Samburu of Kenya » Praises

August Update From the Simmons

David Stembridge — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:14:57 +0000

Dear Friends and Family, We want to thank you for your direct impact on our lives and ministry through prayer. Praise the Lord for the way He has been providing for us through our first full month of unemployment! He has moved on hearts of individuals and churches across the country to send gifts of encouragement, and we will be forever grateful. AND, as of today, Eddy can hear well, as he got his new hearing aids today thanks to the amazing generosity of a brother and sister in Christ! We are praising the Lord for sounds previously taken for granted—the soft voice of a child, the crinkle of paper, the ability to hear in a restaurant, and the list goes on…. Another praise to the Lord for the opportunity for Eddy to preach this Sunday at a church in our area which is searching for a pastor. Eddy was already scheduled to “fill in” this week, and then the search committee interviewed Eddy for the first time this week, as well, which is a great advantage for him since they will get to hear his heart for the Lord and see his energy level as he preaches, too. Eddy has been very honest and forthright about his chronic pain on his resume, so he doesn’t really look like a good candidate “on paper”. So we are praising the Lord for orchestrating the timing of this interview and preaching engagement. Please pray for Eddy as he brings God’s Word Sunday and as we seek the Lord’s will. We have not been able to get the MRI of Eddy’s lower back that the neurosurgeon requested, because insurance would not pay until Eddy did physical therapy (for those who do not know, he has begun having pain issues in his lower back/hips/legs). So, he has been doing PT these last few weeks. Instead of helping, they have made the pain much worse! We will be going to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio on August 28, to be seen by the neurology department there. They are supposed to be experts in diagnostics, and we are praying fervently that they will be able to put “the pieces of the puzzle together” to figure out what has been causing all this pain. This is our last medical resource (that we are aware of), and our insurance runs out September 7, so please join us in crying out to the Lord for a conclusion, once and for all. God is seldom early, and NEVER too late!!! We have started back to our homeschooling, knowing that we will need to take time off for moving (when the Lord reveals where He wants us!) and time off for Eddy and I to return to Kenya to pack up our house and say final goodbyes to our precious Kenyan/Samburu friends. This will be hard but is so very necessary for closure, both for us and for those that we worked and lived so closely with. We are trusting our Lord, Jehovah-Jireh, to provide all that will be needed. He is so faithful!! As you pray for us, please don’t forget to pray for the Samburu. Pray that the few Samburu believers will be bold to tell others. When we make our trip to Kenya, we will be taking back 25 solar players with the Bible stories in the Samburu language embedded in them. Pray with us that the Lord will clearly show us how to get these into just the right hands for the Gospel to be heard and accepted all across Samburuland! May the Lord richly bless each of you for your continual, effective, fervent prayers that are accomplishing much for His Kingdom’s sake, His Name’s sake, and for His glory. We love you! Amanda, Eddy, and the boys “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Thy works.” Psalm 73:28

Praise from the Simmons

David Stembridge — Fri, 11 May 2007 00:25:01 +0000

Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you so much for praying for us during this time of transition! As you continue to pray with us, please join us in praising the Lord for His provision. The IMB has granted us two more months of paid leave, to give us more opportunity to seek out the Lord’s will in our ministry and Eddy’s health. We are so very grateful, and we do not take this for granted!� We are watching expectantly for the Lord to reveal His will clearly in the coming days. His promises are sure: “And He shall be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is [our] treasure.” Isaiah 33:6 Your continued prayers are appreciated more than you know….
Love,� Amanda and Eddy Simmons (and the boys!)

