I can't believe it's been two months since I sent an update to everyone. It seems more like a week or two. Time is flying by and in two weeks I will have been in Kenya for one year! I am enjoying life here for the most part. The water and electricity rationing has ended for now although the electricity still goes off occasionally. I know many of you were praying for the Masaai and the Samburus because they were hit so hard by the drought. Well, that has now past and the rains have come so they are now in the process of recovering. Joseph, the Samburu man, is coming to Nairobi today and we are meeting this afternoon so it will be good to see how he is doing and also to help him in his ministry there with his people.
The classes here are going very well and as it progresses the students are understanding things more and more from a grace perspective. They are learning what it means to live the spiritual life as a result of God's Word established in their hearts by the Holy Spirit and not from their own works. I am getting a lot of feedback that these pastors and leaders are beginning to see through the false teaching that is so prevalent here in Africa and see how they need to change their approach. I really don't get involved directly in their churches or what they are doing. That is between them and God. I just continue to teach them as God gives me strength and the Holy Spirit leads. But I do see a great change coming over them and it is very gratifying to see.
The young people who come to class on Sunday afternoon are special to me. Many of them have just finished their national exams. Here in Kenya their educational system is different in that their placement in high school is not dependent on a continual grade system like in America, but rather on the European system where they are given one final exam which determines everything (sort of like taking the S.A.T.'s in the states to determine which college you'll get into). So it was a really big deal leading up to the exam. The exam itself took several days. Now they are on holiday until January when they will hopefully be able to go to high school somewhere. Joshephat and I are praying that one day we will be able to have a school for them and keep them together so we can continue to develop them spiritually as well as mentally.
I want to tell you about Dixon, one of my students who is already in high school and is faithful to come to my classes and growing spiritually. He is very bright and has gotten into a school here in Buruburu. Dixon has no father and his mother is not able to provide a stable home. He somehow exists day to day by the grace of God. He came to my house one day and didn't know what to do because the school was needing money for him to continue. (Here education is not free. The government pays part and the parents pay part. Some simply cannot afford it.) So I have made a deal with him - he comes to my house once a week after school and works for a couple of hours doing lawn work or laundry (both of which are by hand - no lawn mowers or washing machines here) - and I give him some money for his schooling and meals. He was thrilled and so this has come to be mutually beneficial.
Pray for Dixon as he continues his education but especially as he develops spiritually. Also pray for the students who have completed their exams and are now looking to an uncertain future. I am concerned that if they go off somewhere to high school that they will no longer be able to take advantage of the Bible classes here. God knows but please pray for them as well as the pastors and adults in the classes as well. Don't forget to pray for me as I teach and minister.
Stan
