Dear Prayer Partner,
Praise the Lord
1) We asked prayer last time for Nancy and her family. Nancy made a commitment to follow Jesus as her Savior this week. Leah and Abbey had a chance to go to their home in the tea fields and meet Nancy's mom and speak with her and pray with her. They still might lose their home, but they have not been pushed out yet.
2) September was our anniversary with Ross. He has now been living with us for 2 whole years. What a blessing he has been.
3) THANK YOU for praying ! ! !
The Borana People: Pastoralist Nomads
The traditional Borana still travel from place to place with their cattle, camels, and goats. They use the camels as pack animals; they do not ride them. They move 3 to 4 times per year. When it is time to move they pack up everything they own and put it on the back of their camel and go in search of grass and water. www.byhisgrace.cc/flemingfamily/nomads.html
How is life in Kenya different from America?
We buy fresh milk from a local farmer and we have to pasteurize it ourselves before we can use it. "Store Bought Milk" is available, but it is about $3.50 a gallon. Our "farm fresh" milk is about $1.70 a gallon. The photos below are of Alan and Ross on their way to pick up our milk. Note the overloaded truck on the road in the first picture. It is literally piled higher on top than the height of the vehicle itself. This is VERY common in Kenya. Ross is carrying our milk jug. We have a standing order for milk. We take our empty jug to a local shop. When we arrive our milk is there waiting for us. We take the full jug and leave the empty jug for the next time.
Prayer Requests
1) We are still waiting for our work permit. Please keep praying it will be approved.
2) We have been unable to resume our Borana Language Study. We ask that you pray diligently that God will remove all the obstacles that have kept us from being able to resume.
3) Continue to pray for new believers, Steven, Joseph and Nancy.
4) We ask that you will pray that our financial support will reach an average of $2100 per month. This is the amount that North Carolina requires us to make per month in order for us to resume the adoption.
5) We greatly appreciate your Prayer Support. Please pray about whether or not God is leading you to become one of our financial supporters. No amount is too small.
Your Servants,
Alan, Leah, Abbey, Connor and Ross Fleming
To DONATE to our ministry with the Borana People go herehttp://www.byhisgrace.cc/flemingfamily/donations.html
NEW BLOG FOR OUR PRAYER REQUESTShttp://www.byhisgrace.cc/flemingfamily/prayer.html
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Newsletter Sept 12, 2008
Dear Prayer Partner,
Work Permit-We went earlier this week to check on the status of our work permit. We were told it had not been processed and that we should come back next month.
Web Site-Have you ever gone to the sink to get water and there was no water. You were probably very frustrated. Imagine having to walk 2 to 10 miles to get your water and then having to carry it back home. Or imagine dipping your drinking water from a muddy water hole. Please check out the "Desperate for Water" page. www.byhisgrace.cc/flemingfamily/water.html
Our Current Ministry-While we are waiting for our work permit to be approved we are active in a church near where we live. Alan and Abbey have been involved with the worship team for this church. We had a meeting at our house this week and some unexpected things happened. Check out this week's story at www.byhisgrace.cc/flemingfamily/stories.html
A Family in Need-Nancy is a 16 year old girl who goes to church with us. Her mother has recently lost her job picking tea leaves, due to illness. She has been told to vacate company housing. Sometimes this family goes to bed without having eaten that day. Nancy attends our church, but she and her family are not saved. Please pray for God's provision for their housing, food and their salvation.
THANK YOU for your Prayer Support-Your prayers are the most important support we receive.
Financial Support-We also need financial support in order to provide the basic needs of our family and also for our ministry. Please pray about whether or not God is asking you to financially support our ministry to the Borana people. You can find information about what our needs are at http://www.byhisgrace.cc/flemingfamily/donations.html
Answers to Recent Prayer Requests
1) Praise the Lord we are all finally well after battling a very bad virus for 5 straight weeks.
2) Praise the Lord for the salvation of Steven and his friend.
Prayer Requests
1) That our work permit will be approved before November 1, 2008.
