This past week Joel had opportunity to attend the AGM of a denomination in Kenya. We all very much appreciated the invitation and we are encouraged by the interest shown in the work of Feed my Lambs and in our materials. Quite a number of Pastors are intending to register the children in their Churches and we look forward to having them involved in our Bible Course. There was also great interest in our library materials and the teaching materials we are currently producing ourselves. Pray that there will be great fruit from this opportunity and that many children will hear the Gospel as a result. Pray that we may continue to be a great encouragement to the local Pastors and Children's Workers as they seek to reach out with the Word of God to children in their locality.
Over the weekend Joyce was able to travel to an area called Homa Bay. Homa Bay is in Western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria. Around 10 years ago my dad and I made a brief trip there but as the journey took longer than expected it was late by the time we arrived and we didn't really see too much in the end. Joyce was able to minister in a small Church in the area and the Pastor has been in contact with me to say how encouraged they are and are looking forward to our continued partnership in sharing the need of salvation with children in the area. We met Joel and Joyce during our very first time in Kenya in 2006 when they both attended our first training seminar. It is such an encouragement to still have them as good friends almost 11 years later and to see how they are serving God. Very often we find ourselves asking Joyce her opinion on matters and today I have been communicating with Joel and getting advice on certain issues. It is just a reminder that we are a team and we need each other. It could be easy for missionaries to be so carried away in serving and helping local people, that they can forget that they also need the locals. We certainly are very aware that the work of Feed my Lambs would not continue without national people on the ground and we are very thankful for those who play a part in the ministry which God has established.
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Many years ago my dad was encouraged to invest in what seemed like a very easy way to make money. There is a saying which goes like this, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is." Well, my dad soon became suspicious and realised the venture was something known as a "Pyramid Scheme". Defined by Wikipedia as follows:
"A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products or services. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly impossible, and most members are unable to profit; as such, pyramid schemes are unsustainable and often illegal." I heard my dad refer to this many times over the years as he recounted what had happened at the time. This past week I was again reminded of it as I had a discussion with a Kenyan Pastor about Pyramid Schemes. More and more people are told, more and more join the scheme. They may make some money in the short term, but in the end they loose because it becomes unsustainable as investors get fewer and fewer. Usually the only person to profit in the end is the one at the top. It got me thinking about the sharing the Gospel though. If only everyone who is saved would share the Gospel so keenly. Then more and more people would hear and be saved. The amazing thing is that the Gospel gives eternal life as we follow the Lord....it never becomes unsustainable and is open to all. I was reminded of a little chorus I used to sing with the children when I taught Sunday School..... "If you tell two people and I tell two people then four more people will know. If they tell two people and they tell two people then more and more people will know." It is easy to tell people about the latest news or who is doing what or the latest entertainments. What about sharing the Gospel so that more and more people will know? We thank God for opportunities in this past week to continue in service for the Lord. William has been leading meetings; yesterday he shared from God's word in the nursing home which was such a blessing; he has also been preparing for future meetings. I have played the organ at meetings; finished writing our prayer letter; marked Child Protection Assignments. Joyce has been caring for her own children who have been sick and continuing to oversee the work. Joel has been preparing to represent Feed my Lambs at an event this week. In different ways, we have been serving God so that more and more people will know. Pray for us this incoming week as we continue to serve the Lord. Thank you for your prayers over another week. We are grateful for opportunities to share about the ministry with those who had not heard of us or who knew very little about what we do. We thank God for these new openings.
Continue to pray for Joyce. She was delayed visiting an area of Kenya called Homa Bay due to some sickness with her children. We thank God that they are well again. I visited Homa Bay once with my dad and it was quite a long drive. Pray that Joyce will know safety as she travels. We appreciate your prayers for Eunice as she works in the office on a part time basis. Pray that the Lord will continue to help her as she marks lessons and carries out other admin work. Pray on for Joel who is finding his feet well. He is following up on various aspects of the work and getting to know those we work with. He will be representing FML at an event next week and would really value your prayers for this. He will have opportunity to share about our materials and library and we are trusting that those who attend will see the importance of reaching children with the Gospel. After a busy run of meetings here in Northern Ireland; William and myself have caught our breath a little this past week as we only had to share in one meeting on Wednesday morning. We thank God for His help during that time and in other aspects of the work throughout the week. We continue to value your prayers in the day to day running of the organisation and our individual tasks within in the ministry. Last night we attended a meeting and heard God's servant share of how he goes on board ships that sail into Northern Ireland and shares the Gospel with the crew. Often these men and women will be from countries where it is difficult to bring the Gospel, yet here they are being brought to our shores. They are hungry for the Gospel. Just another reminder and indeed a challenge of how blessed we are in Northern Ireland and yet how laid back we sometimes are in regards to serving God. Let's not opt for the easy life....let's spend and be spent for God. On 30 August 2001 I underlined a verse in my Bible. I was reminded of this verse as I thought of last week's blog and email which was sent out to prayer partners. We shared details of the drought which is being experienced in Kenya, Uganda and indeed in other surrounding countries. We shared photos of children starving to death. It is fair to say that, while there have been those who have been praying; the response so far to the appeal for practical help has been disappointing. We leave the situation in God's hands and trust that His people will be burdened to pray and do what is in their power to do. But it got me thinking about this verse in Lamentations 4 : 4. As I looked it up, I saw another verse which I had underlined on that same date in 2001. As my dad and I prepared to visit Kenya for the first time in 2006, these verses were precious to me. Our aim then and in the years which have followed has been to feed the children spiritually with the bread of life. Boys and girls are hungry for the Word of God.
