First let me say thank you to everyone who has responded and for all of you who have been praying for us as we have sought to figure out what is going on with Lisa.

I wanted to give you an update regarding Lisa and what we both know and don't know. We were able to get in to see the doctor on Monday. Although our doctor was out of town we were given an appointment that day with a doctor that was very competent and thorough. When the appointment was over we came away with three potential options from his perspective. None of them are life threatening and all have a very different solution. Right now they are doing follow-up testing regarding heart rhythm, adrenal gland and possible panic attack. At this point we are praying that God would give us clarity and healing.

She is feeling slightly better now but still having similar symptoms just not as intense. Our friends here have been helping with Luke and we have had a couple pretty low key days allowing Lisa some extra rest and letting me take care of her.

We will let you know if anything changes and keep you updated when we know more.

Thanks again for you support and Love.

Scott

I am way behind on updating everyone on what is going on and I want you to know an update us coming soon about what we have been doing and what is on the horizon. But I wanted to ask for your prayers.

While I was working on Saturday Lisa called 911 because her heart started to race and she felt dizzy and like she was going to pass out. With Luke in the house she didn't know what would happen. I raced home to find the paramedics checking her out and all our loving neighbors taking care of Luke. I took her to the emergency room that night and she had another episode there. The doctor said it wasn't life threatening and that it looked like her heart was fine. She is still feeling dizzy and has had a couple other episodes today but not as bad. This has happened a few other times over the last couple weeks but she is starting to feel the dizziness and some other symptoms pretty much all the time now.

I am going to take Lisa to the doctor as soon as we can get an appointment. Pray that we can get in Monday early. Pray that God brings healing quickly. I would also ask that you pray that God is glorified in our lives, response and in Lisa's healing.

I will keep you updated as we find out more.

With much Love and gratitude,

Scott

As I write this email, I am sitting in a session with some of our leaders who will shortly be heading out to lead summer mission teams. The last few weeks have been all about getting leaders and teams ready to come to Georgia for training camps and then out into the field for the summer. We have already sent out the first wave of 140 into the field and we have two more groups to send out by the end of the month. Although there is a lot going on right now Lisa and I knew that we really needed to let you guys know what we have been doing and what lies ahead.

Since we last wrote we have been to California, Kenya and Home again. Lisa attended a ministry conference that blessed us tremendously as a family, she as well got her tonsils out which in the long term will be great but in the short term was not fun. Luke is growing fast and just celebrated his second birthday. He is learning to express his needs and wants J A couple weeks ago he took a big tumble and fractured his upper jaw but he is on the mend!

For my part, I want to share a couple things and then Lisa will follow up next week with a family update.

Training Camp

First, the next couple weeks are going to be really busy for me and I selfishly wanted to get an update out so that you all could be in prayer for AIM, me and our family during this time. Although I am in town, I am not really home. I leave around 6am and get home late in the night. It is a great time of ministry and the Lord is so faithful to take care of the needs at home while I am away. I would appreciate your prayers as we train leaders and teams to head out on mission trips this summer.

I would specifically ask for prayer in the following areas:

·         Pray for insight as we coach leaders and prepare teams to head out. Pray that as problems are identified we would have wisdom in how to deal with them.

·         Pray for the missionaries and pastors that will be receiving these teams. Pray that the teams will be a blessing and would serve and honor them and those that they are ministering with and alongside.

·         Pray that Lisa and Luke would do well with little interaction with Husband & Daddy.

·         Pray that Scott would have strength, wisdom and a true reliance on the Lord as he invests in these teams.

Sabbatical

The other thing that I want to share with you is that AIM has graciously granted us a 3-month sabbatical this summer beginning the second week of July. After almost 12 years of ministry with AIM, we look forward to taking some time to rest and to spend concentrated time with the Lord. I'm sure as we slow down and sit with the Lord, He will lead us places we don't expect, but we look forward to the journey! We would love to have you join us as we walk through this process; we covet your prayers and insight. We will endeavor to share regularly and invite you into our lives as much as possible. Here are a few things we are praying about:

• As we are in a new season with a young child (and hopefully children!) we are asking the Lord to show us His vision for our family and ministry.
• Scott feels the Lord may be leading him to pursue some further training to sharpen his ministry skills -  we are asking the Lord for confirmation and if so, the timing, specific program/school, etc.
• That we would rest in the Lord and wait on His leading during this time.
• We will continue to be a support to the Kenya staff working at the school and the orphanage during this time. Please continue to pray for strength for them as they work in a very demanding location. Also, a praise - we have been fundraising for both ministries and the Lord has faithfully provided some new avenues of funding – whoo-hoo!

You each are such a blessing to us – Thank You!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to check in with one of the people that we were able to help with some funds during the riots. Her name is Monica and she runs a feeding program for orphans and needy children in Kibera. We wandered through the slum meandering up and down for about 15 minutes before we finally reached her house; a small eight by eight room. There I found a sick girl who was about seventeen that she had snatched from the streets, I prayed. Next we met some of the kids that are "just around." Most weren't hers but a few were. Finally she pulled back a sheet that divided the room and she said, "I have had this baby since she was two days old. Her mother died and I didn't know what to do with her." The baby is three months old now.

