1/1/2008
Dear Friends,
We are fine this morning, we didn't hear any gunshots last night. Our house in Eldoret isn't too far from the center of town and it seems that this is where the police are concentrating their efforts to keep up security.
The church that was burned was in an outer part of town. We heard about it yesterday and hoped it wasn't true, but now it seems that it really did happen and many were killed.
We are shocked that after there being so many churches and people professing to be Christians around Eldoret that this could happen. But this was clearly a result of tribalism and for us westerners to understand is just out of our comprehension. The thing I keep remembering is that even in Germany just 60 odd years ago our ancestors were guilty of far worse. We are thankful that we can move between the tribes here without being threatened.
We are staying at home most of the time, but this is where the Lord has us and we will serve Him here even though we would rather not be here right now.
Yesterday we were able to go into town and get some groceries and fuel, but it was like a ghost town. So we are doing fine on food and supplies.
Bob and Ericka Clark
PS The boys are doing great.
1/4/2008
Dear Friends,
We are still doing fine although things are still not settled in Kenya.
The house we live in in Eldoret is owned by a elder man from the local tribe and we have a security company next door to us, so we feel safe here in Eldoret.
Every day we see people moving with everything they can carry. The Kikuyu are trying to move to Kikuyu tribal areas and the Luyuo are doing the same. Many people are still scared and are in hiding, sleeping at the police station or in churches.
One person has already offered to help buy food for folks who are suffering. I talked with another missionary this morning about us trying to get supplies for those who have been burned out of their homes and lost everything. We already know there have to be many, but until things calm down there will be no way of knowing how many will need help. The other missionary and I agreed that it would be good to try and start buying blankets, cooking pots and some basic food stuffs. Then once we start finding out who needs the stuff we can have it ready to give out.
Today I'll start trying to see what I can buy in town. I already have a really good supply of tracts, the Gospel of Romans and about 100 Bibles in English. I plan to work with the local churches and Pastors around Eldoret who are part of our mission, that way we can be sure who really needs food or a few supplies to set up house again.
If anyone would like to help with this, just send funds to my sending church in Aurora and please designate it in some way as help for Kenyans.
My supporting church's address is:
Fellowship Baptist Church
17818 Lawrence 2200
Aurora MO 65605
If you do send something, try to send me an e-mail and that way I can know what I have to work with, or send me a text message on my cell phone 254 735 737175. I can usually text the US witout any problem I just have to put a plus before entering the number, I'm not sure what you do to send a text outof the US, but remember that the 254 of my number is the country code.
Pray that we will have wisdom to know when to leave if things get worse, but our heart is to serve the Lord where we are and show his love.
Just this morning I waved to a lady as she walked by where I was parked with the Rover, she started laughing and said, "Look! this morning I've alreadybeen greeted with a little bit of goodness, things will be good today!" As we move around you can see the tension and fear on peoples faces, so I knowthat we certainly have an opportunity to share the Peace that passes understanding.
God bless you all thank you for praying for us.
In Christ, Bob Clark
1/9/2008
Dear Friends,
We are still doing fine in Eldoret, town is calm but we hear that there are still problems in the outlying villages where there are no police. Many people are moving back to their "tribal homelands" which gives them safety but the only answer to curing the root of the problem is the Lord Jesus and learning to walk in His way.
So far the money that has come in has gone to buy food, about 1000 pounds, blankets and cooking pots. The real need now is to try and move families to afe areas where they can start a normal life again. Today I met a pastor who has been sleeping in a church compound along with many others from the Kikuyu tribe, since Dec 28. Many there including the Pastor have lost family members to the violence, their church buildings and houses were burned and livestock killed or stolen. The things that were done to their community were horrible and very similar to what took place in Rawanda. Thankfully, the violence and killing have been isolated to the Eldoret-Kisumu areas, granted there have been problems in other parts of Kenya but not as bad as here. We hear of many places in Kenya where there were no problems at all and those folks are shocked to hear about what has happened here around Eldoret.
