Bwanabob

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

We hope you all are well and have a Happy New Year.  We are doing fine here, but things aren’t looking very good for Kenya.  For those of you who havnen’t followed the news Kenya held elections on Dec. 27, early on it appeared that the opposition candidate for President would have a clear victory over the incumbent.  Then a series of “irregularities” began to take place, suddenly the incumbent was declared the winner and was sworn into office within minutes of him being declared winner.  Unfortunately, the US Ambassador has endorsed the elections and congratulated the incumbent on his victory.  If you have a personal contact with a Senator or Representative you might ask them to check into this.

Today it seems that those who have supported the opposition candidate along with members from his tribe want to take out their frustrations on anyone from the incumbent’s tribe, the Kikuyu.

In our mission work we have pastors who are from most all the tribes here in Central and Western Kenya.  We know that if violence begins against the Kikuyu tribe it will affect many Pastors and Christians in the Churches.

Just today our neighbors here in Eldoret who are Kikuyu asked us to help them get to a safe area, they fear they will be burned out of their house. They asked that I drive the to a Kikuyu area, but diesel is difficult to find and I know that it would be dangerous to travel right now.

We had been thinking about trying to hurry back to Turkana, but this morning one of our Pastors called from Lodwar and told us that things were not good
there either.

For now we are just staying at home, we have plenty of food in the house and several missionary friends here in Eldoret.  We would ask that you please
pray for Kenya, it’s leaders and for peace.   We will continue to keep you posted on how things go.

In Christ, Bob Clark

Dear Friends,

We hope you all have had a Merry Christmas and will be having a Happy New Year. Everything is fine for now here in Kenya, the national elections will be held tomorrow. In some areas there is a great deal of tension, but other areas seem to be calm. We would ask you to pray that everything goes smoothly during the election and that the outcome will be accepted by all parties.

As we finish this year we are thankful for the way the Lord has lead us and used us in Turkana. Please be in Prayer as the Turkana Nationals who we have helped train take over the Bible Institute and other work we have been doing.

We have seen some new areas where we may be able to begin ministering in, but we have also seen National pastors who the Lord may be preparing to go to these areas as well. Recently, I took a trip to a new district called East Pokot, there are no churches from our mission in that area and there are very few churches there from any group. The Pokot tribe are very similar to the Turkana, but in some ways more difficult to reach with the Gospel because of
the strength of their local religion and social pressure to resist the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Pokot dress very similar to the Turkana, they carry the same design of spear, head dress, and stool to sit on, yet they are sworn enemies. While there I told them how we have heard of many Turkanans who have been killed trying to steal cattle
from the Pokot. Then I asked them openly if some of their young men have been killed trying to steal cattle from the Turkana and they said yes. Then I was able to preach to them about how it is the work of Satan himself to steal, kill and destroy but that the Lord Jesus has come to give us life and peace. Pray that the Word of God will work mightily in their hearts and that the few local Christians who invited us to their area will continue to be
witnesses.

Please pray for Rev. Elondonga, who was able to get us into this area that the Lord would lead him as to how to minister there. Please be in prayer for us because as we hand over work in Turkana it is our desire to take on work in a new area. Pray for us that we would follow the Lords leading to the area He would have us to go. We aren’t planning to leave Turkana for a least a year or maybe longer, but we do believe that our leaving is necessary for the churches there to let go of our hand and rely entirely on the Hand of God. Another area we need prayer for is how to help the local pastors as we prepare to leave Turkana. This is so difficult because often the ways we try to help have the opposite effect. For instance, I helped one of the young pastors in Turkana with a cash gift to help
him pay for his wedding. Rather than work within the budget he had and the gift I had given him, he borrowed and begged favors from many others. The outcome of the wedding was that everyone said it was a great wedding with lots of guests and plenty of food, but now the young pastor is flat broke and indebeted to many people in the area. As we make preparations to leave Turkana the local pastors will come to me seeking a parting “gift.” Pray for me in the coming months that I will be open to the Lords leading on how I may help and wise to the unintended problems I would cause by giving something that in the end would cause problems.

God bless you all and thank you for praying for us.

In Christ, Bob, Ericka, Vance, Edward and Riley

Receive our greetings in the name of our risen Lord! Merry Christmas! Thought you might enjoy hearing about a family weekend visiting a bush church.

