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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 .
8/17/2019 Perry Eric Melodie 1999 Kenya
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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