For those of you who have sent money to help please receive our thanks. I wish you could hear all of the times I have been truly thanked by pastors and their family members. Because Eldoret has several functioning ATM's I was able to get some supplies right away to start helping folks as soon as I heard that checks were in the mail to me. Now we will be working with a very close missionary friend here in Eldoret to get assistance to those who he knows have lost their homes and need assistance to start over.
We feel things are safe enough now for us to travel back to Lodwar and begin a new year in the Bible Institute and the ministry the Lord has put before us. Please pray for us as we travel, I will be calling ahead to make sure there have been no problems on the road and plan to convoy with busses that drive to Lodwar every day.
God bless you all for your prayers and assistance to Kenyans who have suffered. I will do my best to keep you posted on how things go with moving Kikuyu pastors and their families safe areas and helping them get started again.
In Christ, Bob Clark
1/15/2008
Dear Friends,
We made it back to Lodwar safely and had no problems on the journey. We were shocked to see all the burned houses and stores as we left Eldoret, but once we were a few miles away there was only an occasional burnt building.
Lodwar is relatively normal right now, the locals who I've talked to think that because the district is divided between government and opposition supporters there shouldn't be any trouble. Before the elections there were very few Kikuyus here, but now it seems they are coming in mass because of the relative calm in Turkana District. We heard yesterday that 20 mini-vans full of Kikuyus came into Lodwar. We hope this will be beneficial for Turkana as most Kikuyus are educated, industrious and business minded.
The day after we got into Lodwar we received news that Pastor Areng's wife had not given birth yet. They thought the baby was supposed to be due well before Christmas. So this past Sunday we asked one of our friends who has more health care experience than we do to go with us to Lorogumu to check on the Pastors wife. We are thankful to report that by the time we arrived there she had already given birth to a healthy baby girl! We were so happy to see them well and not have to work with an emergency situation.
The boys are back in school, Vance is home-schooling and seems to enjoy it. Ericka has plenty of material to work with and we are thankfu for those who have helped us get the school supplies and curriculum.
We have a lot to do now, next week we plan to start the Bible Institute. It will be the first month that the pastors will be running everything. We have heard already that one of our students from last year will not be returning because he felt it was too much of a burden on him to continue. Please pray that everyone involved will be willing to give what is needed to keep things going. This will be difficult for me as well because everyone knows I have the resources to pay for all the needs at the Bible Institute, but that it is our goal for the Turkanans to learn that with the Lord all things are possible.
With all the turmoil that has taken place these last three weeks I am even more committed to making sure I do all I can to help the Turkana churches and pastors be prepared to continue ministry and training without us. With as fragile as the government and nation are right now it wouldn't take much more to send us back to the States. I would really hate to leave things here in a state where the churches would not be willing or prepared to continue to teach faithful men.
When we left Eldoret we made plans with fellow missionaries to continue to help the displaced Kikuyu pastors and their families. Some needed food, some blankets, others were able to save everything from their houses but didn't feel safe living where they were and wanted to move to more secure areas. The money that we received is going to help with all of these needs, but especially to those who have lost everything and are starting over from scratch. God bless you for your generosity, I can assure you that the money you sent is going to those who need the help.
Thank you for praying for us and please continue to pray for Kenya. Things may be looking up, yesterday parliment was able to get on with business without any bloodshed or rioting among the parlimentarians. We truly believe that it is only by the Grace of God and peaceful prayers of Christians in Kenya and around the world that things haven't fallen into complete chaos across the country. Thank you for your prayers!
God bless you,
Bob, Ericka, Vance, Edward and Riley.
1/28/2008
Dear Friends,
Thank you all for praying for us. The Lord has kept us safe and we are glad to say that we have been able to continue on with His work. The Country of Kenya is still experiencing tribal violence and some are worried that the government has lost the ability to maintain control. As for our area, Turkana District, there has been only a couple of incidences of tribal related violence but it has put us on edge. From listening to American news on satellite radio it seems that only the worst violence here in Kenya gets reported back to the States. We would just like to reassure everyone that our area is calm, but that we are carefully watching what is going on in the rest of the country.
