Dear Saints and Faithful in Christ Jesus,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are continually amazed at the Lord's goodness to us in Christ. Many are our blessings. We have been considering those spiritual blessings which Paul wrote about in chapter one of Ephesians. Paul speaks of our being chosen before the foundation of the world, adoption as sons, acceptance in the beloved, redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, wisdom and knowledge, inheritance and being sealed with the Holy Spirit and so on and so on. How good it is to be a Christian! It is the one thing which will never change in this fast changing world.

July went by quickly indeed and August will not be any slower with so much to be done. We have enjoyed our time together as a family with Tim being at home for his summer holidays. Though he had so many assignments to do involving a lot of research, yet he did get moments to visit some of his friends both around Eldoret and in Nairobi. He was, however, not able to join his college mates for a project in Mombasa as he had hoped.
We escorted him to Nairobi last week and it was in good time for his flight. He arrived at Heathrow Airport, took a bus to South Wales and arrived back in Bridgend safely. He is visiting Les & Ann B.'s church in Worcester before settling back to college. We have appreciated your prayers and words of encouragement. Kindly continue to remember him in your prayers as this is his final year at Atlantic College after which he will undergo the rigorous task of hunting for a university.

We continue to encounter many changes in our congregation. Another more member leaves Eldoret for the village tomorrow due to economic hardship. Another family is also contemplating the same. Well, we must not give in to discouragement as the Lord who is unchangingly faithful is the one who has brought us this far and will continue to build His church. Therefore, we plead with you to faithfully bring us before the throne of grace at this hour of need.

Among other teaching ministries going on in the church, David has resumed his preaching in the Gospel of Mark. I am leading an adult bible study on the book of Ephesians as hinted above. To me, this is a special book to me because this is the book the Lord initially used to bring me to an appreciation of the Doctrines of Grace.

One of our Government ministers described the passing of the new constitution as 'Kenyans witnessing the birth of a bouncing baby but one who had over stayed in the mothers womb, with the mother going through twenty plus years of labour pains.' This was to capture the long struggle involving street protests, imprisonments, detentions without trial, police brutality and corruption, countless tortures, maiming and many deaths. Of the 70% percent of the registered voters, over 60% said “YES” to the draft constitution. It is a constitution far from perfect as clearly evidenced by the over 30% who said “NO”, but it certainly brings in many changes and new opportunities. The whole process of implementation is as tricky as the move to the referendum. Therefore, please continue to pray for our country and especially that there will be fairness and a spirit of give and take. Please pray particularly that the politics of the day will not eclipse the church's clear mandate of gospel preaching; this is a real danger.

On the day of our referendum, a friend of ours wrote and encouraged us. He said in part: Today I am praying for Kenya as you go to the polls to vote on the referendum to your Constitution. May the outcome promote the cause of justice and mercy, for in these the Lord delights. But may it especially promote the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ!

I am set to begin my second term of studies tomorrow. This will run until the beginning of September. It is a very busy programme along side my other duties in the church and family. However, it is all for a worthy cause and so I am encouraged to press on.

Helida is at the tail end of an otherwise very strong flu and cough while Liz is full of life and enjoys every moment of her school holiday with her friends in the neighbourhood. Queenvel is learning many things in her new workplace. Thank you for continually praying for us.

Yours in Christ,
Naphtally & Helida O.