Rick and Sue Simonsen
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08/01/2010 Prayer Letter Update
Subject: Sunday Up-date 1 August 2010
Dear Praying Friends,
Our week went well. Wednesday I had to go to the US Embassy for an important security meeting. On this coming Wednesday Kenya will vote on a referendum to adopt a new constitution and the embassy wanted us to know what to expect and what to advise the other Americans living in this area (I am Thika's US "warden"). Nothing of too much significance is expected in our area but there is a possibility of violence in some places a day or two after the vote when the results are announced. Please pray that nothing like the chaos and killing that followed our last elections will take place.
Much of the rest of the week was taken up with computer work, putting Greek files on Power Point to be ready for next term, and getting some needed electrical and plumbing repairs done. What a surprise to find that the plumber who came out was a former SS kid at Jumapili Baptist Church. Pray for Simon. He has not yet put his faith in Christ but has invited us to come for a visit to his home which is not too far from the church.
On Saturday visitation we again took the soccer ball to Tora where the boys played with area children and the adults visited with a number of the children's parents. We left with many promises to come to church but today was the coldest day so far this year (high of 62). Only a couple of visitors braved the elements to come to church and none were from Tora. Only 30 made it to SS today and 45 for the morning service. That number didn't include me as I was home with really bad stomach problems. I'm doing better now and even managed to take a little food and some liquid this evening. Please pray for a quick recovery as our annual Faculty and Wives college retreat starts tomorrow and goes through Wednesday. We have much to cover in preparation for our first graduation later this year and to finalize plans for the third term this year so I'd hate to miss any of the sessions.
The annual Missionary Kids Kamp begins tomorrow and Aaron and Daniel are really excited about another opportunity for camp activities and renewing friendships with other MKs.
In Kenya for Christ,
Rick, Sue, Aaron and Daniel Simonsen
08/08/2010 Prayer Letter Update
Subject:
Dear Friends,
We are recovering from what proved to be a very busy week. We dropped the boys at MK Kamp on Monday morning and headed into Nairobi for the Faculty and Wives Retreat. Besides some great fellowship and a couple of meals at our favorite restaurants we spent much of the three days in meetings: reviewing the last year of college ministry, planning for the first college graduation, planning for the next Spiritual Life Retreat with the students in January and laying the foundations for the addition of a Masters Degree program in to begin in January. A highlight of the week was 6-month old Hanas - our "adopted granddaughter." We all enjoyed holding her and I have attached a couple of pictures so you can enjoy her too.
Thank you for praying for a peaceful referendum vote in Kenya. We drove back to Thika on Wednesday (voting day) and passed a couple of polling stations along the way. All was peaceful and the country voted about 70% in favor of the resolution to adopt the new draft constitution. It is expected that full implementation of the new constitution will take about 5 years as the parliament now has to go through it section-by-section and make sure the laws that are on the books are constitutional according to the new standard.
On Thursday I spent a good share of my day working on projects I had been assigned at the retreat. My main accomplishment was completing notes for a session of the Spiritual Life Retreat that I will teach on "Improving your test-taking ability." In the past we have used much of the retreat time to review our Student Handbook to make sure each student knew the college standards in each area. Next year, for a change of pace, we will each be teaching a practical session on a subject that should help our students improve academically and spiritually. I also began work on the college class I will teach in January 2011 - Bible and Science. I have taught this subject several times in the past but, with so many advances and new resources available in this field I have decided to revamp the entire curriculum.
On Saturday visitation, though we were all still very tired, we again took our "Soccer Evangelism Team" on the road to the area called Wabeni. We eventually gathered about 25 boys for a spirited match, challenged them with the Gospel and asked them to come to church and invite their friends. We were glad to hear that several of those boys were in SS and church this morning but I got no report about parents. Our family went to Happy Valley Baptist Church today to try to be an encouragement to Pastor Matthew Nyaga. Besides our family there were one other family and 4 children in the service but Matthew brought a challenging message from 1 Kings about praying for those in authority (very appropriate in the light of Wednesday's referendum. We are planning a baptism at Jumapili Baptist Church for August 29 and Brother Matthew will be bringing one or two men from the Happy Valley church for a baptism service after ours because they don't have a baptistery in the building they meet in.
In the week ahead, please pray for our Swahili Bible Institute in the town of Makindu which will begin on Tuesday and run through Friday. Also, we have a visitor arriving from the States on Friday then our mission board's Africa Field Director and his wife arrive the following Tuesday. All of them will be here for a week after that and then, after another four days, our very dear friend Dr. Jim Knies will arrive to teach a modular session to begin the new college term. Other than that we don't have much going on this month.
In Kenya for Christ,
Rick, Sue, Aaron and Daniel Simonsen
08/15/2010 Prayer Letter Update
Subject: Sunday Up-date 15 August 2010
Dear Friends,
We had another interesting week here in Kenya. early in the week I managed to get in much more computer time. I finished my Bible and Science curriculum for first term next year (still have to get it on PowerPoint) and even had some time to start on translating the Gospel of Mark which our 2nd year Greek class will do next year. This coming week I want to get Jim Knies's notes for Church Planting and Missions onto PowerPoint. He will be here to teach the class at the end of August.
On Friday, Pastor Wambua and I had to meet with one of our Bible college students to inform him that he will be a bit short of credits for graduation this year. I could tell Philip was a bit disappointed but he took it with a good spirit. Please pray for Philip will continue to grow and learn in his college training. Also on Friday Erik from MI arrived for a visit and to see the work here. We have enjoyed getting to know him and he will be with us until Aug 23.
