Thursday 18, August 2016

(continued from Tuesday)

After the service and handing out the food, we visited the site where the new church building will be located, and we gathered around and prayed, dedicating this place to the proclamation of the gospel and the glory of God.

Pastor Thomas lives nearby and we visited his home.

Of course the trip was not complete without getting stuck in the sand. Fortunately there were plenty of people around to help. But Dan did most of the work. 

We eventually made our way back to Lodwar without more flat tires or other issues and gratefully rested at our hotel, St Teresa's Pastoral Centre.

We arrived in Lodwar Kenya Saturday the 13th and have been preparing for this year’s Pastoral conference. This year’s study is titled Shepard to Shepard: An Exposition of 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus.  I will be speaking on the Sanctity of Human Life with focus on God the Creator, the humanity of the unborn, our responsibility as Christians and sexual integrity.

Sunday we were blessed to be invited to a church, two hours outside Lodwar, and spending time with the congregation and the tribes people. I am always moved by all those I meet.

This year I am again traveling with Mike Sandberg, Pastor and Director of Pastoral Development, Rob Hostager, Pastor Tim Bourgeois. New to the team are Pastor Dan Mason and Roger Johnson.

The team meets each morning in prayer and devotion. This to me is a very special time and the best part of the day.

Next week will be at the Pastoral Conference in Mwamba with meetings in Eldoret with Youth for Christ and Jane Osoro to discuss crises pregnancy intervention, post abortion support and medical equipment needs.

Thank you again for your prayers and support.

God Bless,

Ben

Tuesday August 16, 2016

We are in Lodwar right now, beginning the 2nd day of our pastors conference.  The theme of this conference, and the one we will be doing next week in Mwamba, is Shepherd to Shepherd: An Exposition of 1st & 2nd Timothy and Titus. I intended to start this blog much sooner but our whirlwind schedule and sketchy internet connections doomed that from the start.  Surprisingly we are getting very good reception at the school where we are holding the conference.  So to bring you up to date -

l arrived 8 hours ahead of most of the rest of the team last Thursday after several airline delays.  Four members of the team arrived Friday morning at five: Rob Hostager, Roger Johnson, Dan Mason and Ben Edwards.  Ben and Rob linked up in Amsterdam with Roger and Dan who were traveling from Portland. The last member of the team, Tim Bourgeois, did not arrive until Saturday morning at 2:30 am, which was both a blessing and a curse. The blessing was the lack of traffic in Nairobi; the curse was the fact that I had to get up at 2 am to go pick him up.

Meanwhile, the rest of us spent Friday preparing for our trip; getting our communications equipment squared away, exchanging dollars for Kenyan schillings and buying souvenirs at the Masaai market. Of course the first order of business was to eat breakfast at one of our favorite spots - Java House.

Friday evening we had a great dinner at a place called 360 Degrees Pizza.

Saturday was our travel day to Lodwar.

Roger and Pastor George Lokwawi meet.

Pastor Shadrack is our API Associate who travels ahead of the team arranging all the logistics for our trip.  And he does a great job.

Saturday evening we had dinner with some of the pastors of Lodwar, and the Lodwar executive team of the Lodwar ministerial, and checked into St. Teresa's, a Catholic retreat center in Lodwar.

Sunday morning we bought maize, beans, rice, cooking oil, matches and salt, loaded up the vehicles and set off for a church in the interior called Nakepokan. It was only 52 km from Lodwar, toward the South Sudan border, but the condition of the road and the inevitable breakdowns, turns this into a 3 hour trip. The first flat came about 30 minutes out of Lodwar.

The second one came about an hour later.

Both breakdowns involved flat tires and thankfully we dealt with those fairly quickly. I'm just glad that we had two spares. There was a brief moment of panic when the vehicle slipped off the jack and headed off the road at one point however.

Ben tried to help with the air pump Roger bought to inflate the soccer balls he brought.

