Bwanabob

8/30/2000

Dear Friends and Fellow Laborers for Christ,

We finished the roof in Juluk! Last Saturday we all carried the boards, tin, tools and accessories across the river and to the village. There was no mud or rain this time so I was able to drive right to the river. There were about 10 of us carrying everything and each one made about 3 trips. I really wish I could have gotten a picture, but I forgot my camera that day.

On Monday we began by putting up the trusses. Thank God I had measured properly and everything fit together quite easily. The Turkanans kept saying, “We’ve never seen a building made like this.” After the trusses were up we put the perlins on. I had brought just enough boards and for a little bit we thought there wasn’t going to be enough, but all was sufficient. On Tuesday, we started putting on the tin. I really had my hands full trying to explain how to nail it down properly and keep it all lined up. We did a pretty good job, and the most important thing was we worked together with the pastors and members doing the greater part. If anything I want them to know that the building is theirs and not mine.

I slept in Juluk on Monday night, that was a real experience. Even though I was in my tent and the tent was inside a little fenced area, I could hear most of the village singing about 200 feet away. They were practicing for the arrival of the District Officer. They sang until about 11 PM. I have to tell you what it was like. The way Turkanans traditionally sing is very different from any modern music, it seems they are always singing in a sharp key and the rhythm is often disjointed, like several rhythms within one rhythm. Anyway, someone got the bright idea to bring out their battery powered boom box, put on some rap style jive and let it play along with the traditional singing. There was about as much harmony and compliment as two alley cats with their tails tied together. After the singing everyone in the village stayed up and talked, it seemed like I was trying to sleep in the middle of a giant reception hall. Then at about 4:30 AM, after the first rooster crowed, someone with a whistle started running around the village waking up everyone for practice again. It was fun to experience all of that, but two nights in a row would have been too much.

The church members liked having me there. Not to blow my own whistle, but they really appreciate me eating and staying with them. Imagine someone coming to visit your place and them saying, “No I don’t eat fried chicken or mashed potatoes and I don’t like hot rolls.” To refuse their food is quite an offence. I often have fun correcting people in the villages who call me “Father” I like to tell them that there is only one Father who is in heaven and that I am just a man like them.

I returned to Lodwar today only to find more church construction going on! The meeting place for the church here in Lodwar was much too small, so they began expanding. They hadn’t asked me for help or anything, they just began. When I went by the church there were the old ladies, young men and pastor working at tearing out mud walls and putting up a new ones to make about three times more space. Well, I just so happened to be carrying 12 sheets of tin in the back of my pickup that were left over from the church in Juluk. I told the pastor that since the church had moved ahead with building and doing the work, I would contribute the tin and nails that I was carrying. You should have seen the Christians and their pastor, they just beamed.

Things are moving ahead here in Turkana. I haven’t yet gone to the States and I’m already wanting to be back in the middle of the work here.

Just keep praying for the churches and pastors in Turkana and do pray for Ericka and I as we are married on September 23rd. We’ll have adjustments to make and some may be a bit difficult for us.

God bless and keep you all.

In Christ, Bob Clark

8/22/2000

Dear Friends,

Sorry for not writing in such a long time, but I’m trying to stay busy finishing up things before heading to the States in September.

In July, Ericka and I were sick and couldn’t return to Turkana to help with a youth camp and ladies meeting. This month was the only time to reschedule those events and all turned out well. I started with the youth meeting in Katilu, we had about 100 youth from the villages of Katilu, Lopur and Juluk. It was a real blessing to me and also a blessing to the young people. Our special speakers were great pastors from down-country Kenya. They carried the main load of lessons and teaching while I held the devotions in the morning and taught a lesson on AIDS. At the end of the meeting the youth were very excited to have the next meeting and wanted to make it four or five days. This would be a great idea, but feeding everyone becomes a problem. I was able to bring most of the food this time, so pray that in the future the churches and youth can contribute to the food bill, thereby extending the number of days for the camp. I didn’t get an exact count on how many were saved, but I know even one being saved is worth all the effort.