On our Saturday visitation we returned to Tora. While Aaron and Daniel organized a soccer game with the kids the rest of our team visited some of the homes where the children live. Then, even though it was getting late we went to Wabeni and found about 30 boys on the soccer field waiting for us. Our guys organized a 15 minute game and then we sat them down for a short Gospel challenge. Our young men did a great job of screening the 12 who responded for salvation and eventually 4 boys called upon the Lord to put their faith in Him.
The services at Jumapili Baptist Church were great this morning. we had 44 in SS and 84 for the morning service. A mother we had talked to yesterday in Tora came with two of her children and all 4 boys that trusted Christ yesterday were in church. The mother of one of those boys came with him and she came forward at the invitation to receive Christ. Sue had the blessing to leading Mary to Christ. Please pray that the boys and this dear mother will come to church faithfully and that the Lord will open further doors with our soccer ministry. Also this morning a group of our soccer boys sang a special (guided by our two song leaders, Jack and Patrick) and Daniel and Patrick played O' How I Love Jesus as a harmonica duet.
On this coming Tuesday evening Steve and Martha (BWM Africa Field Director) will arrive from South Africa for a six-day visit. They will be staying with the Rains family but we hope to see them often. Steve will be at Lighthouse Baptist Church next Sunday morning but he will be speaking at special 4 pm service at Jumapili Baptist also.
In Kenya for Christ,
Rick, Sue, Aaron and Daniel Simonsen
08/26/2010 Prayer Letter Update
Subject: Sunday Up-date 22 August 2010 (Sent Wednesday)
Dear Praying Friends,
Have you ever noticed how Satan attacks at times of great joy and blessing? On Sunday evening, after one of the best days of ministry we have yet had at Jumapili Baptist Church, I started to boot up my computer and "nothing". I got it to the repair men on Monday morning and after it appeared we would lose all un-backed-up data he was able to recover everything critical before having to re-install Windows Vista. I'm working on up-dating to Windows 7 as I have heard of many problems with Vista.
We had a busy week with visitors which included a trip to Nairobi with the Andersons (BWM Field Director) and Erik. On Friday we had a college meeting which covered a lot of ground in preparation for the new term and getting ready to start the master's Degree/Seminary program in January. Sue and I have both also been very busy getting ready for the college classes we will teach next term.
On Saturday Brother Anderson spoke at a youth rally in Nairobi in the morning and Mrs. Anderson spoke to the ladies at Jumapili Baptist Church. On Saturday we did a couple of follow-up visits during the ladies meeting and then went to check on our soccer boys afterwards. Daniel played soccer for 1/2 hour in the rain with about 15 boys from the Kirathe team.
Sunday morning started cold (and slow) but folks began to show up about mid-way through SS. We finally had 46 in SS (including all 15 Kirathe boys) and 83 made it out for the morning service. Our family had a big part in the music: Sue sang in a ladies quartet, the boys sang with the choir and Daniel played a harmonica duet with Patrick. Pastor Duncan brought a powerful and dynamic message (perhaps the best he has ever preached) and, at the invitation, a lady (Grace) responded to trust Christ for salvation.
With the Andersons visiting we had a special 4pm service and 57 came back to hear the message from Brother Anderson. We all enjoyed a special number by 7 violins and another harmonica duet in the evening service. It was a blessing to see Grace (saved in the morning) back for the service and Mary (saved last week) was in all of the services today too. In fact, as Steve was preaching I looked around and counted 14 people in the service who have been saved in the last three months at Jumapili Baptist Church. I believe this is a good testament to the discipleship training we have been doing.
Pray for the coming Sunday also. I will be preaching on "The Testimony of a Faithful Man". We have 7 scheduled for baptism on Sunday (including Aaron and Daniel) and Happy Valley Baptist Church will also be bringing some folks over for baptism (they don't have a baptistery yet). There are also another 7 in discipleship classes who should be baptized in a couple of months.
Dr. Jim Knies flies in from Hungary tomorrow. He will be speaking at Lighthouse Baptist Church (Rains) on Sunday and in another 4 pm service at Jumapili. Dr. Jim will be teaching "Church Planting and Missions" Monday through Friday as the first modular class in our college third term. Please pray that God will greatly use his ministry in Kenya.
And what happened when the computer crashed? I asked the Lord not to allow it to steal my joy at the day's ministry. I didn't get upset, didn't fret and spent very little time thinking about what files might have been lost. God is good!
In Kenya for Christ,
Rick, Sue, Aaron and Daniel Simonsen
08/29/2010 Prayer Letter Update
Subject: Sunday up-date 29 August 2010
Dear Friends,
We had a couple of days to rest and get caught up between visitors. Erik left on Monday and Dr. Jim arrived on Thursday. Dr. Jim will be teaching "Church Planting and Missions" as a modular this week. It's Monday morning (power out over much of the weekend) and we will leave in an hour to go for the first class day.
Yesterday the weather again turned very cold. Attendance started slow today (still very cold) but eventually we had 40 in SS and 74 for the morning service. This morning I brought a message on "The Testimony of a Faithful Man" from Acts 20. After the service we baptized 5 men and our two boys into the membership of Jumapili Baptist Church. The folks from Happy Valley Baptist Church joined us for the baptism service and they baptized 2 men also (they don't have a baptistery in their building).
At a special 4 pm service Dr. Jim preached a powerful message from The Great Commission (Matthew 28) and we had 44 attending. After the service all came to our house for chocolate pancakes.
In Kenya for Christ,
Rick, Sue, Aaron and Daniel Simonsen
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