Samburu of Kenya http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:41:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 newsletter http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2010/03/16/newsletter http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2010/03/16/newsletter#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:41:23 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2010/03/16/newsletter NEW YEAR, NEW WORK
We’ve been blessed with rain since the New Year began and we are happy
the long drought has ended. The effects of it will be long lasting for some
as they lost all or most of their livestock. But folks here are rejoicing
and thanking God for sending the rains. Even last night we had a good, slow
rain at our place which has completely saturated the ground, something we
haven’t seen in over a year.
The new churches which were started last year are continuing to grow and
reach out into their communities and nearby villages. They are embracing
their responsibility of taking the News of God to their neighbors and we
hear reports of many lives being changed. One of the outward changes is that
people have stopped brewing and drinking homemade beer or spirits. The abuse
of alcohol is a big problem among Samburu. When one person is a drunkard,
the whole family suffers from poverty, hunger and other problems. To see
someone stop this habit after receiving Christ is to see an entire family be
changed and lifted out of the mire. The transformation is amazing.
Charlie is working diligently to disciple and train these church
leaders. At the same time, we are praying about going into a new area to
begin work. One Samburu man has been leading the way in reaching into the
remote areas to bring the Gospel to those who would otherwise never hear. He
and Charlie are praying and planning to determine the “next steps” for
reaching beyond the current location.

PRAYER REQUESTS
* We have so much praise for the rains we’ve had. When we got back to
Maralal in January the water to the house was back on and the reservoir has
continued to fill.
* Praise for the new churches who are taking responsibility for sharing the
Gospel with their neighbors.
* Pray that we will be clear in hearing from God about new areas in which to
work.
* Pray for leaders of the new churches to grow in the knowledge of the Lord
and to be faithful and obedient in their work and their calling. Pray that
they will not fall victim to deception and sin.
* The teachers working in the preschools started by our churches seem to be
enthusiastic to new methods. Pray for them to understand the needs of their
students. Praise God for the support of elders and pray that they will work
hard to give these teachers, schools and children the things they need to
thrive. Pray for Sandra to be able to instruct them in good teaching methods
and creative use of locally available materials.
* Pray for Charlie and his Samburu strategist as they develop a plan for
reaching into new villages this year.

SAMBURU ARE SAYING:
You know, Charlie, the Holy Spirit is like the wind: it goes everywhere. – a
worker describing the success of the spread of the Gospel in an outlying
area

God came and spoke to our hearts. We were sleeping, but God said, ‘Mamas,
wake up! Wake up! Go and do the work of God. Sunday, one day a week, is not
enough.’ They went outside and began to work and 15 people got saved. -
women doing evangelism in neighboring villages

MYSTERY OF SUCCESS
If you can measure success in ministry, this past year was a good one
for us. Over a dozen new churches were started, hundreds of new believers
were baptized and local church members are joining in the work of
evangelism. Churches are serving their communities by building nursery
schools which provide preschool education and a meal for small children. As
missionaries serving the Samburu people, we are encouraged by all of these
things.
Observers want to know what we are doing that has caused such “sudden”
progress. The fact is that it is not sudden and there really is no such
thing as overnight success. What seems immediate to the outsider is known by
the insider as slow, steady work in progress. The work has been going on in
this area for 2 decades. While many have participated in this work, it is
the Holy Spirit who has blown His way into the lives of Samburu and produced
these results. No amount of “work” can match the call of God on another
man’s life and the fruit of obedience to the Lord’s plan.
Seeing Samburu take ownership for sharing the News of God is a direct
answer to the prayer we have asked for over and over: “please pray that
Samburu believers will have a burden for their own people.” (This is no
longer only your work, Charlie. It is ours.) What sweet words to the ears of
a missionary. To have a national who is actively working to start churches
and participating in planning and strategizing is probably the biggest
change we have seen in our 8 years with the Samburu. We praise and thank God
for allowing us to join Him in this blessed work.

God bless all of you for your prayers and continued support! We
appreciate all you do for us from the bottom of our hearts. We are eternally
grateful for your participation by giving, praying, sharing with others and
even showing up here to work with us! Feel free to print out and distribute
this (or any) newsletter.

