It appears that the situation in rural Kenya is still very bad. There is a lot of tribal hatred and people from one tribe are killing people who are from the tribe of the current president. Regardless of his politics, or whether he should have been ousted from power or not, this is a terrible situation. Please pray that God would increase His presence and mercy in Kenya, and that he would somehow use this time of extreme pain, struggle, and fear for His glory and for the ultimate good of the Kenyan people.
Today I got this prayer request from my friend Steve who has been in contact with the small church he helped to plant on a mission trip to Kenya in July '06...
Hey everyone,
I am writing to you all to ask for prayers for Living Faith Church in Kenya and the whole area there. There has been an unstable situation since last week. People are killing each other with machetes because they are from a specific tribe or political party and the elections have not gone well. You have no doubt seen the mayhem on the news.
I finally spoke to Pastor Leonard this morning, and he informed me they burned his house down, they are held up in the police station and in the Church and there is no way to get food at this time. People are starving and the price of food has gone up 10 times because of the situation between the political parties that is going on there. Transportation is at a stand still. I thought maybe since Kisumu was so far from Nairobi they wouldn’t have been affected, but Pastor Leonard informed me it is even worse in the outlying areas.
Please pray that God brings a resolution to the entire area of Kenya and keep the Living Faith family in your prayers.
Your brother in Christ,
Steve
Friday, January 4, 2008
Prayer Request - FOCUS!
I am feeling sooooo much better after not even using the antibiotics, just using the prescription decongestant, drinking lots of water, and doing a saline nasal flush each day. WARNING: I do not recommend doing the latter in front of any other human being, especially someone for whom you have romantic feelings, or more importantly, whom you would like to continue to have romantic feelings towards you. Aside from that I am here to tell you, IT WORKS!!! A friend told me about it on Monday and I skeptically tried it. You basically inhale salt water up one nostril and then blow it out the other. It's amazingly cool in a way. I thought I would feel like I was drowning but I didn't. I've told several friends about it and they are all obsessed with wanting to get sick just so they can try it.
So that's my prayer ANSWERED, because I absolutely hate hate hate antibiotics for anything less than life or limb-threatening instances. They can screw up your digestive system and weaken your immune system's ability to fight off future illnesses. I believe overuse leads to auto-immune disorders, allergies, and chemical sensitivities of all sorts. I will get off my soap box now, but if you want more info on my experience with all that just email me and I will tell you about the problems I had last year after being on a month of antibiotics for my anti-malarial in Africa. NOT GOOD!
My prayer REQUEST is that as of tomorrow morning when I wake up that I would regain focus on all I need to do. Ask God to send 100 angels to surround me and keep me moving! I have been way too lethargic all week with being sick. Sure, lethargy is great for sitting around blogging, but not great for preparing to leave the country in 15 days.
Continue to pray for peace in Kenya. Pray that normal daily life would resume for Kenyan citizens, that they would be able to return to work and school without the fear of ongoing violence.
Also pray for Pakistan, that good would prevail over evil there in the aftermath of the assassination of Benazir Butto. Pray for the stability and strength of the Pakistani government and pray against the powers of Al-Qaeda who are claiming responsibility for her death and seek to gain control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
Continue to pray for the people of Oman who I will encounter on my first mission trip Jan. 20-30. Pray that God would open their eyes, ears, and hearts to the truth about Jesus. Pray that God would infuse our whole group with His love for the Omani people.
So that's my prayer ANSWERED, because I absolutely hate hate hate antibiotics for anything less than life or limb-threatening instances. They can screw up your digestive system and weaken your immune system's ability to fight off future illnesses. I believe overuse leads to auto-immune disorders, allergies, and chemical sensitivities of all sorts. I will get off my soap box now, but if you want more info on my experience with all that just email me and I will tell you about the problems I had last year after being on a month of antibiotics for my anti-malarial in Africa. NOT GOOD!
My prayer REQUEST is that as of tomorrow morning when I wake up that I would regain focus on all I need to do. Ask God to send 100 angels to surround me and keep me moving! I have been way too lethargic all week with being sick. Sure, lethargy is great for sitting around blogging, but not great for preparing to leave the country in 15 days.
