to like and share our page and most of all, use the daily advent posts to remind you to pray for the needs which are shared. When it pops up on your newsfeed, can you take even just a minute, there and then, to pray for whatever is brought before you on that screen? These are days of hustle and bustle and suddenly everyone seems to be in a rush. But let us not get so caught up in the traditions of Christmas that we forget what the season is all about. It is a time to remember the birth of our Lord and Saviour....the greatest gift of all! Frequently we are asked for training. There are so many people in Africa who love the Lord and have a burden to reach out to the boys and girls. One of the ways in which we try to help is by offering online training. Currently we have a course available in Child Protection but we hope to expand on this.
This morning I have just registered our 50th student on this course. We give thanks for each one who has either completed our course already or is still studying. Students have been from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and Myanmar among others. Please pray that these assignments will continue to be a blessing to many and give thanks for these 50 dear people. We also praise God today as a number of Bibles have been distributed to children over the past few days. We are so thankful to know that many more boys and girls have received a copy of the Word of God. Do continue to pray that God will work in their hearts and that they will develop a personal relationship with Him. Please continue to pray for us this week as we have opportunities to share about the work amongst the children. When we share in meetings and prayer letters about distributing Bibles to children, it all sounds very simple. Children complete 15 lessons of our Bible course and we give them a Bible. However, as we have been planning for distribution this week, I am reminded of just how long and complicated the process can be. So let me give you a little glimpse into the Journey of a Bible. 1. We are praying that more children will begin our lessons. 2. Latter part of 2015 and into 2016, children begin our lessons. 3. We continue praying that children will be blessed and that funds will be available for the purchase of Bibles. 4. The cut off point is October 2016. That is when our team begin to add up and predict from their records how many children are likely to have finished to Lesson 15 by the end of June 2017. These children would be ready to receive their Bibles in July 2017. July is the chosen month for presenting Bibles. 5. Decisions are being made about where is best to purchase the Bibles. In certain circumstances we have purchased in Kenya and Uganda, but usually, due to cost and availability we purchase from Every Home Crusade here in Northern Ireland. 6. The numbers are in. It's November 2016 and we thank God that we have been able to pay £3000 to Every Home Crusade for the Bibles needed. We previously purchased some which are already in Nairobi. A large number of children have been waiting for some time and we have been running behind so we are glad the funds are finally available. It will be some months before the container will leave. 7. February 2017. We are continually asked when the Bibles will be available for the children....we are glad we can tell them that the container is en route to Africa. 8. May 2017. The container has arrived in Mombasa and been transported to Nairobi. A Pastor organises a lorry to transport the Bibles (and more lessons) from the depot to our office. Cost £116.67. 9. Over the coming months Bibles are distributed in the Nairobi area...but they are delayed to reach western Kenya and Uganda due to the cost. Joyce has also been on maternity leave, so the distribution in Uganda is delayed. 10. October 2017. A gift of £150 has been received specifically to transport the Bibles and some lessons to Joyce. We are thanking God because we can finally make sure the children receive their Bibles. Some children will change Schools so it is important they are distributed before early December. 11. The ladies from our Kenyan office also need to distribute Bibles in Western Kenya; so they work hard pricing buses and taxis to find the best way to make the journey and to accompany the Bibles to Joyce. It is a full days travel and they have many centres to visit. £301.30 is sent to pay for the transportation of the Bibles to Joyce as well as to pay for travel, accommodation and food for Anne and Mary as they go to other centres to distribute Bibles after they have delivered the boxes to Joyce. A taxi has been hired. 12. Much time has been spent communicating with our African team. There is an issue. Once they reach the Kenyan/Ugandan border it will be difficult and expensive for the taxi to cross. Joyce has arranged for some men to come on motorbikes to unload the boxes from the car and transport them across the border. They will charge just under £30 for their services. There are 49 boxes of Bibles and 23 boxes of lessons! The journey begins this week! 13. Mary and Anne need your prayers as they proceed further upcountry to visit Churches and Schools and distribute Bibles. They will stay for 3 nights. This will allow them two days to visit the children and two days travelling. 14. Joyce will begin travelling to distribute the Bibles the day after she receives them. She has many children to see and many Bibles to distribute. She will need another £80 to cover the many miles she has to travel with her baby. She may need to bring her older two children (aged 6 and 4) with her also. 15. Over the course of the next 2 weeks, around 3000 Bibles will be distributed to boys and girls. 16. At last the Bible is placed into the hands of a child! 17. 2045...this number has just arrived today from Nairobi. It is the number of Bibles required for distribution in July 2018. Joyce will shortly confirm how many are needed in Uganda. And so we begin again..... PLEASE PRAY:
:For Anne and Mary as they make the long journey from Nairobi to the border and then on upcountry to distribute Bibles to children there who have been waiting for a long time :For Joyce as she transports the Bibles to the children she has been working with and then as she finalises numbers of Bibles needed for the next order :For God's provision to purchase the Bibles needed for distribution in 2018 and for the process as it begins again :Most of all, pray that God will speak to these children through His Word and that many will come to know the Lord as their personal Saviour. It can often be difficult to know the will of the Lord in our lives. However, one of the things I have come to learn over the years is that it isn't just about knowing God's will, but knowing God's time. I can think of many times in both my personal life and in ministry when I have known very clearly God's will but I haven't seen it play out for weeks, months and sometimes even years.