We are thankful to report that Bible Institute for January was successfully planned, executed, budgeted and paid for by the local Turkana churches and pastors. The week began with a few worries on the side of the pastors who are leading the Bible Institute, they asked to meet with me to make sure I would be willing to help them if they ran into difficulties. I agreed to help if there were problems, but made it clear that if I helped it would be to identify where the problem came from and how to avoid it in the future. With that bit of encouragement the pastors forged ahead. The only minor problem that arose was that they were short on some lesson handouts for a few classes. Our solution is that we are already working to train two of the pastors to use computers and open the lesson files so they can print off what they need month to month. Most of the week I was afraid that there would be a problem with the budget, I was praying day to day that the Lord would give them courage and wisdom to give what was needed and use it in a good way. On Friday it was such a blessing to see all classes completed, things put away and school dismissed without any problem with the budget or requests for additional funding from me. The pastors and students even sat down to discuss how everything went including the budgeting, they concluded that from now on they would hold classes every other month to give them an opportunity to save up what was needed to pay for transportation and the opperating budget. Later the pastors and I visited a little and I could see the joy and pride in them that they had done everything without my help, they confided that the worst part of the week was the fear of beginning on their own without me right in there with them. I tried to encourage them with the example of Abraham that the Lord called him to a place he didn't know on a road he had never passed before and that each of us are called spiritually to make that journey trusting only in the Lord Jesus. We all like being surronded by things familiar and having our budgets met before we set out, but the Lord sees best to take us near him and stretch our faith by saying, "The Lord will provide" and "without faith it is impossible to please Him." Pray that the local churches and pastors will continue on and this years classes can be completed to become a pattern for the future.
On Saturday, after seeing how well everything finished with the Bible Institute classes I asked all of the students to help pour cement for the floor in the new classroom. I agreed to pay them a fair days wages in return their labor, that way I wouldn't have to go find workers in town and we would know that the money they earned would be helping those who had already sacrificed what they had. The work was completed quickly and the students were proud to see their new classroom finally getting finished. We are trying to encourage the Pastors and students in new areas now that they have taken over the Bible Institute opperation. We hope to finish up construction at the Bible Institute compound and also plan more leadership training for church leaders who haven't had the opportunity to come to the Bible Institute. Pray that by April or May we will be able to conduct the first seminar here in Lodwar this year.
Please pray for us that as Kenya goes through these convultions of violence we would set our hands to the work of the Lord that would bear fruit that will remain. Pray the Lord will give us wisdom, discernment and courage to make decisions day to day and if He leads us out of Kenya we not be too stubborn or prideful to leave behind what we think is "our" work.
God bless you and thank you so much for your prayers.
In Christ, Bob, Ericka, Vance, Edward and Riley
2/11/2008
Dear Friends,
We are still fine in Lodwar, life has been mostly normal here. The only noticable problems these days is the lack of supplies in the grocery store and the price of most everything has gone up. We still have plenty of food to eat and Ericka doesn't have any trouble buying vegetables, but it seems there is a real problem getting stores and warehouses restocked and the problem goes all the way to Mombasa where the port has a huge backlog of uncleared containers.
