Prayer newsletter

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Hearing from the Taylors this past week I am reminded how thankful I am to live with so many luxuries on a daily basis. The Taylors have experienced so many challenges since their move into their rent house all the while keeping a positive attitude, relating their home to camping out. Melody was happy they got a washing machine. She says she no longer has to worry about mixing colors with whites... all the clothes turn out brown. They have beds and they have gotten a couple pieces of furniture from other missionaries who moved.

I was excited to hear that the Taylors got their work permits because now they can get their remaining items. I was surprised to hear how much it cost to ship their boxes. I know they are all looking forward to having some of their things from home. Melody says it is amazing how you can get by with so little. Melody reminds me of their dependency on God and how God cares about every detail of our lives.

Melody said they live in a good part of Nairobi but would appreciate your continued prayers for safety. The month of December will tend to be more violent as various tribes try to seize more political power during the national elections.

If you would like to encourage the Taylor family and bring them some holiday cheer please consider a Christmas card. You can mail a card to their African address or mail it to me by December 15th and I will send it with Lowell (the eldest of the Taylor children who will visit with his family in Nairobi during Christmas break). Please send 5.5" x 8.5" envelopes or smaller.

My address is:
Linda O'Donnell
2606 Millbrook Road
Little Rock, AR 72227-3034

Taylor's Praises

1. Praise God for a home close to the children's school. It gives them more family time, more time for the kids to finish homework, and is less dangerous not having to commute so far.
2. Praise God for their work permit approvals. Yippee! (Now they'll need money to ship their boxes.)
3. Praise God they have plenty of water. They have a filter for making drinking water and hot water for showers.
4. Praise God for their good health. They jog on on the track at the children's school!
5. Praise God because Lowell gets to visit during Christmas break.
6. Praise God they have diverse neighbors: Hindu, Pakistani, Indian, and Kenyan. It is a great learning experience for learning the different cultures. The Taylor's prayer request is that they will have the opportunity to share Christ with them. We know they will be a daily example of Christ's love.
7. John was homesick... missing his dog back home. Praise God for the landlord sharing two dogs (Puppy and Guinness) for him to play with. The family is happy to have the extra protection as the dogs keep the monkeys in the trees and out of the yard...and house.
8. Praise God for orchestrating meaningful relationships with people who want to make a difference in the lives of orphans.

Taylor's Prayer Requests

1. Find a church home as the Taylors visit several Kenyan churches.
2. Pray for Lowell to finish his semester strong and for safe travel to-and-from Kenya during Christmas break.
3. Pray for men to mentor 5 teen boys Lewis got to know at Rafiki.
4. Pray that Rosslyn Academy will be successful in their Christmas project to raise funds and provide gifts for the orphans at "The Nest".
5. Pray for Melody to have clarity of how God will use her to mentor the young ladies at the Faith House. Also, pray for Melody helping develop a women's ministry for the ladies in Nairobi. Melody will co-lead with Chow Wangie, a Kenyan with Family Life.
6. Pray the Taylor children will find comfort with making new Christmas memories in a different culture.
7. Pray for Rafiki to transfer funds in their account to Go Near Ministry.
8. Pray for funds to be raised for shipment of boxes ($3,500).
9. Pray for funds to be raised for the summer furlough airfare ($20,000).
10. Pray for donations to be raised to sponsor two Mamas at The Nest ($123/month).
11. Pray for Lewis' trip to Kisumu to help a friend start a new orphan home.
12. Pray their interactions with Rafiki would be God honoring.
13. Pray for their continued safety and protection .
14. Pray for continued support for their family to remain in Kenya and to expand their outreach to even more ministries, orphans, and nationals.
15. Pray for communications with their supporters.

If you would like to send the Taylors a tax-deductible, financial Christmas gift you can do so by making your check payable to Go Near Ministry. Be sure to write "Taylors" in the memo line and address the envelope to:

Claire's school field trip up country

Here are photos of Claire's school field trip up country.
What a thrill !!!! Like none other field trip ever before.

Now faith is…

the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen. He 11:1

Our days are filled with awe and wonder...highest highs and lowest
lows I've ever known. Today I sit in awe at what God has just done.
Weighing heavy on me has been approval of our work permit. This
document keeps us in Kenya or sends us home. Today it was
approved...in the most unusual way. I have prayed and watched for a
friend in high places to use some influence to get this done for us.
Instead God provided a Kenyan maintenance man:-) My good friend just
walked me into the Dept. of Immigration and got it done in one days
time. I am just humbled by God's provision as He reminds us where our
strength comes from.