I am often reminded of the words of Numbers 9: 22 - 23... "Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the could tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed:..." So often in our lives and especially in the ministry of Feed my Lambs, we and the team of workers need to know when it is the Lord's time as well as His will. Those on the ground need to know when to visit particular areas and centres; perhaps it is knowing how many Bibles will be needed and when is the best time to order them; perhaps it is transferring finances to Africa at such a time so as to take advantage of the best exchange rate; perhaps it is knowing God's time to book flights when people continually ask when will we return, when to us it seems like the cloud hasn't quite moved; perhaps it is knowing when to begin a new outreach when the signs aren't encouraging. Every day our team face decisions. Decisions which can be difficult. Decisions which may cause pain. Decisions which, although hard, must be made for the spiritual good of each individual and for the work as a whole. Please pray that we will know much wisdom in the coming days in our individual lives and together as a team, as we seek to reach boys and girls through the work of Feed my Lambs. Pray that we will see very clearly when the cloud and fire stop and when they move; and, more importantly, that we will each be willing to obey... not to stand still when God says go....yet not to rush ahead of His plan. Two days ago it seemed like our little country of Northern Ireland came to a standstill. Children stayed at home from School, shops closed and people arrived home early from work. There was an eerie silence around our home and the FML office as people stayed indoors. The normal cars going in and out of the street could not be heard. Looking across to the nearby park and the only movement was that of leaves blowing rather than the normal dogs running and children playing. All in anticipation of ex hurricane Ophelia.
The advice was to stay indoors and avoid unecessary journeys. People were warned of the dangers and told how to prepare. But for some people that wasn't possible. Emergency services, medical staff, electricity workers all had to be out in the storm....but closer to home....William was out in the storm. I was anxious and while I tried to work in the office as normal, I felt unsettled and uneasy. Every now and then I would hear of another tree down on the roads he had to travel. He wasn't far from home...but at that time he was just too far away for my liking. Near, but yet so far. Yet, I knew he had to finish what he was doing and I just prayed he would be kept safe. But I found it hard to let go completely and only really relaxed when he arrived home. It made me think of how we face storms in our lives. I think of the dear people that we love in Kenya and Uganda. They may not be facing the wrath of Ophelia, but there are other difficulties. In Kenya, the elections are so different to here in Northern Ireland. These are tense times as the next voting day draws closer. Demonstrations have made travelling difficult for some team members. Bus fares have doubled, making travel to the ministry more challenging. Businesses have been affected and have had to close at times. This has resulted in people sometimes not being paid and they then fall behind in house rent payments and school fees for their children. The challenges are great. Across our world people are experiencing many storms in their lives. Storms of sickness, the loss of loved ones, debt, family problems and so the list goes on. As we look back on a physical storm and perhaps comment that for us it wasn't as bad as expected, let us always remember, that, for some people the storms of life are just beginning. Troubles and trials will still come, but how much easier to heed the warning and go through the storm with Jesus at your side. For those of us who are saved; we have a responsibility to warn the lost. Like those emergency services who worked during the storm...we must be prepared to risk our lives for the Gospel. We can never assume that others will do it for us. When William was working in the storm he had no idea that shops and businesses were closing until I called him. Internet wasn't working on his phone and he had no radio with him. Had I just assumed that he had heard the situation from someone else, I would have been wrong. Out of love for him, I had to make sure that I warned him, even if it turned out he had already heard. People may tire of preaching the Gospel...but out of love for their souls, we are required to tell them that Jesus died to save them. It is our prayer that even the boys and girls of Africa will heed the warnings and be prepared. The Word of God reminds us about the story of the wise and foolish builders. The foolish man built his house on the sand but Matthew 7 : 25 reminds us of the wise man..."And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." The wise man's house stood firm because it was built upon a firm foundation. How important it is that our lives are built upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for ourselves and the FML team as we continue to support needy families and teach the boys and girls to build their lives on the one who can keep us standing in the storms. We are so thankful that we have had a number of meetings to speak at recently and it has been a privilege to share about the work of Feed my Lambs. We have another 4 meetings over the course of the next week. Pray for us as we prepare; for each meeting to be fresh and of the Lord and for safety on the roads. Our next meeting is actually a Sunday School here and so we are really looking forward to teaching the children about Africa.