CHILDREN’S CRAFT IDEA
For those of you teaching children’s mission or other classes here is a
craft idea as you are talking about Samburu.
Cut cardstock into strips about 2 inches wide, one per child. Tear a
piece of foil off big enough to completely cover each strip, about 6 inches.
Place the paper on the foil and smear with a glue stick, then wrap the foil
all around it. Let the kids use a blunt pencil to “carve” designs in the
foil. Then bend into a circle and staple to form a bracelet. This will be
similar to the aluminum bracelets which Samburu wear. This is good for small
children. Older children can string beads and make beaded bracelets.
For snack time, you can serve chai tea. Make the hot tea, sweeten it and
then cool it down (so it doesn’t burn the kiddos) with cold milk. Samburu
enjoy this milky sweet tea every day.

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2010/03/16/newsletter/feed 0 Shepherd School http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2010/01/03/shepherd-school http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2010/01/03/shepherd-school#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:25:28 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2010/01/03/shepherd-school A small kerosene lamp glows in the middle of a crowded room and the blackness of the African night is pushed back to reveal a crudely made blackboard. A teenage girl has scribbled 4 or 5 words in Swahili and reads each one as the group repeats after her. After each, she gives the translation in the language of Samburu so they will understand. Ngombengichu. This means cow, a word each of these young shepherds knows well. The children range in age from about 8 years up to 15. They have been out in the fields all day, watching over their families most precious possession, goats, sheep and maybe a few cows. During this extended dry season of 2009, many have lost a major portion of their flocks. These adolescents are charged with caring for the remainder, taking them out to find pasture each day. Because of this obligation, they are unable to attend regular classes. But in the evening when the work is finished and the animals return safely, they run home for a quick cup of tea, put on their better clothes and beads and rush to Shepherd School. For the next 2 hours, they will concentrate on learning to speak, read and write Swahili and study a story from the Bible. Nearly a dozen new Baptist churches have been started in this mountainous area. Each one has a preschool which caters to the smallest learners. And now, they are meeting the needs of the ones usually missed by the educational system, the shepherds. These kids have no chance of attending school as they are needed to help with caring for the livestock. Church leaders, working with community elders, have begun organizing evening sessions in their local villages. Most have only a blackboard for the teacher and a small, homemade oil lantern. It casts a tiny glow around the teacher as she shares the Gospel using a picture cube. As the flame pierces the dark, may the Light of the World penetrate the hearts and minds of these precious souls.

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2010/01/03/shepherd-school/feed 0 Update On the Volunteers’ Work http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/29/update-on-the-volunteers-work http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/29/update-on-the-volunteers-work#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:42:25 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/29/update-on-the-volunteers-work VOLUNTEER UPDATE
Here is Charlies update from one of the villages visited by the volunteer team: Just a quick note of follow up. I went back to the village where we took water systems and you all did the evangelism. We had a Baptism yesterday and 24 of the new believers were baptized.
Also when I arrived I was immediately told reports of the impact of the water filter systems. Several of the elders came and told me that within 1 week of using the filters the health of the community had drastically improved and all of the diarrhea was gone from the village. All of the women who received the filters where so thankful and asked me to greet you all and tell you again how much they appreciated the water filtration systems and the time you all shared together. Also, one of the elders told me, the chai I drank made with the water from the filtration system tasted like it came from the factory. Too funny.

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/29/update-on-the-volunteers-work/feed 0 Little Rain http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/12/little-rain http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/12/little-rain#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:52:23 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/12/little-rain LITTLE RAIN
The rains have not been as generous as we had hoped. The skies opened up
for the last couple weeks in October and some brief showers for a couple
days since and that is about it. The reservoir from which we get our piped
in water has run so low that they have turned the water off. We are more
fortunate than most, in that we have 3 large tanks which catch water so we
are surviving on that and trying to be frugal with it. We are not sure how
long it will last so we are also investigating the possibility of being able
to buy water. The good news is that if it rains at all we can catch a lot of
water in a short amount of time as we have gutters all around the house
which flow into our tanks. The bottom line is that we badly need rain and
others are worse afflicted than us. The flip side is, of course, we must
have water to live here. Yesterday I called a friend who has lived with this
challenge as a part of their routine for years. She gave me some good tips
on saving water and was very encouraging. I said I didn’t choose to be a
pioneer woman, but here I am. I also recently joked with a friend in the
States how we’d give up our flush toilets in a minute in exchange for
lightning internet. So now that I’ve done the first part, when does part two
of that compromise kick in??