It was decided that the problem was the load on top was too much for the tires below. My personal thought was the problem had more to do with the condition of the tires than the weight.  But what do I know?  We unloaded the top and continued the rest of the trip without another flat.

After about three hours on the road, (and off the road) we finally made it to Nakepokan.

We met the church of Nakepokan at their place of worship under a large tree.

When they saw Roger, they immediately recognized that he deserved the chair of honor. The rest of us got a log to sit on.

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Pastor George Lokwawi planted this church and handed it over to Pastor Thomas.

Pastor Thomas Eipa

After the service, we handed out the food we brought to an appreciative church. Pastor Dan, Ben and Roger handled the duties.

Thursday February 4, 2016

It's great to be back in the Pacific Northwest after three weeks on the other side of the world.  Although Stan and I were blessed in so many ways throughout this trip, we are thankful to be home again.  Thursday morning, Frank and I traveled to Kisii where I was meeting some pastors from the Kisii area, and he went on to Matete to retrieve Stan.  One of those pastors had contacted API USA online and requested the meeting to see if we might help them in training the pastors and leaders of their area. We had a very fruitful meeting and I invited them to attend our next pastor's conference in Eldoret. 

Stan and I met up again in Kisii on Friday, the 29th of January and traveled to Narok.  The next morning, Stan and I were off to the game park in Maasai Mara for an all-day safari.  Our driver and guide, Simon, is one of the best in the park and we saw every animal in the park except for that elusive leopard.

On our way back to Nairobi Sunday morning, we took a break to take in the view of the Rift Valley.

And we tried on some of the local headgear.

When we arrived in Nairobi, we went to Frank's house to have lunch with his wife, Caroline, and his daughter, Vanessa.

Baby Ricky was sleeping.

Stan and I had one last dinner at 360 Pizza Sunday night before flying home Monday.  After three weeks of Kuku and chips, ugali and sukumoweke, we felt like we hit the jackpot, finishing off some great Italian pasta dishes with espresso and gelato.

Stan and I would like to thank all those who invested in our trip with your prayers and financial support. We both came home feeling that the work of our hands was blessed by God and used for His glory.

Sunday evening January 31, 2016

If you've been following this blog, you'll remember Stephen Lobolia, a missionary to the Toposa people of South Sudan. I asked him to let us know a bit about his mission there and I wanted to share that with you.

SOUTH SUDAN MISSIONS MINISTRY WORK.

BACKGROUND AND SALVATION

My name is Stephen Lobolia, from Turkana, Kenya. I was brought up in an unbeliever’s family, my father being a pastoralist and a witchdoctor. Early 1980s I am told there was severe drought all over Turkana. My mother was the first wife among many others. My father sent her to go and benefit from relief food which was distributed from Lodwar by NGOs. I was young by then. My mother decided to take me with her. So that is how we came to live in Lodwar and access education.

My other brothers decided to leave pastoralism and accompanied us in Lodwar. One of my elder brother left school due to negative peer pressure. He began to indulge in drugs. Staying away from our father my elder brother took the responsibility to be the bread winner. His business was selling drugs. Now here I was made to be involved in the business. I was trained to be the transporter of the drugs. I was assured that you are young and the police won’t suspect you. I thank God because I was almost caught ones but escaped.

My salvation story. I ever hate to have access to gospel witnesses. I kept escaping every moment I saw them coming to me. One day, noon time, the sun was really hot and i laid in the house, I heard someone knocking the door. It was Pastor John who was led by my friend to me. That was the day I gave Jesus my life after knowing I was lost heading to hell.

This was the start of a burden to reach members of our family. After I finished secondary education 2002, I talked to our church to send me to Kalokol, 55 kms away from home to start a church. This was the place we used to do our illegal business and my brothers lived here. My brother and his family got saved. We started fellowship in his home. They were among the 8 first converts we baptized and the Baptist church started 8^th of Feb 2004. I served this church until May 2013 when I resigned for South Sudan Missions. By now three churches exist and two bible study areas around Kalokol area near Lake Turkana.

