May 2018 Prayer requests and praises.
We are so grateful for our time here in California. Here's a short list of praises.
Great times with students at the Master's University.Encouragement from our church here in Santa Clarita.
Time with Evan while he completed his Freshman year.
A few trips to some beautiful places in CA.
A few good books read.
Please pray that...
We have safety in our travels starting May 25th while we drive to the east coast.
we would trust the Lord to provide for our support shortage.
Nate and Evan will be blessed with wisdom and honor God with the many decisions they make this summer.
the church in each African country will be strengthened by the work of AIM and other mission groups.
we will be able to encourage our supporting churches to continue to think and act globally concerning missions.
October's prayer and Praises:
We have so many praises since April. We are grateful for Jon's leg that has healed very well. We are grateful that Evan receive a scholarship to the Rugby Academy. We are gratful for the way's that God used a very strange band tour. I'll write more about that on the main posts
We thank God for some rain in Kenya but they need more especially up north. Praise the Lord that Steven was able to build a biogas tank at the children's home. This makes cooking so much less expensive and easier. How many of you would think of using cow manuar and compost to make a gas stove work.
We are grateful for begin able to come to CA and be near Evan. We are thankful for the staff and students at The masters university who are so kind to host us here.
Prayer requests: We are asking the Lord to help us know His direction and plan for us. This involves raising 15% or more support. This also involves making sure that God wants us to return back to RVA. We have been there a long time. We are very willing to go back to RVA but the mission has other places and needs where perhaps we could serve more effectively. We need to be sensitive to Janelle's educational and social needs. We also want to be obedient to what God tells us to do so we need to be disciplined to spend time listening.
April's prayer requests:
Please pray for Jon's Leg to heal quickly and fully. (see post)
Please pray for God to open doors and close them for Band tour. I am trying to finalize where we will play and when. Pray that we will minister to hearts and minds during the band tour weekend of May 19-21.
Please pray for provision for scholarships for Evan for college.
Please pray for AIM's work with so many unreached people groups. We have more open doors than we have team leaders and workers.
Pray for Rain in northern Kenya.
Pray for Wisdom for Amanda and I as we coach our seniors through this last term at RVA.
February's prayer requests:
We are grateful for the Lord's provision of support in December and January. We were able to get out of debt with AIM and pay off school fees. We are still praying for new members to join out team.
Please pray for jobs for Steve and Amanda. Steve would prefer not to teach music but to do something with leadership development and discipleship for college age or in a camp setting.
Please pray that there would be good schooling options for Janelle.
Please pray for rain in Kenya. Our friends are really beginning to suffer loses due to no rain and very hot sun for many weeks now.
Praise the Lord for good health and a good first half of our second term.
Praise the Lord for many good conversations and opportunities for Amanda and I to council, encourage, and pray with many students. While we are looking ahead to so many unknowns, we are able to relate very well to the Seniors looking at leaving RVA.
December Updated prayer request. Join us in Prayer this December.
Please pray for our financial support. For various reasons, we have experienced a large shortage in our support this year. We covet your prayers that God would move people to give towards our ministry here at Rift Valley Academy.Please pray for discernment in the many decisions we have to make this coming year. In just 7 months we will be moving back to the U.S. for a year of home assignment. Evan is graduating from high school and we hope to be able to be near our boys for part of the year.
Therefore we are praying for employment, housing, vehicles, schooling for Janelle and proximity to our boys.
We are also praying that God will guide Evan as he decides what to do next year.
Please pray for Steven Mwaura, who run's the Lord's Favor Children's home. We are working on plans for majorly expanding his facilities. We need wisdom and prayer.
Please pray for Steven as he unexpectedly lost his father the 9th of Dec.
Praise the Lord for the rains that have provided relief for drought in Kenya. We have been very blessed over the last year compared to many countries in Southern part of Africa.
Praises and Prayer Requests April
Praises:
We are grateful for the the healthy transition Nate made to college.
The Lord has been gracious and brought rain to Kenya.
Steven’s Home for Street children is doing well.
The team that keeps supporting us so we can continue our ministry here.
Prayer Requests:
Pray for Nate to be able to find work or an internship this summer.
Pray for Evan to do well Academically and in Rugby. He has an intense term this term.
Pray for good health for our student body as they return from all around the world.
That God will provide for our support shortages.
For insight and wisdom as we teach, mentor, parent, sponsor, and disciple.
Prayer Requests January 1.
Praise the Lord for all that He has done in 2014. We are so grateful for His grace, faithfulness, mercy and abundant provision.
