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| Mr. Olayo serving tea ;-) |
The room was abuzz with activity. Politics were being debated
in one corner, my husband eagerly jumping in the ring. In another corner, a
professor and some students spoke of an unusual happening near campus. Then, of course, there were the quiet ones lined up against the wall - my favorite group to coax
into conversation. They were busy chewing their ginger nut cookies and
sipping the hot tea which Mr. Olayo had just served us.
An hour earlier we’d wrapped up a video session on Christ’s
Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, otherwise known as “Lamb
Selection Day” among the Israelites. The
room had fallen deathly quiet following our faith lesson taught by Ray Van der
Laan. Then Mark and I opened the floor for discussion concerning what we’d seen
and heard together. We asked many questions of the college students and were
elated to see how the Spirit was illuminating their hearts and ours with a
deeper understanding of Truth.
“Honestly, this has been chain-breaking for me,” an older
male student spoke out. “I can see myself as one of the Israelites that day,
crying for Jesus to save me from this and that physical discomfort and
frustration…blind to the salvation my heart is really crying for.”
A professor then leaned forward, “I have personally been humbled
by this Story. I’ve read it more times than I can count, but today it really hit me why Christ wept over that crowd of people. God is showing me that my own
prayers and thoughts about Him must also change. My heart’s greatest rejoicing
should be the spiritual deliverance He has brought to my eternal soul, rather
than the financial, material, and physical deliverance my flesh desires in this
life.”
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| Joba (Congolese student), Mike's mum, & Mike (graduate) |
These Study Sessions were one of our greatest joys in the
month of May. After returning to East Africa Bible College to live in the
guesthouse, we began inviting students and faculty members to our home two
nights a week for fellowship and exploration of the Word together. We praise
God for the way He moved in our midst and enlightened our hearts during these
times together.
East Africa Bible College celebrated its graduating class on
May 31st, a ceremony we were all too happy to help with in small
ways behind the scenes. What a blessing to see young men and women being
trained and sent out on mission! We’re very thankful for the work of Kevin and
Summer Sneed, as well as the many other staff members at EABC for their joyful
service in this endeavor.
Ministry for the Boys!
How we praise God for a recent development in the lives and
ministry of Lorot and Lopua! On our final day in South Sudan, we were able to
meet with Patricia Caroom of E3 Partners, as well as John Wanyonyi, a local
pastor in Kapoeta. They had just been camping in villages for three weeks and
were eager to share the resources they had gathered in the form of recorded Toposa
Bible Stories. The Lord, knowing Mark’s and my passion to see an oral Bible in
the Toposa language, provided a way for us to join in fulfilling the vision
birthed in our hearts and in the hearts of so many others. Patricia and Wanyonyi
invited us to take advantage of the opportunity before us in Eldoret by getting
Lorot and Lopua involved once again in the process of producing an oral Bible
for their people.
We believed God would make a way for this to happen. The
only problem, we figured, would be getting the boys out of boarding school on a
regular basis in order to do project work with them. After discussing the issue
with the headteacher and manager of their school, it was decided that the boys
would be allowed to visit us EVERY weekend. (Praise God!!) This is an exception
not granted to anyone else in the boarding school, so in it we definitely see
the hand of God at work.
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| With the boys on the weekend of EABC's Graduation Ceremony |
For four weekends now, this has been our story: Friday after
school, the boys catch a bus and drop on our doorstep. We celebrate their
arrival with tea and biscuits, catching up on their week and activities. Then
we do a basic backtranslation of a Story, making note of any
difficult-to-understand phrases. We listen to the Story a couple more times
then, before allowing one of them to tell it back to us in their mother tongue.
Following are times for testing, which entails asking a series of carefully constructed questions to gain
insight as to how they are processing the Story.
This 'testing time' has been a special blessing to Mark and I, as we glean so much from the
boys when they elaborate on Scripture from their own Spirit-given and culturally-unique
understanding.
How we marvel at the grace God has given in our growing relationship with these
two young men and in the divine opportunity He has granted us to disciple them
in our home…in Kenya!
A Process Less Enthusing
A major time-consumer and hair-thinner at the moment is the
spousal visa process which we are going through on Mark’s behalf. We’ve had our
documents ready to file for four weeks now but are still waiting on my
dependent pass to be issued by the Kenyan government. (Because we didn’t give a
bribe to the immigration officials, this simple procedure has turned into a
7-month hassle.) We thank God for a Christian official who lent us his ear and
is now pushing to get our papers approved. Once the pass is issued, I can go
with Mark to the U.S. Embassy to file for his visa.
We deeply appreciate your intercession for us and also your support on our
behalf!
Love in Christ,
Mark Philip & Darah Olayo
If you feel led to invest in our ministry, you can do so by clicking here.
Asante sana! Thank you! Alakara loowoi!
Asante sana! Thank you! Alakara loowoi!
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