End of May Update

This has been a very, very active week! Here are just a few of the things we’ve been involved with…

I was in a car accident 4 days ago. Nothing serious though, just a fender bender, but irritating when it happened. While I was pulling into a round-about, someone made an illegal lane change and then slammed on their brakes. The car in front of me slammed on his breaks and I hit him. When the guy who made the illegal lane change saw he had caused the accident… he took off!

The car I hit…

 

My car…

 

Well; there we were… me and the guy I hit standing in the middle of the busiest round-about in Nakuru, where huge trucks were speeding by us much closer than we both felt comfortable with. The other driver said… ‘Lets get out of here before we get killed’, to which I replied… Great!

Too make a long story very short he turned out to be one of the nicest guys I’ve met. He called his mechanic and I called mine and they worked out a very fair price to fix his car. I didn’t have the money with me so my mechanic went to his shop and loaned me 10,000 shillings (about 110 American dollars … an act unheard of here in Nakuru) to give him so they could start repairing his car immediately.

The total cost to fix both cars was about 280 American dollars. Labor is extraordinarily cheap in Nakuru. Took a bite out of our budget but we feel very blessed no one was hurt and everyone is happy.

Well; moving on to more happy news.. we are having wonderful spiritual, free, and fun Gatherings!! We have broken out of the old Kenya (and American) religious traditions and the Kenyans love it!

 

When we first come together on Sunday morning, we take 20 minutes just to fellowship with each other and speak of what has God done in our lives throughout the week.

Then we sit back down in a semi-circle so we don’t have to spend the whole service looking at the back of each other’s head and share what we just heard! People come to the front and begin telling what God has done throughout the week. This is fast becoming the most favored part of our Gatherings and fills us with a lot of joy.

Suddenly spontaneous singing breaks out, our worship team comes to the front and we all begin to praise the Lord for His goodness.

Children then begin to dance and the dancing quickly spreads all over the Gathering! The children weave in and out the isles gyrating with joy. All this is led by our Samburu princess (at least to us) … Sara.

Our Sunday school is becoming Funday school ...

 

and our school, StoneHouse Academy, is booming! We have gone from 65 students to over a hundred! Amma is teaching a Friday morning bible study that all the children love!

 

 

StoneHouse Academy is finally a completely legal primary/nursery school and these are the documents to prove it. It took a lot to get them.

 

We hope to increase the quality of education and the enjoyment that these children should have while attending school.

We have already made many physical improvements

and addressed safety issues around the school. And with the help of our friends we want to do even more.

The boys now have a urinal next to their bathroom and upon completion it became necessary that all of them try it out.

 

We are pleased to announce... it met with their approval.

 

The holes in the walkways are fixed, avoiding nasty falls…

 

Our high tech kitchen has been enlarged and equipped with a wonderful new cook! The menu for today is beans and rice. The only attribute the menu has in common with God and is that it is … the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. ;-)

 

Our cheerful new cook prepares the meals in payment for her kids attending the school and she loves it! We have begun a program where all the parents must contribute something in return for their children attending our school. If they cannot afford tuition we accept services or vegetables! 

 

Other things coming up are ...

We have been invited to speak at a conference for the pastors of 22 churches in Kenya and 5 from Uganda! We will be speaking the first of August. Please be praying!

We have been asked to open a school in Samburu which is the land of the of the Massai tribe. We want to do it! More on that later.

We have been invited to oversee 4 more churches in Nakuru! We are not sure what to do so please… Pray! Pray! Pray!

So as you can see our plates full.  Yet, for a couple of old people we seem to be holding up great. Even though Kuja, our german shepherd watch dog, and Paka, our insurance against rats in the house, get mad enough to bite one another' head off ....

 

They always kiss and make up!

And we know why we're all are doing so well too… it's because of your constant love, prayers and support. May our Father bless each and every one of you who are standing and working with us!

If you are new to this site and would like to help our ministry just press the donate button at the top of the page.

  Much love …. David and Cynthia

 

 

The Choo!!

The Choo!!

No one could possibly understand the incredible importance of a functioning bathroom in Kenya. We have had people leave our Sunday Gathering because of the lack of a choo, (bathroom). Here is a small pictorial progression of the construction our wonderful choo. From the digging of the hole to the finishing of the little rooms, thank God we are almost finished!