The funds that some of you sent to help here in Kenya are making things happen. There were eight pastors who have been involved in our mission around Eldoret for some years. For some of these pastors this latest round of violence was the third or fourth time they had run for their lives. The problem has always been that they were from the Kikuyu tribe living in a majority Kalenjin area. All of these pastors can tell stories of how their Kalenjin church members hid them and helped them escape the violence, but again and again the local politicians and tribal leaders stired things up to chase them out. This was the last time these eight pastors wanted to flee for their lives. We are assisting these pastors with finding new places to live in the traditionally Kikuyu homeland. They have already gone to survey areas where they can move their families and start new churches. We feel sad to loose these pastors from the Eldoret area, but already know that there have been Kalenjin young men trained in the Bible Institute who should be able to step up and take over the churches in Eldoret. We also know that the Lord used the persecution of the church in Jerusalem to spread the Gospel all over the world. We believe that these pastors are some of the best at starting churches and will most likely want to start a Bible Institute in just a few years time. So again something that our adversary meant for evil, God has turned to His good. The funds that some of you sent has gone to feed and shelter these pastors along with many others. Funds are now being used to help them relocate to these new areas to live and plant new churches. These new churches in turn will be able to minister to the many thousands of other Kikuyu who will be moving into the areas as well. Thank you for your generosity and we'll continue to keep you posted as to how the relocation process goes.
Again, we are fine here in Turkana. It is like in America when there were riots in L. A. or a Hurricane that hit New Orleans. Those areas were severly affected, but the rest of the country was fine. That's about how we are here in Lodwar. There have been plenty of rumors but so far none have come about.
Please do pray for Kenya, most Kenyans are sick of the violence and would like to get back to what they knew as normal, but have already seen that isn't possible for years to come. Most I have talked to now realize that if riots and violence continue things will be far worse than they now are. It seems the worst sticking point in negotiating peace is the thick headed leaders and politicians, so pray for them.
Turkana has been very dry lately, so please pray for rain. That would be a very nice change.
God bless you all and keep praying for us.
In Christ, Bob Clark
2/20/2008
Dear Friends,
I just wanted to drop you all a quick note to let everyone know that we are safe and many Kenyans want to get back to a normal life. On the other hand it seems that president Kibaki doesn't want to make any concessions in the peace talks. Please pray that he would make some sort of movement that would accomodate the opposition leaders. Myself and a few others fear that if he will not make substantive concessions then it will be anyones guess what will become of Kenyan. Turkanans who I have talked with say that they will not be dominated by Kikuyus. Other tribes in the rest of Kenya are continuing to move to their tribal homelands for fear of what the future holds for them. If the talks break down, we'll most likely look at flying out as quickly as possible.
Please pray for me over the next few days. I'll be taking a trip to several of our churches in order to move one of our young preachers from his home area to his sending church for a commissioning service and then on to the village where he plans to plant a new church. It will be an encouraging time to see another one of our Bible Institute graduates going to start a church, but it will be a long four days with a lot of hard bush driving.
Ericka and the boys are fine. Vance is doing very well home schooling and Riley and Edward enjoy going to their local Pre-school. They'll be here in Lodwar while I'm out.
God bless you all and thank you for your prayers.
In Christ, Bob Clark
3/1/2008
Dear Friends,
A couple of days ago the government and opposition agreed on a powersharing deal. Everyone is feeling a great sense of relief now and we are very hopeful that both parties will follow through on the agreement made and we should pray to that end. The atmosphere now is like everyone has exhailed after holding our breath for two months, it's really a load off.
Last weekend I was able to visit three of our churches and help transport one of our Bible Institute graduates, his family and hosehold possesions to where he is planting a new church. It was a good trip, I had two minor breakdowns along the way but got patched up and gimped along with the old Land Cruiser. The trip was over 300 miles on very bad roads, but we all survived and it was very encouraging to the Pastors and myself.
The young pastors name is Donald Loboko and the new church is in the village of Kainuk. Some of our church members from other areas have lived there for years and have asked us to plant a church there, but it wasn't until the Lord prepared and called Donald that we were finally able to follow through. Please pray for Donald and the village of Kainuk. It is very unsafe around the village because of the Pokot tribe coming steal animals and kill any Turkanans that they catch in the bush. The security in the bush areas of Turkana has been really bad since the government ceased to function a couple of months ago. It was like all those bent on causing mayhem and stealing in remote areas knew that the government of Kenya couldn't even wipe its own nose, let alone take care of problems far into the bush. So Pastor Donald will need prayer for safety and a heart to comfort and cousel those who loose family members and children to the Pokot raids.
