Proclaimer Radio-Faith Comes by Hearing

The following is a report written by one of our MDP lay workers, Immanuel Tumpes, serving in Oloitokitok District. He received a Proclaimer Radio when they were donated by my sister, Cherry Goodridge in May. These radio's are both battery and solar operated and have the New Testament in the Maasai language. To find out more how you or your church can get involved in this program go to the following website: FaithComesByHearing.com

Enjoy the report.

Truly Faith Comes By Hearing
by
Immanuel Tumpes

The “Proclaimer” radio has been a great blessing to my people and relatives since I received it. Many of my relatives have enjoyed listening as the Word of God is being read, book to book and verse to verse to all in our own language.

Here is an amazing story of the Proclaimer impact to society. A father in-law of my elder brother is blind. According to available information, his blindness was caused from an eye infection during childhood. Although his wife is a devoted Pentecostal church believer with some of her children, the father is a fulltime drunkard. One of her sons is our church member since earlier this year. Therefore I usually visit the family and discuss the Word of God. Yet the Proclaimer created another huge bridge to the salvation of this family.

One day for visitation I planned to visit the elder with the radio and have a time to listen with him who is a very good listener with very sharp hearing. I first tuned into the epistles of John, which in large content talks about love. He appreciated it very much and we exchanged views about how love should be cherished and practiced by all. The elder urged me to spend more time with him listening. But because other family members were out for duties, I promised him to come another day. I hereby got a new chance and style to talk to him especially about his serious problem. After some months of conversation, he changed greatly and dramatically his habits. Different from the past, he can now spend one to two weeks without getting into drunkenness. When he is not in the situation he comes to me, asking for the Proclaimer.

More amazingly, he now tells everybody that his church is only “Sabato”, although he has never attended. But what I receive with more appreciation is that two others of his sons have been discussing and studying with me the Bible truths. They have accepted the message but their mother, who is a leader of an evangelical church, was pressuring them, causing an obstacle for them to join the church. However, the elder of the family who had been listening to the Proclaimer, supported them in their decision and they now have a right to worship with us. By now the two young men although still students are our church members, ready for baptism. Whenever they are at home they attend all of the church services.

What I have learned is that many people are ready and willing to listen to the Proclaimer rather than to devote time to reading for themselves. Because so many of the Maasai people are not educated and cannot read, the Proclaimer is a wonderful tool for witnessing.

The great challeng is this:

If anything now days happens anywhere in the world, it will be known very quickly all over the planet because International Broad Casting Stations are present throughout and everywhere, even in the most interior areas like Somali land.

The same is true to the Word of God. If the Proclaimer radios can be found in every home, many learned and unlearned will be very blessed by the light of truth and will come to Jesus, “They Way of Life.”

Traveling Home

Monday we begrudgingly packed up and left Sarova after a huge breakfast! Stopping along the way for restroom breaks and a little bit of shopping. After arriving back at the East Central Africa Division Guesthouses, we unpacked the truck. After supper we sorted the left over meds and did inventory, before packing up the supplies for the next trip in March of 2010. By the time we were done sorting and counting, no one wanted to see in medicine again! It had been a long day and everyone was tired and ready for bed.

Tuesday after breakfast we headed into Nairobi for several hours of shopping! Now, let me tell you - I have had lots of groups here, but this group took the cake for their shopping abilities! I am not sure there is anything left in the town of Nairobi for anyone else to buy!

After supper we loaded up the bus and were off to the airport!

It was a great mission trip! Each person made a difference, each person reflected Christ!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be a busy day for me - I will finish up the sorting and packing of supplies, run some errands in town, and visit some children that are sponsored through MDP, plus do a food and water delivery to a Maasai family. Thursday evening I will head to the airport and be back in the US on Friday. Am looking forward to seeing my family again!

Please keep the group in your prayers as we all travel over the next couple of days, and ask the Lord what He has in mind for you? He just might want you to join us our our next trip to Kenya in March!

Thanks for keeping up on our adventures on the blog!

kim

Pampering at Sarova

Sunday morning we packed up early and headed to the Mara Sarova Lodge for a day and night of well deserved R&R! We arrived just before lunch - eager for hot showers and normal bathrooms! The group spent the day swimming, sleeping, shopping, bird watching and getting massages.

Around 4pm Kamunge (our driver) and I took Dr Meharry to the Keekerok airstrip for his flight back to the USA and then re-joined the group at the lodge.

The meals were incredible - a true smorgasbord! After supper we sat around a fire and watched some traditional Maasai dances before heading off to our beds for a good night's sleep!

The group had worked hard, they had stepped out of their comfort zone and given all they had - the time at Sarova was well deserved and much needed!

kim

Sabbath in the Masai Mara National Reserve

Sabbath morning we all got to sleep in! What a blessing that was. Breakfast was at 8:30am. (Pancakes, mangoes, passion fruit, pineapples, papaya, granola and hot drinks) Then we had worship and put all of our things on the truck for a day of game driving and a night camping on the edge of the Mara River!