 

First the hole must be dug. Deep and wide! Here are our boys struggling to make 18 feet.

This is James the awesome working pastor who is putting the rock and concrete on the edge of the 18 foot hole so people will not fall through the hole and drown in the excrement of our church members.

 

Next is the frame work that will allow all the privacy one must have when doing their business in the choo. Then comes the iron sheets for easy cleaning for people who miss the mark.

Then comes the roof with the light panels for illumination to help with hitting the mark .

 

Isn’t it beautiful? It has to be the most beautiful choo in all Nakuru!

Now for the doors of privacy. One stall for the ladies, one stall for the men and one stall for the muzungus who need an English toilet!

We are almost finished just need the doors... woo hoo! … keep praying!

THE ADVENTURES OF THE OLD MAN AND HIS BELOVED WIFE

                                                           The Vial of Gold

                          (A completely true story that happened to us only a week ago.)

 There are fairytales and wonders happening all around us if we only had eyes to see them. Life can be a Spirit filled adventure most everyday if we follow the Spirit of Heaven. Here is a recent adventure, told in fairytale form… but remember... every word actually happened.

                                                       The Treasure 

Once upon a time and a very short while ago… there lived an old man and his beloved wife in a beautiful and distant country far, far away from the land of their birth. This old man and his wife loved the Spirit of Heaven and were continually serving Him both night and day.

The old man and his wife had been sent by other Shining Ones in the land of their birth to the Beautiful Country to help it's people come to know the Spirit of Heaven. 

 One day the Spirit of Heaven told the old man that He had hidden a treasure in a field and the old man and his wife were to go and find it.

As soon as they arrived they began looking for the treasure while teaching the people of the Beautiful Country the love of the Spirit of Heaven and the beauty of His Kingdom.

Now the old man and his wife were not rich in the things of this present world but they loved and trusted the Spirit of Heaven, and so much so, that they considered themselves to be rich in most every way.

Whenever any of the people fell sick, the old man’s beloved wife would heal them, for she was very wise in knowing where the Spirit of Heaven hid His healing grace among the plants of the earth.

The Spirit of Heaven loved the old man and his wife and always took pleasure in providing their needs… sometimes even before they had a chance to ask.

As the old man and his beloved wife searched for those who the Spirit of Heaven had made ready to hear His message they first encountered many who were unworthy. The unworthy ones treated them badly and despitefully used the old man till he became most discouraged. Yet, the old man and his beloved wife continued speaking to anyone who would listen. 

Some years later the Spirit of heaven began to open the hearts of men and women to hear their message. These precious people upon receiving the message surrendered their lives to follow the Spirit of Heaven with the old man and his beloved wife.

There was then much rejoicing... both in Heaven, in the Beautiful Country and in the land of their birth.

At last the old man and his beloved wife felt they had discovered the true treasure buried in the field. 

The people were the field and the Spirit of Heaven inside them was the treasure. And so the old man and his beoved wife sold all they had to purchase the field.

So they took up the task of building a house for the people of the Beautiful Country to come and learn about the Spirit of Heaven and His wonderful Kingdom.

The Spirit of Heaven smiled as the old man and the believing men and women discovered the place to build the house of meeting. Immediately they began to work.

Soon the old man, his beloved wife and all the believing men and women began to clearing the land and began building the Spirit’s house of meeting.

 As they began their labor of love, their hearts began to overflow with joy and thanksgiving. For they could feel the pleasure coming from the Spirit of Heaven as He bound their hearts together with His.

                                                 The Vial of Gold

One hot summer day, sometime after finishing the roof, the old man and his best friend were sitting in it's shade asking the Spirit of Heaven to send a little more money to continue working on the meeting house. They knew the Spirit of Heaven would... because the Spirit delighted in sending them whatever it was they needed.

Suddenly, when they finished praying… stumbling through the beautiful gate in the wall surrounding the unfinished meeting place, appeared three wild and drunken savages!

The first spoke with a slurred tongue and said; ‘We... have ...shhomething ...you want’! Slowly, the second pulled out of his tattered coat a small clear glass vial filled with grains of pure gold! The third said… ‘How much will you give us… twenty, thirty or forty dollars?

