Ashe & Ole Sere (Thank you & Good-bye)

This past week, we had the privilege of being the recipients of a celebration in Kajiado. This is the area receiving many of your generous donations for drought relief. The leaders of the 21 churches in this district decided they wanted to say "Thank You" and at the same time say "Good-bye" to our teammates leaving for furlough in the next month.

The afternoon began with an appetizer of goat ribs plus a few extra meat portions along with a side of veggies, very much like pico de gallo.

We then joined together in singing and hearing about what God had done through the gifts He's provided. Over 27,000 people are receiving assistance thanks to the monies received. Additionally, a new church is being planted due to the witness of Christ's love through the church.
Here are a majority of the elders within Community Christian Church (CCC) in Kajiado:


After all was said, out of their little, they gave us much - we were blessed with Maasai-style formal outfits. I wish we could share them with you who were the true givers. We are honored to be your representatives. Below is a picture of me receiving my outfit.

As many of you know, Joe has taken over the leadership of our CMF missionary team from Dan Crum, who has served in that position for 8 years. To symbolize this transition, the Kajiado leaders provided us with an orinka - a Maasai club. Here you can see Dan saying a few words about how this orinka represents more than just the transition of CMF leadership, but the leadership they as CCC Kenyan leaders have taken and made their own these past years.

We ended our time with food, of course. I hope these pictures can express just a tiny bit of the love and unity of the church expressed that day. Please continue to pray for God's witness through CCC and for His blessing of consistent rain throughout all of Kenya.

Europe Vacation

Well, I finally had a connection and time to post pictures from our vacation to Europe last month on facebook. You can see them by following this address, even if you aren't on facebook!

Living with Seasonal Rains

I thought you might be interested to see what a difference the rainy seasons can make in Kenya. Normally there are two periods of rain - the long rains in April/May and the short rains in November. In between, there is sun and beautiful temperatures usually with highs in the 80s.

Here is what the Ewaso Ng'iro Centre grounds look like in the midst of /after the rains:



Here is the same property in the sunny/dry times:


Yes, it really is that much of a contrast. So you can see why this year much of Kenya is experiencing a drought and loss of livestock as the short rains didn't really come and the long rains are very sporadic right now.

Please pray for rain throughout Kenya.