Recently, we received an end of the year update from one of our friends and it was such a pleasure to read how their sons were growing and developing their own interests. It kept them on our minds for days!
We thought that you might want to find out what the four us have been doing or thinking about individually over the past year. (This does not include the cats, although they have certainly been up to quite a bit of mischief and who can tell what kind of dark thoughts are swirling around in their minds! But we are sure you are not interested in hearing about their shenanigans!)
To start with however, we thought you might be interested in a wildlife update. Do some of you remember back in the seventies and eighties when the news reports were full of warnings about killer bees from Africa making their way to the United States? There were even some made for television movies about savage swarms of bees terrorizing unsuspecting people!
Well, we don't know if the fiendish buzzing insects ever made it to the US, but they have certainly been making themselves at home right here at the Villages of Hope. Their latest sojurn being a tree next to our house. We took a picture of the teeming mass because we thought you might enjoy looking at them. :-)
(We all agreed, except for Kamau of course, that this disturbing image can certainly cause many nights of unwelcome nightmares!)
After about two days they left and were spotted fighting with some other bees. This is what we were told by some of the children in the village, who seem to be quite knowledgeable about all the goings on in our little village!
(Here is Rafiki, the newest member of our family, who is very friendly as his Swahili name indicates, but at times exhibits some sociopathic tendencies. We like him though.)
From Kimberly:Lately, it has been my joy to take time in personally developing as one of the worship leaders in our church. We have four teams which are led by Kathleen, Dick, Rose C. and myself. I had always been very nervous about playing my guitar in front of groups of people, (maybe this stemmed from a time years ago when I was playing and the guitar slid off of my lap.) I really hated the struggle because I felt like it was not honoring the Lord to be so concerned of my potential embarrassment and what people might be thinking. After all, He doesn't mind if my voice cracks or if I play a wrong chord or if the guitar winds up on the floor during praise and worship. He is concerned about the attitude of my heart before him. So I have been learning how to freely come before the Lord in worship and focus on what makes him wonderful and helping others to enter into worship as well. Whenever I have free time it is usually spent practicing worship songs and classical music styles on the guitar or reading.
I really love teaching, whether it is Kimani and Malaika in our homeschool and taking great delight in finding activities that will help them learn in fun ways or in Hope Club teaching God's Word to our children. Earlier this month, I began teaching guitar to Mary B., Brighton, and Joe. I am excited at the thought of how the Lord will use everything that they are learning for His glory!
This year I am hoping to also begin teaching several children at the Villages of Hope how to share their faith in Jesus Christ with others and also to train them how to teach Bible lessons to other children. Please pray that God will show me which children to begin with and that I will be faithful and consistent in instructing them.
Feeling Joyful,
Kimberly
From Kamau:As I recall the years that the mission committee met in our home in Delaware and prayed for Southern Sudan, I am very excited and grateful to God. I am so encouraged to witness how God has so graciously answered those prayers. Just this month, the referendum for the independence of Southern Sudan was held and it passed with an whelming majority. The South will officially become the newest independent country in world in July of this year! After more than 20 years of war and oppression, finally a breakthrough has sprung forth! God is indeed faithful and he does answer prayer!
As my church in Delaware continues to pursue a piece of land where we can build a home church, I can vividly remember how for years we have prayed and petitioned the Lord for this vision to became a reality in our time. There are times we despaired and did not see how this could possibly happen, but just like Elijah after a three year drought in Israel, I can see a little cloud on the horizon and I ask myself, Lord, is this it? Is this the time that our long wait and prayers will finally be realized? Will this land we are now pursuing be the answer to our years of prayer? I can only hope and continue to pray and remind myself, that our God is gracious and indeed faithful! He has done it for the people of Southern Sudan in answer to the prayers of God's people, perhaps at GEFC, now is our time!
Now, many of you who know me are aware that I have not been one to take a great interest in farming. Actually, I have found this occupation to appear rather dreary apart from when I am eating farm produce! Of late however, I have suddenly become very curious about this noble profession after observing Mark Wenham, our farmer friend from Zimbabwe, teach about farming God's way and witnessing the results of the demonstration patch that we began last November.