We are getting ready today to go visit the church at Lopur, we'll stay there tonight and Sunday night and then leave out on Monday morning for Eldoret. We hope to be an encouragement to the church in Lopur.
Please pray with us about a seminar we have planned for the first part of April. We have invited all the pastors, their wives and two church Elders/leaders from each congregation. We will generally be teaching on the charcteristics of a mature church, character of leaders and the importance of the churches to take hold of the work of missions. We will take this seminar time to explain to all the pastors and church leaders that the Bible Institute is now in the hands of the local churches and if it is to be successful it needs each church's backing. Since all of the turmoil of the last couple of months most everyone here understands the importance of the local churches being the leaders in ministry. We missionaries easily come and go, and whatever is built on us leaves with us. What is built on Christ and is ministry of the local church will stand through anything.
Our family is doing well, this last week we've all had the flu and are still caughing and sniffling but I think we are on the downhill side of it.
God bless you all and thank you for your prayers.
In Christ, Bob Clark
3/31/2
Dear Friends,
We are doing fine and thankful for recent rains in Turkana District. It is much cooler and the boys actually wore sweat shirts over their uniforms to school today.
On Saturday night a drunken Kikuyu policeman shot and injured two local Turkanans, or so we've been told. A mob went to the local police station seeking justice but as is common here and in other third world countries, "justice" is only served to a select few. The mob left the police station without satisfaction and as they passed through town they broke windows and damaged vehicles on Saturday night. On Sunday after church we passed through town, but right after passing through town people began attacking Kikuyu shops and businesses.
Today, Monday morning we are hearing that again there is tension in town and most shops are closed for fear of what may happen next.
We have scheduled a seminar at the Bible Institue this week and are expecting about 60 church leaders and pastors. Please pray that there will be peace in Lodwar town and that we may be able to encourage and uplift the work of our Lord Jesus even in a weary land. We are staying home until our pastors have a chance to look around town and let us know when it will be safe to go to the Bible Institute. If nothing else I can always walk around the outside of town over to the Bible Institute so that we can carry on.
From what we hear of the rest of Kenya everything is peaceful, but the politicians are too busy dividing the spoils in Nairobi to deal with fallout from violence in December and January.
On a positive note, the pastors completed another month of Bible Institute classes on their own. They also disposed of a minor land dispute at our Bible Institute compound this week. They dealt with it in a very traditional way. The students began building the fence along our boundery where survey beacons had already been set when we bought the plot. Then two younger pastors waited for the neighbor to come and complain, which he did. The pastors explained their side of the land dispute and asked the neighbor if he wanted to take the matter to the chief which he did, the whole time the young men continued to build the fence. Once the chief arrived and saw the fence being built within the survey markers the chief ruled in our favor and asked the neighbor why he wanted to stir up trouble, which then put the neighbor on the defensive for which he apologized and said that he would not be one to stir up trouble. The whole time the Bible Institute Dean and other older pastor were waiting in reserve if things couldn't be handled by the younger pastors. Praise God for the wise men we work with, the entire plot is now fenced with chain link and the Turkana pastors have worked to claim the plot for the work of the Lord.
God bless you all,
In Christ, Bob Clark
4/5/2008
Dear Friends,
I'm glad to report that everything is calm in Lodwar and our seminar finished up well. The Kikuyu policeman who shot and killed a young boy was locked up in jail, so that put an end to the rioting. The police chief also locked up all the police weapons in the armory which defused tensions with Turkanans who were threatening to come to town with their guns and teach the police a lesson. We are very grateful for your prayers and a few local leaders who made some wise decisions.
Our seminar went very well and even though town was tense the first two days we just asked all of pastors and church leaders to stay at the Bible Institute compound so as to not be caught up in anything that might happen in town.
