The new plan is roughly the same as the old plan

and this is very comforting to me.

 

I am no longer leading the 2007/2008 FYM Kenya team, as they have been placed in Swaziland.

Kenya is still unsafe as the political parties are continuing to struggle for power and protests are being held/fought off by the police.

The team being relocated is a result of Kenyan unrest.

I will not be leading this team in Swaziland.

 

This is a relief for me, as I would be going in half way to a team I don't know in a country I've never been,

and so...

I am in waiting.

 

For this I must wait a little longer.

As soon as peace is restored and travel advisories are lifted I plan to return there.

 

I am continuing to raise support for one.

I have still not met my goal for support and need to reach it before I leave.

I will also be looking for ways to make an income which I have so far been blessed with.

 

Please continue to pray for this ministry

and for Kenya in the coming days of political negotiations

I've been getting a lot of questions lately about what is going on

with Kenya and missions work and the classic line,

"I thought you were gone already."

 

Well, I'm not gone yet, much to my dismay,

and I don't have a lot of answers to the questions that people are posing.

 

But I do have some information that, although not the kind of information I would want to have to give you, it is something...

 

According to the government of Canada Foreign affairs travel advisory site,

Kenya is listed as "avoid all non-essential travel."

The violence has calmed down a bit with a flare up taking place last week

but the aftermath of the unrest as well as the stubborn and power hungry attitudes of the two parties duking it out,

Kenya is still a potentially dangerous place to be.

I have no idea when this will end, only time will tell.

Prayers are still needed; for people's safety, the president and opposition party leader and for peace to be retored.

 

AIM will not be sending any staff or teams to Kenya while it is still undergoing political and ethnic struggles.

 

Right now I feel very much in limbo.

My flight to Kenya was scheduled for today (Friday Jan 11) but obvioulsy had to be cancelled.

I was able to cancel my flight free of charge and though that would be the most financially sound option for me at the point

(In case I needed a ticket for a different location for instance)

 

I want to make it very clear that just because things have been delayed or possibly even re-routed,

I will continue to follow the plans that the Lord has set for me and I will pursue this missionary life until I am led to do otherwise.

 

AIM has re-routed the FYM Kenya team (the team that I was raising support to be ready to lead in a week) to Swaziland.

There may be a smaller team than planned, as people feel called to Kenya and have/will decide to wait out the Violence so that they can head over.

There are also some that may choose to go to Swazi to spend the remaining 5 months of their mission.

At the moment I really don't have any idea what I'm doing.

Though I only heard about this 2 days ago, I am not entirely sure if the Lord is leading me in that direction.

I am continuing to pursue this in prayer and seek God's will for my life in this new and very fresh new plan...

 

so as you can see, I have very few answers.

It has been a very difficult month with ups and downs involving friends, family,

a country I love and long to get back to and my passing future.

I find myself losing sleep over the fact that I am completely unsure of when I am leaving

and how much time I am able to commit here to work and friends and family.

At the same time I am reminded of a verse in James that I was encouraged with by a dear friend

 

 

for direction and discernment regarding what I am supposed to do during this time of waiting

for the people of Kenya to seek peace before violence

for food to become available to the hundreds of thousands that are homeless and hungry

My friend Denise has written some excellent updates as she is in contact with some Kiberans that we work with.

Please visit her blog for updates on what God is doing straight from the mouths of those caught in the middle.

http://deniseroberts.myadventures.org/