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/12/little-rain/feed 0 WHOOSH! http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/08/whoosh http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/08/whoosh#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:48:10 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/08/whoosh WHOOOSH!!
Most months crawl by at a snail’s pace with the same 12 hours of
daylight, 12 hours of dark, unchanging weather and consistent routine.
November has raced past us like a cheetah in pursuit of his next meal.
We started out with a big bang when a group of 7 volunteers from Mimosa
Lane Baptist Church arrived to work with us for 2 weeks. My words are really
inadequate to tell you how much they did and how much we and the Samburu
were blessed by their visit and their ministry. What an amazing team God put
together. Working with Texas Baptist Men, they were able to
bring water filtration systems for over 100 families. They ministered to
children and adults. They taught church leaders, pastors and school
teachers. They witnessed to hundreds and saw many receive Christ. The team
leader had the opportunity to baptize 19 new believers. You can read a daily
journal of their work and also individual reports at

http://www.mimosalane.org/events/event-africa-mission-2009.htm.

Our 2 boys from America also arrived with the team and we have had great
fun being with them. After we said goodbye to the volunteers, we hopped on
the train in Nairobi and rode to Mombassa for a few days at the beach. It
was beautiful and relaxing. This was Joseph’s first time to go swimming and
he loved it. By the end of the week, he had learned to float on his back.
After traveling back to Nairobi by train, we did our shopping and headed
back to Maralal to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday and Joseph’s birthday
on Saturday. And with that, the month is practically finished. I can hardly
believe December is here, but I am so grateful we have the rest of this
month to spend with Travis and Sam in our home. There is a serious football
season going on with the Xbox and no telling what else the month holds. I
pray it is as enjoyable for them as it is for us and that God will bring us
closer to Him and to one another during this time.

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/12/08/whoosh/feed 0 Mimosa Lane Baptist Church Volunteers http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/mimosa-lane-baptist-church-volunteers http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/mimosa-lane-baptist-church-volunteers#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:18:00 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/mimosa-lane-baptist-church-volunteers The first 2 weeks in November we were blessed to have a team of 7 volunteers from Mimosa Lane Baptist Church in Mesquite, TX. They did so much work ministering to the Samburu people and it was a real encouragement to us for them to make the sacrifice of time and money to come. They touched every segment of Samburu life; women, children, elders. They evangelized, baptized, taught, played, worked and brought water purification systems which will help hundreds of people. Thanks for your tireless efforts, your flexibility and your love. Those you touched will never be the same. You made a major impact. God bless you all and all of you who helped make it possible. You can read a little bit about their work at the church website.

http://www.mimosalane.org/events/event-africa-mission-2009.htm

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/mimosa-lane-baptist-church-volunteers/feed 0 Samburu are Saying http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/samburu-are-saying http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/samburu-are-saying#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:05:16 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/samburu-are-saying SAMBURU ARE SAYING:
(A woman at a baptism.) I was at the church and listened to the teaching on baptism. While I was there, I told the people to pray for my husband because he is not saved. Then I went and watched some others get baptized. My husband came to the church for the next 2 weeks and has now become saved. Today, we have come to be baptized together.

(A Samburu Baptist from town comes to teach others up in the village.) Before, our heart is broken for these people. And others are saying, they cant change. But now we see that God is doing something. And we are happy.

(A man hears the story of Lazarus and the rich man.) I have never heard a story where Ive become excited like this. I am an old man. I thought that after I died, I was finished. I am sure now that I will be raised up to life again because of Jesus.

(A man who had 5 family members killed during last months massacre in an area near where we are working, shared this during the funeral.) Are you still coming tomorrow to share the stories with my family at my home?