Continue to pray for peace in Kenya. Pray that normal daily life would resume for Kenyan citizens, that they would be able to return to work and school without the fear of ongoing violence.
Also pray for Pakistan, that good would prevail over evil there in the aftermath of the assassination of Benazir Butto. Pray for the stability and strength of the Pakistani government and pray against the powers of Al-Qaeda who are claiming responsibility for her death and seek to gain control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
Continue to pray for the people of Oman who I will encounter on my first mission trip Jan. 20-30. Pray that God would open their eyes, ears, and hearts to the truth about Jesus. Pray that God would infuse our whole group with His love for the Omani people.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Prayer answered re: home for Stevie Ray
My plan for a temporary home for my cat, Stevie Ray, fell through, so I sent out a request on the Gateway Singles Share email list and within a couple days I had three people offer to take care of him. So, a guy named Lance who has no other animals and who's own cat died a few months ago is going to take him and is excited to have the company! God answered this prayer swiftly!
My dog Wylie has already been in Dallas for 2 or 3 months since they started the construction on the exteriors of my condo. He would be been going berzerk with all the workers banging on the walls and hanging out on my patios. Wylie does great at my parents' house, so he will stay there til I return. He's already gained several pounds being spoiled by grandma and grandpa and has forgotten he ever knew me! ;-)
My dog Wylie has already been in Dallas for 2 or 3 months since they started the construction on the exteriors of my condo. He would be been going berzerk with all the workers banging on the walls and hanging out on my patios. Wylie does great at my parents' house, so he will stay there til I return. He's already gained several pounds being spoiled by grandma and grandpa and has forgotten he ever knew me! ;-)
Prayer request re: condo & rodent
So I'm finally certain that I have not been imagining the sound of a rodent of some sort scurrying behind my walls in the past few weeks. I went out on the patio closest to where I thought the noise was coming from and sure enough, when they redid the exteriors of the complex with the Hardyplank siding they left a hole about 1 inch wide by a foot long where the siding doesn't meet the frame of the building. That could be where they got in, or who knows, maybe somewhere on the roof where I can't see. I've contacted the contractor and left a message for the management company, but obviously dealing with something like this was not top of my list of to-do's before leaving town. It needs to be dealt with, especially if the NFL player or anyone else rents the place. Plus, after my experience in 2003 with the squirrel that got caught in my dryer motor, you don't want dead animals rotting in the general vicinity of the interior of your home. Please pray for quick and painless elimination of my new little friend(s).
Another prayer request is that the contractor would put a railing on my second floor balcony by next week. It's been since early October that I haven't had a railing, and since the NLF player has a 4-year-old son it's imperative for safety reasons that the railing be put back on pronto. There are also several other issues they need to tend to like fixing lamps they broke, touching up paint, removing paint they splattered all over my sliding glass door and screen, etc. etc. Again, dealing with contractor errors wasn't on my agenda, nor was being sick with a sinus infection all week. It's got me feeling some worries like "how am I gonna get this all taken care of before I leave???" Granted, in the grand scheme of life these are not huge issues, nevertheless, they are big annoyances and time wasters!
Update on the NFL player. He plays for the Tennessee TITANS, not to be confused with the Tennessee OILERS which never existed (thanks Kath!). :-) Anyway, I talked to the wife today and it's between my place and a more upscale highrise condo downtown. The husband wants the highrise and the wife wants my place which is in a neighborhood walking distance to parks, yet still close to downtown. Also, I just found out there's a new possible wrinkle...the wife is 9 months pregnant and due on Feb. 1. So, who knows how that could affect their decision.
I am resigned to whatever happens with them. It sure would be great to have them rent my place during the off-season end of January through May, but then again, if it's not God's will then that's fine too. Maybe my place is supposed to sit empty for someone to use in an emergency situation while I'm gone, who knows? God knows. So I trust Him.