The lessons on the importance of faithful Godly church leaders were received very well. There were many in attendence who have been examples in their churches for years and we were able to point out that the churches who had faithful leaders of vision had grown considerably over the past nine years we've been here. Ericka and I both taught on personal, "romantic" relations with our spouses. Anyone who knows Turkanans would attest to the fact that there is nearly zero "romantic" expression of love between husband and wife. From talking to pastors and others we have learned that this is often one of the factors that pushes a man, even a pastor, to seek a second wife. So, rather than stick our heads in the sand we dove into the dry pool of Turkana Romantic Love. My the responses we got! Ericka taught from the book, "Created to be his Help Meet," and I taught from the book, "The Five Love Languages." The lessons were definately a huge clash of cultures, but we reminded everyone that the only right culture is the one God has given us in His Word. In the end, the Pastors, their wives and church leaders expressed thankfulness for these lessons and told us that they were grateful for us teaching the "whole counsel of God," because they knew there were blessings in each bit of Gods Word they practiced in their lives.
The final portion of the seminar focused on the Bible Institute. I made it official that I would no longer be involved with the Bible Institute and that I was very encouraged by how the pastors had already been conducting classes and taking care of all of the administration. My final part will be to help make sure that all of the small construction details are finished nicely. The pastors all agreed that they wanted to see the Bible institute continue to bless the churches with well trained leaders and committed to put their support behind it.
At the end of the seminar it seems that I came down with malaria, not sure how I got it, but now that I've started on the treatment I'm feeling much better.
Please continue to pray for the country of Kenya, its leaders in Nairobi are showing themselves to be gluttons at the expense of the poor and exploited. Thankfully most Kenyans are content with their day to day needs met and peace. Our only hope is in Christ.
The final donations we received for help to those who were burned out and displaced went to resettle Kikuyu pastors in Central Province, Kikuyu homeland. We have reports that they have already started one church and are working to rent or buy property on wich to start others. There are still many thousands who are still in camps for displaced persons, but as far as we know all of the Pastors and Christians we knew personally around Eldoret have gotten a fresh start. The issue of those remaining in the camps seems to be very complicated and I don't believe we are in a position to try to do any more from here in Lodwar.
God bless you all and thank you so much for praying for us.
In Christ, Bob Clark
4/21/2008
Dear Friends,
We are all doing well here in Turkana. Ericka and I are recovered from Typhoid, thanks Richard for leaving us the Cipro! We are still waiting for more rain, we are having the signs of a good rainy season but it has yet to cut loose.
The ministry is going on well and the last two Sundays we were able to visit churches in Lorogumu and Neramit. At both churches the Pastor and congregation were thankful for us turning over the Bible Institute to the Churches. There have been times we wondered if we were doing the right thing but after seeing how the churches and pastors have responded it really confirms that we were following the Lords leading in this decision.
The Church in Neramit is doing very well, Pastor Paulo's wife had left him for several months but now has returned home as has openly committed to staying with him this time, please pray for her salvation. It's been quite rewarding to see how Pastor Paulo has matured as a leader, remained faithful to the Lord and committed to living an honorable life even when most other Turkana men would have said "good riddance" to their former wife and moved on. Pastor Paulo has led the little church in Neramit to grow to about 70, it is one of the most interior churches we work with, but one of the strongest. This Sunday one of the church leaders showed the congregation my letter stating that the Bible Institute was now in the hands of the churches, he then asked if the church members would give to help support their student, Moses, and the Bible Institute. Right there members gave about 200 shillings and committed another 300 over the next two weeks. This is only about $8, but would be the equivelent of roughly three days wages for a casual laborer. To see this happen in the church was a huge blessing to me.