2) Pray for Nancy and her family, for their needs and for their salvation.
3) That we will be able to resume our Borana language study soon.
4) That we will have the financial support needed to resume the adoption and our ministry.
5) That we will be able to find another place to live before our friend returns from the U.S.A.
Newsletter August 30 2008
Dear Prayer Partner,
Work Permit-We are still waiting for our work permit to be approved. We will go and check on the status of the permit this week, just to make sure that there are not any papers that they want that were not included with our application.
Web Site-Since our last newsletter we have added lots of NEW information and photos about the Borana people. Find out about the famous "Singing Wells" in Borana land by clicking on this link.
Language Study-The man who was teaching us last year, Boru, was working with another student and then had some responsibilities with his church that have not permitted us to take up the language lessons again. In addition, we as a family have been battling a very bad virus for about 3 weeks. Hopefully we will soon be well and will be able to work out a schedule with Boru that will be conducive to us and to him.
Our Support-In order to live here and have an effective ministry we need to be able to provide the basic necessities for our family. This includes food, housing, utilities, transportation etc. These basic necessities are provided by individuals and churches who feel led by God to make a tax deductible donation to our ministry among the Borana. Please pray about whether or not God is leading you to do that.
Our Housing-We are currently living in a house that is borrowed from a friend who is on furlough in the U.S.A. That friend will return to Kenya sometime between October and March. Upon his return we will need to have alternate housing lined up.
Prayer Requests
1) That our work permit will be approved.
2) That we will be able to work out a schedule with Boru to resume Borana language study.
3) That the whole family will get over this virus that is going around.
4) That we will have the financial support needed to resume the adoption and our ministry.
5) That we will be able to find another place to live before our friend returns from the U.S.A.
Newsletter August 17 2008
Dear Prayer Partner,
Major Transitions-We resigned our position with a large mission agency last July. At that time, we felt we needed to find a mission agency that was better suited for the kind of work we feel called to do here in Kenya. We thought that we would complete the adoption quickly and return to the U.S.A to accomplish this task. We do not believe it is God's will for us to return without Ross. So, we first need to complete his adoption.
Carolina Adoption Agency recently told us that we will not be allowed to bring Ross back to the U.S.A. until we find employment. The Kenyan Government will not proceed with the adoption until we have approval from that agency to return with Ross. So we began to realize that it was not God's will for us the return to the U.S.A. to find employment. We believe God's answer is for us to become "independent missionaries."
Independent Missionaries are not employed by a mission organization. They are directly supported by churches and individuals. One of the advantages that we will have in being independent missionaries is that we will have a closer working relationship with the churches and individuals who are partnering with us. Subsequently, those churches and individuals have the opportunity to have more input into our ministry. This is the kind of relationship that Paul had with the churches that supported him when he went on his missionary journeys. This is the direction that we feel God is leading us.
Come Alongside Ministries is a non-profit organization based in the U.S.A. They come along side missionaries to facilitate the work God has called them to do. We have joined this organization. Anyone, who is led by God to be a part of our support base, will be able to make tax-deductible donations to our ministry among the Borana People through CAM.
Evangelical Victory Church is a Kenyan based church. When we resigned from our previous position we also had to forfeit our work permit. So for the past year we have been here on a "visitors" status and therefore not permitted to do any "missionary work." E.V.Church has agreed to work with us. This will enable us to get a missionary work permit. Therefore we will be able to remain in Kenya and continue the work God has called us to do. We have applied for this work permit with the Kenya Government and are awaiting its approval.
Web Site-We have put together a web site to help you as our prayer partner to know and understand what we are doing. It explains 1) our ministry and vision of the work among the nomadic Borana, 2) The plight of the Borana people, 3) Information about our family and our own circumstances and 4) How you as a prayer partner can be involved. You can follow this link to view our web site. www.byhisgrace.cc/flemingfamily/
THANK YOU FOR PRAYING.
Alan, Leah, Abbey, Connor and Ross Fleming
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