Kenya Missions Update

September 28, 2005

Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus the Christ!

Last week was a busy and exciting week, in this prayer letter, I just want to share these three days with you.

Sergoit – Wednesday the 21st

Sergoit is an area about 20 miles from Eldoret. When a large company that owned thousand of acres in this area left, they gave the swampy area to it’s workers for their "retirement" benefits. At that time, it was really a swamp, you needed boots to walk in it. It slopes to the center and a stream takes away the water. Yusuf Shimoli, one of our Christians, looked at it with some friends of mine and said this is a gold mine. Yusuf has bought two acres in the swamp. Because of my friends and him, they put in ditches and drained off the water. If you go there now, you will see ditches everywhere. You will see about 600 homes in the area. You will see maize (corn) doing very well in the drained soil. The value of the land has shot up for the sale price of three years ago of Ksh. 20,000 ($266) to Ksh. 80,000 ($1,067)per acre.

By the way, we the church owns 1 acre in the swamp. The church has built a house which is used by the Sunday school and youth. The adults have not yet turned up in big numbers, but the youth have. One of the reasons for this is that Yusuf and his family have always been a place for the youth to ‘hang out’ at their home. They do have the gifting for working with the youth. The youth have planted beans on about 1/3 acre and other church families on about 1/3 of the land.

Now in Kenya, we are about to enter into the season for short rains and by November, the rains will stop until late March or early April. During this time, the price of vegetables will go up. So, today we are going to do two things. One is to have a community day of planting seeds in seedbeds to show them how to do it. These seeds will then be transplanted in about 4 weeks. There is a 4 acre plot by the stream, which is in the process of being cleaned of cattails and grasses by several families (Christians and non-Christians). It is the first year that I have seen the people in this swamp to have hope and work together for the good of their families. I bought them seeds and fertilizer to encourage the good things that they have started.

Secondly, I bought and gave away blue gum (eucalyptus) trees. The sermon that day was on a very small seed becoming a big tree. And how the seed of Jesus needs to be planted in your heart! In this swamp there are no trees naturally, but now that it drained these trees will do very well. One of the main problems in the area is lack of firewood for cooking.

Big meeting on Saturday the 24th

I hosted a special meeting on this day at the Pioneer Church here in town. I invited 69 people of our fellowship for a special meeting. In attendance were 43. I was asked by the leaders after the August Elders/leaders meeting to host a meeting so that they could talk with lady representatives and others who did not come to the Elders/leaders meeting. They wanted to discuss how they see the movement that was started in 1982 was going and also discuss ways that we can have better communication among the churches. Another meeting is scheduled for December 17th.

Kaimosi Sunday the 25th

Church in Kenya is a bit different than that in America. Church usually starts around 11 AM and ends someplace around 2 or so. Children can sit in their seats for most of that time, but their little energy usually burst out before church is over. So, that is when Grace, Kirsten, and Ruth break out the American colors and the small children gather around us or outside to begin the task at hand. Yesterday, the bench in front of us was empty and that became the major coloring spot. When church got over, a little girl looked at me and said, "can we take these home"? Before I answered, she and a little boy talked and he said that he wanted also to take his home as well. I wish I could express the joy in their eyes when I said, "Yes, you can take them home!" There is one hazard though. One Sunday, I went out after the church service to find the car to be the coloring paper!!!

Kirsten and Ruth Korner

One morning was very special on our walk to catch Kirsten’s lift to school. Yesterday in school, she was given a small Bible. On the way to school, she said that she plans to sleep with her Bible, so that she can have only sweet dreams. Isn’t that wonderful, we should take Jesus to bed with us! Then as we sat to wait for her ride, a big truck came with a big machine on it. It stopped and they proceeded to put a stone under the wheels to prevent it from rolling. Kirsten asks, "How can that little stone prevent that big truck from rolling?" I replied, "It is the same with our faith, it only takes a little faith to cause big things to happen in our lives!"

How wonderful it is to read! We are so pleased with the program that we have put Kirsten in (ACE) Accelerated Christian Education. She is reading so well in her first grade. Now it has become a problem of sorts. Ruth really wants to read. One morning she sat in Grace’s lap and said teach me to read like Kirsten, expecting to be taught in just a few minutes. Almost every day Ruth will say, "Daddy am I going to Eagle Academy (Kirsten’s school) today?" "No, Ruth not until next year." "Tomorrow?" "No not until next year." "The day after tomorrow?" "No, not until you finish school where you are going and then Christmas holiday and then you can go to Kirsten’s school."

If I were a betting man, I’d bet that tonight I might be doing something that almost everyone of you have never done. September 12th, after supper, we were listening to a worship song and sitting as a family around a stool. On the stool is a special basket, about 2 feet wide, not so deep, maybe 5 inches. Each of us was removing the maize from the cobs, yes by hand. Now I know many from the older generation would say, we have done that many times. But my question to you would be, "was your basket smeared with cow dung?" Ours is and you have the aroma of the manure as well. But, this basket is the special gift from one of our Christians. This basket is used to clean the grains in the wind. Sounds like something you might read about in the Bible doesn’t it.

Our devotional thought for the night was the power of the seed. We guessed that on one cob were 300 kernels. So, one seed produced 300. Plant those 300 and you multiply to 90,000 seeds. Plant those and you will get 27,000,000. Multiplication of the seed. Now, if you tell one person about Jesus and they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and they go and tell two others and those two go and tell two others, etc., what will be the net effect one day???

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUESTS

Over the next month or so, I will be gone 4 of the 6 weekends. Please pray for Grace and the girls as I am gone out. Also, for the families of the men that I will be travelling with. Weekends are special times, especially Sundays when the family is together. So daddy will miss his girls and I am sure they will miss him.

Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 - I will be in Mafuta area with some elders. Fielden Allison from Mt. Elgon will bring some elders from that area for a meeting.

Either Oct. 8-9 or 22-23 - I will take a car load of elders and other men to Baringo to meet with the leaders in that area. It is about a 2 ½ drive from Eldoret.

Oct. 15-16 - I will go with a car load of elders to meet with elders and leaders in Eldama Ravine. This is about 2 hours from Eldoret.

Nov. 5-6 - I will be in Kapkeno, about an hour from home to meet with elders, probably late into the night. And then church on Sunday before coming home.

Pray that the Lord will give them and me wisdom for each of these meetings.

Serving Jesus in Kenya

Keith, Grace, Kirsten & Ruth Gafner