CALL TO SOUTH SUDAN

2009, was my first short term mission trip to South Sudan. It was among the Toposa people group. The first impression was when I was sharing with a group of Toposa women. In the middle of the conversation one of them stopped me. She said,” we are hungry buy for us alcohol.” After we finished conversation and left the imagination did not leave my mind and my heart. To me this was a spiritual need.

Since then, God put Toposa burden in my heart. As I was pastoring the Kalokol Baptist Church, I was just longing for ministry in South Sudan.

For several years I began planning short term mission trips reaching the least reached Toposa people. I have loved Apostle Paul’s perspective on the verse below,

Romans 15:20 “And so I have made it my aim to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation. Continue praying for Bruno and Mumaina.

May 2013 I resigned pastoring and pursued my call for the missions work. I got a sending Church in western part of Kenya. The commissioning service was done Oct 2014. The challenging part is raising funds for this work. It has been going and coming back to Kenya since.

TOPOSA PEOPLE

These are agro-pastoralist people. Majority are illiterate that depend on livestock for their livelihood. Also most of the Toposa are polygamist. Many practice witchcraft. People tie sticks around their waists and wear animal skins for protection. In absence of rain they sacrifice animals to their diviners for rain.

Because of cows, Toposa and our Turkana people practice cattle rustling. Many among these communities have lost their beloved ones. My first mission trips were full of fear due to the two tribes hostility and hatred. God made them to see me as a friend not an enemy.

TWO BIBLE STUDY GROUPS STARTED

I have started two Bible study groups among Narijon and Nyangia.

Most of the worship is preferred done at night. The reason being at day time the people take care of their livestock for grazing and taking to water.

Other disciples to pray for are Elijah Lobeyo, Aurelio the government administrator and the chief Peter Locham.

MY FAMILY.

I am married to Patricia Lobolia. God has blessed us with three children. Our first borne is a girl named Grace 8 years, followed by Joshua 6 years and Ashley 6 month.

PRAYER REQUESTS.

We plan to stay in Nyangia. We pray for providence of land and resources to construct house to stay with my family.

Also we pray for means of transport.

Our support has not been consistent. We pray that the Churches will obey the Great Commission to support global Evangelization.

Yours in the great Commission

Stephen and Patricia.

Reaching the least reached people group- The Toposa.

Sunday January 31, 2016

This will be the second post today since the internet is zinging along, and a follow-up to Tuesday of last week.  Wednesday, we visited another church plant under the direction of Pastor Silas McKalluh. 

I've known Pastor Silas for about 7 years and we've helped his congregation in Longoria with a church building.  But Silas also has a heart for church planting and last year he planted a church in another village called Magena.  The church is using a rented school room but wants to put up their own structure. However, one of the stipulations of receiving help from the Brad Pederson Memorial Building fund is that the church own their own property.  And as of Wednesday they did not have any property on which to build.  But that didn't stop us from going out to visit the church.

When we arrived, several church members and elders were there to greet us.  After we talked for a bit, one of the members who owns some property nearby, said that he was donating land to the church in order to build. So we walked over to the piece, took some pictures and in prayer, dedicated the property to the Lord.

We had brought some building fund money with us, and so after looking over the building plan and cost estimate, we left them with $1,500 to begin construction.  Before I gave Silas the money, I asked him when they would start. 'Tomorrow!' he said with a smile.  And as we left Kilgoris on Thursday morning, we passed by the site, and they were already hard at work clearing the site to build.  On Friday I called Pastor Silas and he told me that they had already put in the foundation and expected to finish the building next week.  He promised to send pictures.

Sunday January 31, 2016

I am doing a bit of catch up today because we finally got back to Nairobi and fairly decent internet.  The order is a bit mixed up since the blog I wrote for Thursday actually posted and I hadn't given you anything since Monday.  So this one will focus on Tuesday January 26.