The week after the Youth Camp we held a ladies meeting with the Churches of Lorogumu, Kalemenyang and Lodwar. Again, we had special speakers from down country Kenya who were great examples to the ladies. My part was devotions and one preaching session. I’ve been preaching and teaching in Swahili for about four months now, but my vocabulary is limited so I’m really not up to teaching all day. I brought most of the food for the meeting, but the churches participating in the Ladies meeting did a great job of contributing their part of the food and supplies. After the meeting, one of the Turkana ladies commented that she didn’t know a lady could know the Bible as well as the two ladies who came to teach from down-country. This Turkana lady said she would work to read her Bible and learn the Scriptures! You would not believe the questions that the Turkana ladies asked after all the lessons were finished. Most all the women face problems because their husbands have several other wives. The wives often fight each other and it’s very common for the husband to beat them, especially when he’s drunk. Even the Kenyan ladies from down-country were shocked by the difficulties these women face. There were about 50 ladies in all, some had walked 30 km to get to the meeting place. I gave these ladies a ride back to their village. You should have seen my pickup, all the ladies with babies rode in the front, 6 Momas, 6 Babies, and me. There were about 14 in the back. Please remember to pray for my truck.

I really wish you could see and experience all the things that we did in the two meetings. It’s nothing like meetings in America. As for the “youth” in Kenya they consist of young people from the ages of 13 – 25, unmarried. These meetings are seen as a great opportunity for the young people to scout for prospective husbands and wives, thus we have many older “young people.” It is all culturally acceptable and seems to help the youths find a Christian mate. At the ladies meeting there was no nursery, no diapers and lots of traditional dress. I think of the ladies meetings that we’ve had at my home church, the ladies with all their nice outfits, quiet environment, the smell of a dozen different perfumes and a well organized schedule. In Turkana, I’d say it was another world, but the same goal was accomplished, teaching God’s Word and encouraging the ladies in their walk with the Lord. At both meetings the singing was tremendous! One thing Turkanans like to do is sing and do they have volume! They sing songs like, “One day, when Jesus comes, I’ll fly away to heaven like a bird” and “Jesus, lead me like a shepherd.”

After the meetings were over, I traveled back to Juluk to carry the trusses for the new church building. Recent rain produced fields of mud, I had to park the truck about a mile and a half from the church. Fourteen of us started carrying the trusses to the church in the rain. The first part of the journey was through mud, then dry ground, then across the river, through the irrigation area and on to the village. It was a blessing to see such effort from the church members, wish I could have taken a picture. The whole time we were carrying the trusses it was raining, so by the time I got back to the truck most of the trail had turned to greasy mud. I made it out of the mud after lots of spinning and sliding only to be stopped at a raging rainy season river. We waited there for about an hour and when the water was about knee-hi I started across only to have the truck die in the middle of the little river, no thanks to water on the ignition system. Thank God there were enough people around to push the truck back far enough to get the engine completely above water. After lots of cranking, backfiring and two more tries across, we got through the water victorious. The rest of the day was filled with checking the water level in each wet season river, some waiting, more problems with water on the ignition system, but eventually I made it back to Lodwar. It was a difficult day, but the rain was such a blessing, we thanked God for all the water.

This last Sunday was an added blessing. I was able to travel to the church at Kalemenyang for services and baptism. I had been told there would be about 35 to be baptized, which is a great number, but I had no idea how many there actually were. I started baptizing and after about 40 people I started getting a little tired and wondered just how many there were. After we finished I asked the acting pastor how many we had baptized and he counted 66 people on his list! There is a young man named Peter working in a nearby village called Neremit, he has been going all around preaching and witnessing to people in the bush around Neremit. On that Sunday, he brought most everyone he had led to the Lord to the church in Kalemenyang. We baptized them along with the new Christians of Kalemenyang. What a blessing to work with young men who are on fire to spread the Gospel in their home places! Please pray for Peter and Hosea as they continue working in this area, God bless them for their work!

I’ve come to Eldoret for supplies to finish the church roof at Juluk, please pray that all will go well here and that we can finish up things in Juluk next week.

Next month I’m heading to the States for a wedding, MINE! I always thought I would be married much sooner, but I know that the Lord just wanted me to wait for Ericka. She has really made an impression on the Christians in Turkana, they can’t wait for her to return and start leading ladies meetings. I can’t wait for her to help me in Turkana, I’m really in need of her support and Ericka is a blessing of encouragement and joy.

I believe that I’ll cancel this E-mail account after I head to the States. Please use Ericka’s E-mail erickatrm@hotmail.com starting about September 5. I leave for the States on September 9 and we return to Kenya in January.

Thank you all for your prayers and God bless you.

In Christ, Bob Clark