Amanda’s Testimony: How Suffering and Trials Brought Me Peace

samburuteam — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:20:00 +0000

Dear Friends and Family,
You have prayed for us so faithfully. I want you to know about
just one of the ways God has been working. Those of you who know me
know that I am a “fixer” by nature. If a problem arises in my life or
in the lives of others, my first response is to try to fix it! So, in
God’s severe mercy (I love that phrase), He has allowed numerous
trials to come into our lives that I have no control over, and simply
cannot fix. “Okay”, I thought, “I will simply cry out more to the
Lord and strive to believe harder that He will fix everything. That’s
what faith is, isn’t it?” And His answer was a resounding “NO!” My
reaction to his “no” was one of anger, bitterness, and
disillusionment. Some of you saw me at this lowest point. Part of me
is ashamed. Yet, God used this time mightily in my life to show me
the ugliness of who I am in my flesh, and how much I need the Savior!
My “whys” to the Lord simply uncovered the stronghold of pride in my
life, that somehow God’s will and ways should fit into MY “logical”
scheme of things. He has uncovered lies that I have believed about
who God is and how He works. He has shown me that true faith is
honestly crying out my desires to the Lord, but then RESTING in Him,
desiring to really draw near to Him and bask in His presence and love
and sovereignty—desiring this MORE than I desire for Him to deliver
me OUT OF the trial! Oh, my friends, THIS is where peace lies!!!!
During the latest trial, the breast cancer scare, I experienced this
peace for the first time in my 44 years. Of course, I prayed that the
biopsy would be benign. But I can truly say that, by God’s grace, I
had a deep-seated peace that, no matter the biopsy results, He would
be working for my ultimate good (our fleshly definition of good is so
different from His!) and for His glory. Learning to rest in Him,
cherishing my relationship with Him more than any other thing in my
life, is the source of His peace that passes all understanding. Oh,
how I wish I’d learned this sooner! I would not trade a single thing
we’ve gone through for this priceless truth! “Surely I have composed
and quieted my soul like a weaned child rests against his mother.”
Psalm 131:2 As a parent, you know how a baby is when you first try
to wean him from breastfeeding—when mama holds him, he just nuzzles
her feverishly, knowing that milk is so close, yet she will not give
it to him: there is no rest. That is how I was with God. I knew He
was able to fix everything, yet I could not understand why He chose
not to: I had no rest. Yet, as the Lord worked in my life, replacing
the lies I had believed with His Truth, I was able to see that His
greatest desire was for me to draw near to Him, knowing He has been
and will always be faithful, and rest against Him as that weaned
child learns to do, just enjoying mama’s presence and not striving to
get the “goodies”! Yes, sometimes He delivers us OUT OF our trials,
but His real promise is to be with us THROUGH the trials! Here is
the “life verse” the Lord has given me. Psalm 131 so aptly describes
the journey the Lord has brought me on these last few years: “O
Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve
myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me. Surely I
have composed and quieted my soul like a weaned child rests against
his mother. My soul is like a weaned child within me. O Israel,
hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.” Amen and Amen!
There’s so much more I’d like to share, but I will trust the Lord to
bring those opportunities in His timing, perhaps one on one. I thank
the Lord that He is eagerly waiting for EACH of us to “rest against”
Him. His peace is within your reach, the distance it takes to grab
onto His outstretched hand and walk WITH Him, resting in Him, instead
of striving like I have done for so many years. Praise Him for His
grace and mercy!

Love, Amanda Simmons

–
“For I bear witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in
accordance with knowledge.”
Romans 10:2

Praise the Lord!!

samburuteam — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 21:37:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

May the Lord bless you for your faithful prayers on behalf of
Amanda. She is home now (Thurs. 2:00PM EST) and came through the
surgery well. The doctor took a large section for the biopsy and he
expects the results tomorrow or the next day. The doctor did not see
anything that concerned him. We praise the Lord for ministering to
us during these days. He has given us a sweet peace through it all.

Eddy and Amanda

–
"For I bear witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in
accordance with knowledge."
Romans 10:2

Good News

samburuteam — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 13:15:00 +0000

In March, Joseph and I (Sandra) will be making a trip to the States to spend some time with family. We are excited and rejoicing at the chance to play and “get to know” grandparents and other family members that so far, are only pictures and voices. Please pray for us as we travel together from Africa to the US. It’s a long trip and although Joseph has proven to be a great traveler on our many car trips, this one is about 3 times in length. Pray that he and I will be able to sleep on the plane when it is time to sleep and that all will go well. He is looking forward to doing lots of things with granny and pawpaw; fishing, riding the tractor, shopping, etc. We are so thankful to the Lord for being able to do this. Pray also for Charlie and Sam while they remain in Maralal. Pray that it will be a great time for them together as father and son, especially as we all prepare for Sam to be “leaving the nest” this year. Pray that God will use this time for all of us in wonderful ways that are too much for us to even think or ask. Praise God our Father for his everlasting lovingkindness!

Sandra

prayers being answered

samburuteam — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 19:25:00 +0000

To our prayer partners,

We thank you for your prayers these past couple weeks and we can really see how God is answering them. Most people are very excited about what we are doing and embrace our vision of spreading the Gospel through a widespread church planting movement. Prayers for guidance in scheduling have been answered and even with 9 groups, Charlie is able to keep time off for resting and home and family time. We praise the Lord for working this out for us. Charlie is riding his new bike to the Tuesday and Thursday groups and God is blessing us with good health and safety for which we offer more praise. Even as I write, we are getting a rain shower.