But today I have looked at these verses and been reminded of the drought in Africa. I have thought about the response received over this past week and I have wondered to myself...how can people turn a blind eye to images of children fading away to nothing because of lack of food. The weak body can be seen, the cries can be heard. Have we become so hardened and so caught up in our own lives that we have little concern for others? And then I considered the soul....the soul of the child which cannot be seen. The soul of the child here in the UK, or in other parts of the world, even in parts of Africa....the soul of the child who is not physically starving, but who is healthy and has the best of everything. Yet, that child is also dying. Fading away spiritually. Now the question comes....if we can so quickly turn a blind eye to a child that is dying physically and we can ignore the pain and suffering which can be seen....then how much more easy is it to ignore the plight of the soul which can't be seen? And so as I turned the pages of Lamentations, reminding myself of these two precious verses which can perhaps be applied to the physical and the spiritual; I noticed yet another verse I had underlined in Lamentations 1 : 12. This time there was no date beside it...but the challenge is still very relevant today.... Perhaps this is a question we all need to ask ourselves when we consider the children; those who are physically dying.....but also as we should consider; with even more urgency; those who are spiritually dying. We are so thankful for God's help over another week when we have had numerous opportunities to share about the work of Feed my Lambs; more details in our prayer letter which will be issued soon.
However, our hearts today are heavy for those in Kenya and Uganda who are suffering because of the severe drought which has hit the countries. Our dear co-worker Joyce has met with those this past week who are suffering because of the current situation. Please click here to read more and please do consider helping if you are able. Thank you. We thank God for His help at the missionary weekend which ended a week ago today. We believe the Lord really blessed all involved and we thank Him for the opportunities we had to share of the ministry we are involved in. Throughout the weekend we were reminded by various speakers of the verses in Romans 10 : 13 - 15. In particular verse 14 which says: And so the phrase which has been in our minds over this past week has been, "How shall they hear? As we heard missionaries share during the weekend from various countries we were challenged as to the need across the world. We were challenged as to the need on our doorstep.
Yesterday evening we attended a meeting in our local mission hall. The couple who shared told us of people they had previously worked amongst. People who had no Gospel witness in their tribe. As a result, and because of their hunger to hear....they walked for around 3 days journey, every 3 weeks for 20 years to plead that missionaries come and tell them. "How shall they hear?" My mind went back to the time I spent almost 4 months in a country called Guinea-Bissau, in West Africa. As I spent that time with a missionary, we would drive along and villages would be pointed out to me and I was told of how there was no Gospel witness in that village. Village after village the story was the same. "How shall they hear?" When I went to that small country, many people in Northern Ireland had not heard of it. Today, people from Guinea-Bissau live in our town. "How shall they hear?" In the past week a rep from our Nairobi office has gone to visit a children's school which I have been communicating with. It is in a slum area of Nairobi and he had to take a motorcycle to reach the place. Too far to walk, but not easy for a car to access. Those who run the group were keen that the children be enrolled on our lessons so that they can be taught the Gospel. Today they have collected the first lesson so that the children can begin to study. A photograph was sent to me of some of the children. Among them, a little Muslim girl. "How shall they hear?" And yet there is another challenge. As we think this week of the phrase, "How shall they hear?"....we realise that of the 40 children from that school which have today been registered on our course....9 are deaf. "How shall they hear?" A people group all of their own. Often cut off from people and the community around them. Yet, those who need to hear the Gospel. We thank God that He has been leading in ways we had not expected. Opening doors we had not anticipated. Answering prayer so that the physically deaf and the spiritually deaf may hear. What about your friends and family? What about those you work with? What about those who live around our Churches and Mission Halls? How shall they hear?......Can you tell them?.....How shall they hear? Our team have been busy this week and we thank God for technology which allows us to communicate easily with them and keep up to date with what they are doing.