Now faith is…

the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen. He 11:1

She was worn down, loosing hope fast. Another hard day facing the
harsh boss who lorded authority over her…with a bible in hand.
Threats of being sent "back where you came from" loomed large. She
knew real poverty. She had lost everything. Widowed and alone, she
hoped this would be a place to start over. Today she was sure it was
time to go. But where? And how? She had nothing other than her
meager possessions held by one small closet. New friends had come and
given her strength. They helped her taste real love and it gave her
courage. Courage to stand against legalism. Strength to believe her
God will provide for her. As she prayed God opened another door of
hope. Today she is taking steps of faith into the unknown…with
conviction of things not seen. Our precious widowed friend is assured
of one thing! Her God is good and in control.

Adventure

Like many passages in my bible have come alive to lead us, one of my
favorite songs has taken on new meaning.

Saddle up your horses - by Stephen Curtis Chapman

Started out this morning in the usual way
Chasing thoughts inside my head of all I had to do today
Another time around the circle try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible and I read about me
Said I'd been a prisoner and God's grace had set me free
And somewhere between the pages it hit me like a lightning bolt
I saw a big frontier in front of me and I heard somebody say "let's go"!

CHORUS
Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure

Come on get ready for the ride of your life
Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind
And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored
This is what we were created for

(Chorus)

BRIDGE
We'll travel over, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams

Yeah... oh saddle up your horses... come on get ready to ride

Mel and I pray that each of you know the "Great Adventure" of God's
amazing grace today.

Happy Thanksgiving from Kenya!

We hope you are having wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We wanted to share with you a portion of what we are thankful for so far away. God has been so faithful to bring us to Africa. We love partnering with others who care for the vast number of orphans and widows around us. Leaving Rafiki has been difficult, but God has showed us favor as we venture out to remain here. He has led us to a home close to our children's school that has room for visitors (HINT) We have a tree outside our window with over 30 weaver bird nests and birds that chirp each morning, reminding us that our God who takes care of the birds will take care of us. We inherited two dogs that keep us safe and are great playmates for John. God has kept us safe in our travels and free from major illness. God has increased our children's capacity to adapt in a world full of challenges. Anna has had a terrific basketball season. She led the team to an undefeated season, 3 tournament wins and league champions. Claire and John played intramurals and are making new friends. We camped in a wildlife reserve where Melody narrowly escaped being trapped in the car with a baboon. We hosted Jami Jo Braner in our home and helped her finalize adoption for precious Gabby. We received our work permit that will allow us to begin shipping our items from home.We have been warmly welcomed and embraced by Kenyans and others living in this country. We will spend Thanksgiving with new friends. But at this time, we can't help but miss our special friends back home. We count you as a big blessing.

You have encouraged us as we departed for Kenya and continue as we remain to do God's work. We are grateful for our friendship. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

You are loved, Lewis and Melody Anna, Claire and John

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Adoption. . . from Jamie Jo and Gabby's Perspective

We have loved having Gabby and Jami Joe in our home this past week. We
have fallen in love with Gabby. She is an energetic little girl
brought to us from Rwanda. This past week we went to doctor
appointments and embassy interviews to finalize the adoption process.
Gabby will be introduced today to her new family in the States. We
will miss this little girl. Read more from Jami Jo.


This roller coaster has been a blessing in SO many ways! There are the obvious ways. . .the JOY—the sheer and utter joy of adding to our family and the JOY of our sweet baby Gabby. But I think the biggest blessing. . .the biggest surprise of this process. . .has been just understanding adoption. . .understanding God's heart as MY Father! He has adopted me and I am equal heir to His throne with Christ. . .His one and only Son. I knew that before, but now I KNOW it. . .I understand it. Now that I have my own adopted daughter and now that I am experiencing the deep LOVE I have for her, I know. I know that my love for her is equal to the love I have for my biological children and I know that I would do ANYTHING for her in the same way that I would do anything for my other three children. And God loves me like that (except in His PERFECT way)!! WOW! That thought puts me on the floor in awe of our Father!

If you have any questions about adoption or the adoption process or anything, I would love to help! My email is jamiejo@kanakuk.com and you can see my daughter's website at www.cicibraner.com. If you're interested in adoption, America World Adoption Agency is WONDERFUL! www.awaa.org They have several programs, including an Ethiopia program (if you're interested in Africa).

Blessings!