After we got things going at Olochani, Frank and I took off for Ololui with Pastor Reuben Twala.  API had helped this congregation which was meeting under a tree, construct a building for worship.  We went out to the church to see how things were.  I should have known it wasn't going to be easy, particularly when we ran into a small river we had to ford.

Things didn't get much better as we actually got stuck in a tremendous bog which broke some things we had to do road repairs on.  I say, 'We' but it was actually Frank who got dirty.

Nevertheless, intrepid travelers that we are, we finally made it to Ololui church.

The man on the right is Pastor Reuben, and he wanted me to pass on the church's thanks for those who gave to see this building finally built. The man on the left is Pastor Samwel of Olocentu church, another Brad Pederson Building Fund project that was completed two years ago.

The next project for this church is a concrete floor and water drains.  The property on which it is built is very wet during the rainy season and water comes into the church.  They have a plan to channel the water away from the church and are awaiting funds to complete it. I told Pastor Reuben that we would put this project on our list of projects to complete.  If you would like to give toward this project, you can either send a check to API USA, PO Box 235047, Encinitas, CA 92023-5047 or make an immediate donation by clicking on the MoGive page to the right of this one. Just click on the Pastoral Development tab in Campaigns and follow the directions.

Thursday January 28, 2016

Today I am in Kisii, while Frank heads back to Matete to pick Stan up and then we'll head to Narok.  Yesterday we finished the floor at Olochani.  It's been four days of hiking up and down the hill so Frank and I certainly got our aerobics in.  The following pictures will help take you through the process. After the ballast and concrete was laid and dried overnight, the next step was the sand and cement mixture.  Butch and Dave and Tim will notice this is a little different process than our other projects.

As the sand and cement are mixed, it is troweled onto the floor. Here the funde (foreman) is forming and trowling the pulpit area - what the Masaai call 'the altar'.

This next picture is strictly a shout out to Butch who asked his former boss to contribute to the project.  He came through with gloves and an emergency medical kit.

All the guys were really grateful for the gloves.  Thank you Butch!

Today the final finish was applied to the floor. Come in and see!

The white dots on the floor come from the sun streaming through the nail holes in the roof - which for some reason, doesn't leak.

Pastor Benson Ntuntai and the Olochani church want me to express their great gratitude for those who gave to make this happen. With the floor in place, the church can now serve as a school for the surrounding rural area.  The nearest school is about 5 km away and this will give the kids living around here a chance for an education.

Monday January 25, 2016

Today we began work at Olochani to put in a concrete floor.  The first step was getting to the site.  We can't drive there so we carried what we needed up the hill, a walk of about 1 km. I know it doesn't look particularly steep from the camera's viewpoint, but it is. The trees you see in the far distance are fairly close to the summit.

Frank had to help push the piki piki up the hill. Unfortunately I don't have an extra camera man or you would have seen me lugging some of the rest of the boards up the hill.

Since the first order of business was to excavate for the slab, Frank took the opportunity to rest a bit as there were not enough jembes to go around.

However as soon as that was done, it was time to begin the foundation fill.

While the crew was busy on the floor, the carpenter was working on building doors for the new latrine outside.

Trimming the door with a panga.

Meanwhile, the pundas (donkeys) were bringing the water for the project.

The water is stored in bigger containers on site.  The way it looks, those donkeys are going to get a workout bringing water up the hill.

The cement cart arrived, pulled by a tractor and the bags were offloaded to be used tomorrow.

Tomorrow we'll start pouring the floor and Wednesday we'll do the finish coat.

Sunday January 24, 2016

Since the internet seems to be working today, here is part two of Sunday's blog.

Yesterday, Frank and I left Stan in Matete to continue his work there to head down to Olochani, near Kilgoris in the Transmara region of Kenya.  We are helping the church in Olochani put in a concrete floor in the church they built with the help of the Brad Pederson Memorial Building Fund. 

Today we attended the service there with the Olochani church.  It is located on top of one of the hills around Kilgoris with a commanding view of the surrounding area.  The only drawback is that there is no road to the top, so we walked for nearly 1 kilometer, huffing and puffing to the top.

