8/17/2019 Perry Eric Melodie 1999 Kenya

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/ t ^ Z .

/ 0 3 9 - y 4 p A 99

Eric

and Melodie Perry

M i n i s t r y w i t h

t h e

Narok

Church

i t e r a c y

Work

Among h e Maasai T r i b e

of

Kenya

3285

Dahlia

Lane

Eugene,OR

7404

Phone:541-688-2752

E - m a i l : Emelperry@maf.org

E r i c , Megan,

and Melodie Perry

TH

P RRYPOST

CMF NTERNATIONAL rayer A e w j / e f f e r

•

FEBRUARY 1999

Time

and

Distance

We e f t N a i r o b i on a warm December e v e n i n g . The

only t h i n g approaching r a i n was our t e a r s as we

s a i d

goodbye

l o our

teammates.

f t e r 24 hours of

t r a v e l , we a r r i v e d i n S e a t t le t o a c o l d , r a i n y

a f t e r n o o n .

Kenya i s

d e f i n i t e l y

s e a s o n s

and

m i l e s

away -

seemingly

more t h a n t h e

l a s t time we

t r a v e l e d

home n furlough

i n

1996.

There a r e a

couple reasons for the increased distance, we

believe.

F i r s t ,

a i r l i n e s

o f f e r

l i t t l e

f o r

a

t w o - y e a r - o l d t o

d o .

Megan

an concentrate on what she

terms

ABCs

i . e . , drawing and s c r i b b l i n g )

f o r

a b o u t t e n m i n u t e s

max.

We

ere in the

a i r for nineteen

ho urs While

we raced

ourselves for

hours

of

iscontentment

t o d d l e r - s t y l e , Megan a c t u a l l y

t r a v e l e d

q u i t e

w e l l .

She s l e p t a t t h e t i m e s we

had hoped

s h e woul d, and

was

q u i t e

c o n t e n t w i t h

g e t t i n g

up

t o walk

around

p e r i o d i c a l l y . The a i r p o r t i n Amsterdam a l s o has a

playroom f o r c h i l d r e n , c o m p l e t e w i t h v i d e o games,

duplos, e g o s ,

rocking

h o r s e s , and a s l i d e .

Mom

nd

Dad were

t h e problem t h e r e a s

we

t a g - t e a m e d t o

c a t c h

a few winks i n t h e a i r p o r t l o b b y . Worrying

over

what

might

happen t o o k more energy t h a n

d e a l i n g

w i t h what a c t u a l l y d i d h a p p e n .

The second r e a s o n Kenya

now

seems

so

f a r away

i n v o l v e s t h e n a t u re

of

our

goodbyes.

As we

watched b o t h t h e Maasai l i t e r a c y program and t h e

Narok

Church of

h r i s t m a t u r e ,

we egan t o r e a l i z e

t h a t our work

was drawing t o

a

c l o s e .

Th e o t h e r

work t h a t

CMP

a s

i n

Kenya d i f f e r e d

s i g n i f i c a n t l y

enough

from

what

we were doing

t h a t we e l t i t was

a

good

t i m e

t o r e e v a l u a t e

o u r

d i r e c t i o n i n m i n i s t r y .

A f t e r

a b o u t

a y e a r

of

e e k i n g

c o u n s e l , p r a y e r , and

hours

of

discussions with

teammates,

r i e n d s ,

and

e a c h

o t h e r ,

we have d e c i d e d n o t t o retum t o Kenya.

Our goodbyes

t o

some of our r i e n d s t h e r e

may

w e l l be

our a s t

u n t i l we meet

one a n o t h e r

a g a i n i n

Glory.

Saying

goodbye t o friends/teammates: Woods

nd

r u i t t s .

Time

and

d i s t a n c e have made

Kenya more

remote

t h a n

we

ould

have imagined even

t h r e e

months

ago. But w h i l e our goodbyes were s a d , t h e y h e l d

t h e hope

t h a t God Himself

would

u p h o l d

t h e p e o p l e

and ministries

that

we have

worked

with o v e r

t he

p a s t four t o

e i g h t

y e a r s .