Another prayer request is that the contractor would put a railing on my second floor balcony by next week. It's been since early October that I haven't had a railing, and since the NLF player has a 4-year-old son it's imperative for safety reasons that the railing be put back on pronto. There are also several other issues they need to tend to like fixing lamps they broke, touching up paint, removing paint they splattered all over my sliding glass door and screen, etc. etc. Again, dealing with contractor errors wasn't on my agenda, nor was being sick with a sinus infection all week. It's got me feeling some worries like "how am I gonna get this all taken care of before I leave???" Granted, in the grand scheme of life these are not huge issues, nevertheless, they are big annoyances and time wasters!
Update on the NFL player. He plays for the Tennessee TITANS, not to be confused with the Tennessee OILERS which never existed (thanks Kath!). :-) Anyway, I talked to the wife today and it's between my place and a more upscale highrise condo downtown. The husband wants the highrise and the wife wants my place which is in a neighborhood walking distance to parks, yet still close to downtown. Also, I just found out there's a new possible wrinkle...the wife is 9 months pregnant and due on Feb. 1. So, who knows how that could affect their decision.
I am resigned to whatever happens with them. It sure would be great to have them rent my place during the off-season end of January through May, but then again, if it's not God's will then that's fine too. Maybe my place is supposed to sit empty for someone to use in an emergency situation while I'm gone, who knows? God knows. So I trust Him.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Feeling better without antibiotics
Like I mentioned in my post yesterday, I was going to try using the prescription decongestant and pray for healing, and avoid using the antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. I woke up this morning feeling significantly better than yesterday, and even got my voice back. I've still got some mild sinus and ear congestion but have not had any sinus pain or that throbbing face feeling that I had yesterday and on New Year's Eve. I'm praying for continued healing without the use of harsh antibiotics.
Pray for KENYA
Hi everyone - I don't know if you've heard about the terrible riots and unrest going on in Kenya this week, due to claims of vote-counting fraud in their Presidential election last week. Apparently the violence and tension keeps escalating, hundreds have been killed, and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes. Kenya needs our prayers for peace right now.
My aunt in Yemen sent me this email this morning. Two of their four kids go to the Rift Valley Academy boarding school, about an hour outside of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. That God they are still in Yemen on Christmas break...
Hi Everyone,
Please pray for the government of Kenya and the people of that land. Due to problems in the presidential elections, there have been riots and over 100 have been killed. RVA emailed us to postpone sending the kids as the teachers’ could not get to the airport to pick up the kids. As of right now, school will start on the 8th, but on Friday they will reassess the situation and decide whether to postpone school another 2 weeks or not. We saw on the news today that violence has increased. Do pray for all of our friends there, for the Kenyan people and that there will be peace. Our kids were saying that some schools have snow days. Theirs has riot days! Seriously, we do need to pray.
Love,
Martha
Also, my friend Melissa, the e3 Partners missionary I met in Kenya last year got this email from the national Kenyan pastor there, Pastor Joe Michael. He and his wife are the ones that took us around to the countryside church and to the Masai Mara village. He gives some details of what to pray for...
Dear Daughter Melissa,
Receive greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for calling me earlier in the day. It was good to know that you are praying for us. At this moment please pray that our hearts will continue to focused on the Lord. We need the divine guidance. Pray that all the people of Kenya will continue to smile at the storm, for Jesus Christ is in the vessel. We need to be peaceful at this moment and exercise tolerance. Many properties have been destroyed, people have lost their lives, people have been injured and thousands have been displaced. At the moment food stores don't have the essential household items. Public transport is not operating at the moment. My family is doing fine and we are safe where where we are at the moment. Pray that the Lord will continue to put a hedge of protection around us. Thank you and may God bless you for praying for us this time in Kenya.
Yours In His Service,
Rev. Joe Michael Kamau
For more information on the situation in Kenya go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm
For those who are wondering about my safety, I feel unwaivered from the mission that has been set before me. Over the past few months I've wondered why I didn't feel God calling me to go to Kenya on this trip. I fell in love with Kenya when I visited last year, and feel like it's a place where God showed me his heart for the nations. But I just didn't feel Him calling me to go there this time around. I even talked to a few people about it, saying that if doors opened up for me to go there I would consider it, but that so far God was not leading me there, so I wasn't going to force it just because of my love for Kenya. I know that my safety is not guaranteed, but I do feel the hedge of God's protection around me on this journey.