Now the old man and his friend knew the vial contained real gold and was worth much, much more than what the three savages were asking for it. Perhaps even enough to finish the meeting place! At first they thought that the gold might be the answer to their prayer!

But after listening to the savages a little longer the old man and his friend began to feel displeasure from the Spirit of Heaven. How could three drunk savages have come upon the gold without stealing it the old man wondered? Who did it really belong to?

When the old man asked the three savages where the gold came from … the savages refused to answer. Then old man and his friend knew this gold was not the answer to their prayers.

So the old man politely thanked the savages and said they would not be buying the gold. The three savages grumbled while staggering  away, almost stumbling into the ditch outside the wall.

As they walked away the old man smiled and said… ‘it is very much better to please the Spirit of Heaven than to have gold!' Then the the old man and his friend felt again the pleasure of the Spirit of Heaven once again burning within their hearts.

Five days later the beloved wife of the old man received a message from the Shinning Ones back in the land of their birth. On the very day the savages had offered him the vial of gold the Shining Ones had sent the old man  money to continue building the house of meeting, yet it took five days to appear. 

Hearing the message the old man bowed his head and wept. Then raising his eyes toward heaven He praised the Spirit of Heaven for His faithful love.

When the old man told his friend about the message, the friend just  smiled and said… 'You're right, it is much better to please the Spirit of Heaven than to have gold!'

                                                 To be continued...

P. S. Thank you, Shining Ones of Rose Creek Village, for your wonderful gift of faithfulness.   Much love…   from the old man and his beloved wife, his friend and all the believing men and women of the Beautiful Country.

 

The Beautiful Country...

 

The old man and his beloved wife...

 

 

The old man's friend...

SMI May 2013 'The Outing'

Greetings family and friends;

We are all doing fine here and things are happening according to the will of our Father. The church is growing both numerically and spiritually. We are currently going through a study of the basics of our faith called ‘The five S’s’ … Sin, Salvation, Sanctification, Spirituality, and Service.

It is amazing how little the average Christian believer here in Nakuru knows about their faith. It is not because they don’t want to know … it’s because of the lack of spiritual knowledge in their leaders.
Also our school is up and running with more kids signing up everyday, but more on that next post. Keep those prayers coming!

I wanted to post about a little outing we took two weeks ago. Amma (for those who don’t know that’s what I call my wife Cynthia) and I were becoming very tired with all the work in the city, so we decided to take the day off and visit a tree/herbal farm about 20 miles north of Nakuru.

It turned out to be a real fun day; we learned a ton about African flora especially indigenous herbs and made some real friends in the process. The name of the farm is ‘African Forest.’

The farm is 126 acres on one of the most beautiful pieces of land in the Rift Valley and it is run by a delightful couple named Kenya and Helen. Kenya (yes that’s his real name) is an indigenous Kenyan educated in England and America and is the closest thing to a modern day hippy you will find here in Kenya.

We found Kenya and Helen to be friendly, hospitable and amazingly full of wisdom in the medicinal benefits found in the indigenous herbs and trees of Kenya. Their farm is an extremely efficient business producing beautiful plants, charcoal, medicinal herbs and a whole lot more.

Amma is already using the new herbal medicinal information on me and other Kenyans. I am drinking daily a cup of tea made from a particular tree that is already lowering my blood pressure. Now that’s good news!

They have quite a selection of decorative and healing plants.

 

They also employ some walk behind tractors that are kind of like the walk behind lawn mowers we use in Rose Creek Village.

They have several high tunnels and plant many of their starter plants in circles beneath the big trees utilizing the shade of these huge Acacia trees.

There is a huge charcoal making hut that turns the root balls, coming from clearing the land for trees, into charcoal they sell to retail stores in Nairobi.

Here you can see the women employed to make the charcoal pieces small enough to fit into the bags for resale.

This is a huge kiln to create clay pots in which they also sell.

There’s even have a small homemade meditation hut whatever that is.

Lastly, we learned the hard way not to stop and talk two foot away from army ant highways. They don’t bite you till they are halfway up your leg (very painful) and yes, these little guys can kill and eat full grown cows if the cows don’t move out of their way quick enough.

Well hope you enjoyed the tour… we sure did and we hope to use some of these ideas when we are able to purchase some land for the ministry. Helen and Kenya said they would be glad to help us get started.

Much love…  David and Cynthia