We thank God for His love over this past year. It was a year when we had many encouragements in the work of FML. Many children were enrolled on our lessons and more lessons were printed and shipped. Bibles were distributed and we had many opportunities to share in new venues and Churches where we hadn't been before. The market was steady all year round and we thank Him for that. We enjoyed our trip to Kenya in July and thank God that He opened up a new office for us after a few years of searching. We were also delighted to visit Uganda for the first time and thank God for our new friends there. While we welcomed baby Joseph into the FML family, we said goodbye to my much loved dad.
In my home there hangs a little calendar which goes back many years. As a child I remember it hanging on the wall in my grandmother's house. There are two little dogs on a see-saw and I used to enjoy making them go up and down. The words at the top say "Life's full of ups and downs, but keep smiling". There have been many ups and downs this year. Many times when we have smiled, many times when it was hard to smile. But in every situation, God has been with us. We look forward to a new year. A year when we can come closer to God. A year when the work of FML can move forward in it's efforts to see boys and girls saved. A year which we hope will see plans take shape and dreams fulfilled. A year which we pray will have more ups than downs. A year when we have assurance that God is still with us, even if the downs come. A year which we trust will be lived for our Saviour and count for Him. Thank you to those of you who have prayed for us throughout 2013. We continue to value your prayers as we enter 2014. May we wish you and your family a peaceful and blessed New Year.
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William and I; as well as the entire FML team in Northern Ireland, Kenya and Uganda; would like to thank you all very much for your prayers and support for the work and for us personally over this past year. There have been great encouragements and we have many happy memories of our trip to Kenya and Uganda in July. We thank God for the gift of life with the birth of little Joseph in October. It has also been one of our most difficult times with the loss of our friend Billy, William's granny, my uncle Jackie and of course my dad Cecil as well as some relatives of some of our African team; all in the space of 10 months. The Lord has helped and we have been conscious of the prayers of our supporters holding us up through it all.
And so, in thanking you for your prayers, love, financial support and practical support, we would just like to wish you a very Blessed Christmas. May you have a peaceful and happy time with family and friends and may you always be conscious of the love of our dear Saviour whose birth we remember and give thanks for, especially at this time of year. We thank God for the best gift of all....the gift of His Son to save us from our sin. God Bless William and Pamela....for the entire team of FML. This week Pastor Aringo and Moses hope to travel to Uganda to meet with Joyce and discuss the work. There have been a few hiccups, so please pray that all will work out if this is God's time or that they will have know if it is better to wait until the new year. Pastor Aringo also has a lot of lessons packed for areas upcountry and we pray that God will provide for these to be transported.
We thank God for help given to Moses and his team as they held various children's events over the past few weeks. Not all were connected to FML, but we thank the Lord that we can join in prayers for these efforts to bring the Gospel to the children. We are discussing a new venture for FML in this area for next year and we ask that you pray we will know direction and wisdom and whether or not to proceed. Here in UK I only have 3 more days left in the office before Christmas. We will be at the market on Friday and Saturday as normal and then there will be additional opening on Monday and Tuesday of next week. It will then be closed for the last weekend of December, reopening again on 3rd January. We thank God for His continued help. Saturday past was probably one of the hardest days we have ever had weather wise. It was not cold or snowing....but the wind was making things very difficult. Everything kept blowing off the table and the customers were few and far between. We hope the final few days before the holidays will be calm and busy! Our office in Nairobi will have different opening hours this week, so please contact Pastor Aringo or myself if you need anything before the holidays. It will also reopen as normal in the New Year. Please continue to pray that God will lead, guide and provide for the final few weeks of this year and beyond. Our latest prayer letter; which comes out every few months; has now been completed and printed. Most will be emailed or posted today. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, then please either send your email address or postal address with number of copies required to [email protected] and we'll be happy to add you to our list so that you can keep up to date and pray for us.
And so we begin the final month of the year. It has flown by. As I began our blog at the beginning of December last year; 2012; I was sharing how Bibles had been presented, a children's rally had been held and we were looking forward to holding an awareness day in a local supermarket.
Since then there has been progress and many changes; more Bibles have been presented; more lessons are on their way to Africa; a new office has been acquired; we enjoyed being in Uganda and Kenya; sadness came into our lives with the homecall of dad; we experienced happiness as we welcomed little Joseph into the world .....but....still one thing remains the same....we still have many boys and girls to reach with the Gospel and it is our desire to continue to do this. Please continue to pray with us that these children will come to know the Lord as their Saviour and be ready for Heaven. Our latest prayer letter should be printed this week and distributed soon after. Please contact us if you wish to be added to the mailing list so that you can pray more effectively. Keep up the good work. A few days ago I spent some time speaking to Moses who is our representative in the Nakuru area of Kenya. The school ministry was finishing the following day for the Christmas season. Schools will soon break up for the holidays. He was very encouraged by the ministry in the schools and we hope to share some photographs with you soon. Please remember the team as they will be involved in more outreach among the children over the next few weeks. This will include a camp. Although is not directly an FML ministry at this stage, we ask you to pray that young people will come to know the Lord during these activities.
