Sunday Supplications...

PRAISE!

-That the Lord has brought us to 38 weeks in this pregnancy. We continue to be in awe of this miracle after 6 years. We are so thankful for the Lords perfect timing as we have learned SO very much in this 6 year wait!

-God is speaking to us and guiding this ministry so evidently. We are watching him "iron things out" before our eyes!

-We praise Him for giving us great friends in Kenya who encourage and lift us up.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Lift up friends of ours who are returning to Sudan tomorrow with their 6 week old little girl. They have been here for 2 months for her delivery. Pray that they will trust God completely with the health and well being of their new born. They are anxious to get back to the people, but I can only imagine the anxiety that comes with taking a new born into a war torn area. How the Lord must smile at such obedient servants.

-Lift up Sudan as Renegade Generals threaten the Unity of the South's SPLA as the Independence Referendum Approaches.

-Ebenezer Farms' first batch of chicks hatched this past week. Please pray our partners get a few "kinks" worked out- as they lost about 60% of the first 300. This was a major frustration this past week.

-Pray that the container of food arrives this week. After Monday would be ideal since we have a Doctors' apt and only 1 car. (Chris must be there when it arrives)

- Grace Kriegel will be interning with us this summer. Pray for her preparations, family that she will be away from, time here, and travel to Kenya on Wednesday.

- We are setting a goal of November for 3 more of the Saint Boys to be ready to test for placement in a local school. Pray that they focus and work hard. Pray for Deo, Issa, and Grace who will work intently with them over the next 6+ months. (Pray that God opens up the right school(s) for them too!)

Thanks for your prayers, love, and support! You are a powerful force who help us, not only be defensive against the enemy, but offensive as well! You are loved.

Maggie's Story...(by Dottie Shealy)

Maggie was born in October 2005, eight months later she was diagnosed with meningitis. She was very sick for quite awhile. This affected her mental and physical development. Maggie's father left the family, which isn't uncommon in this culture. It is often seen as bad luck to have a child with disabilities. Leah, Maggie's mother, had a good job working at the airport and was able to support herself and Maggie. She was also able to provide Maggie with physical therapy. The physical therapy helped Maggie develop neck control and other issues, however about 2 1/2 years ago she lost her job. This ended Maggie's physical therapy. Leah had to take on odd jobs, mostly doing laundry, to make ends meet. She had to wash the clothes in small basins on the ground with Maggie on her back. This was becoming very difficult as Maggie grew larger. Leah was loosing all hope for a future for her and her daughter.

In February a team from North Wilkesboro, NC was in Nairobi. We went to a ladies conference led by Kay Chenowith. After the conference Lindy took us to Heshima (a center for disabled/ special needs children) to see the children and to purchase some jewelry (made by the Mothers of the children). The group of ladies were very impressed with the way Heshima Children's Center ministered not only to the children but also their mothers.

A few days later this same team was in Kakamega for Conferences for men and women, and a one day Bible School at an orphanage. On Sunday we attended church at Berith Life Center in Kakamega, where Pastor John Imala asked for prayer for his daughter and granddaughter. He told us that his granddaughter had been effected by a disease and was not able to walk or talk. He also mentioned that the father had abandon them and his daughter was without a job and had lost hope. On our way back to the hotel, all the ladies knew that we needed to get her to Heshima, but the team was to leave in just a few days.

Frank and I would be staying for another 10 days, so we promised to do what we could to get help for this family. We all prayed that if this was the Lord's will that we would be able to make contact with Leah, take Maggie to Heshima, that they would have room for her, and we could find a place nearby for them to live.

We did make contact with Leah, went to visit her, met Maggie and fell in love with her. She is such a sweet happy child. Leah has been a great mother. We took Maggie to Heshima for evaluation, she was a perfect fit for the center. One problem, they were full. Frank and I were so disappointed, I just said a silent prayer for God to make a way. In just a moment Tracey said that she felt like they could make room for one more. She said that God had spoken to her and said it is all about the one. Or something like that. God had also been dealing with me about ministering to the one. Now that was taken care of we now had to find a place for them to live. After looking all afternoon we couldn't find a place in our price range. We told Thomas our problem and asked if he would see if he knew anyone that might be able to help find her a place to live. He did the very next day! We were able to move her in on the Saturday before we returned to the US on Tuesday.

Isn't God Good!!

Maggie will have to have surgery to correct her club fett in July. We have hope for her future and for Leah's future. Many people in our home town have been touched by her story and have made contributions to her surgery and as well as to the ministry at Heshima Children's Center. Please pray for Leah, Maggie and Heshima Children's Center. You can go to www.heshima.org to see more about what their ministry.

Sunday Supplications...

PRAISES!

Remember Lucy?

PRIASE THE LORD HER HUSBAND IS ALIVE! He called from Sudan and he is okay. Now they are trying to get him back home from Sudan, but have run into a few obstacles. Of course, Lucy and the kids are elated.

The team from MI has had an amazing and successful trip.

Ezra has flipped around and is now laying in the perfect position for "go time."

The chicks hatch in 3-4 days! (It sure would be nice if Ezra would hatch as well!)

