A WONDERFUL FRUSTRATION... @ 06 Dec 2009

After setting posts in the village of Nangolipus, I have tried, unsucessfully, to buy the timbers (boards) we will need to build the church building. Something has happened in the government. They are cracking down on illegal logging and it has resulted in a drastic shortage of materials. Nothing is reaching Lodwar...nothing! As I write this post, I have 3 guests (who are hopefully right now tucked into their beds at a guest house in Nairobi) flying tomorrow to Turkana. 2 of them are builders...and are supposed to help build the building that we can not buy supplies to do! URG!! I have to admit, that URG! was meant as humor. I am not the least bit frustrated by this. I look at it this way...God knows the guests are here. If He wants them to help build, He will provide a way for materials to reach Turkana. If not, then there must be something else we are to do. That is where the wonder and joy comes into play. I like to plan things out...but I LOVE it when God changes those plans. It helps me to remember 2 things: I am trying to do His work, therefore the plan is His to change. Also, for Him to change them...means He sees, is involved, and is shaping the future of Turkana Missions! I really love that last part! Sometimes, it seems I am all alone here. But nothing could be farther from the truth. I live here with God! He is my family (when my family is so far away), He is my friend (when there does not seem to anyone who understands me), and He is my Savior! Please pray for this group. Lord willing (and the creek does not rise...it has 2 different times before and I could not reach the airport in Loki (215kms from Lodwar) to collect my guests...who were forced to spend a night by themselves in Turkana!), I will reach them tomorrow. Please also pray for Pastor Peter's little boy, Eddie. He is about a month old now and things are not right with him. His eyes are not focussing and he seems to have little control over them. Both of legs turn at the knee, and again at the ankle. His feet are almost facing backwards. I carried the entire family today to Lodwar (after church). They hope to see a doctor tomorrow and to begin to build a plan (if possible) to repair the deformity in his lower limbs. I feel a great need to help...but am unsure right now as to how to proceed. If you read this and might want to help cover some medical costs (right now I do not know what they would be), please let me know. It will help me to know what I can offer to Peter and his family as options. Either way, please pray for little Eddie. He has a very long road ahead of him. But that takes me back to the wonder and joy of being in a place where our only real option is simple faith and trust in God! Peter's family has a beautiful peace about them...that can only come from God. Also, please pray for my very good friend George Pennell in Wiggins, MS. He is having surgery on 11 December. You can read the details he wrote in the comments section of my last post. I know he and his family covet all our prayers! Much love, Ekiru