Saturday 10 May 2014

Kenya

Dear friends

We greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We would like to thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement during the last few weeks. As we wrote to you  we were leaving Uganda for Kenya. We made it, we reached Kenya well. However the journey was long but God protected us all. Glory be to Him.
We have been in Kenya for one month so far. We all stay in one of the villages, outside Mombasa town. The place is rough, and quite far from civilization. Most of the houses in this area are mad houses without power or running water. But we thank God, for the house we stay in has power and water. The house itself do not have inside bathroom but there is one outside. It  is a bit scary at night because there is no fence around.  But still we are thankful "for we have learn to be satisfied with what we have" Phl. 4;11.
When we reached it was to hot and very humid that made Hannah to have lot's of rashes.With God's help we managed the rashes by bathing her in the water mixed with baking soda. Good enough the weather has changed recently. Now we are in the beginning of rainy season. Because of lack of a power in most places many insects are attracted by our lights and that brings lot of different insects around eg the white aunts, grass hoppers,crickets and others including safari aunts.
Hannah is doing well, she made some friends from neighbors. And they are enjoying to play together. Hannah also is curious about the chickens . Once she even flipped over on her walker as she was running after one.
In the village there is a government water project where people buy water from. This water is not pumped into their houses, it is sold from trading center but there is not good management of it. Still people have to fetch water from swamps or trap it when it rains. Because now we are in rainy season people do not walk long distance for the water. But when it is dry season people are force to walk even 10 km to get water for cooking, bathing etc.
The roads are rough roads and they are very bad, specially during rainy season. Tarmark road is about 10 to 13 km from where we are. There is one bus which comes to the village but still people struggle to pay and because of this they have to walk.. Mostly people earn less than a dollar a day, they depend on farming, eat what they plant in their small gardens. If is dry season they struggle with the food.
Also communication here is a challenge, there is no good network. To send an email it takes few days, because of network which is on and off.. To get a proper router is a bit costly for us(over 120$ per month)
So far we have seen in this place the need of drilling water from the ground so as people can get clean water instead of using dirty water from the swamp. We do not know all the costs for this but we know it is expensive thing to do. However with God all things are possible. 
Also those who are Christians have been asking  for Swahili Bibles. The y know we are Christians so they keep coming to our place thinking we have a storage of Bibles. So there is also a need of buying Bibles for people.
Now the holidays are finished and schools are open. Next week we are going to  visit schools, churches. There is one government school around and small preschool but more about it we will write to you next time.
We thought coming to Kenya would give us time to rest but it seems like God brought us here for a reason, without our understanding.
We are still trusting God for YWAM where we can get more training.
Thank you for your prayers and support. We appreciate it. May God bless you abundantly.

"And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus my God supply all your needs" Phl.4;19

Change

Our beloved friends 
We greet you in the name of our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ  We do pray and believe you, family and ministry are doing well at the same time  physically like spiritually.

The reason we are writing to you is to ask you to stand with us in prayer. Now we are stepping in a new chapter. Mirka's visa for Uganda is going to be finished next month, and we are going back to Kenya for some time. During this time we are planing to work on her documents (she needs new passport) and also our aim is to seek God. If possible to get a bit of break from the work we have been doing in Uganda. It has been busy time for us, we did lot's of different things but mainly helping orphans, widows, sharing the good news around and keeping all the administration work in order. Hannah also has been demanding much of our time so some times we could find ourselves very exhausted.  

We do believe deep in our hearts that God is giving us this time for some reason. However much as we trust Him we do not know  yet where we will stay in Kenya. Time is running fast, soon we are leaving Uganda. But we are trying to keep focus and put our  eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ and do not look at the circumstances.

One morning I, Mirka woke up and God spoke to me giving me a vision or dream (not sure what was that). He showed me a picture of Peter walking on the water. He said to me this is the time to move a bit father where my feet can't reach the ground. If I do not doubt I will not sink. I thought how is that possible I don't know how to swim and now I have to go in a deep. But later on I understood. God is trying to stretch out my faith. I always have been worrying how I can take care of myself and  now our little Princess,  Hannah.  First  thought was to run away to Europe and look for a job which will allow me to take proper care of our daughter. But again He spoke "I know how much you love your daughter but what do you think who loves her more?" Of course I knew from the beginning I heard this that God who gave her life He is the one who loves her more and He will take proper care of her. On our side we have to trust Him that He will. Also He said to me "an large your tent and do not be afraid" Iz 54 1-2 and after that  "I love you so don't let anything worry you or frighten you" .Dan 10;18.
I, Mirka, would like to come to Europe and spend some time with friends, get taste of a nice food and at the same time to visit my family in Poland. Last time I saw them 2 years back. It has been a while since I was home. My sister gave birth to baby boy, my brother has little daughter and us we do have too. It would be good reunion for our family but it seems like there is not yet time for that. I am very ok with this. I rather chose what God had planed for us and follow His will. The Bible says:
"Let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature." Gal. 5;16
"Those who obey their human nature can not please God(...) We have an obligation, but it is not to live as our human nature wants us to. For if we live according to our human nature we are going to die, but if by the Spirit we will live" Rom 8;8;12-13
We both also believe that  it comes from God to join Ywam Uganda where we can get more training  there. YWAM is an International Organization where me and Henry met 3 years ago. I was doing there my Disciples training and Henry was teaching at School of Bible studies. Now we feel like God is calling us back there. On my side I feel to do school of Biblical  study, Henry to be involved in projects on the base like outreaches, teachings etc. But in this area we also need your prayers. We need financial break through, to pay fees there. We require to pay school fee and staff fee which I am not sure yet how much it might be. However God knows all that already.
So our friend please we ask you to join with us in prayer as we are taking a step of faith and trusting God for His provisions and guidance. Feel free  to do  anything God will lead you into.
During our time in Kenya we also planing to get involved in helping orphans. Many kids you can find on the street. So, also if you feel to help in this area  let us know  so we will provide the address for you. We would highly appreciate any kind of stuff you think is not needed in your or your friends house.
May God bless you. We pray for you that God gives you strength and wisdom  in everything you do. Let Him be your guider . We do believe He choose  you for the great things.
"Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires'' Matt 5;6

Henry and Mirka