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/samburu-are-saying/feed 1 Mimosa Lane Baptist Kenya Team Group Report http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/mimosa-lane-baptist-kenya-team-group-report http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/mimosa-lane-baptist-kenya-team-group-report#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:20:10 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/?p=517 Group Report: Reports from Bob were posted daily, but he asked the team members who would like to share brief reflections about the triphere are the ones received so far:

God is good all the time, all the time God is good. God called me to go on this trip, WOW, what an experience He sent me on. It was a time to serve Him doing what He wanted done, and it got done, too. He sent and used seven people to reach a lost place. He helped us to show mercy, kindness, to love from the heart, and to feel compassion for the Samburu people. While prayer walking I could see through Gods eyes what needed to be done and to show Jesus to these people as I became more like Him. I think that I grew closer to Jesus and became more like Him every day by hugging someone that was without hope and giving them a gleam of hope, telling others about our God and our Savior Jesus Christ, and assuring them that they can know without a shadow of a doubt that they can have eternal life with God. This experience was so far past my imagination. You will have a hard time comprehending what I tell you without experiencing it first hand.

In Africa, they say pole, pole, slow, slow. There is no time schedule, just sun up to sundown. The women awake and get water to begin their day while the children herd the sheep and goats. The men take it easy under the trees until it is time for food and chai.

We were representatives for Christ from MLBC in Texas in America and were treated like ambassadors every day and everywhere that we went. From the bottom of my heart to yours, thank you so much for your prayers and resources that you gave. God did not waste any part of me including my weaknesses. You will never know all God can do with you and through you until you allow Him to have all that you are. I love each of you and I thank you again. Amen!!

Your brother in Christ, Larry ONeal

Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. John 4:35b

I am so blessed that God chose me to send into His fields. The trip to Africa far exceeded my expectations. My human expectations limited Gods power. I thought that we would possibly plant some seeds, but I never thought that we would be a part of such a bountiful harvest. The hearts of the Samburu are so hungry for the One who promises them living water, which provides cleansing, eternal life, and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord spoke of the spiritual harvest of souls for salvation and I experienced this first hand.

There are so many beautiful memories from this trip and I will share one of them with you at this time. Our second day in Maralal, Bob and Karen were teaching at the church and the rest of the team went out into the streets to evangelize. Three of us along with our interpreter walked along the road leading us into town. When we reached town we stopped under a tree and started witnessing to a group of 6 when a man who had been partaking of homemade brew came up to us. With a very loud voice and his finger wagging in my face he was being a distraction and preventing those around us from hearing the Good News. Bernard, our interpreter, said something to him in Swahili and he moved the group away from the man, but he was persistent and was back in my face. By this time, Larry was becoming a little concerned, but we just moved our group again and I continued with my presentation. I had come to the place in the presentation where they now had a choice to make, which road were they going to choose? Each of them professed that they wanted to take the road that leads to God. I began to pray with them and the man who had been so disruptive came close and instead of yelling, he became calm and quiet as he repeated the prayer along with the rest of the group. This was such a beautiful picture of Gods love for all people, and just as He calmed the sea, He also calmed the soul of this man.

The only thing that God expects from us is to show up and He will speak through us. His love flowed through me as I witnessed to the Samburu, held those precious children and looked deeply into their bright black eyes, smiled at the Mamas and Elders, and walked among them shaking hands and saying supa. I must admit that I was moved beyond words and would have gladly stayed there.

Each of us felt the prayers that were voiced on our behalf while we were away. It is a great joy to know that we are part of a praying church that loves the Lord and has a heart for missions. Your prayers were a direct result in the fulfillment of Gods plan. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. Matthew 9:37b-38

To Him be the glory,
Carolyn ONeal

I honestly had no idea what to expect going to Maralal. I mean, I had vague ideas, but had no idea how much I would come to love this country and these people. Everyday I woke up excited about what we were going to do, who we were going to meet, and how God was going to work that day. The day we went to the first village and saw all those people walking in, singing praises to our God, surrounded by his beauty, brought tears to my eyes that I wasn’t even expecting. To see these people, who live in such primitive conditions, (ones that would possibly make most people shudder) being so excited to see not only us, but to hear what we had to share with them about our God, blew me away. The Samburu may not have much in the terms of material possessions or in the eyes of the world, but they are so very nice, loving, hospitable, happy, kind and open people that I have ever met. Some of us would do well to learn from them. I can honestly say that I fell in love with them so very much, and in so short a time. The church service we attended was quiet possibly the best one I’ve been to in a long time. Even though we were crammed on the little wooden bench, surrounded by the Mamas and their children for over 2 hours, and it wasn’t quiet the entire time, you could just feel the presence of God. There were a lot of those moments on this trip. Even just standing outside, I knew he was there, it was so hard not to. I feel like I can’t even begin to place into words exactly what I felt and learned on this trip, It’s too much for me to even comprehend now, let alone try to share with someone. I guess the phrase, “you just had to be there” is relevant here. But I do know that I am so blessed that God allowed me to go on this trip, to meet these people, and share his love and word with them. To get to help Charlie and Sandra (who are some pretty amazing people) in the work that they do was truly a blessing. As I sit here typing this, I’m still surrounded by all the gifts the Samburu gave me, and it just makes my heart soar thinking of all the good we did on behalf of our God, and all the work that is still to be done there. I know for me personally, this trip changed my life for the better, and I found out once again just how good my God really is. I know that I can’t wait to go back.