There is so much more to say about Monica. She doesn't have anything of worldly value. She started feeding the children from a sympathetic heart once her husband left her. One of our past teams got to know her eldest son who is in secondary school and that is how we found out about Monica. She is a woman of faith. Full of hope that God will provide and she has seen him provide for her. I was cautious when I wrote the last sentence because when you see her it doesn't look like God has provided; not how I would imagine His provision. But that is a lesson I often relearn here, God's provision is what we need not what we want. He knows better than me how to provide what His people need and still I continue to imagine what will bring joy and contentment.

Monica feeds 250 children every day at a church that she rents during the week. Her house isn't nearly big enough to accommodate these children. But God continues to provide as the feeding program and her adopted family grows.

I will write more about Monica and some of our other friends when I get home and have more time. The stories are backlogged in my brain but I haven't been able to get them out yet. I am still trying to take it all in and process it myself.

Today is my last day here. I fly out tonight and today is still a very full day. Here is the agenda, at least what I know of the agenda. I am sure God will change this as the day continues.

•  Check on a piece of land to use as a farm for the orphans and the school. It is about an hour outside of town.
• Connect with the lawyer about the status of our registration as a Non-governmental Organization
• Go visit an orphanage for disabled children. We are hoping to be able to help them when our teams are in town.
• I still have a couple friends to connect with, one being my favorite taxi driver Ronald.
• Visit a micro finance group that some friends in Kibera are a part of to see how it is going and to encourage them.
• Take a few more pictures and take care of a few other details from our Kenyan staff.

Thanks for your encouragement and prayers while I have been here.

Today was another day filled with activity. Without getting into the whole day let me share one thing and i will fill you in on the rest later.

I met with my friend again today but this time just the two of us. We did a very "unkenyan" thing today, we sat and shared very openly. I was able to share from my heart how our last meeting left me feeling and he was able to share how hard things have been for him. it was a sweet time. After ministering together for almost 10 years it was how I imagined our relationship should be. There were still some small questions in my mind as I left but it was nothing that can't be worked out as we move forward.

I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the Lord as we prayed together and parted ways. As I drove away after dropping him off I felt a renewed hope and I praised the Lord.

I still have allot to process and learn from the whole experience. I feel like there are a number of lessons that God wants to teach me as I pray, process and ask the Lord what he has for me in this relationship going forward. 

Thank you for your prayers of reconciliation, God is faithful.

We left Kijabe about 11am on Saturday and headed back to Nairobi where there were a number of meetings waiting for us. I don't have allot of time to go into this now since I am heading to church early to meet with Pastor Sheth but let me give you a short account of what happened.

Without going into detail I had one of the most disappointing experiences I have had in a long time. One of my long time friends in Kenya is desperate financially and he responded by formally confronting me with a number of people about how I need to "help out" the board members who work with us on the school. It happened in Kenyan fashion where we talked around and around until getting to the point but on a number of times during the conversation I just want to walk away.

I know that God can reconcile this and I am sure that with His wisdom we will be able to reconcile this situation but it hurt me deeply. I am sure I haven't done everything right here and both last night and this morning I have been asking myself what I could have done differently and how I need to respond. I want to help him and yet a part of me (probably the prideful part) just wants to walk away from that situation.

What I would ask is that you pray that God would be glorified and that He would give me wisdom as to my response. Please pray for His provision for his people. I think that this is a good picture of how desperate some of the Kenyans are after this crisis that they would risk years of relationship because they don't know what else to do.

I am going to meet with this pastor alone again before I go. Please pray that God would reconcile our hearts and that we would both have wisdom as we meet. I don't think he really knows how this conversation affected. Because of that I am really praying that God would give me clear perspective on how to proceed.

Thanks for your prayer!

So we made it to Eburru and Kijabe on Friday and had a great time. It has been a while since I had been to Eburru and I thought I needed to go this trip. Pastor Steve has tried to get me to go the last two times I have been here but when you are in country for a week it is a significant commitment. But it was worth the trip. They have really done allot since I have been there. There is now a nice clinic, fun rooms for people to stay in, a new church building and they are half way through with a small training center. The community also sold them this old British house (old but huge and really cool) and 10 acres of land to start an orphanage. There is allot of work to do before it starts but it is going to be pretty awesome.

We were able to travel around and to catch up with a few of the church members while we were there. After that it was down the mountain to Naivasha for lunch and then on to Kijabe for the night. With only a small delay after a radiator hose broke we were on our way again. We thanked the Lord because if the hose blew in Eburru we would have been out of luck for sure, but instead it broke just as we were leaving Naivasha and we were able to head quickly into town to get it fixed.

While in Kijabe we stayed with Pastor Simon and Margaret. It was a great visit and it was really good to be able to hear how they are doing and to see how God used them to minister to so many during the riots after the election. Simon has got to be one of the wisest men I have met in Kenya and I appreciate his council and I love to hear his ideas about the best ways to minister in Kenya. He always has so much going on!