Joyce has been continuing to mark lessons, attend to visitors and to make plans for trips to Nakuru in Kenya and also Nyanza province later in the month. Both of these are to visit Churches and Schools who use our lessons. We thank God for provision which has made these trips possible. We pray that those in the areas will be encouraged. Pastor Samuel has been assisting us with some plans for the coming months and we appreciate deeply his help. Eunice is attending college so is working reduced hours in our Nairobi office. Pray for her as she finalises numbers for Bible distribution. This is very important. Joel has been adjusting so well and we are encouraged with the great help he has been to work in these early days. Please continue to pray for his family. William braved a ladies' meeting on Tuesday evening and shared a powerpoint presentation of the work. We thank God for the interest shown. On Wednesday evening he attended a committee meeting for the mission hall we attend and last night he was leading a meeting. It has been a busy week. For myself, I also enjoyed the ladies meeting and thank God for helping me as I shared. The end of the month brings lots of figures and accounts for me to sort in the office and am thankful for keeping on top of this. My week has involved working alongside those in Africa planning events and activities for the coming months. We have a number of meetings booked for the month of February and we are thankful for each opportunity. This incoming weekend, Feed my Lambs will be represented at a local missionary convention. Pray that there will be good opportunities to share of the work as people visit our stand. Pray that people will be burdened to sign up for our prayer news. Pray also for the other mission agencies who will be represented, especially those who will speak in the meetings. We thank God for all He is doing in these days and thank you for your continued support. Over the past number of weeks a word which has been coming to me very often has been the word "Rest". In verses of hymns, in poems, in verses of scriptures, in sermons, in pictures, in daily readings..... it just seems to have cropped up everywhere. The thought has been much on my mind.
When we think of rest we may perhaps think of sleep, being able to sit and do very little and take it easy. Maybe we think of a Sunday.... the day of rest which God has given us so that we can not only rest our bodies from work but also have time set apart to worship Him. As this word has continually been brought before me over past weeks I have shared time and time again with William. It has been amazing how it has so often fitted into our circumstances at that particular time; whether in our personal lives or in the work of Feed my Lambs....it has always been relevant. Thinking of the different times that the word has caught my attention over these past days I have felt that what God has been saying is "Rest".... not sleep, not relax, not take it easy..... but rest in ME. Rest in God. Have peace in Him. In every situation, rest in God. I thank God for the rest and peace God has given in these recent weeks. Rest in the busy days which seem to go past so quickly. Rest even when you feel tired at 9am. Rest in new situations and surroundings. Rest when you see just how His timing is perfect. Rest when He confirms over and over His will. Rest when there are distractions. Rest when the devil hits you at your weakest point. Rest during the smiles. Rest when there has been tears. Rest when you are stretched to your limits. Rest when people frustrate you. Rest when you are nervous about new challenges. Rest when you can't see beyond today. Rest when funds are low for the work. Rest when God provides in ways you could not have imagined. Rest when you can't understand His timing. Rest when you look back and know His time was perfect. Yes the past few weeks have found us in everyone of these situations either in our personal lives or in the work and sometimes both. At times theses situations have been big life changing decisions and big decisions for the work. Other times it has been every day frustrations like trying to sort a problem in our office on the other side of the world. Yet, while in times past such situations have brought fluster and panic, I can look back at how many emotions we have gone through since the beginning of 2017 and say honestly that in every one of these times, God has given complete rest. God has brought that word before me often, just as a little reminder, just in case I would forget. But the peace of God has brought a settled peace in my heart and that is something I can never forget. For William and I as we go through this busy week. Pray for continued rest. A lot of meetings to attend. Numerous opportunities to share about the work of FML. A lot to be done in the office. Other decisions in the ministry. Decisions in our home. Messages to be prayed over and prepared. Waiting on email confirmations regarding the months ahead. Trying to sort yet more African official requirements. But in everything, we trust God for rest. For Joyce; she has spent another week ministering to boys and girls and registering new groups on our programme. She is a busy Pastor's wife and a mother of two young children. Pray that in this week ahead she will know rest. For those in our Nairobi office. For Eunice as she tries to adjust to some studies in the midst of confusion. Pray for rest. For Joel as he adjusts to his new role within Feed my Lambs. As he learns. Pray for rest. As more boys and girls are reached with the Gospel, pray that they too may enter into this blessed rest. This rest that brings peace and joy deep down even when the storms rage around us. This rest which will one day bring us to our eternal rest. Last night William was flicking through an old Bible that he would have used a number of years ago. He began reading various verses to me that he had previously highlighted. It was encouraging to look back on promises which God had given him in the past and to see that none of them had failed. Yet, also an encouragement to take those promises into the future....in our personal lives and in the work of Feed my Lambs. He was reminded through those highlighted verses that God never leaves nor forsakes. Over the past couple of weeks I have had a hymn in my mind. It isn't one I know well, but we sang it in a meeting and since then it has been running round in my head. The first verse goes like this: As we swiftly go through this first month of 2017 and make plans for the incoming year it is wonderful to know that God goes with us. To know that He has promised in those highlighted verses that He never leaves us and to know from the verse of this hymn that God's will and plan is best for our lives and although we may not sometimes understand how God is leading, we can know that He knows best and have a peace and contentment in following Him.
