Bwanabob

March 10, 2007

Dear Friends,

We are all doing well, all of the boys had malaria two weeks ago, but have recovered very quickly. We keep medicine here at home and are able to give the boys shots of anti-malarial medicine when they first get sick. The shots help them recover much more quickly. I would like to thank members of New Life Baptist Church in Chattanooga TN for sending over children’s chewable Ibuprofen and Tylenol. We had to use a combination to keep the boys fevers under control. The Tylenol meltaways were especially helpful. Thank you!

The President of Kenya came to town, Mwai Kibaki. Schools closed, businesses closed, roads were fixed that hadn’t been maintained in years, rocks were painted, flags were flown, police patrolled on foot and best of all his arrival was announced via loud speakers mounted on top of trucks this morning at 5:30 AM! I was already up making coffee when they drove through our part of town. I figured that it was something political being announced at 5:30 AM because no one else could get away with it except the ruling government. Anyway, it was loud, accompanied by music that sounded almost exactly like pop-goes-the- weasel that played when I cranked a handle on the jack in the box at my grandparents house years ago. Who would have thought I’d have such fond memories just by listening to the early morning politicking in Kenya.

Bible Institute classes went well this week, please pray for two of our students that continue to struggle to make good grades, their names are Paulina and Samweli. I do believe they try very hard, but because they haven’t had much schooling it’s a lot of work for them to keep up with the other students and maintain good grades.

I believe we have found a buyer for our little Mitsubishi truck. Pray that it will work out with us selling it and then finding what we would like to buy. The type of truck we are wanting to buy is usually a pretty posh kind of outfit, but the chassis and drive train are well know for their durability and strength, which is what is needed for the roads here. Pray we might find a basic model that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, hasn’t been wrecked and one that we can afford.

The last two days we were able to have a pastors meeting here in Lodwar. It was a great time of fellowship singing and teaching. We had new song books in Turkana language and the pastors loved singing from them. I brought one lesson on how to Biblically reprove or rebuke a brother in Christ. Not a subject to be taken lightly for sure. I started the lesson by drawing a military map on the chalk board and marking mine fields on that map. Then I used a compass that I had just given to one of the pastors to explain how a soldier can find his way around danger using a map and compass. Then I took that illustration and applied how the Word of God and the Holy Spirit shows us how to navigate life. Then I asked the oldest pastor from our churches to tell how many other pastors he knew who had fallen from the ministry and what had caused them to fall. Again and again he described how other pastors had taken second wives, which is the cultural norm here in Turkana, and as a result left the ministry. One pastor left over issues with his family wealth. We started in Proverbs about how, “open rebuke is better than secret love” and went through to when Paul rebuked Peter and the parables Jesus gave about unfaithful and wicked servants. The lesson took about six hours and thankfully the pastors were willing to share their thoughts and other scriptures that they believed applied. The fruit of the lesson was no less than the work of God. One pastor who we had tried to help last year when he was accused of improprieties and who had been bitter ever since, openly asked for forgiveness for his bitterness. I along with others asked for his forgiveness for rushing to conclusions and needlessly making him look guilty. Then one of the pastors openly confessed sin that he had fallen into and asked for advice and assistance in confessing the matter before his church and doing what he could to restore his testimony. It was definitely one of those times I knew that the Lord had placed me here to teach that specific lesson on that day to build up His churches here in Turkana.

Some have asked about pastor Hosea’s sister who was bitten by a puff adder. She recovered very well and has since returned to the bush to where the family animals are grazing. He said that little by little feeling returned to her arm and hand and that there was no infection of the wound. Praise the Lord!

We had written about Esther and Peninah, the ladies that help Ericka. They and their families are doing well and have passed through this time of difficulty. Esther’s son is getting the last of the rabies shots today and Peninah and her family were able to take the one thief to the police and had a case written up on him. Thank you for your prayers for them.

Pastor Geoffrey’s son was stung by a scorpion last night and is in hospital now, so please pray for him.

Please remember us for safety and health. Our youngest, 2 yrs, is now taking a stool outside to the truck, uses it to climb up onto the bull bar on the front bumper, over the hood, over the windshield and perches on top of the roof rack of our Land Crusier, about 7 feet off the ground.

God bless you all,

Bob Clark