On Friday I was able to teach two lessons at a leaders meeting held by the one of the churches here in Lodwar. They asked me to teach on Leaders With Vision and A Church that Makes Jesus Happy. The lessons were very well received and at the end I challanged the church to have a vision for areas where it is difficult for us white missionaries to go to, namely Sudan and the Loima area of Turkana. Right away Pastor Losike spoke up and said that they have a church member from the area of Lomeyan, a villiage at the foot of the Loima hills. As soon as Pastor Losike mentioned the name of the church member everyone sat up and began talking about him and how easy it would be for him to go with Pastor Losike to preach in his home village. Pray that the Berea church will keep this vision and be a church that continues to please Jesus.
Please continue to pray for us, our safety and Kenya. The government seems stable now and any of you planning a trip to Kenya this year shouldn't have to worry about any more violence like we saw in Dec. and Jan. On the other hand it seems to me that the concessions made by the government and opposition were simply done to make sure that both sides were given ample opportunity to stuff their pockets before another election or referendum. Please pray that Kenyan leaders will address core issues that will continue to cause problems in the country. Also, if you have an opportunity to write a letter to your Senator, Representative or The President please ask them to keep up the pressure on the Kenyan government to address issues of injustice steming from the post election violence.
God bless you all and thank you for praying for us.
In Christ, Bob Clark
7/11/2008
Dear Friends,
Just wanted to drop you all a note and let you know all that has happened to us since returning to America. Not long after we came back to the States my Pastor asked if I would be willing to help in the church as associate pastor. I accepted and believe that the Lord has led us from ministering on the Dark Continent to ministering in a Nation being overtaken by Darkness.
The second Sunday we were in my home church they voted to take me on staff. My church salary will begin in August and I am asking our mission supporters not send us funds after this month, July.
My home church has given me permission to return to Kenya at least once a year to visit the churches we have helped plant and encourage the pastors we have helped to train. If we receive any missions support after July we will keep our mission account open and use the funds we receive toward our short term trip which we are already planning for next year. One pastor has already committed to traveling with me back to Kenya to help encourage the churches next year. If any of you would like to travel with me please contact me so that I can know well ahead of time how many will be going with me. I would like to travel sometime June through August 2009, but will be flexible, the cost will be somewhere between $2500 and $3000, depending on airfare prices, the strength of the dollar and weather you would like to go on safari to one of the game parks in Kenya.
We have put together a power point presentation of our work over the past 9 years and plan to be sending that out soon. If you would like to have us come to give a final report in person we will be glad to. Please contact me if you would like to continue to send support to Missionary Gitau in Sudan or any of the other Pastors. I have other missionary friends still in Kenya who I can channel funds through.
As we finish our ministry to the Turkana in Kenya we want to say Thank You! Without your prayers and support our load would have been much heavier. There were many times we committed to serve, build or plan not knowing where the funds or strength would come from, but in the end the Lord always provided.
Thank you all for being vessels of His Grace.
Ericka and the boys are very happy to be living here in America. Our house is next to a creek and the boys play in it almost every day. After 9 years in the desert I thank the Lord every time I hear the water flowing or rain falling outside. We live very close to our parents and our boys are really enjoying getting to know their grandparents. We have already been very busy trying to see all of our friends and family, but it is a blessed busy.
Please pray for the ministry we handed over to the nationals. They are continuing to operate the Bible Institute, working together to hold each other accountable and planning meetings to encourage one-another. Pray for us as we learn to minister to this new "tribe" - American Youth. And also pray for us as we plan our missionary journeys to visit the churches we planted that we would continue to build-up the work of God.
If you all have any questions for us our home number is 417-678-4065.
If you have any questions for my sending church or pastor, Bro. Parsons, the church number is 417-678-2794.
I may continue to send some reports from time to time letting you all know how the work is going on in Kenya. The pastors have already sent me several e-mails and are looking forward to my visit next year.
Again, Thank you all and God bless you, the work of the Lord in Turkana is continuing in the hands of the national churches and pastors! "Paul planted, Apollos watered and God is giving the increase!"
In Christ,
Associate Pastor, Bob Clark