These are great encouragements to us in the work of Feed my Lambs. Not only to us but to the rest of the team. We want everything we do to be within God's will and plan. Then we can know that He will surely go with us. As William and I and the rest of the team plan for more sharing in meetings; as we write materials; as we evangelise children; as we pack knitted hats; as we make travel arrangements; as we mark lessons; as we make decisions for future ministry.....there will be times when we don't understand why things will work out differently to what we had imagined. But we can always know that God's timing is best, that He never leaves and that even when we don't understand.....we know that by His side stands one who His our Saviour. The one that we love and the one that we determine to serve in the coming days. Please do pray for each of the team. Pray that in this incoming week and indeed in this incoming year, they will know God's leading in every aspect of their lives and ministry and that we will see great things accomplished for our Saviour in the coming days. It almost seems too late now to be wishing you a Happy New Year! However, we are indeed thankful for a new year and for God's blessings in the days which have passed since our last blog. Although we have been quiet here, things have been moving on with the work. Our team enjoyed some family time over Christmas and are now back to ministry. Despite being unwell over the holidays Joyce has continued to keep the work moving on. One responsibility this week will involve meeting a young Pastor who ministers in a prison as well as among young people. Pray that God will guide clearly as to partnership for future ministry. Eunice is back in our Nairobi office. Various circumstances mean that she will mainly only work two days each week. Over the next few weeks she will be setting up a new computer based system for some of the work. Our Nairobi office has a new team member. We will share more about him in the near future. We have known this man for many years and he has previous experience in marking our lessons etc. He also specialises in another form of ministry and there are plans to use this to develop a new form of outreach within FML. We are excited about this. He will also spend time visiting centres on the two days when Eunice is in the office. He will then be based in the office during the remaining days. Eunice will also visit some centres when he is in the office. More details coming soon. Another young man; Pastor Samuel; is someone who perhaps doesn't get enough recognition for his labours. He assists Joyce with marking and has been very faithful in volunteering for the past number of years. He has also been responsible for a number of people enrolling on our online Child Protection Course. He is helping me at the minute with another project and this is very much appreciated. William is praying much regarding the new project which was announced at our anniversary meeting. He will be overseeing and developing this. There is a possibility of a related activity taking place later this year; but he will not know for definite until around the end of this month as to whether or not this will work out for him this year, or whether next year will be a better option. Pray that God's plan will become clear in regard to this. I enjoyed a break over Christmas but am also enjoying being back in the office and communicating with our workers and partners in the ministry. This week I have been finalising visuals with our artist in Kenya. We have a Publisher sitting ready and waiting to produce these materials; pray that God will provide for this project to go forward. I have also been communicating with a contact in another African country with regards to helping them with future ministry. Work is also underway with some other new materials and projects. I continue to appreciate your prayers. We also ask you to pray for other close friends in the work who help and assist us in ways we so much appreciate. They have given their time, talents and finance to help sort issues and to advise us. Pray that the Lord will continue to bless them also. We thank God that things are moving on and exciting things have been arranged for this year. Please continue to pray that boys and girls will come to know the Lord as a result of the labours of the FML team. Pray also for Pastors and Children's workers we have contact with. Pray that our materials and training will continue to be a blessing to them as they minster among the children in their locality. As we start off these early weeks of 2017, our prayer is that the Lord's presence will surely go with us and that we will not take a step outside of His will for our personal lives or for the ministry. Pray that this will be a good year with many souls saved from a lost eternity. |
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August 2022
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