Nelson’s News
As the dust settles from all of the activity around the office I decided that this long overdue update should get sent out quickly before the next season kicks into high gear. There are great things going on here and I wanted to take this opportunity to update you and to give you some vision for what lays ahead.
Training the AIM class of 2007
On August 31st, 20 new AIM staff arrived in Georgia for 11 days of training. This was followed by another week of training with their college-age teams that will be serving with AIM for the next year. All together it was 20 days of training and preparation before this group of staff headed out to their new homes around the world.
This is the first group of new staff that I had the privilege of training before they headed out, so it was a big challenge for me. It was amazing to see the way God prepared them for what lays ahead during out time together.
New Staff to Support the Kenya Primary School
One very significant answer to prayer this year is the addition of two US staff members who will be moving to Kenya in January to begin working with the primary school we have there. The school has been in operation for four years now. When I found the school it was struggling along with no funding and now through God’s grace we are starting to gather some funding for this school that we have adopted.
These gals will be working with the head master and the teachers to both help improve the education of the students and to more intentionally address their spiritual needs. I have been burdened with the desire to see the spiritual needs of the students addressed in a more purposeful way and having Michelle and Kim on staff with us there will be a huge benefit to the students and teachers alike.
Another significant need for the school is more financial support and a part of the girls’ role will be to make the needs of the school known to people in the US and to approach organizations and businesses in Kenya to see if there is local funding available. It is a really exciting time for the school. I will be traveling to Kenya at the end of October to meet with the leaders of the school in order to establish the working relationship with the two new staff that will be helping them.
A New Era for AIM’s Orphanage in Kenya
Some of you will remember that I had to make an emergency trip to Kenya this last year to remove the house parents who were currently caring for the orphans. The short version of the story is that the man was no longer able to handle the girls in the home once they became teenagers and his approach to discipline had started to become abusive. It was a sad situation for everyone involved.
Some of you may remember that we were talking with Simon and his wife Margaret (a pastor and good friend) about taking over the care of the orphans. They however were not able to make that switch at this time and therefore we decided to look for other options. God being faithful as always led us to hire a young lady named Eva who has been working in this field for some time. She is a blessing and even though she has only been at the job for two months we are seeing positive changes. We have also brought in my Kenyan grandmother to help with the spiritual care for the kids. There is another young gal helping as well who you have been supporting through us for about 4 years now, her name is Zitah. She is helping to cook and do some daily chores while she also attends college. Denise Roberts who is on staff with us has been a huge blessing in this transition. When we didn’t have anyone to take care of the orphans she jumped in and became their mother for a season. She was instrumental in making a smooth transition and I don’t know how we would have done this without her.
There is so much more to say about this but for now I will just tell you that I am so excited about where the orphanage is headed. When I am in Kenya at the end of October I look forward to personally evaluating the home so that we can continue to provide the best care for our kids we can.
The Nelson Family Update
As for the growing Nelson family we are adjusting to life with Luke!!! He is a huge blessing and neither of us can imagine life without him anymore. The first five weeks of his life he was blessed with a constant flow of family as both of our families flooded in from the west coast. It was awesome and a great blessing to us!
Two weeks after he was born we moved into a little two bedroom home just outside of town. The great thing about Georgia is that you can buy a small house for the same cost of renting an apartment. We thought we should take advantage of the opportunity, so we are now the proud owners of a two bedroom fixer-upper. The fixer-upper part was my idea… of course with a newborn I don’t know what I was thinking! Who has time to do anything around the house?
Lisa is still having some health problems and therefore we are making regular trips to the doctors to continue to sort out some unanswered symptoms, but we are trusting God in the midst of the unknown. We value your prayers in this regard. We will continue to keep you updated on how she is doing as we find out more. Currently the doctors are looking into possible muscle disease or nutrient absorption problems. We don’t know where this will take us but God has been faithful thus far and we have no reason to think that He will be anything but faithful in regards to her health in the future. We are continuing to trust God for her full healing!
What’s on Deck for this Coming Season?
I am looking forward to the fall for a number of reasons. First, fall in Georgia is a beautiful time and so we are looking forward to a beautiful season coupled with raking a lot of leaves!
The fall is also when the new year starts for AIM, so it is a time to assess how the last year went and to make plans for what lays ahead. We are currently reviewing last year’s New Staff Training so that we can begin making plans for this coming year.
I am also planning a 10 day trip to Kenya at the end of October. This trip will be multifaceted. I will be checking in with the leadership for both the school and the orphanage. We have added new Kenyan staff in both and I want to make sure that everything is going well and that people know what is expected of them. I also need to set the stage for the two new gals from the US who will be coming on staff to work with the School so that when they arrive in January the leadership is prepared for their arrival. We have made some housing adjustments as well and I want to see how that transition is going. There are a number of other reasons to go but those are some of the highlights. I will give you updates on that trip as it gets closer and I will be updating our blog when I am in Kenya if you want to track how the trip is going.
I pray that all of you are doing well. Lisa and I would love to hear from you as well, if you have a minute please drop us a note. Thanks again for your prayers, encouragement and support.
With much Love,
Scott, Lisa & Luke
