Praises and Prayers

We arrived safely home to Little Rock. It is with mixed emotions that we have left Kenya for the present time. We are saddened by the violence that is sweeping Kenya and the relationships that we had to leave. We are grateful that our family is safe and our children can resume school. Our community has embraced us as we have returned much sooner than we had planned.

We hope to continue to share with you our experiences in Kenya. God brought into our lives children and people we will be sharing with you over the next months on our blog. We will be sharing prayer requests and updates from those whose lives are being dramatically affected by events that are unfolding in Kenya. We will be sharing with you from our hearts.. about our experiences, our observations and how God worked in and around us.

Many ask what will you do next? Our answer is that we are seeking God's direction with our board and others who join us in a passion to care for widows and orphans. We will remain in Little Rock for our children to finish this school year. We have met with our board several times and shared how God has accomplished more than we ever imagined through our work collectively as a team. We humbly anticipate that God will increase His reach into the world through Go Near Ministry in the future. Widows and orphans are of great value to our loving Father. Please pray for us and our board as we seek His direction.

Praises and Prayer
We have so much to be grateful for as we reflect back over this past year. Our God demonstrated to us that HE IS GOOD and exceeds our expectations. After answering God's call to GO to africa, we loved being able to share with others in many settings about God's heart for orphans. We were amazed and humbled at the way He moved in others hearts to support us financially and in prayer. We were able to leave our earthly possessions behind in the hands of friends who sold everything for our support. We are profoundly grateful that God expanded our reach through Go Near Ministry to align with a Kenyan church(Karura Chapel) and three orphan ministries: The Nest, Uzamatele, and Living Testimony. He also provided wonderful relationships and experiences for our children with orphans and in their school.

Our family experienced first hand, GOD'S PROTECTION. He kept us safe at every close call. (We had our share of these). He convinced us how closely HE DIRECTS OUR STEPS for His plan and glory. As we have sought God for His directives in the decisions that filled our days then and now, HE is FAITHFUL to convince us He is concerned with every detail of our lives. HE ANSWERS PRAYERS. Our family saw Him answer so many of our prayers in the challenges of this year. We saw Him move others to pray for us and the children in Africa. God allowed us to share our experiences with others through our blog. We experienced support from our friends in the States that still leaves us humbly astonished. He provided a peace and persistance that can only come from Him and prayers of others. It was an incredible experience for our family to BELIEVE GOD and GO. It was not our plan to return home so early but even now God continues to confirm His hand in the timing of our evacuation. We are seeking God's directives with our Go Near Board: Nick Adams, BIll ODonnell, Lee Smith, David Watson, Flip Whitner and Terrance Zeurlein and their wives. God's reach into Kenya was accomplished by these foundational people locking arms with us. Please pray for us as we seek God's next steps for our family and the ministry. Pray for us as we transition into a rental home in Roland Feb. We are grateful for every provision in our lives. God has convinced us HE IS GOOD.

Grateful to God for YOU,
Lewis and Melody Taylor
Lowell, Anna, Claire and John

"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." --James 1:27 NASB