The animals were abundant and we were blessed with another leopard and spent sometime sitting next to her with her kill. We then headed out to the Mara River and had a picnic lunch under a tree, before heading to our campsite near Musiara. We stopped at gate just briefly for everyone to use the restrooms (the next 24 hours there would only be bushes to use - no running water, no bathrooms)and then headed to the forest on the edge of the Mara River. From our campsite you could see numerous types of animals. With a herd of close to 70 or more elephants hanging around. After we set up our tents we took Dr Guild to the air strip for his flight back to the USA, then headed back to camp for supper and worship by the fire.

The night sounds were incredible (the snoring was also incredible) The baboons barked out their warnings, while the hyenas laughed, the elephants trumpeted, and the hippos voiced their opinions. The stars and moon lit up the sky - it was a perfect night for camping!

There is nothing like spending the day in God's book of nature! Over all it was a fantastic Sabbath day!

You would have loved it!

kim

Friday - Clinic at Siana and Ground Breaking Ceremony

As the sun rose we ate breakfast and had worship then loaded up for a few hours of viewing the wildlife on our way to clinic at Siana Primary Boarding School. The sun was warm, and the hot air balloons were rising into the sky.

The lay workers that had translated for us traveled with us today through the park - they had a great time standing up looking out of the top of the truck - they felt like tourists for the morning! SMILE

Clinic started right on time and we had many students that came to be seen. Our first visitor at clinic was a little child that had been hit in the eye with a stone. Blood was streaming down his face like tears. Once the eye was cleaned up we could see that there was no damage to the eyeball itself, just a cut on the edge of the skin by the eye. It was once again a busy day for all areas of the clinic.

At 2:45pm we closed clinic up in order to make it to the special ground breaking ceremony for the new hostel. They bused a group of children from Siana Primary Boarding School over to the ceremony (those that are sponsored through MDP were part of the group). The site looks great, and the fence is fabulous. I am sure Jan or Celeste will share on the blog about the site and the ceremony so won't go into too much detail, other then to say it was a honor to be a part of it and have the mission group participants there to join in. The children from Siana are so very excited about having a place to call home!

After the ceremony we headed back to Game Trackers Campsite - supper was ready, showers were hot, and the fire was lit. We welcomed in the Sabbath hours around the fire with worship and then headed to bed. Our last clinic was done - and all of were ready for the rest that only Sabbath can offer.

Happy Sabbath to all -

kim

Thursdays Clinic in Talek

At 6:15 am we all were loading the truck for an early morning game drive! The Masai Mara is so very dry - in fact I have never seen it this dry in all of the 18 years that I have lived in Kenya. We bumped along slowly over the roads, stopping to take pictures of all the animals. Before heading back to camp for breakfast we were blessed with several lions laying around and a cheetah eating a gazelle.

After breakfast and worship we left for our day of clinic at Talek. There were people already waiting outside the clinic site when we arrived, so we quickley set up and registration started. It was a busy day for all! The little baby that the March '09 group had treated for burns over most of his body was brought to the clinic. He is looking so good. We had a chance to visit with the family and local clinician after the clinic was over and we decided to step out in faith and send the little baby to Kendu Bay Adventist Hospital to have surgery on his foot, so he will be able to walk again. Several of you have mentioned to me that you would be interested in helping with this surgery - and I thank you for that.

After clinic we headed back to camp to drop off some items and use the restrooms - and then headed back into the park for a late afternoon/evening game drive. The animals were once again amazing - and we were blessed with a leopard!

Around sundown we arrived back in camp and Margaret had supper waiting, there were hot showers and a fire to sit by. As we fell into bed that night the hyneas laughed and the wind blew, while the stars twinkled above.

Wish you could all be here with us!

kim

Wednesday - Trip through Narok

After breakfast and worship we loaded up the truck and set out for Masai Mara National Reserve, with several stops planned along the way.

First stop was on the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. We stopped at a curio store with a great view of the Rift, and the group had a couple of minutes to shop and use the restrooms.

Second stop was in the town of Narok, a larger town bustling with Maasai, cows, goats, sheep, matatu's (vans that are taxis) and motorcycles. We had an 11:00am appointment at the Narok Hospital - Jim Anderson, one of the mission trip participants had brought a defibrillator donated by Cal-Ore Emergency Flight Service for the hospital. There were hospital administrators, government officials, and community on hand to participate in the donation ceremony. Some of you might remember the little girl that we had seen on our July mission trip that had fallen into the fire and burned her eye. Her father brought her to the hospital in Narok for me to see. She was beautiful! They had done a great job on her eye, and her smile had come back. They are not done with surgery yet though - this next week they are returning to the hospital to have a false eye put in. I cant wait till next March to see the final outcome. This little girl's life has changed - and it is because of each of you - those that give for the mission trips, and those who came and gave what they had to help pay for the hospital bills. Thank you - you have no idea the difference you have made!

Third stop was a short stop at at another curio store - so our driver could get a little break, and the group could spend a few minutes shopping and using the restrooms again.

Fourth stop was at Sekenani Gate - then main entrance to Masai Mara National Reserve. We drove slowly through the park enjoying all the animals.

Fifth and final stop was Game Trackers Campsite on the edge of the Masai Mara National Reserve. We unloaded everything, moved into our little cabins. After supper we relaxed by the fire and ended the day with worship.

God had blessed us all day! But then that should not be a surprise - for He always blesses!

kim