I find my self looking forward to a trip we are taking to Zimbabwe in March to attend a Foundations in Farming conference and field demonstration that will present principles from the Word of God and apply them to farming. I do not know why, in my late forties, there is now this interest, but who knows, maybe with all of the children who have entered our lives, God may want me to learn how to grow and provide food security for them now and in the future!
Ready to learn new things,
Kamau
(At first, learning the guitar seemed so hard, but now I feel good that I can play some nice pieces of music!)
From Malaika:
Dear Friends,
I'm ten years old and I'm in the 4th grade. I like soccer but the boys in the village barely even pass the ball to me. I really, really like school, but sometimes I don't like school. I play guitar and sometimes the recorder. We have two cats and one of them is named Rafiki, which means "friend" Kiswahili. This is the language that Kenyans in Africa speak. I am learning that language and I'm learning how to type. It's fun. I am also learning about American History and I like it. I am sometimes homesick for the United States, although I have my brother and my parents and cats to cheer me up. We went to Kenya in 2010. It was fun. I got to visit my cousins there and we stayed with some friends for awhile. While I was in Kenya we went to a restaurant called "Carnivore," and I ate different types of meat. The new things that I ate were ostrich meat and crocodile meat. It was tasty.
Bye for now!
Malaika
Dear Friends,
I'm ten years old and I'm in the 4th grade. I like soccer but the boys in the village barely even pass the ball to me. I really, really like school, but sometimes I don't like school. I play guitar and sometimes the recorder. We have two cats and one of them is named Rafiki, which means "friend" Kiswahili. This is the language that Kenyans in Africa speak. I am learning that language and I'm learning how to type. It's fun. I am also learning about American History and I like it. I am sometimes homesick for the United States, although I have my brother and my parents and cats to cheer me up. We went to Kenya in 2010. It was fun. I got to visit my cousins there and we stayed with some friends for awhile. While I was in Kenya we went to a restaurant called "Carnivore," and I ate different types of meat. The new things that I ate were ostrich meat and crocodile meat. It was tasty.
Bye for now!
Malaika
(I am so excited about learning chess. I had been waiting a long time for my mom to teach me! Now I am waiting to learn some strategies so that I will be able to beat my brother and play my grandfather one day!)
(Malaika, Kamau & Kimani visiting friends in Kenya last year.)
(Here I am at one of my favorite places!)
From Kimani:
Habari Zenu!
That is how you say "hello" to more than one person in the language of Kiswahili. How are you? I miss you all so much.
I am twelve years old now and I am in the sixth grade. Here is an update on what I have been doing and some things I like to do. I still love reading, and I love playing the guitar and hanging out with our two cats Orlando and Rafiki. I also really like math and I am enjoying learning about physics. Computers really interest me! We have a drawing and computer programming program which my sister and I use to draw cartoons and animate them. It is really fun!
We're learning how to speak Kiswahili because, I mean, we are part Kenyan and we thought it would be a good idea to learn it.
Well, goodbye! Or in Kiswahili, "Kwaheri!"
Sincerely,
Kimani
Habari Zenu!
That is how you say "hello" to more than one person in the language of Kiswahili. How are you? I miss you all so much.
I am twelve years old now and I am in the sixth grade. Here is an update on what I have been doing and some things I like to do. I still love reading, and I love playing the guitar and hanging out with our two cats Orlando and Rafiki. I also really like math and I am enjoying learning about physics. Computers really interest me! We have a drawing and computer programming program which my sister and I use to draw cartoons and animate them. It is really fun!
We're learning how to speak Kiswahili because, I mean, we are part Kenyan and we thought it would be a good idea to learn it.
Well, goodbye! Or in Kiswahili, "Kwaheri!"
Sincerely,
Kimani
( And here I am doing one of my favorite things!)Well, we hope you have enjoyed our personal update!
With much gratitude for you all,
The Kamau Family