We left Lodwar on a Saturday, Nov 17, to spend the weekend with Pastor William and his church in Juluk. We were wondering how the boys would do with two nights in the tent and all that happens out in the villages, with being mobbed by 50 kids and food being late, going to the bathroom and there is no toilet or even an out house and all sorts of things like that. The other thing with going to Juluk is that it is across the Turkwell River. So we drive the truck to a group of huts, the people there keep an eye on it, and then we start walking. It is 2 and a half miles to the river and then another half a mile from the river to the village of Juluk. So how would the boys do with a walk of 6 miles, church service, ladies meeting and baptism(which was another walk to the river and back to Juluk)?

We didn’t realize that Agnes, Pastor William’s wife, was so close to delivering when we planned to go, so the morning we left, Pastor William came and said Agnes had a baby that night. When we arrived, the baby wasn’t even 12 hours old. We felt bad that we were moving in on a lady that just gave birth, but they said it was alright and there was a girl there to do
all the cooking and taking care of us. Agnes gave birth to a little girl named Rebekah Lotikoi. There was no hospital or anyone, she just squatted down and pushed the baby out. When I went in to see her she was sitting on the floor which was dusted with sand (I think to help with clean up of blood). She stayed in that room the whole time and the only time she came out was to go to the bathroom.

The first day and night went surprisingly well for the boys. Vance loves other kids so was off playing all the time. But we were constantly surrounded by about 50 kids. At times it got to be a bit much for the other two, so they would take turns hiding with us. The boys enjoyed holding little Rebekah. The ladies asked the boys if they would like to take her home and they said “Oh yes” . And Vance really told them how he would take care of the baby, by giving her milk and then we have clothes to put on her. And later on when he was thinking about us going to Eldoret, he came up to me and said “Mama, when we take the baby to Eldoret, we will need to wrap her in lots of lessos because it is cold there.” (But when it came time to leave they forgot about the baby coming with us

That night they slept great! (Not like the last time we were out in a village where every 20 in or so one of the boys would wake up. They did that constantly throughout the night.)

The boys did great on the walk to Juluk, it was too funny, little Riley spent the first 10 minutes running ahead of us and we were all wondering how long would that last. Well, after the running and then walking for 5 min then he was ready to be carried and threw a fit if he wasn’t. Also he had to be carried by mom or dad, someone else wouldn’t do. Edward did great he walked all the way to the river and so did Vance, all in all Vance must have walked close to 5 miles that day. When we got to the river, we saw the local crocodile sitting on the opposite bank basking in the sun. (The locals say that the croc has never come after anyone so they leave him be, but if he did then a group would go out and kill him immediately). There
were some guys that met up with us during the walk that carried the boys on their shoulders and the water stayed about knee level until you sank into a hole that put the water at your waist. The croc stayed on the bank basking the whole time, which I was happy about because I could keep an eye on him! After getting on dry land, we walked into the village and the church service had already started with singing. It was a 2 hour service, then a walk back to the river and even right in the spot where the croc had been earlier to do the baptisms. Bob baptized 22 people, then we walked back to the village, as we were walking back I was carrying Riley on my shoulders and he fell asleep up there. So got him down and carried him in our arms the rest of the way in. Bob took the boys to a church member’s hut where we were to have lunch and the boys had chai and were able to rest, and I went in to teach the ladies. Taught on the blessing of forgiveness but how hard hearted and stupid we can be when we get into sin, what God can do to bring us back to him so that we can sing and rejoice in His love and forgiveness out of Psalm 32. I used the example of David and Bathsheba.

After finishing the lesson I went to where the boys were and we had lunch, I rested a bit and then we started walking back. At the edge of the village a couple of guys with bicycles offered to carry the boys on the back of the bikes. Well, the boys were very excited about that and enjoyed the lift all the way to the river. We crossed the river again, no sign of the croc, and kept moving toward the truck, but at a much slower pace. Edward didn’t walk much, and Vance walked some but they were all carried for a good part of the return trip. God gave us the strength and grace to get there and back, to be able to teach the ladies and visit with the Christians and walk to the village and back while carrying a preschooler and gear, for Bob to preach and baptize and that the boys, who could have whined the whole time, thouroughly enjoyed themselves and took it as a big adventure. It was a wonderful time and I was exhausted by the end of the day. But I continually learn that God gives the strength that is enough for each moment, whether good or bad and it is our choice to have joy in the journey.

The boys didn’t sleep well that night, but they selpt great in the truck the next day! So that was the trip to Juluk.

We pray blessings upon you through this holiday season and into the new year. As you spend time with family and loved ones enjoy each moment. God bless you!

Love,
Ericka Clark