At the beginning of December Moses and Pastor Aringo hope to travel to Mombasa to conduct some training. Please pray that God will provide for transport. Also they will be travelling to Uganda to visit Joyce. The team hope to meet every few months for a time of prayer and discussion of the work and will move around the different areas so that each area is visited and the travelling is fairly shared. As Joyce has recently given birth, the next meeting will be in Uganda. Again, please pray that finances will be available for transport. In Uganda, interest has been shown in our lessons in Kampala and we look forward to children being enrolled in that area once the course has been explained to them and application forms have been filled. We are delighted that Every Home Crusade/Revival Movement have agreed to print more of our lessons and will be shipping them to Kenya in the near future. In both Kenya and Uganda, there is now an urgent need for around 1500 Bibles. 100 will be transported in the container alongside the lessons, but that still leaves a huge amount which are needed over the next few months. This is a huge financial need but we know and believe that God is able to meet it and we ask you to pray to this end. Back in Northern Ireland and the meeting that William and I were due to speak at on Sunday evening was cancelled at the last minute and rescheduled for a date in January. We look forward to sharing then. The market was steady at the weekend and we thank God for His provision through this ministry and for the opportunity to share in this way. We have discussing how the funds are used and we ask you to pray that we will know wisdom in the distribution. Thank you again for praying for us through another week. Please continue to remember us. Thanks to all of you who prayed for the meeting I was speaking at last week. It was a really encouraging time. Numbers were bigger than I expected as ladies from other Churches had been invited. Quite a lot of literature was taken by those who attended and great interest was shown. It was also quite emotional for me as many of the ladies either recognised my dad from the market and hadn't made the connection until they saw his photo and also many of them knew him from years back.
This weekend William and I will share at a meeting in another new venue. We are very much looking forward to this and appreciate your prayers as we take part. We have also been contacted by one of our prayer partners who is trying to arrange a meeting for us also in yet another venue where we haven't been before. We are so grateful to God for these openings and continue to appreciate your prayers for us. With regard to dad; a few weeks ago we were so encouraged that a school in Uganda we work with had raised money in memory of him. Yesterday we received photos from India of a free medical clinic which was held in dad's memory. So humbling. The market was so busy at the weekend. We had so many deliveries of blocks, coal etc. The cold weather certainly has it's advantages for us. We pray that this will continue to be a fruitful ministry.
This week I will also have the privilege of sharing about our work at a Church I have never been to before. Please pray that the ladies who will gather will find it interesting and be burdened to pray for us. We are also aware of another new opening for a meeting and are waiting for confirmation on this. Please pray for the group of students who have been studying our child protection course. They are currently working on their final assignment and we look forward to issuing certificates very soon. Lately there has been a great demand for our training both at home and abroad and value your prayers for this ministry and trust we will have wisdom in planning the way ahead. We are delighted that already there has been interest in the new Child Protection Course which will begin in January and enrolment has begun. Please continue to pray that God will bring the work forward. So many plans, so many decisions to make, so many needs....but we thank God that He is able. Thank you again for your support. We thank God that the work is going on well. In our office in Nairobi there is a lot of marking at the moment and we pray for Pastor Aringo and the few others who are helping him to get through the work.
In Uganda, Bibles have been presented for the first time. These went to a group of students who will soon be leaving primary school when term ends in December and so FML will not have as much contact with them in the future. We pray that the Word of God will be precious to them and buried in their hearts. Photo to follow. Pray also that we may indeed be able to develop the work so that contact is not lost when children leave Primary School. It was cold and wet at the market at the weekend....but that means it was also busy with coal, blocks etc. We thank God for His continued help in this part of the work. We hope to have a full prayer letter issued within the next few weeks and will be able to update you more fully. God Bless you for praying. We thank God for His continued help as the work continues and we make plans for the future.
The school ministry continues to go well in the Nakuru area as 25 schools are now being reached on a regular basis. Lessons continue to be distributed across many areas in Kenya and we thank God for every child who is hearing the Gospel. Remembering the work in Uganda also and praying that God will continue to open doors there. The Lord helped at a few meetings last week and we give Him the glory. We look forward to another meeting soon. Remember, in Northern Ireland in particular, we are happy to receive bookings to speak at meetings and share about the work. As Winter approaches, so the market is becoming busier again with the demand for wood and coal on the increase again. Please pray that this will continue to be a productive part of the ministry. We continue to thank you for your prayers over past weeks and ask you to remember us in the coming days. |
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August 2022
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