If you get a chance, take a look at the photos section. We had a great time with Steven and his family in Nairobi. Please pray for Steven and his ministry with his family and his Church. Steven stopped working at RVA laundry in November. He felt called to put more time into ministering to the 9 churches in his area that he helps with. He wants to become a full time pastor eventually. He felt that he could begin a taxi (matatu is the swahili word) service by trading his car for a matatu. Well, he was conned and the van that he got had a bad engine. Steven and his family have really been stressed since this source of income hasn't work out. Please pray for wisdom for Steven and our family as we interact and advise them. Steven's oldest son is entering high school this year. He did rather well on his exams to get into high school. Pray for provision for school fees.
Pray for safe travel as our students return from all over the continent Jan. 3-5.
Pray that God would continue to work in the hearts of our students. We saw 3 seniors make new commitments to follow Christ and get baptized. This was a huge encouragement to see these guys make this public profession of their commitment to follow Christ.
As always, pray for rain.
Prayer Requests December
We are grateful for the safety we have had in the midst of a country that is involved in subtle and sometimes not so subtle terrorist threats. Our students traveled to and from school safely at the beginning and end of the term.
Please pray for 14 students from our school who were robbed at gun point during their midterm break. We are so grateful that no one was physically hurt but these events leave deep scars emotionally.
We are praising the Lord for continued watering of the ground, although there has not been enough for planting and harvesting large crops. Small gardens and greens are sustainable as well as grasses for animals in most places.
Please pray for God to provide for our friend Steven. I can see after visiting with him that times have been tough. He's in need of school fees for the next year as well and all I can do is offer to pray and ask others to pray.
Pray for us as we have many decisions to make about college issues for Nate. We need a car for our 6 week trip to the States this coming July and August. Please pray for us to finish this stage in Nate's life well and to prepare him wisely for his transition to life in the States
Praise the Lord for the Nurse Joe and Nurse Sarah who have come on to do a great work along side Amanda. Allyson and Linda are super too. Pray for teamwork in the student health services area and wisdom with students traveling all over Africa.
Prayer Requests Update October
Please pray for our friend Steven who runs the children's home. He has decided to stop working at RVA and go to Bible school and work full time in ministry. He is hoping that this will give him more time flexibility to be with the family and in the long term, better financial security. Presently, this will stretch them financially for sure. Please pray that their school fees for the 7 children in his home.
Please pray for rain here. We got rain for the first time in over a month. We need good rains for a harvest this year. There was not a good growing season in the first half of the year.
Please pray for Nate as he is in the application process to colleges now. Lot's of paper work and prayer needed.
Please pray for our Spiritual emphasis week coming up Oct. 15-19. Pray that God will really work in the hearts and minds of our students and staff.
May Prayer Requests:
Please pray for Band Tour May 30-June 1st.- Safety in travel and lack of harassment from Police
- That students will take to heart the message that God uses people who are Broken and that God restores broken things into beautiful things.
-pray that we can communicate this effectively at schools were language may be a barrier.
-pray that some may choose to receive Jesus as their savior.
Pray for Our family,
-Evan has a very busy schedule and is playing Rugby. He did not get to play in a Tournament This weekend due to feeling sick but hopes to be 100% for the rest of the season.
-Pray for Janelle to keep working hard and learning all that she can;
-Pray for Nate as he finds involvement in the community and working on motorcycles more enjoyable than homework. All three children are doing well academically, keeping them motivated through out the term is the challenge.
Pray for Steven Mwaura and his children's home.
Steven and his family have now taken in 5 extra children from the streets of their town. They are trying to keep them in private schools and keep them clothed and fed as well as their own three children. Government schools are much cheaper but that would mean going from 30-40 in a class room with very limited facilities to 60-90 kids in a lesser facilitated hall. Pray for their desire to build a larger home and to buy a reliable vehicle. Write us an email if you are interested in partnering with them. See Photo album for some photos.
Thanks for your prayers.
Prayer Requests,
Weather for a harvest,
Another nurse to replace the one nurse that had to leave student health.
Good family time for our students as they finish a 4 week time at home.
Safe travel for our students
Steven’s orphanage to receive the support they need of 45,000$ to build their new building and furniture.
New supporters to join our team, our support has been lower than expected that last 6 months.
Wisdom as parents as we parent our 3 children and we mentor several other students.
Praise:
For good rains and that people have planted.
Good health for Amanda, her allergies have been rather good for the past 6 months.
Good concerts and great students to work with.
The desires in our many of our students to grow in Godliness.
The way that Student health staff was able to make it through the last 6 weeks of term being down 1 full time nurse.
November 26th. Please pray for the many families and students traveling. We have been blessed with years of safe travel but we do not want to take that for granted. We praise God for his provision of safety in the past and pray for His grace this coming weekend. RVA will also be hosting a conference this coming week for all Kenya AIM missionaries. There will be around 450 people here starting Sunday. Pray that we will be spiritually nourished by the speaker and through the fellowship.
