America Trip Part 2

Jambo! family and friends! 

We and our luggage arrived safely in Nairobi Kenyatta International Airport close to midnight Thursday. We were met by seven or eight (everything’s a little fuzzy after two days of traveling with no sleep) of our smiling StoneHouse friends. Although it took us till three a.m. to finally arrive at our house in Nakuru we made it safely. Thanks for all the prayers raised up for a good trip because they were abundantly answered.

Here is the short but promised second part of our American trip. It’s more personal than most of our updates, but we wanted to share all of our wonderful experiences with all of our friends who prayed so diligently for our trip to be a great one. Because it really was.

Being at the ‘Ingathering’ with all our Rose Creek friends was truly a joyful and inspiring experience. It was a blessing that we will remember throughout the coming New Year.

Yet, rivaling the excitement of the Ingathering was the overwhelming joy of seeing and being with our families. Staying with Chris, Renee, Kaitlyn, Brina, Vivian, and Ethny gave us a chance to relax and feel very much taken care of. Every need we had was met through their wonderful generosity and hospitality. We felt very taken care of.

A week or so after the Ingathering, Cynthia and I flew to Orlando, Florida to visit our families and friends there. We had almost ten days to spend with our mothers, siblings and their children. 

About half way through our Florida visit our son Caleb drove down to Orlando from Gainesville for a short but wonderful visit. 

When we returned to Tennessee, our daughter Nichole and her children, Cruz, Cadence and Leandra flew in from California and stayed with us at Renee’s house. Her husband Dean stayed behind in California to work so they could afford the trip. Sorry we missed you but thank you Dean!! 

The next few days there was plenty of fellowship, fun and food. I actually gained 10 pounds during our American trip!

Another one of the highlights in our trip was the time spent with our daughter Hannah Jerusha and her four precious children. They are all doing very well and it was so delightful to see and spend time with our precious grandchildren; Blue, Luna, Cedar and Rylynn.

Lastly; to our delight, Caleb, his daughter Sarah, Kristina and her son... drove all the way up from Florida to spend three more days with all of us in Tennessee.

It was delightful being with him and his friend Kristina. 

We have already grown to love her and her son 

We had a lot of time for ‘Fall fun’ with the grandchildren and a lot of great talks with our children. Not being sure when we will be able return to the States due to the ever-rising cost of travel we made the most of our time with them.

Soooo... We had Thanksgiving early... 

We watched the Christmas story Scrooge early... 

For Cynthia and I, our time with everyone was both sweet and memorable.

Lastly, and this is a request to all our friends and family both in the States and Kenya, … please pray for our children and grandchildren back home in the States. They too have been asked to sacrifice their fathers, grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers for the Kingdom of God. It’s not easy and though we feel their support and encouragement … we also are aware of the personal cost they too must pay for us to live in Kenya. Please hold them up to the only One who can meet those needs and encourage their hearts. 

Thanks to all who helped make our trip possible...With much love… Your missionaries … Dave and Cynthia

American Trip Update...

We wanted to update everyone on what’s been happening during our exciting visit to the States. It has been sooo wonderful! From the 2013 Ingathering at Rose Creek Village to the last few days of visiting with many of our children and grandchildren. So we have decided to do a three part series describing the trip.

First of all… the 'Ingathering' is an annual three day celebration of God’s Life that we do in Rose Creek Village. This year's Ingathering planners designed our time together to be easy going and intimate and they succeeded in accomplishing both. 

There was still plenty of what makes the Ingathering so much fun but lots of time for one on one fellowship as well.

Preceding the Ingathering there is a ‘Great Feast in the Field’ for all the people in surrounding towns that order food from our organic gardens.

There were visits from storytellers to the houses…

There was the traditional gathering together at the sound of the ram horns that first evening.

Then following the horse riders up to the fire altar to the top of our highest hill while all of us holding on to long ribbons symbolizing our unity.

There for two amazing hours we praised our God and blessed His name for who He is and the many wonderful blessings shown to us over the past year. The Milky Way was completely visible and the stars twinkled as we united with our Father and each other.

Later that night we heard reports from our brethren who are demonstrating Life in the Kingdom of God in Mexico, the United States and Africa.

The next morning there was a tasty pancake breakfast at the tent, followed by the ‘Children’s Walk’. This is a time where all the children walk together to pre-appointed places on the land where the adults stage ‘living pictures’ at different locations.

This year there were four stations for the kids and my wife and I got to be the first station representing the biblical characters Anna and Simon who had just seen baby Jesus. It was a lot of fun. We told the story of the birth and dedication of Messiah.
This was followed by three more ‘stations’ imparting spiritual pictures concerning our faith.

 Our brother Doug explained Christ death on a cross and concurrent resurrection.

 Jeremiah and Faith explained about the veil that lies between us and all our brothers and sisters who have already arrived in heaven. It was awesome.

The last station was given by Shammah our beloved teacher. It consisted of picturing the great race set before us to arrive in heaven with honor and glory for Christ. The children got to race all the way to our big meeting tent to be received by the ‘Angels’.

Then there was more dancing...

And singing...

And eating... that afternoon we feasted on scrumptious hamburgers, mouth-watering hot dogs and more of the wonderful fellowship with the Saints.

The dancing continued in the tent that night…

Along with more singing, rejoicing and sharing at what was happening among our people. Then we broke bread together, remembering Christ’s death and the cause of our life together …. His resurrection. It was awesome. Communion was followed by fellowship around warm campfires.

Sunday morning we came back together again around Ida’s world famous donuts and coffee followed by baptisms in the tent. This had to be my most favorite thing that happened.

We baptized seven people that joyous Sunday morning. Among the candidates were a …

Prodigal Son come home...

An eighty-nine year old teenager …

Who can tell of the wonderment one feels while watching human beings transformed in the waters of Life.

Our last event was a huge dance together symbolizing the love and unity our beloved Father has given us. Wow!

All in all it was the final act of love from God in a most wonderful celebration of God’s life during the Ingathering of 2013.

Next week  … Part 2 of our American Trip Update… Sharing with new friends about what’s happening in Africa.