And before you ask, yes it's kind of like being in a tin oven when the sun is out.

Pastor Benson Ntuntai has a small congregation with a lot of children. Here is the Sunday School class.

And here is the church in Olochani.

Visitors are always an occasion to drop by, and this grandma was no exception.  She had never been to the church, but when she saw a musungu, she couldn't resist climbing up to see.

Tomorrow we begin the floor project and as you can see, the materials have been stockpiled, brought up by donkey.

Sunday January 24, 2016

I had more to say on Friday's blog but the power failed and I didn't get a chance to finish.  Thursday we headed up to Mt Elgon to meet with some of the Ndorobo people at a place called Labot.  They don't actually have villages as such since they live in the bush on individual plots, but they have community centers in places on the mountain where they gather to trade and swap news.  The road has been much improved since the last time we tried to reach Labot, but it eventually ran out and we walked the remaining 4 or 5 km up the mountain.

Frank and I were accompanied by Pastor Leonard and another pastor, Dunstan Musungu, who originally came from this area.  As we arrived at the center, people began coming to see who the visitors were.  Since they live so high up the mountain and in a place difficult to reach, visitors are rare and treasured. Pretty soon we had about 25 men and women gathered around in a circle and Pastor Leonard and Dunstan began to introduce themselves and share why we had come.

We brought an audio Bible called the Proclaimer with the New Testament in their language. An audio Bible is very important in a remote region like this as most of the inhabitants do not read or write any language, including their own.  All Kenyans are supposed to learn to read and write English and Swahili starting in the 1st grade.  However, places like this have very few schools and consequently very few of these people are taught to read and write.

After introductions and some explanation, we started the audio Bible and immediately they were transfixed.  None had ever heard the Bible in their own language.

After about 30 minutes, Pastor Leonard then explained that he would be back with his team to continue with the audio Bible and asked them to invite others to come and hear.  As he was talking, some excited conversation broke out among them with lots of pointing and gestures. It turns out that the person reading the Bible on the Proclaimer was the brother to one of the men listening! In fact he is the one in the middle in the picture above.

Pastor Dunstan and Pastor Leonard will be training teams of men to take this audio Bible into other centers in Mt Elgon, as well as another audio device called a Saber.  The Saber has Bible stories in their language, Saboat, that present the gospel.  Their intention is to begin going into centers all over this area in Mt Elgon with the gospel in Saboat. We have provided the team with one Proclaimer and five Saber devices, but more are needed.  The audio Bible is so effective in these areas because as an oral culture they more easily identify with the spoken word as opposed to the written word.

The hotel accommodations were rather sketchy so we decided to head down the mountain to civilization.

Thanks to all those who donated funds to get these audio Bibles into the hands of faithful men. Pray for Pastor Leonard and Pastor Dunstan as they pull together a team to bring the gospel to the Ndorobo.

Friday January 22, 2016

It's been awhile since I had access to decent internet so I'll try to fill you in on where we were and what we've been doing this week. Stan's been having a blast at Pastor Moses' place, training Pastor Moses and a couple of others on different sign-making techniques. He's also been training to be a piki-piki driver.

And he's been playing hide-n-seek with the kids. Where's Waldo?

Actually he's been hard at work with Moses and his crew.

And he's been making friends with the staff at Downhill Springs - particularly the cooks.

He also made it a point to check the readiness of the security guards.

He's been visited by dignitaries as well.

This is Moses, his son, Shallom, Senator Daisy Kanainza, and Stan in front of the new home Moses is building.

Monday Stan and Frank and I spent the morning in Bungoma getting supplies for both jobs, however I hung out at the Elegant Hotel because they have free wifi that actually works. In the afternoon Frank and I finally made it out to Mwamba where we were helping Pastor Dennis and his church put in a new floor. This project actually took three days but I think you'll agree that the result is beautiful.  The pictures that follow document the stages of construction.

