We have had many ups and downs in the short time we’ve been here in Kenya, but God has been good through it all. We have dealt with sicknesses and injuries and many spiritual battles. I’m thankful for those who are praying for us. God has answered many of your prayers.
Before we came to Kenya, I knew that there would be certain struggles in ministry, one of which was having people want to get close to me in order to try to get money. In my last prayer letter, I spoke about beginning a Bible study with a family. For 6 weeks in a row, I held a Bible study with 8 to 10 adult family members. As far as I could tell, they were very interested in the teaching and learning. After several weeks, one of the men asked me for money, and I politely declined. This happened a few more times before the Bible study came to an end. When they realized I wasn’t handing out money, they stopped having me come. As disappointing as that was, I am still grateful for the 6 weeks I was able to teach them God’s Word. I pray that this family will have a change of heart and gain a desire for God.
I also mentioned Geoffrey in my last prayer letter. We have been able to go through seven Bible studies together! He has attended church with us four times and has been growing more faithful. He has been a blessing to me in many ways, one of which is helping me understand the culture. Last Saturday, Geoffrey joined our family in inviting people to church. Geoffrey is a reserved, soft-spoken guy, but when we started inviting people to church, he dove right in with a big smile on his face. My wife and I rejoiced later about how natural Geoffrey took to ministering.
Recently, I was able to take a trip eight hours west with two other missionaries. We traveled by matatu, which is a van with very little leg room. Normally this would not be an issue; but my knee is still healing, and it became very stiff. I felt the effects for about a week. We stayed for three days. The first day, we met with a group of more than 20 pastors. It was a blessing to be able to teach them and fellowship with them. On Sunday, I preached in two churches and performed a Baby Dedication. It was a blessing to hear the desire of the parents for their children to serve the Lord.
When we arrived in Kenya, we started looking around for a solid church to attend. We wanted to see what was happening in and around Nairobi. We visited about half a dozen churches. Recently, the Lord led us to a solid church with a national pastor. Many of the members are grounded and seem to be spiritually mature. I have had the pleasure of preaching twice and going soul winning with the pastor. We led 3 people to Christ that day. If the Lord allows, I would like to start a discipleship class at the church and an outreach program.
Two weeks ago, we had our second major medical issue since arriving here. Adilene woke from a nap one evening and was acting strangely—she was having a seizure. At first, she just acted sort of “out of it,” so we thought she was just tired. Once she vomited, we realized something was seriously wrong. We took her to the clinic nearby, and she quickly got worse. The doctors gave her two doses of anti-convulsion medicine, which stopped her little heart. She was resuscitated and transferred by ambulance to the hospital. Praise the Lord! She is back to her normal, sweet self, almost ready to walk.
Please pray for (1) good health, (2) direction in ministry, (3) language study, (4) wisdom, and (5) sincere converts.
Yours in Christ,
Corey McDonald