Please keep Kenya in your prayers.
My aunt in Yemen sent me this email this morning. Two of their four kids go to the Rift Valley Academy boarding school, about an hour outside of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. That God they are still in Yemen on Christmas break...
Hi Everyone,
Please pray for the government of Kenya and the people of that land. Due to problems in the presidential elections, there have been riots and over 100 have been killed. RVA emailed us to postpone sending the kids as the teachers’ could not get to the airport to pick up the kids. As of right now, school will start on the 8th, but on Friday they will reassess the situation and decide whether to postpone school another 2 weeks or not. We saw on the news today that violence has increased. Do pray for all of our friends there, for the Kenyan people and that there will be peace. Our kids were saying that some schools have snow days. Theirs has riot days! Seriously, we do need to pray.
Love,
Martha
Also, my friend Melissa, the e3 Partners missionary I met in Kenya last year got this email from the national Kenyan pastor there, Pastor Joe Michael. He and his wife are the ones that took us around to the countryside church and to the Masai Mara village. He gives some details of what to pray for...
Dear Daughter Melissa,
Receive greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for calling me earlier in the day. It was good to know that you are praying for us. At this moment please pray that our hearts will continue to focused on the Lord. We need the divine guidance. Pray that all the people of Kenya will continue to smile at the storm, for Jesus Christ is in the vessel. We need to be peaceful at this moment and exercise tolerance. Many properties have been destroyed, people have lost their lives, people have been injured and thousands have been displaced. At the moment food stores don't have the essential household items. Public transport is not operating at the moment. My family is doing fine and we are safe where where we are at the moment. Pray that the Lord will continue to put a hedge of protection around us. Thank you and may God bless you for praying for us this time in Kenya.
Yours In His Service,
Rev. Joe Michael Kamau
For more information on the situation in Kenya go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm
For those who are wondering about my safety, I feel unwaivered from the mission that has been set before me. Over the past few months I've wondered why I didn't feel God calling me to go to Kenya on this trip. I fell in love with Kenya when I visited last year, and feel like it's a place where God showed me his heart for the nations. But I just didn't feel Him calling me to go there this time around. I even talked to a few people about it, saying that if doors opened up for me to go there I would consider it, but that so far God was not leading me there, so I wasn't going to force it just because of my love for Kenya. I know that my safety is not guaranteed, but I do feel the hedge of God's protection around me on this journey.
Please keep Kenya in your prayers.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!
Today is New Year's Day 2008. I'm looking forward to this year with great optimism. I feel like my eyes are wide open, and even more importantly, my heart.
Unfortunately, I had to go to the doctor today after fighting off a cold for the past four days. It finally got the best of me and has turned into a full-blown sinus infection. I'm not excited about the prospect of using antibiotics because of all the skin and digestive problems they (in part) caused me last year. I'm going to see if using a prescription decongestant will clear it and if not then I'll resort to the Z-pack. Please pray for quick healing and for wisdom in knowing whether or not to use the antibiotics.
Other than that I'm plugging away at getting my condo in order to leave, with or without a renter in place. I have also started packing little by little. I went to Goodwill the other day and bought four long, loose, frumpy skirts to wear in Oman and Yemen, where women must be almost completely covered any time they leave their home. In Yemen I will actually wear a balto (long black robe) over my clothes. I won't have to veil my face but I will need to cover my head in order to respect their cultural customs and not invite unwanted stares from men. Apparently attracting "unwanted stares" is an extremely shameful thing over there. I'd hate for a Yemeni woman to walk past a typical American construction site! All kidding aside, and without going to extremes, this process of learning about Muslim culture has prompted me to examine my own concept of modesty. I can feel the holy spirit counseling me through this process as I lean into him more and more with decisions having to do with modesty and overall purity.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
Please continue to pray for my mom's health, and now my health, as well as for peace and wisdom regarding my condo situation, and for final fundraising dollars to come in. God has been so faithful and has provided so much already.
