July 2007

Dear Family & Friends,

Greetings from southern California! We are now nearing the end of our 4-month home assignment. We’ve been staying in a furnished apartment owned by Providence Mission Homes in Pasadena – the same place we lived ruing our past two home assignments. It has been wonderful to spend time with our parents and sisters and their families here in the Los Angeles area.

The Furlough Whirl

As always, we’ve had a very busy time here in the US. During May and June, Karen finished up the homeschooling year with Valerie and Matt. We also traveled to central California, Arizona, Texas and Michigan to visit supporting churches and report on our work in Congo during the past four years. It was great to see some of our extended family during these trips as well. The highlight of this month was Katie’s arrival from Africa on July 8 after she finished up her school year at Rift Valley Academy. We also enjoyed the GF Family Bible Conference, a Women of the Harvest retreat for Karen, and a special trip to San Diego to celebrate Fred’s parents upcoming 50th anniversary. Our August plans include a family reunion in northern California, doctor and dentist appointments, a few college campus tours with Katie, and a whole lot of shopping and packing.

A New Student in the Family

Over the past several years, Fred has been sensing God’s leading to spend more time working in the areas of evangelism, strengthening churches, and training lay pastors. In order to be better equipped for these kinds of ministries, Fred recently applied and was accepted to Fuller Seminary’s School of Intercultural Studies here in Pasadena, where he will be working toward a master’s degree. He is taking his first course now through Fuller’s distance-education program and hopes to finish it before we leave. He plans to attend Fuller as a full-time student during our next home assignment (2009-10) and may attempt a distance course of two during our next two years in Congo.

Help is On The Way!

In a prayer letter last fall we mentioned the need for help with construction work in Kipaka. A young man named Chad Gross from Wattsburg, Pennsylvania has volunteered to meet that need! Chad is 18 years old and a recent high school graduate. Homeschooled all his life, he has gained a good deal of experience in construction and maintenance helping his dad and grandpa. Lord willing, Chad will be joining our family in Nairobi at the end of August and then continuing on with us to Kipaka. He will be living in the small guesthouse next door to our house which Karen’s dad helped complete last fall. This will be Chad’s first experience away from home and in a foreign culture. Please pray for him as he learns Swahili and adjusts to life in Congo.

Kipaka Muslim Bible Class

In closing we want to share some really good news from Kipaka. In April, during our final weeks before home assignment, Fred had many in-depth discussions about Jesus and the way of salvation with the Muslim men in his weekly Bible class. Most of the men continued to struggle with the death of Jesus, but right before we left, one of the men, Hadji Sefu, trusted Him as Savior. Hadji bought a Bible and Fred left him a copy of his seminar book Salvation: God’s Great Work. We thank God for His work in Hadji’s heart in response to many prayers. Please continue to pray now for Hadji’s growth, integration into the church, and witness to his unsaved wives and family members.

With love and thanks for your help and encouragement,
Fred, Karen, Katie, Valerie & Matt