VBS 2022

My language helper, Mama Tswila, is part of an amazing church which did a fabulous job with a wonderful Vacation Bible School last week. Madylanne and I got to volunteer a bit and wow was it fun! Not just fun though- the kids learned a LOT about Jerusalem at the time Jesus walked on earth. Over 5 days they rotated through stations about the 12 tribes of Israel, the synagogue and what it was, how Jesus came to serve, what He did on the cross and why that is important in addition to making crafts, eating snacks, singing songs, and lots of dancing. What an incredible week! Well done, everyone who had a part in this! Praising God for so many kids hearing the good news about Jesus!! 

 

Happy Resurrection Sunday! He is risen!

Mark had the honor of preaching on Easter Sunday. 

What a special day to share the good news that Jesus Christ is risen! 

He is the way, the truth and life and no one comes to the Father except through Him. John 14:6

We are so thankful His death and resurrection provides a way for us to be reconciled to God the Father. 

We give Him all praise and glory! 

This is the pastor of the church, Pastor Jeremiah. He runs a small shop to support his family.

Happy Easter! 

An Easter egg hunt at our team leaders' home. 

 

Passover

 We had a very special time together as a ladies Bible study at the home of our team leader, Melissa, as she led us through the Passover meal. Thank You Jesus, for being our passover Lamb, our way of salvation. 

The harvest is plentiful

At the monthly Associational meeting yesterday, pastors underwent a refresher course in evangelism and then went out to share Jesus afterward...34 people said yes to Jesus in one afternoon!! Praising God!! Please pray for these new believers to be discipled well and grow in their faith...to connect with local bodies of believers and become disciple makers. 

 

Karibuni, Gunters!

 We were blessed beyond measure to have dear friends and colleagues from Zambia (with Kansas roots!) come visit us on the coast. We were thrilled to have them with us for a week. Thank you so much for coming, Nathan, Kim, and Ethan! They just recently celebrated 3 years in Zambia, we celebrated 1 year here, and Ethan turned 11. We had a lot of celebrating to do!!

Deep sea fishing

Nathan and Mark went deep sea fishing one day and got a barracuda and dolphin fish/mahi mahi. Yep, this is more than just a fish story...it's true alright! 

 

So of course we had a fish fry! This is the barracuda.

                                 We grilled some,  too...the mahi mahi. 

This was our first time to cook up fresh fish. It was a hit! 

                           

 The cats got their share, too. 

Sweet treats

We gals had a sweet treat one afternoon at the local coffee shop. Mmmm 

 

Fun with Ethan

The kids loved every minute with Ethan! 

archery in the backyard...

climbin'  the cashew tree in the front yard

Playing at the beach while we wait for dinner at the restaurant.

hanging out on the boat

Dolphins!!! It was amazing to see them swimming alongside us!! 

Putting on the snorkeling gear. 

These little fishies loved eating bits of banana! 

Preaching in Kiswahili

 Mark preached his first sermon in Kiswahili a few weeks ago. 

He worked hard preparing! 

He will preach Easter Sunday at another church in town. 

Praying for hearts to be open to Jesus as the Word of God is preached.

Trainings

Our team has been involved in lots of Saturday trainings the last few months in a variety of places...training churches in evangelism and beginning discipleship in the mornings and then going out and sharing Jesus in the afternoons. We are grateful for these opportunities to share Jesus and train others to do so, also.  It's been amazing to see people getting excited to tell their neighbors about how to have a relationship with God through Jesus His Son.  And many have said YES to Him! 

Praise God!!

                     Demonstrating he remembers 3 Circles- and how to use it to share Jesus. 

Michael and Melissa, our team leaders. 

Practicing what we are learning by sharing with each other. 

Here is one of the churches where we led a training. 

This woman was one of my evangelism partners and she was very proud to show me her house. 

 

Ladies Fellowship

Melynda had the honor of speaking at the Ladies Fellowship at a partnering church in March. Such a blessing to spend a Saturday afternoon together in the Word of God with these lovely women! 

 

Thank you First Baptist Church of Burden!

This is Mike, a faithful Christ follower who shepherds a growing church and helps run a rehab clinic. He is standing in front of a tuk tuk that helps support the financial side of the clinic. A few months ago it was in an accident and was out of commission for a while until it could be repaired. 

Thank you to First Baptist Church in Burden, KS, for helping with the repairs! It is up and running again. 

Now we ask for your prayers that it will pass inspection and can be used again to help support the finances  at the rehab clinic. 

 

making chipatis

The boys had a lot of fun making chapatis at a new friend's house. Some students from Madylanne's school came to the coast for a cultural learning experience and we enjoyed spending the day together.