Here is the Mwamba church.  This is one of the first churches the Brad Pederson Fund helped to construct.

Initially the floor was excavated out to allow for the new materials.

The next day we began mixing the concrete, sand and rock on the floor.

The next step, on the next day, was to apply the second layer of finish floor.

Meanwhile, Pastor Dennis was trying his hand at being a punda (donkey) drover.

And as everyone knows, these carts are strictly first class.

And here is the finished product.  In finishing the floor, the 12" elevation change from side to side was corrected as well.  Now the floor is level.

We want to thank all of you who have contributed to this project and to the Brad Pederson Building Fund, particularly kudos go out to the Beads for Brad ladies who have done so much to raise awareness and money for this fund.

Monday January 18, 2016

This morning we are in Bungoma where I finally got a good internet connection.  I'm meeting Pastor Leonard Ekea to plan our trip to Mt Elgon.  Stan, Frank and Pastor Moses are in town to purchase supplies for our projects.  Since we last blogged, we left the Hampton House in Nairobi and traveled to Matete.

Along the way we met one of our API School of Ministry students, Pastor Stephen Lobolia.  Stephen left the pastorate to become a full-time missionary to the Taposa people of South Sudan.  They are a largely oral culture with very few who read and write, so we brought some resources Stephen can use in his ministry there. 

One of the devices we brought is called a Saber which has a series of Bible stories and gospel presentations in their language he can use with flip charts to share the gospel.  It is also loaded with worship songs in Taposa. This device can be recharged by conventional electrical current, or by solar power.  (Stephen is holding the solar charging unit.) It also has a hand crank option if there is no electricity or sun.

We brought two other devices, the Proclaimer and the Envoy S.  Both are also solar powered and loaded with the New Testament in their language.  Stephen was overwhelmed with the generosity of those who gave for this project and says that now he will be able to evangelize and disciple more effectively, and the small churches he has planted will grow.  Pray for Stephen and his family as they go back to South Sudan and continue to proclaim the gospel.

Saturday January 16, 2016

Stan Skinner and I took off for Kenya on Wednesday, arriving in Nairobi Thursday night. Stan is going to be working with Pastor Moses of Matete to do some more training and expansion of the sign business he started there last year.  I will be visiting pastors and churches, working with our API School of Ministry Director in Kenya, Pastor Shadrack, helping two churches with the installation of floors, and traveling to Mt Elgon to the Ndorobo people with Pastor Leonard.  The Ndorobo are a forest-dwelling people who are largely illiterate.  Pastor Leonard has been working among them and we are bringing audio bibles and audio bible stories to help in that work.

Friday we spent the day gathering resources.

Of course we ate breakfast at our favorite coffee joint - the Java House. The manager noticed the hat I was wearing and gave us free coffee!

Stan had made a few of these limited edition hats and gave me one.  They don't actually have any Java House hats in Kenya.  So we are fairly unique.  I hope to trade on this uniqueness at every Java House we come to.

Stan visited sign shops to buy materials.

He also took some random pictures.

Most of the afternoon was taken up with a visit to Global Recordings Network where all the different Kenyan languages are loaded on to a device called the Saber.  These are Bible stories that are used with oral cultures to tell the gospel, since they cannot read or write. We will be taking some of these to Mt Elgon with us.

The director, Winston Omenya, spent a couple hours with us describing the mission of Global Recordings and teaching us how to use the Saber.

Along with his assistant, Walter Okelo, the team at Global Recordings was helpful and very enthusiastic and thankful that more of their work would be reaching previously unreached people.

Late in the day, we met Aketch Aimba, the Executive Director for Pearls and Treasures, an organization in Nairobi that offers post-abortion recovery, crisis pregnancy help, and abortion and sexuality education in the slums and poorer neighborhoods. Ben Edwards, Development Director of CareNet of Puget Sound, had sent some fetal models to Aketch to help with their programs, so we met her for dinner to give those to her. 

Today we are traveling to Eldoret, and then on to Matete.  Thanks for praying for us throughout this journey. Stay tuned for more.