We ask you to continue praying for wisdom and guidance in how to proceed with unresponsive groups; how to assist in 2^nd generation starts and how to effectively teach in an oral culture. Pray for help from the Holy Spirit for disciples to be able to remember and learn the stories. Pray for power and courage to be obedient to the task; not only for us, but for the Samburu laborers God is calling into the harvest fields.

Continue to stand with us and please enlist others to pray as well. Sharing in the Harvest with you,

Charlie and Sandra

Praise from the Daniels

samburuteam — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 11:12:00 +0000

Charlie has been “vision casting” with our Samburu friends and he had a great opportunity to do that on Sunday as several of our established churches were having a fellowship meeting together. There were at least 7 people there who responded positively that they wish to begin participating in a small group (T4T – Training for Traniners). In less than a week of returning with this information (from the September Strategy Leadership Training) , he has 5 groups to begin. He will work with one group on each of the remaining days of this week, Tues-Fri. He met with another today, Monday. Afterwards, someone asked him “what about so and so in town who wants to start a group?” You can see that what we suspected is true – we could quickly be overwhelmed with groups. We are just going to take it one lesson at a time and one week at a time, so we need your prayers. We are praying for wisdom, faith, and for good health. Thanks for your support.
Sandra and Charlie Daniels

Mancala Game (Ndotoy in Samburu)

samburuteam — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 20:02:00 +0000

This just arrived from Sandra and Charles. The game is called Mancala, and you can actually play this online here!

Quick update from Sandra “the game in Samburu is called �Ndotoy� (I think this is the spelling). The guys in the picture are from the village of Sononi the elder in the center left of the picture made the board as a gift for our son Travis when he came to visit in June/July this year. They are testing it out before they �blessed it� for us later that night.”

Praises from Samburu Land

samburuteam — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 17:18:00 +0000

Dear Prayer Partners,

May the Lord bless you as you enjoy Him today. We are in Nairobi,
the capital of Kenya, finishing our preparations for leaving Kenya to
go to the U.S. We leave Kenya on a KLM flight at 10PM Kenya time
Saturday the 19th (thankfully not through Heathrow) and will arrive
in Raleigh, NC at around 3:30 PM Sunday, NC time. We are blessed
that our home church, Mount Vernon, will be hosting us in the Raleigh
area and we are so thankful for all that they have done to prepare
things for us.

Praises: Thank you for praying for us to be able to complete the
recording of the the 35 Bible stories for women in the Samburu
language. As far as we know, these are the first recordings of
stories from God’s Word in the Samburu language. It was a time
consuming effort. Praise the Lord that He helped Naomi, a Samburu
pastor’s wife and Amanda’s best friend, to be able to make it to our
house each day for 1-2 hours of recording. By God’s grace, she
finished recording the stories Sunday afternoon, the day before we
left Maralal! We were also able to record authentic Samburu songs
for the first 12 stories. Nathan did the recording, using his
professional recording board.
Praise the Lord that Eddy was able to fly to and from
Maralal, so he was able to say his goodbyes without hurting his neck
further on the rough roads. The Lord gave us great grace to say our
goodbyes to all of our friends in Maralal, who have been praying for
us and with us through all of this.
Praise the Lord that we were able to schedule doctors’
appointments immediately after our arrival, both with an internist
and with a neurosurgeon.
We plan to be in the U.S. for approximately 6 months,
depending on medical treatment, and hope to be able to see many of
you as time and circumstances allow. We would love to be able to
share with you and your church all the wonderful things that we have
seen the Lord do among the Samburu people. We will send an update in
a few weeks, and hope to have contact info for you by that time! We
will be using this e-mail address while in the US. May the Lord
bless you for your fervent prayers and encouragement.
In His Hands,
Eddy, Amanda, Nathan, Josiah, Seth, and Micah Simmons
–
“For I bear witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in
accordance with knowledge.”
Romans 10:2

Praise!!! from the Simmons

samburuteam — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 02:57:00 +0000

“Our biggest praise is that Jesus sought and found Micah Joel Simmons, our youngest son, on July 28th during our annual Mission Meeting in Kenya. Our church, Mount Vernon, sent a team to minister to Kenya missionaries and Micah prayed to receive Christ during the last worship service of our meeting. He wants to be baptized at Mount Vernon, in Raleigh, after we return to the States in a few weeks.”