It is amazing how little can make such a big difference in the life of a child. We recently received a gift from someone with the request that it help a needy child in Kenya. That gift was able to pay school fees for a child for a number of months. The mother of the child and indeed the teacher were delighted. As someone once said, "we cannot change the world, but we can change the world of one child" Over the past week another 36 Bibles have been allocated and new centres from Western Kenya have enrolled. Another church has registered with our library and 5 books/visual packs have been borrowed which is really encouraging. Please pray for Joyce as she is travelling this weekend. Pray for safety and for help for her in the coming days. Some of our Nairobi team have been unwell, please pray for strength for them. We appreciate your ongoing prayers. These have been busy weeks but we thank God for the opportunity to serve Him.
We have had numerous meetings here in Northern Ireland and we have been so encouraged by the new opportunities God has been giving us. This past week we were able to share at a Missionary Convention. It can be so difficult to know what to include and what to leave out but we trust we gave a good insight into the work. Quite a number of people spoke to us over the course of the weekend and we are so grateful for those who showed an interest. The next few weeks are just about filled to capacity with meetings so we have been busy putting together a new presentation reflecting on our recent time in Kenya and sharing how God is leading for the future. Since we came home, the team in Kenya have enrolled a number of new centres on our lessons; registered a few Churches in our library; given out more Bibles and received many visitors to the office. The photo below shows just a few of the children who have recently received Bibles. Joyce, who is based in Malaba, is also getting back into ministry following the birth of her third child. There have been many enquiries over the past few months so please pray for her as she follows them up. As always we appreciate your ongoing prayers for the work of God. Tonight I received the news that a meeting we spoke at on occasions would no longer be continuing. We were saddened by the news but appreciated being told. It means that no more prayer letters will be going to that little band of people; because there are few of them left.
Today, prayer is needed more than ever in the work of God. I wonder who will step into the gap that these dear people have left? So often we take names off our mailing list because people have died. In fact, almost every time we send out a new prayer letter, we have to remove someone's name because they have passed away. Sometimes it is because people's interests have changed and that is understandable. We do thank God, that as names are removed, God adds others to the list. We are thankful for new contacts who learn about us and are interested to know more and most importantly to pray. To really pray effectively you need to be informed. Informed about the every day ministries of Feed my Lambs and of the individuals involved in it. There is no doubt that we don't need to know the ins and outs of a situation to pray about it...because God knows. But it is also very essential to have those praying for us very specifically with very definite requests and indeed very definite thanks to God for answers to prayer. A few days ago we emailed out our latest prayer letter and today we have posted a large quantity of these letters. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please do let us know and we will be happy to keep you informed. Likewise, if you no longer wish to receive our emails or especially printed copies, then please do what the lady has done this evening and let us know not to send them so that resources are not wasted. We understand that the focus of people's prayers and support change from time to time and we will certainly not be offended if you feel you should no longer receive our updates. We thank God for each and every person who does sincerely pray for the work and assure you it is never taken for granted. Summer has come and almost gone in a flash. Posts have been fewer; but we look forward to continuing to update you more regularly over the coming weeks.
We spent the month of July in Africa and the Lord really blessed. We thank Him for opportunities to meet with those who pray for us and to visit Churches and Schools which are filled with children who need the Saviour. We thank God for His leading for the future. We have been praying much for Kenya over the election period and we thank God that life has now largely returned to normal. Joyce hopes to return to ministry; following the birth of her 3rd child; in a few weeks time. This past week we have been representing Feed my lambs at a missionary convention. It was a privilege to have the stand there for 5 evenings and to distribute literature about the work. It was a joy to be able to explain the work to those who were interested. Last night we were able to share in a meeting. Another new opening and a privilege to join with those of God's people who are interested in missions. Today has been about catching up on emails and correspondence as well as some other admin. Our next prayer letter has already been put together and so tomorrow the printing process will continue. We hope to be posting later this week. Our prayer letter is also available by email. Looking ahead we will be sharing at another missionary convention in September. We also have quite a number of meetings booked for the latter part of this year and appreciate your prayers for those. Moving into 2018 and again we have bookings and are especially thankful for those new opportunities. A series of 12 messages will also be shared over the course of as many weeks in a local venue and I appreciate prayer as I prepare for these meetings. Over the coming months we wish to see more progress in some of the ministries which have opened up to us. This can only happen through the prayers of God's people. We trust you will consider standing with us. |
Read on for...regular updates and thoughts from Northern Ireland and Africa... Archives
August 2022
Categories |