PRAYER REQUESTS:

The new container of food arrives in Mombassa this week. Pray for it to clear customs without glitches and arrive in Nairobi before June 1st.

Johnny, one of the St. Boys, has been sick this week. Questionable Malaria and Typhoid.

Pray for us and Issa as we try and make decision on a school for him. He has never been beyond 8th grade. We feel this opportunity for school is vital to his future.

Extreme St. Boys Home Makeover...

(See video below. The "professional" blogger got on and fixed it :) Promise it works now!

...Okay, maybe not THAT extreme- but they sure were excited.

The MI team came and helped us move beds, lamps, shelves, and rugs into the boys house. After trekking through the muck and mud of Kawangware, our caravan of furniture arrived at it's destination. Everyone was carrying something. Even James and Dan broke a sweat lugging pieces of bed frames or shelves to their tiny home. Now the rain which had fallen for 5 consecutive days made this job harder than normal. It's why we "hand-delivered" the furniture to their house instead of simply driving it there.

After everyone dropped off their stuff, Cameron, Issa, Johnny, and I remained behind to put the beds together and arrange the room...

... it looked cool once we were finished! All of us had big smiles when we surveyed this "home". They whole way back I kept thinking about what their expressions would be once they came home from school to see their house. And that made me smile even more!

Here's a quick video of Johnny doing his impersonation of "Cribs". (Mtv show)

Supplication Sunday...

Prayer requests:

I found out Maggie's surgery on her club feet will be July 18th at Kijabi Mission Hospital. Please pray they Lord prepares he little heart and body for what she will have to endure to fix her feet.

Pray for the boys school and that God will provide schools for them down the road.

Ebenezer Farms and its growing potential for our partners with the new incubator. (First chicks to hatch this Thrusday!)

Pastor Indiazi's Farm in Busia recently lost 45 full grown chickens. Pray the problem is quickly identified and corrected.

Continue to lift up our family and Ezra as his arrival approaches. (Ultrasound on Tuesday to check his size and MD appointment Thursday.)

Praises!

The MI team has had a great trip thus far. The boys have already forever changed them.

Chris and I celebrate 7 years of marriage today!

The boys got new furniture in their house- (check back in tomorrow for pics and video).

Sunday Supplications...on Tuesday

I'm already failing! The first part of Graig's group arrived Saturday night and of course it was a LATE night because we had to play catch up. Sunday was busy with church, lunch at the Chancey's and then it was way past time for a nap for me. (I was so proud of myself that I hadn't napped all week, but after all- it was SUNDAY- the day of rest). Sorry, I honestly just forgot.

So, with no further ado here are our prayer requests for this week:

The rest of G's team comes in tonight and we are excited! They are all so ready and eager to serve! Pray for them for the next 2 weeks- that God would use them in new and amazing ways here. Pray for those they will meet and the hearts that will be touched. Pray for boldness for each of them- the boldness of John and Peter in Acts 4.

This is miss Maggie- I would like to put her whole story up on the blog soon, but need to chat with Dottie and Frank first. But for now, I will just tell you that Maggie is to have surgery soon on her feet to correct a congenital problem she has lived with since birth. Right now, she has casts on both feet that are probably driving her crazy (if she could tell you that- i think she would.) Pray that these casts do their job soon so she can get this surgery over and done with. She's ready for her new feet! I will let you know when the surgery is scheduled.

Praise!

Ali (our house-mate) is back and safe from her Amani trip to Liberia. She had an amazing trip with lots of stories to share. There was a lot of spiritual warfare the team experienced, but they saw the Lord work in so many incredible ways. Continue praying for the remaining Amani team still in Liberia.

600 fertilized eggs going into the incubator. Let the fun begin!

The first person to comment on the quiz correctly was Mr and Mrs. Felix Negron. You were right! It is indeed an incubator! In fact, last night 600 eggs arrived at our house! We are so excited about what hatching our own chicks will do for Ebenezer Farms. We're proud of our partners too- that they are working so hard on this. Everyone seems to be becoming more and more self sufficient.

Noah stayed late with the guy that delivered the eggs. It was dark when he headed home after telling his wife, Lucy, he would be late. After he got off the matatu, 2 men grabbed him, punched him in the side and told him to give them his cell phone and money. Noah gave them the 2,700 shillings he had on him (about $33) and his cell phone. We learned all this today when he showed up for work. Chris and I are going to get him a new phone today- we feel terrible that we didn't take him home. We certainly will next time. We don't want any of our partners to have to go home in the dark. It's normally not a common occurrence. I suppose it could happen during the day, but it's much less likely when people can see. Noah said he's fine today- he's actually slaughtering chickens right now as I type this. Let's remember to lift up our partners on a daily basis, please. Not just on Sunday when we read "Sunday Supplications". And not that "They be without trials." That would be praying contrary to scripture. In scripture, we are ALL guaranteed persecution and trials in our Christian walk.

2 Timothy 3:12-13 "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."

James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

It's our attitude through these trials though. Will we "Consider it pure JOY?" or will we react like the rest of the world? Lately, I feel as though I have been failing miserably at this. I asked myself "How can I fix this? Fix my attitude and reactions to these things?" Clear answer: Spend more time in God's Word. PERIOD.