Come Before Winter Kenya 2007

As you can read on the blog posting before this, Ron and I were able to travel to Africa together for the first time last month. You can read more about our travels to Uganda, Mozambique and Swaziland below. But I will say that we were so blessed to be in Mbale, Uganda and be able to spend time with Phillip and Laura Shero along with Malachi, almost 7, Israel, a very bright 4-year old and precious Annalise, the princess tomboy! What a great delight for all of us. We were doubly blessed to enjoy Laura Beth’s presence also (one of our own from RHCC).

After leaving Uganda, I finally fulfilled a promise I’d made to Pam d’Oliveira several years ago. To come visit her and Manuel in Maputo, Mozambique! Debbie and I were only able to stay 3 days but we squeezed in lots of sharing, praying, eating under the mango tree and enjoying sweet fellowship!


And what fun to drive together to Swaziland and see the Tree of Life Project with 15,000 macadamia trees! We were also blessed to renew friendship with Kurt and Wendy Platt and meet Beverly Dankers and the Carters who serve with Manzini Bible School.


After leaving Mozambique, Debbie and I flew to Nairobi where we met half of the team and spent the night at the Country Lodge. Here is the hotel atrium in this photo.

The next day we flew on to Malindi on the coast and arrived at Turtle Bay Resort which was the venue for this Come Before Winter renewal. Now I know why missionaries love to work in Kenya!! What sweet, gracious people! By this time, the rest of the time had arrived and we began preparing for our week.


The coast and beach of Kenya were so beautiful! We were anxious to get up each morning and see the sun rise over the Indian Ocean! What a beautiful setting to praise God for His creation.

On Monday, March 19, the women began to arrive! All 59 of them! This was the largest renewal so far and quite a challenge to plan and carry out. But what joy to greet these women who are serving God in very difficult places.

This was quite a different renewal for me as my main assignment was as Gifts Coordinator and assistant administrator. CBW lavishes gifts on all the women who attend and so each morning and evening they are given gifts of CDs, bracelets, pens, bookmarks, lotion, etc. This was such a fun job as each woman was continually surprised and amazed by the gifts. I also had other tasks throughout the week, taking care of details and making announcements each morning.

As the women arrive, they are assigned to a prayer cluster that meets each night. I was honored to spend quality time with four amazing women who are serving in Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda. We laughed and cried and spent time in study and prayer. What a blessing to get to know Kathy Ham, Becca Ramsey, Beth Tunick and Martha Smith.

The last evening after dinner, we had a Texas party! We actually brought cowboy hats and bandanas for each woman. And of course, we had to play some Texas music like ‘Cotton Eyed Joe.’ Then came ‘the chicken dance’ – that brought so much laughter as we all got in on the action! Someone outside the room heard that there were missionaries in that room and was amazed that we were having so much fun.

Friday morning was a time to pray and bless each participant. I was able to pray over the women of my prayer cluster. Afterwards, they put us in a circle and said thank you to us in 15 different languages. And then they gave US gifts! After that, it was time to say farewell to our special friends that we had come to know and love. And then it was just the CBW team again. We had a day of rest and recuperation and then a lovely dinner on our last night at Turtle Bay. Then came a time to process exactly what happened during the week. It is always a learning time as we look back at the week – what went well, what went great and what went perfect!!

I really love the women that went to Kenya. Of course, I had the best roomie ever! Debbie Jenks is such a amazing woman, full of the Spirit and in love with the Lord and His Word. She challenges me through her habit of prayer and time in the Word. Plus, she’s fun to be around! We laughed so much – especially about the crabs that wanted to come in our room each night.

It was so good to be with Laura Reppart, Becky Van Rheenan, Peggy Nelson and Donna Wilbanks, all first-timers from RHCC! We definitely had the TIA experience (this is Africa).

Well, that’s about all for now. Oh, one interesting note. We flew out of the Nairobi airport on March 25. We were amazed to hear Christian music and preaching over the intercom while there. Could not believe Randy Travis singing one of his Christian songs in Kenya!

We arrived home safely Monday, March 26. Debbie and I had a few days to recuperate before our husbands returned on Wednewday, the 28th. It was good to be back together again. As Ron always says ‘it’s better when we’re together’ (a Jack Johnson favorite of ours!) We praise God for taking us on this journey, keeping us safe from harm and blessing us tremendously!