Sticky Fingers

It started out as a normal day, I was sitting eating lunch with Eunice when out of the corner of my eye I saw something move in the kitchen.  I at first thought it was a cat, but as we turned to see what had entered through the back door, there it was............a monkey.
Yes a monkey had not only walked into our house, but was sitting there quite content on the countertop eating my bananas. After yelling at it and chasing it back outside it sat at the top of the back fence finishing the banana it had stolen.  When I went back in the kitchen I saw the bunch of bananas left and there were holes in them where his fingers grabbed the banana.  So of course I was not going to eat them, so I fed the rest to it so the bananas at least would not be wasted.
Lesson learned that even though there is an electric fence around the compound when the power goes out frequently this allows for all sorts of animals to make themselves at home in my backyard and apparently in my kitchen. (That is Eunice's voice in the Video)    Hope this made you smile.                           Blessings~   Jamie
My Unexpected Lunch Guest

Nairobi Updates from Natasha!

Dear friends and family,

We have been back to our “normal”, if you can use this word on a mission field, routineJ. We have four Women’s Bible studies a week; we also enjoy fellowship and tea. Jamie stated to teach the book of Exodus…so now we are studying Genesis, Exodus, Romans and Philippians…Please pray that the ladies will grow in their relationship with Jesus and also, they would be open to ask questions, to share their struggles so we can pray for them.

We started another semester in our Bible College. We have probably 25 students and it’s great to see them cleaning the church during a dayJ I also was very encouraged by a guy who came from Mombasa, from the church where we had a conference, and the Lord provided for him to be in the Bible College!!! Pretty amazing how God works!!!

In this update, I want you to show a few pictures of the new guest house…We moved at the end of July but we had two teams after that, so sorry for the delay…We are living very close to the Nairobi National Park, so close, that you can see animals from your windowJ. We have our own compound inside another compound. It’s a house with four bedrooms, a BIG living room and five bathrooms. For those who was here, we fixed the pump and now I don't have to take care of airlocks... The Lord also blessed us with a bigger kitchen!!! We also have a little back yard…Please pray for our neighbors, that we would build relationships with them and also have an opportunity to share the love of Christ!!!

 

May the Lord bless you,

Agape,

Natasha

Rabuna Fi Nairobi-Women of the Bible

This week has been a great week for the Rabuna Fi ministry here in Nairobi. I have been so blessed to be able to serve and teach the ladies the book of Exodus. As I was teaching the beginning chapters of Exodus we saw how God used women to bring about the plan of Israel’s redemption. As a group we talked about how the women (midwives, Joachebed, Pharaoh’s daughter, and Miriam) all played some kind of role in the beginning of Mose’s life. The roles they played and the way God used them allowed for Moses to live and grow up into a man that God would then use to deliver Israel from slavery.

As we talked about how it is not the vessel, but the power of God that allows for us to be used mightily I encouraged them to look in the Bible for other women God used. This season of Rabuna Fi we had a church that donated necklaces, bibles, women’s devotionals, and bible bookmarks to us. So we are encouraging the women to learn verses and study the bible and give points for those who memorize their verses or answer an assignment from the Bible. That week offer them a chance to earn point if they could find a woman in the Bible that was used by God and tell me how they were used, and how their story encourages them or what they learned from that woman of God.

I did not know how many women of the study would actually complete the assignment or if they would even be interested in it. I told them that all the Rabuna Fi Women’s teachers would be available to sit and read to them a story or help them study if they wanted it. Some women came up to me for help in finding a particular woman of the Bible, or just to help them read the Bible. When last week arrived I did not know what to expect, or how many would be involved but I was surprised to see that a third of the class answered it. Not only had they found a woman, but many of them came to me and shared personal struggles they were having and how that woman of the Bible encouraged them. It was great to see these women open up and have the opportunity to not only get to know them, but see how God is speaking to them.

The huge blessing to me was that there was one woman who came to me and told me the woman of the Bible that related to her, and then this week gave me another one. When I was talking to her and hearing her insight into what God had shown her while she studied that woman I was so impressed. Then when I told her I appreciated her answer, but I was only giving point the first week and she already earned them she paused for a second. I could she was hoping for points, but then she asked me if she could talk with me each week about a different woman of the Bible. She asked if we could discuss each week a way God ministered to her through the story of a woman of the Bible!!!! How amazing is our God!! A simple one-time assignment touched her so much that she wanted to continue to study the Word if I would just take the time to talk with her about what she learned and also study with her! I was so blown away, at this response and it encouraged me so much since, here God uses these women still to touch us and help us learn more about His great love and character. God used these women of the past to touch the women of the Rabuna Fi ministry. And He is using this one assignment to start a relationship and discipleship opportunity for my sister and I here!

Please continue to pray for me as I study Exodus and teach these ladies. Pray that God would just speak through all of us leaders and use us as vessels for His love. Already He is blessing me so much through the relationships I am forming with each lady here.

Thank you for your prayers!

In Him, Jamie McKinley