Ashley Yates

At home, one of my prayers was to see that God would use me to win my first person to Christ. At home I share my beliefs at my apartment complex, at work, at the mall, wherever I go. I have had a few that I could pray with for a need, but not for their need for salvation. So the first day when we got to evangelize in town the nerves were jumping as to where to start. So I jumped on board direct to the point. I had come to share Gods love and His Son Jesus love and sacrifice for them and me that we might have a relationship with Him. When it came time to accept or reject, not only did one man accept but three others that had been in the group believed, confessed with their mouth, and accepted Jesus gift of salvation. This was only the beginning this prayer was answered many, many times over. Thanks to the church and ABF that prayed for safety, the words to say, and how to express Gods love!!! I know your prayers were answered.

:-) PAUL D. CRANE II (-:

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/23/mimosa-lane-baptist-kenya-team-group-report/feed 0 Mimosa Lane Baptist Kenya Report – November 12, 2009 http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/12/mimosa-lane-nov-12 http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/12/mimosa-lane-nov-12#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:17:45 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/?p=515 We are back in Nairobi and will be leaving this evening (Thursday) for our 21 hour flight on the plane with four hour layover in London. We are tired but so spiritually charged with what God has done with and through us these past two weeks.

I have asked each team member to share a brief paragraph on his/her perception of the trip, and that will be my final Team Report 8 that I will send over the weekend or early next week. Last night, we had a blessed debriefing and prayer time with Charlie and Sandra.

Please continue to lift us up in prayer during our long flight home. We look forward to seeing you all on Sunday…

Love in Christ, Bob & Team

]]> http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/12/mimosa-lane-nov-12/feed 0 Mimosa Lane Baptist Kenya Report – November 9, 2009 http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/09/mimosa-lane-nov-9 http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/2009/11/09/mimosa-lane-nov-9#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:16:45 +0000 Charles and Sandra Daniels http://www.samburuofkenya.org/blog/?p=513 I know that you think I am crazy when I keep saying that each day is better than the day before. However, it is Monday night, and we had a fantastic day. This morning, we went up in the bush country to a village where Charlie had never done ministry. An elder stopped him on the mountain one day, and asked him to come to his village. Charlie told him he would bring us today if they would cut us a path through the trees so that we could get the vehicles there. Well, we did the water purification systems training and distribution and the children’s activities for over 100 children. Then, we went from hut to hut doing evangelism and had 57 people pray to receive Christ including some of the elders and some of the young warriors.

We then went to another village up in the mountains where a ministry has been established. In fact, some of them came all the way down to Maralal to attend our church service yesterday. We did the water purification systems training and distribution and the children’s activities for about 150 children. Then, we begin meeting with some of the folks who had not yet accepted Christ. Thirty two people prayed to receive Christ in this village.

WOW…what a day–89 people won to Christ! Charlie will now work at establishing a ministry point at the first village and after doing training on baptism, he will have the privilege of baptizing these new converts.

Tomorrow, we leave for the Lake Nakuru area and will have the opportunity to be on safari (our one day of rest) on Wednesday prior to traveling to Nairobi for the long flight back home on Thursday & Friday. Please pray that we will have the opportunity to share Christ many times at Lake Nakuru.

This evening, we tearfully said good-bye to our translators and presented them with a love offering our team had collected for them. They have walked with us for five days as we have seen almost 200 persons won to Christ, have distributed 101 water systems, and have ministered to literally hundreds and hundreds of children.

We love you, Mimosa Lane, and attribute much of what the Lord has accomplished over the last week to your prayers…

Bob & Team

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