It's Wednesday morning in Nairobi and we just had a great breakfast at Java house and we are packing up to fly home this evening.  Over the weekend we had the opportunity to visit the game park in Masaai Mara and saw some of God's incredible handiwork up close and personal. It is migration time for the animals and there were literally millions of them on the move.

Here are a few photos taken by the master photographer - Rob Hostager.

Thank you all for your prayers and support all throughout this trip.  God has done more than we could have imagined or planned on our own and we are thankful for your participation in this ministry.

Today I met with Aketch Aimba , the executive Director of Pearls and Treasures in Nairobi Kenya. This pro-life organization offers crisis pregnancy intervention, post abortion support and counseling.  Again, there is a great need for a center offering medical services. We were able to tour the facility and meet the great staff and volunteers. 

The Kenyan Christian Professionals Forum and Ann Kioko also made us feel welcome during our visit to the organization this afternoon.

The Kenya Christian Professionals Forum (KCPF) is a group of Christian professionals from various denominations sharing the common values on issues of family, life and religious freedom and social justice.

Please pray for both organizations.

We have been blessed this past three weeks with great teaching, new friends and great memories. I look forward to home, seeing my kids and playing with the grandkids. Thank you all again for your prayers and support!

God Bless,

Ben Edwards

I spoke with a few pastors that showed me the heart of the pastors at this second training conference in Eldoret.  One lives in Mombasa at the far eastern edge of Kenya on the Indian ocean.  Another is in the mountains on the western border with Uganda.  Other pastors are here from the far southern border with Tanzania and some from far up north near the border with Ethiopia.   Moses ( there are two Moses here which really kind of messes with your head ) from Mombasa traveled by car for 24 hours over 400 miles, through the night, to get here.  That is how hungry these guys are to hear and be trained in the Word.  The roads here are worth highlighting.  There are some roads built in the last year that are perfect and smooth, but once you get to outlying areas, 'road' has a completely different meaning.  

Main road out of Lodwar that connects them with the South

The main asphalt road is elevated, but it so filled with deep potholes that everyone drives on the dirt shoulders of the road.  So, the road marks the path, but everyone is driving on everything else BUT the road.  So, to come over 400 miles represents a huge sacrifice.

This trip uncovered for me the need and desire for biblical counseling and discipleship in Kenya.  I found only one bible school in all of Kenya ( this was in Nairobi, the capital ) that offered coursework in biblical counseling and it was only one class.  There were no resources either for either personal counsel or biblical counseling training in any of the other major cities in Kenya, much less the outlying rural areas.  The pastors responded enthusiastically to the hope and instruction that the scriptures offer us as shepherds for ministering to their bodies.  Some want immediate help to incorporate it into their bodies now, some want additional training as soon as they can get it, and some now want to pursue formal training programs including getting their masters degrees in counseling.  We are now looking at and praying about how we can address the desires of these men to develop this area of their ministry at all of these levels on an ongoing basis.  Please pray with us as well.  We are spoiled with a wealth of biblical training in the states in every aspect of our walk.  We have become accustomed to it and take it for granted.  These men do not.  It is very dear to them. I hope they get this desire of their heart in fullest measure.

Lord, please bless these pastors and the men of the API Kenya team.  It was a privilege to serve with them these last two weeks.  May you be blessed and glorified by the work of your servants and may this work be sustained and expanded by your grace and for your namesake.  Please give us safe travels home and thank you for our families and church bodies that we shall see very soon!

Jay McBee

It has been a few days since we have had reliable internet so I'll try to catch you all up on what's been happening. 

We finished the conference in Eldoret Friday night with a great time of celebration of the Lord's table.  We had 46 pastors and church leaders attend the conference that started last Monday evening and it was a full week of teaching and learning.

Everyday we held an hour session for questions and answers, with the pastors and students grilling the presenters.

