Dear friends,

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who has loved us with an everlasting love. Thoughts of Christ's love have challenged us of late, especially what the apostle Peter records in 1 Peter 2:21.

"For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps 'who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth', Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return, when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed."

We are glad to take this opportunity to bring you up-to-date with our situation and how the Lord has been working.

In the church, along with other ministries, I am preaching through the book of Jonah on Sunday mornings while David is leading studies in the book of Acts in the Adult Sunday school. The numbers have tended to remain about the same with approximately sixty gathering every Lord's Day. Our church members, Julius and Millicent, recently had a baby boy called Asa. Elvis and Helen too had a baby boy last week called Otieno. These are certainly the Lord's blessings among us. Please pray for these brethren that they may bring up these newborns and the other older ones in the ways of the Lord. Helen, after struggling without meaningful employment within Eldoret, did secure a teaching job under the government programme over 200Km away! A number of weeks ago we were privileged to have Peter S. from N. Ireland, who spent two weeks with us in the church and participated very profitably in the ministry.

Last month we failed to carry out two baptisms as Peter and Alphonse were unable to be present due to both illness and work. It was our joy today to witness Peter's baptism and he subsequently joined the rest of the church in celebrating the Lord's Supper. Peter is a plumber by trade but jobs are hard to come by and so the challenges are not a few. Lydia, his fiancée, is not yet a member but we hope that with the step Peter has taken, she may soon approach us about membership. Pray for Peter's spiritual maturity. Alphonse has had to be away again in the village to deal with his wider family issues.

We recently sent our church registration application with the government. There are advantages of being officially registered with the Societies Act under which churches fall. But the process is long and very uncertain. We ask you to pray for us on this matter.

Our last ReBMiK meeting was on 24th May. It was a profitable time of prayer and fellowship. We actually devote the bulk of our time in prayer. There is a growing interest with other like-minded churches seeking to join. This association fellowship is valuable since geographically we are far apart and the challenges are numerous.

What a joy it has been for us to receive Tim back both in the family and the church! He arrived on 26th May. The same Tim but different in many ways. He hasn't had an hair cut for ten months explaining that it helped him keep warm! He is more mature and confident. His last term at college has been painfully busy. The students describe International Baccalaureate (IB) as “a killer programme” due to loads of work. Tim has had to travel to Nairobi for some data regarding one of his research papers.

I (Naphtally) am struggling with my assignments both in NT Greek, Historical Studies (two book [580 pages] reviews and readings [926 pages]) and Systematic Theology (a critical assessment of a book [300 pages of fine print], an extended essay [20 pages long]) with deadlines of 18th and 25th June, followed by end-term exams on the same 25th June; all along side regular ministry! Working daily till 2.00am is the norm. Who is sufficient for these things? I am certainly not, so I kindly ask for your prayers.

Yours in Christ,

Naphtally & Helida O. family