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Habari yako? What is your news? This is a common Swahili greeting here in Kenya. We wanted to make sure that we are communicating how your gifts are being used and how we are doing. Consider this a yearly check-in with you, our supporters, kinda like an accountability letter. Recently, we saw a video on mission giving. Did you know that Americans spend more money on Halloween costumes for their pets than give toward missionaries who are reaching the unreached? So your gifts are precious to us as we bring the gospel to the unreached. Our format for this letter is simple. We will answer these four questions: What happened last year? What are we expecting this year to look like? Where do we stand mentally? and Where do we stand financially?
What happened last year?
- In January, we were waiting for a response to our Work Visa appeal for Namibia.
- In February, we made the hard call to be reassigned because the Namibian government never gave us a clear answer on our Work Visa appeal. It saddened our hearts deeply not be able to return to Tsumkwe.
- In March, we learned we were expecting our first child on October 22nd. We were also reassigned to go to the Digo people of coastal Kenya.
- In April, we returned to Africa. First, we were able to travel to Namibia to gather our belongs and say goodbye for now to our friends in Tsumkwe. Then we traveled to our new assignment among the Digo people in Kenya.
- May-July, we were sent to language school in Tanzania to start learning Swahili.
- In late July, we finally settled into our new village of Vuga, Kenya. We started greeting and meeting our new neighbors.
- September 20th, we went to Nairobi to await the birth of Anastasia. Claudia went into "spontaneous labor" and Anastasia arrived a month early on September 23rd. It turned out to be a huge blessing for her to arrive early.
- October and November were spent starting to learn how to be parents. Jeremy was also able to purchase a vehicle and get all the business done for this year while we stayed in the BIG city.
-In December, we returned to the village of Vuga among the Digo people.
Looking back at last year, none of it was "our plan." We love Anastasia deeply. We love our new team because they are so supportive. We love the Lord for guiding us through this past year.
What are we expecting this year to look like?
- Claudia finally is going to be able to start farming in the Farming God's Way method. Crops here are so sad looking. Farming God's Way should produce a dramatic contrast even the first growing season. It will be very confusing to the locals to see the difference. They have already questioned why we are laying down a mulch layer and not burning our field? Pray for the Digo to have open hearts to the truth the Bible teaches about God providing for "our daily bread."
- Jeremy and another teammate have begun work on an "Oral Bible Story Set" for the Digo people. This past August, we identified a huge need especially for the women who can't read or write. The women love to sit and share stories with each other and their children. This project will be Jeremy's major focus this term. The story set will allow us to share the gospel in Story Fellowship Groups with the people. These small groups will be the start of the future church planting part of our ministry here.
- The local youth love to play SOCCER. Jeremy will attempt to play, keep up, and build relationships with these young men. Most are high school age which makes them a third of Jeremy's age. Jeremy is learning Swahili short texting because they love to text him.
- We would also like to do an informal survey and see if there are any believers in the village of Vuga. If so, we need wisdom on how to encourage them to start meeting together and supporting each other.
- And of course, we will continue learning Swahili and Chidigo languages.
Where do we stand mentally?
We have been through alot this past year. After our team was disbanded and we returned to the U.S. for a few months, we went through some counseling. It was helpful and a good starting point. But to be honest, the past 8 months have been a huge struggle. So many of you have prayed for us. THANK YOU!!! We have truly felt those prayers. Those prayers and being assured of our calling to the unreached have sustained us. The oversea missionary life isn't always what you see on a Sunday morning video. It is tough, very tough. To say we haven't wanted to quit and just come "home" would be lying. We miss family, friends, and simple things like the changing of seasons. This past year we have had to readjust to a new team, a new culture and two new languages plus becoming first time parents on top of everything. Thankfully, Anastasia is a good baby and she is such a blessing to us. We look forward to what God has to teach us through her. Pray for us as we continue to adjust to being with the Digo people. Our hearts are still in Tsumwke among the San people and moving has been a real challenge. God closed that door for some reason and will give us the strength needed to continue forward.
Where do we stand financially?
AIM has increased our monthly support target. We are somewhere around 80% funded. This makes us short about $800 per month of our support target. A few factors have contributed to this shortage.
1. With the addition of a new family member, our medical insurance cost and day-to-day cost have increased.
2. It is more expensive to live in Kenya than Namibia. Recently here in Kenya, the political atmosphere has caused inflation on basic daily items. So the cost of living continues to rise.
3. We did lose some supporters when we were reassigned and started a new two year term. Our call to the unreached of Africa has not changed, just our location. God has blessed us with many of you increasing your giving amounts. THANK YOU!!! Some of you are new to our team this year. We say WELCOME and THANK YOU!!! Without your support, we could not stay here in Africa.
Remember that video we mentioned earlier. Take a moment and watch it.
Feel free to share it with your family, friends, and churches.
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