Friday, we took a group photo with the students and their t-shirts and books.  The t-shirts were made by Pastor Moses Biketi in his new sign shop Stan Skinner and Dave Johnson helped him set up last February.  The books were provided by P&R Publishing and the Gospel Coalition's Theological Famine program.

Saturday morning we took off for our eventual destination of Narok, but we were sidelined after about two hours of driving when the trailer hitch assembly broke off our vehicle. Providentially it happened just as we came into a town called Kakamega and not while we were speeding down the highway.  As it happened, there were three welding shops within about 100 meters and after an hour's delay and 6 dollars worth of welding rod we were on our way.

Ben and Tim enjoyed some Tangawezi and Coke Zero while I chilled on the grassy bank and Rob and Jay were nowhere to be seen while the hitch was re-welded.

We stopped in a place called Majengo where Pastor Reuben Luvanga has planted a church. 

We stopped off to visit and to give the church some money from the Brad Pederson Memorial Building Fund to help them put up a structure on this plot of land they recently purchased. Reuben and I are standing where he intends to put the pulpit.

After some chai and chapati at the home of Reuben and his wife, we continued on our way to Narok.

Dear Friends and Family,

Fish FM 97.1 Studio, Eldoret Kenya

It has been a remarkable time, this past two weeks, serving and providing pastoral support in the Kenyan cities of Nairobi, Lodwar, and Eldoret and teach on the Sanctity of Human Life. We all have been moved deeply by the hearts of the people and by the many needs they have.  

I have been blessed to have been able to share the Sanctity of Human Life and the work of Care Net of Puget Sound with pastors and organizations in Lodwar and Eldoret. The presentations at the API Pastors Conferences have been well received.

Yesterday I was blessed to be able to meet with the leadership of Youth for Christ here in Eldoret. In our meeting I met two young ladies that have had a vision of opening a center to support women in crises. I shared with them the programs and services of Care Net of Puget Sound and they were encouraged by the information I was able to give them. Through this meeting an invitation was given to me to speak on the local Christian radio station, which I was able to do this morning. What an opportunity to share the Sanctity of Human Life, the work of Care Net of Puget Sound and what Christ has done in my life. 

Eldoret is ground zero for abortions in Kenya. More abortions are performed here than any other city in Kenya. Sadly, there are no pregnancy centers. Pray that a center will be built to come along women and families in need. Pray for the unborn.  

Thank you for your love and continued prayers as we travel.

In His service.

Ben

It is Wednesday night in Eldoret and we just finished the second day of the pastor's conference here at EABC (East Africa Bible College).  We arrived in Eldoret last Saturday and had a wonderful dinner at the local Chinese restaurant.

Sunday morning, Ben and Rob and Frank and I visited the church in Mwamba, and Jay and Tim visited Pastor Shadrack's church in downtown Eldoret.

Monday was prep day for most of us as the pastors arrived and we held the first session Monday night. Jay and Ben were handing out the books and getting to know the pastors.

We have 46 pastors and leaders, mostly from western Kenya, but one is from Mombasa on the east coast, and two are from Lodwar who were unable to make the Lodwar conference.

As you might be able to tell from the pictures here, the climate in Eldoret is decidedly colder than Lodwar. Tuesday and Wednesday were full days, teaching from 8:30 in the morning till 9 at night with a few short breaks for lunch and dinner.

Rob is videoing all the sessions and he has quite the impressive array of equipment.

He also stays up late to shoot the stars. However he has been a little bit hindered by the extremely bright moon these last few nights.

Tuesday Ben was able to connect with the local Crisis Pregnancy Center in Eldoret and apparently he will be on a local radio show on Thursday.  The staff told him that they had been praying for this kind of connection for some time and they were extremely overjoyed at his visit.

We have two more days of this conference and then we are off to Narok and Masaai Mara.  On our way we will stop and visit with Pastor Reuben Luvanga in Majengo.  His church has purchased some land and is anxious to begin building a structure.  We will be bringing them some help from the Brad Pederson Memorial Building Fund. 

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for this ministry.