Unraveling a ystery

We

ave

r e c e i v e d

l e t t e r s from many of you

s a y i n g

t h a t

you were

i n

prayer over our u t u r e . We

hank

you f o r

your

a i t h f u l n e s s and your concern.

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Making d e c i s i o n s .

As

we

ace our u t u r e , I am reminded of Sherlock

Holmes n d u c t i v e

s t r a t e g y

f o r

i n v e s t i g a t i o n .

Holmes

once

e x p l a i n e d

t o Watson t h a t

t h e

p r o c e s s

of

n r a v e l i n g

a mystery b e g i n s

by

d e c i d i n g

what

c o u l d not have p o s s i b l y happened. f t e r t h a t , a l l

t h a t remains a r e t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s .

We

ave t a k e n

t h e

f i

rst

s t e p i n

u n r a v e l i n g

ou r

f u t u r e . We

e e l an

e x t r a o r d i n a r y

peace

about our

d e c i s i o n t o

l e a v e Kenya. We

t i l l c r y a t

our

s l i d e

s how

and t h i n k of a f ew t h i n g s we

ish

we ould

have done, but we r i e v e as ones

w i t h

hope.

The

next

f e w

s t e p s

i n our immediate

f u t u r e

s e e m

v e r y c o n c r e t e . F i r s t , w e n t e n d

t o

f u r l o u g h u n t i l

June of h i s y e a r .

We

ave g r e a t new s

to share with

our s u p p o r t e r s , and

we

ook forward t o

v i s i t i n g

t h e

20

l u s

congregations

t h a t

have

supported

us

over

t h e y e a r s ; c o n s e q u e n t l y , we ave

few

f r e e

Sundays

between now and

June.We lso

need t h e

time

to

r e s t , p r a y , and s e t t l e

i n t o

t h e l i f e

of

a family of our

— which

leads

me o our second concrete

s t e p .

W e a h t i c i p a t e

t h e

a r r i v a l

of our newest

amily

member, a

boy,

around t h e

f i r s t

week

of

March.

Dad

i s

e s p e c i a l l y e x c i t e d

because

h i s b i r th d a y

i s

March

5, only

two

days o f f

of h e due d a t e , March

3 . We ave

a name p i c k e d

o u t ,

b u t

o c c a s i o n a l l y

t o s s

around

a l t e r n a t i v e s . When i t t l e Mr.

erry makes

h i s

appearance,we

i l l

make

t h e

d e t a i l s

a v a i l a b l e

as

soon

asw

an

Conce rning our u t u r e v o c a t i o n , weknow h i s

much.

The

p a s t y e a r h a s b e e n a t i m e of f f i r m a t i o n

a s

w e l l

a s s e a r c h i n g . The

p a s t o r a l

g i f t s

t h a t

E r i c

brought t o t h e Maasai team

and

Narok Church

were

r e c o g n i z e d over

and

o v e r . My

i f t s

i n t e a c h i n g

and

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n

were a l s o acknowledged.We

l s o

feel that i t i s time to

sink

our roots

into

one

community f o r a

long

p e r i o d

of

i m e . As

a

r e s u l t .

w e r e p r i m a r i l y s e e k i n g a

p a s t o r a t e ( e i t h e r

a s an

a s s o c i a t e

o r p r e a c h i n g

p a s t o r )

i n t h e

US,

u t a r e

a l s o i n v e s t i g a t i n g

o t h e r

i

e l d s w i t h i n

CMP n which

E r i c

may b e s t p l y h i s

s k i l l s a s

p a s t o r .