Please begin to pray, if you haven't already, for the Omani people I will meet during the first 12 days of my trip. They are known to be generous and hospitable people. Pray for God's will for our trip to be done. We found out a few days ago that our request for a booth at the annual Muscat Festival was denied. We don't know the reason, but know that God must have something else planned for us to do. Pray that God will send visions of Christ in dreams in the upcoming weeks to prepare them for meeting us and possibly hearing the truth about Jesus for the first time.
Recent studies show that 50-60% of Muslims who come to know Christ do so after having a dream about him, often before they've ever heard of him or thought much about him, other than what the Qu'ran teaches that he is one of many prophets but not the Son of God. Often they have never heard the gospel message of truth, but their dream affects them in a way that they begin seeking the truth about Jesus, or they see someone wearing a cross and are compelled to ask about it, or they start seeking out a Bible (which is not easy in most Muslim countries) to see what it says about Jesus. Sometimes the answers to their search take weeks and sometimes years or decades for them to find the truth. I heard several first-hand accounts of this from speakers at the Islam class I took and from a middle-eastern missionary who spoke at Austin Stone. It's a fascinating phenomenon well documented by international mission organizations throughout the world and is obvious evidence of God working supernaturally in Muslim cultures to bring them closer to him.
Matthew 15: 16-17
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being."
Unfortunately, I had to go to the doctor today after fighting off a cold for the past four days. It finally got the best of me and has turned into a full-blown sinus infection. I'm not excited about the prospect of using antibiotics because of all the skin and digestive problems they (in part) caused me last year. I'm going to see if using a prescription decongestant will clear it and if not then I'll resort to the Z-pack. Please pray for quick healing and for wisdom in knowing whether or not to use the antibiotics.
Other than that I'm plugging away at getting my condo in order to leave, with or without a renter in place. I have also started packing little by little. I went to Goodwill the other day and bought four long, loose, frumpy skirts to wear in Oman and Yemen, where women must be almost completely covered any time they leave their home. In Yemen I will actually wear a balto (long black robe) over my clothes. I won't have to veil my face but I will need to cover my head in order to respect their cultural customs and not invite unwanted stares from men. Apparently attracting "unwanted stares" is an extremely shameful thing over there. I'd hate for a Yemeni woman to walk past a typical American construction site! All kidding aside, and without going to extremes, this process of learning about Muslim culture has prompted me to examine my own concept of modesty. I can feel the holy spirit counseling me through this process as I lean into him more and more with decisions having to do with modesty and overall purity.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
Please continue to pray for my mom's health, and now my health, as well as for peace and wisdom regarding my condo situation, and for final fundraising dollars to come in. God has been so faithful and has provided so much already.
Please begin to pray, if you haven't already, for the Omani people I will meet during the first 12 days of my trip. They are known to be generous and hospitable people. Pray for God's will for our trip to be done. We found out a few days ago that our request for a booth at the annual Muscat Festival was denied. We don't know the reason, but know that God must have something else planned for us to do. Pray that God will send visions of Christ in dreams in the upcoming weeks to prepare them for meeting us and possibly hearing the truth about Jesus for the first time.
Recent studies show that 50-60% of Muslims who come to know Christ do so after having a dream about him, often before they've ever heard of him or thought much about him, other than what the Qu'ran teaches that he is one of many prophets but not the Son of God. Often they have never heard the gospel message of truth, but their dream affects them in a way that they begin seeking the truth about Jesus, or they see someone wearing a cross and are compelled to ask about it, or they start seeking out a Bible (which is not easy in most Muslim countries) to see what it says about Jesus. Sometimes the answers to their search take weeks and sometimes years or decades for them to find the truth. I heard several first-hand accounts of this from speakers at the Islam class I took and from a middle-eastern missionary who spoke at Austin Stone. It's a fascinating phenomenon well documented by international mission organizations throughout the world and is obvious evidence of God working supernaturally in Muslim cultures to bring them closer to him.
Matthew 15: 16-17
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being."
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