November 20 Please pray for the concerts coming up this weekend. Sunday evening and Monday evening. Then our students have exams Wed and Thurs. Dorm clean up is Friday and then they depart on Saturday. Please pray for safe travel and meaningful time with their families.
Please pray for new families and or churches to join our support team.
Pray that God will provide another nurse to help at the school's student health services where Amanda works. Currently they have gone from 4.5 nurses to 3 nurses caring for the 500 students 24/7.
It is Monday Sept 23rd. It is the 3rd day of the ordeal with the terrorists in Nairboib.
Please pray for the Nation of Kenya and it's leaders as we work through this horrible event of terrorism. Pray for clarity of thought and wisdom and that thoughts or acts of revenge will be quickly avoided.
Pray for the 2 families that were in the mall at the time of the shooting. They have a lot to process and this will take a long time.
Pray for our students who will eventually have to travel to Nairobi. May we trust our heavenly father and His plans.
Pray for our sister school Rosslyn Academy because there is a student there who's father was shot killed and she was wounded. She had to hide for several hours before she was rescued.
Thanks for your prayers for so many of these request listed earlier. Band tour (as discussed in the last blog). The music came together well. The music led to sweet time for our audience to reflect on the promises of God, the verses read and the testimonies of our students. Our most recent prayer requests are for God's provision in a few areas.
#1. Prayer for rains for a harvest. The corn here is growing well but needs some more rain to flourish, but not too much to rot.
#2. Please pray for God to provide for the needs of Steven's orphanage. The want to build a home that can take in about 15 more street orphans. The cost is around 10,000 dollars. The land has been purchased, the first steps of the home have been build, water is plentiful. The home they are currently using would become rental property in order for financial support to come from with in.
#3. Please pray that people will be moved to support missionaries who are called long term to RVA. We have 1 family that did an amazing job here in their roles at RVA for 2 years but can not return due to low support. We trust that God will provide for the Nielsen family in His timing but we sure need them back on staff as teachers and dorm parents. Recently we have had about 8 short term teams visit our campus. They went on several day trips to see culture, do a service project, or visit and pray for ministries happening nearby. Short term missions groups are great and often lead to long term missionaries but they can also use up limited financial support that could keep families like the Nielsen's on the field for 2-3 years. Pray that God will give vision to churches to value long term missions and those that are willing to go to a cross cultural setting for many years.
#4 Please pray for quick healing for Steve's hand and shoulder as well as Amanda's left foot with planter fasciitis .
Earlier Pray for the 2 families that were in the mall at the time of the shooting. They have a lot to process and this will take a long time.
Pray for our students who will eventually have to travel to Nairobi. May we trust our heavenly father and His plans.
Pray for our sister school Rosslyn Academy because there is a student there who's father was shot killed and she was wounded. She had to hide for several hours before she was rescued.
Thanks for your prayers for so many of these request listed earlier. Band tour (as discussed in the last blog). The music came together well. The music led to sweet time for our audience to reflect on the promises of God, the verses read and the testimonies of our students. Our most recent prayer requests are for God's provision in a few areas.
#1. Prayer for rains for a harvest. The corn here is growing well but needs some more rain to flourish, but not too much to rot.
#2. Please pray for God to provide for the needs of Steven's orphanage. The want to build a home that can take in about 15 more street orphans. The cost is around 10,000 dollars. The land has been purchased, the first steps of the home have been build, water is plentiful. The home they are currently using would become rental property in order for financial support to come from with in.
#3. Please pray that people will be moved to support missionaries who are called long term to RVA. We have 1 family that did an amazing job here in their roles at RVA for 2 years but can not return due to low support. We trust that God will provide for the Nielsen family in His timing but we sure need them back on staff as teachers and dorm parents. Recently we have had about 8 short term teams visit our campus. They went on several day trips to see culture, do a service project, or visit and pray for ministries happening nearby. Short term missions groups are great and often lead to long term missionaries but they can also use up limited financial support that could keep families like the Nielsen's on the field for 2-3 years. Pray that God will give vision to churches to value long term missions and those that are willing to go to a cross cultural setting for many years.
#4 Please pray for quick healing for Steve's hand and shoulder as well as Amanda's left foot with planter fasciitis .
Here are just a few prayer requests for our first posting.
- Pray for the persecuted Christians in Northern Kenya. One pastor was martyred 3 weeks ago.
- Pray for Steven M and his work with street children. They need funding and wisdom
- Pray we as a family will grow closer together during our time here in the States.
- Pray for Steve as he begins to plan for band tour and for returning back to teaching.