P l e a s e

c o n t i n u e

t o pray w i t h

us as w e

pray

through

d i f f e r e n t

m i n i s t r y o p t i o n s

as they

emerge.We

w i l l

be s u r e

t o u p d a t e you a s t h e p l a c e ,

p o s i t i o n ,

and

m o t i v e s u n f o l d c o n c e r n i n g our

u t u r e m i n i s t r y .

A Work

n

Progress

Goodbyes r e n o t f i n a l e s . They

a r e m e r e l y

t r a n s i t i o n s i n

a

work i n

p r o g r e s s .

One f

h e most

d i f f i c u l t

dilemmas f o r

a m i s s i o n a r y i s t o d e c i d e

when to lea v e

t he

work n

t he hands

of

he

nationals. The hurch

i s

n e v e r

s t a t i c .

There

s

always

something

t o be done, and t h e r e

i s

always

t h e t e m p t a t i o n

f o r

t h e

m i s s i o n a r y t o s t a y and do

t

There

i s

even

v a l u e i n him

or

e r s t a y i n g

t o

do

t

We r a y e r f u l l y determined t h a t our

time to work

w i t h t h e Narok Church and Maasai

i t e r a c y

program

had

drawn

t o

a

l o s e ; however,

h e

work goes on.

Please

pray

for

John

S a i t e t , the pastor of the

Narok

Ch ur c h of Christ, as h e

shepherds

the

congregation into a

new

ra in l i f e .

P r a y

a l s o for

L i l i a n S a i t e t , John s w i f e ,

as

she

helps

lead the

women f the

church, prays, and shares

v i s i o n

with

John for the church.

P r a y

a l s o

that

he r

pregnancy goes w e l l , and the new addition to the

S a i t e t household w i l l a r r i v e happy and h e a l t h y .

Friends and o-workers:

I

t o

r )

Mark

ankok,

i l i a n

S a i t e t ,

George Lemein,

Megan,

Enc,

Melodie,

Grace

a i t e t ,

John

Saitet.

P r a y

for Hesbon Govoga, hilip Lemein and

Mat t h e w Ngomo he elders of the Narok

Church,

s they prayerfully

make

ecisions

conce rning the church s i f e , v i s i t the

members

of

the

c hur ch,

and

hare

with

John n guiding

the church through the

next stage

of i f e .

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Pray for

teammate

Steve Limiero as

he

continues

to

work

with the Sunday School

teachers and other young leaders at

the

Narok

Church.

eople l i k e

Daniel

Ombati,

Maria

Naneu,

and Mu sa

Ombati a r e maturing

n t o t h e

key young

l e a d e r s

i n t h e c o n g r e g a t i o n .

Also,

pray

for

Steve

as

he

serves as

the temporary i a i s o n between

the

Narok

Church and

the

mission.

Fray

for i t e r a c y

teachers

su ch as Philip Kobai,

Mary

Nampaso, n d Naomi

Masankai

as they

continue

to

empower Christians to be

able

to

read the Word of God or

themselves.

Pray for

the Maasai

men

and women who

are

a i t h f u l l y

continuing

to

practice

h e i r reading and writing

s k i l l s in l o c a l c l a s s e s . Pray

for

teammates

Gary

and

Judy Woods

s they follow

up with l i t e r a c y

t e s t i n g i n several areas.

C o n t i n u i n g t h e

work:

Mary

Nampaso

-

l i t e r a c y teacherand

o-

worker

n

Christ.

 Now o him w h o s able o do

immeasurably

more

than

a l l

we

sk or imagine, acc ording

t o

h i s

p o wer

t h a t i s

at

work w i t h i n u s t o him

be

g l o r y i n t h e

church and n

Christ

Jesus througho ut l l

g e n e r a t i o n foe

ever dnd

ever men." p h e s i a n s

3 : 2 0 - 2 1

Join us as

we pray h i s prayer for

the

Narok Church and the chu rches

throughout

Maasailand as

God's

work continues in their

lives and the lives ofthose around them.

For

h e

Kingdom,

E r i c Melodic, and Megan Perry