Wageni is the Swahili word for “guests”. It’s been great having my parents here as wageni for the past three weeks, but tomorrow they fly back to the US. We’re going to go into Nairobi to an all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue restaurant to celebrate Mom and Dad’s 50 years in ministry, which coincidentally is also tomorrow. It’s great for them to be able to celebrate 50 years of ministry in the country where they spent 25 of them.
Then it’s a bit more shopping, getting the last minute things they need to take back to the US and I drop them off at the airport in the evening for their 11:00 flight. Since I can’t go into the airport with them, security, I’ll say goodbye and let them get on with their trip, Because it’s not safe to be driving by myself at night in Kenya, I’ll spend tomorrow night in our missions guest house in Nairobi before coming back to Kijabe on Monday morning.
Term break has started here at RVA, so the past week or so has been a nice break, resting up after the term. It’s been quite cool the past couple of days, in fact, I’ve had a fire in the fireplace most of the past 3 days, but today the sun is coming out a bit, so Mom, Dad, and I are sitting in the front yard reading our books.
August is a time of transition here at RVA. In the middle of July, as soon as school lets out, a lot of our staff leave campus, some for an extended furlough time, some just for the month and a half until school starts. Saying goodbye is always difficult, particularly because we all live and work together. I know that some of the people who are leaving will be back in 6 months or a year, but others are leaving permanently, and I don’t know if I will see them again this side of heaven.
Then, starting the second week in August, the campus starts to fill back up again as people return from home assignments, and we get our new staff coming out for this next school year. That’s always a time of celebration as we renew acquaintances that have been on hold for the past year.
A couple of personal things. I know many of you have been praying for this speeding ticket issue. It’s still not finished. I went to court on July 7th, and the judge looked at me and said, “Thanks for coming, now come back August 15th for the trial.” It took all of 15 seconds and I was done. Of course, with the travel time, it killed half the day. Unfortunately the judge didn’t even look at the papers I have proving I was not going above the speed limit. Hopefully August 15th will be the final day, but I’m not holding my breath. You might have seen Kenya in the news recently for a number of terrorist related incidents. Many of us, however, are more afraid of the police than we are of terrorists.
Another piece of information that I need to pass on to you is my financial support issues. Unfortunately I’ve lost a bit of my financial support in the past couple of months. A faithful retired pastor who has been supporting me for $25 a month just passed away. I’ve also had a couple of churches that have supported me financially also need to lower their support due to the economy in the United States. I’d like to ask you to prayerfully consider supporting me on a monthly basis. Right now I’m short of support about $300 a month, which isn’t a lot, especially if I have a bunch of people who would be willing to pick up $15 or $20 a month. May be there’s a church that would be willing to pick up the whole $300 a month. I know God is the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills, $300 a month is nothing to him. RVA does not pay me to be a teacher here. I volunteer, and my ability to remain here is based on friends like you in the United States who are willing to support me every month. If you are willing to become a financial supporter, please contact Africa Inland Mission directly. If you are part of the Evangelical Congregational Church you can also contact Pat Strain in GMC at Church Center in Myerstown.
Here’s a couple of prayer requests for you to lift up to God:
1) Pray for safe travels, for my parents leaving tomorrow, and for new and returning staff coming to RVA in the next couple of weeks. Pray also for our graduated Seniors, who have just left for the US and have a lot of things to do before beginning college.
2) Continue to pray for this speeding ticket, that the judge will look at the evidence and rule justly.
3) Please pray that God will raise up faithful financial supporters for me that will take care of the shortage I have right now.
Shalom,
Dan
PS. Feel free to print this out and put it in your Sunday bulletin, or copy it into your church newsletters, post it on bulletin boards and wherever people might see it. Thanks.
Dan Dixon's Discursive Declamations 