My Friends,

Thanksgiving...it should be part of our everyday life.  The US just celebrated Thanksgiving, but giving thanks to God should be a daily occurrence and as natural as breathing, but is it?  I know sometimes life simply gets to me and I am certainly not thankful for the situations I am dealing with.  I get bitter, angry, resentful...even at God.  But the Apostle Paul wrote something which we need to be clear about.  It says in Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  I do not hear Paul saying give thanks for every situation, but rather he says to give thanks in every situation...big difference to me.  In Romans 8:28 Paul tells us "...in all things God works for the good of those who love Him...".  Again, we see the emphasis on "in"..."in every situation" and "in all things".  What I believe Paul is attempting to get across is all situations may not be good on the surface (God allows "bad" things to happen-another topic), but God should be thanked during the situation because He is working in (and through) the situations (no matter how bad they appear to us) for our good (those of us who love Him)...not something easy to wrap your head around, but definitely something needed to be understood and embraced.  When things look bleak and the situation bad, give thanks to our Lord Jesus since we know He is in the midst of those situations and working for our good...we will never be abandoned.

Old MacDonald had a farm and old McDonald is now farming...help us Lord.  I mentioned in the last newsletter we had leased five acres of land and were going to begin to farm...well that has been done.  Actually, we have done all we can at this point and have simply been waiting for rain.  While we have gotten some, there has been nowhere near enough for the farm.  We believed we could use the water from a nearby river to pump and even laid pipe lines from the river to the farm and purchased a diesel pump to do the job.  What happened was people up-stream put up a dam in the river and blocked all the water...yep, the river is literally blocked by this neighbor.  I found out in Kenya all you need is a little bribe money and the government will leave you alone with your dam...even if you are blocking all the water to the rest of the farmers down stream.  Now, we simply wait on God to bring rain as we watch the crops wither...what a heart-breaking site for me.  But, as I said above, I am thanking God He is in control and will work in this situation for His glory and our good...I will continue to place my hope in Him.

We are in Kenya for at least another three months...by God's amazing grace.  In the last newsletter I mentioned we were waiting on our Lord to do something to allow us to stay in Kenya...well, He did.  We came down to literally 24 hours before we had to leave (Tammy and I were actually making back-up plans to leave the next day) and God moved people.  Kenya's Criminal Investigation Division (of all people) approved our extension for three months (until 4 February I believe was the date).  This gives us time to get our permit approved through the church which has been registered (True Vine Christian Church) which will allow us to stay in the country for three years...God's timing, God's will...we just go with His flow.

Interested in assisting with a Christmas gift which will literally last a life-time (and more)...go to the website and be part of a miracle-in-progress.  As I mentioned above, we have leased some land and are farming it.  Two things are presenting issues.  The first I mentioned above...water.  Since the land is only leased and we can be kicked off at any time (yes, it doesn't matter you have a lease) we can't drill a well on the property to ensure on-going water.  The second is not owning the land itself...as I said, we can get kicked off at any time and continuing the lease will be expensive.  So now I am going to be redundant since I mentioned the following in the last newsletter.  What we are doing is looking to purchase land where we could drill a well (since the land would be owned by the ministry we would have no issues with drilling the well) which would enable us to farm and harvest a crop three times a year.  This would allow us to feed the children on a year-round basis through the efforts of the people of Kenya and the blessing of our Lord God.  We have found land (5 acres) which can be purchased for $10,000 and we have investigated and found to drill a deep-well on the property would cost around $15,000.  Tammy has placed a map representing the property and a picture of a well on the website (click here to go to the "land and water" button).  For each $100 donated (individually or cumulative) a piece of the land is added or the well bucket is dropped downward.  When the land is completely filled and the bucket reaches the bottom the project will be completely funded.  A one-time Christmas gift will help complete the project and allow us to provide for the children for the rest of their lives...by God's grace.  Please go to the website and assist as God would lead...this one-time gift literally will last a life-time.

A big Thank You for all you have done...not just in the spirit of Thanksgiving, but in the Spirit of Jesus who orchestrates, organizes and provides for everything He has called us to do....through YOU!  I just have to thank you for what you have enabled to happen on the ground as we finish our first seven months living in Kenya (Yep, seven months as of the beginning of December).  The children (and adults) have seen miracles which they never thought they would see in their life times because of your response to Jesus' calling.  We continue to ensure the children know everything which has occurred, and is occurring, is because of a loving God who is providing for them by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus.  We are watching as lives are changed and hope is coming to the kids.  We have had remarkable results at Nice View as we see the kids scoring incredible marks in all areas of testing...same kids, same minds, more resources and now continued HOPE for the future.  As Christ continues to call us to service, we pray He continues to call you to support the endeavors on the ground here in Kenya and you heed that call.  We pray we are being transparent so you can see what your funds are doing and we ask the Holy Spirit to continue to lead us so we will be true to the calling.  We encourage questions and would love to see you here on the ground (we have had a few guests from the States and it has been simply wonderful).  Thank you for everything.

Prepare with us to honor our Lord Jesus at His birth.  I want to end by encouraging you not to get too involved in the bustle of the holiday season and forget why we are celebrating.  We celebrate our God's love for us; we celebrate eternal life; we celebrate the most incredible event which ever took place...God becoming man; we celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  Enjoy the holiday with family and friends, but seek the "reason for the season" as you do so.  Make Him the focus so He is glorified...make it a season of love for Him and your neighbor.

May our Lord continue to bless you with His presence in your life and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Serving with you only by His grace,

Chuck

Missionary to Kenya