Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Take notes, ladies!

This is a special post for my loving husband, happy birthday!

During our thirteen years of marriage my life has been nothing short of amazing because of 1. Jesus Christ in my life and 2. This extraordinary husband of mine.
So here are some qualities you'll want to look for in a husband, ladies, if you want a happy marriage....


He is an amazing father ...



He will always find a way to make you laugh!!!













He loves the Lord and is an AH-MAZING teacher of the Word of God! 
Leading communion at LWCF
Recording a chapter for Through the Word
Sharing at Uturn for Christ

He's not afraid to have a little fun and he's a lover of life
Why not ride an Ostrich?
Helping my grandmother cook a special dinner in his Thomas Jefferson hat









He is truly my best friend in the whole world. He makes life better. He makes me better. 


He might even convince you that it's totally fine to sit near a cheetah while your pregnant!


Because sometimes when I sit across from him, he looks at me like this and it takes my breath away

He loves my friends just as much as I do!

He'll go to great lengths to set up our very, very sad Kenyan Christmas tree year after year

So happy 35th to the love of my life and my best friend! Your family loves you so much!














Saturday, December 5, 2015

Happy Birthday Josiah!


Nine years ago I held this sweet baby boy in my arms for the first time and was  completely enraptured with this tiny human. His constant cries and needs both overwhelmed and humbled me. I reflected at the time how much I do the same with God. I cry out for my needs as if they were never coming and was calmly comforted with the tender care and faithfulness of God's ever present help and providence.
This kid makes motherhood look easy now! You can catch Josiah with his nose in a book, coloring and always drawing. He is so helpful and compassionate. He will never let you squash any living creature in his presence. And WOAH be to you if he ever hears about such a tragedy!

He has got the greatest laugh and smile. It is our great joy to parent this kiddo.

Happy 9th Birthday to an amazing kid!





































Saturday, November 28, 2015

Silas Jabali's Adoption

Our family began our day yesterday with an early morning wake up to rush to children's court where we had our very first appointment to proceed with Silas Jabali's adoption. Jabali has lived with our family since December 23rd of last year. This beautiful boy came to our family through a wonderful Children's Home known as His Cherished Ones in Nakuru, Kenya. www.hischerishedones.org


His life has been nothing short of miraculous and we are touched that the Lord would see us fit to be his parents. However, there is still one major detail left in the completion of Jabali's adoption, the legality of it!
As we left home, early Friday morning (when some of you may have been waiting in Black Friday lines) we contemplated what to expect during our court room session. We had no idea what to expect.
Pope Frances
Unbeknownst to us (along with our lawyer and the rest of her clients for the day) the court had cancelled due to the Pope Francis' two day visit into Nairobi. Standing outside the court gates with our friend, we laughed as our lawyer explained that there would be no hearing today.
Now this may seem like a major disappointment but we saw this as a huge blessing! Why?
Well, exactly one year ago, there was a newspaper release that President Uhuru put a stop to all foreign adoption in Kenya.
Click here to see the original article-> Daily Nation article for foreign adoption 

At this point our paperwork to adopt was already turned in and we were waiting for an approval. Disappointed, we began to call around to ask for more information in which we were told that the moratorium was unconstitutional because there was no approval from parliament. So our agency proceeded to approve and place us with our son. After Christmas there came an official letter back dating the original presidential announcement to November 28th. OH NO! We already have him! Now what? Again we were reassured that few internationals that were in this small window of placement and our cases were expected to be        handled with all the necessary considerations.

Well, a recent conversation with our lawyer told us to "brace ourselves". Our court may not look upon our case favorably because of the cloudiness of this ban. Still we had peace from the Lord. Our lawyer expects the foreign adoption ban to be lifted very soon. It would definitely be better to go to court without this foreign ban hanging over our heads!
Worse case scenario? Our case will be rejected and we wait and try again.....
Best case? Well, we all know that answer!
So we ask you to pray for this ban to be lifted and for the courts to look upon our case favorably. Our hope is to visit the United States as a family for a few months in a year or so, so Silas Jabali can meet the extended members of his family for the first time!

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you to everyone who prayed and contributed to our new car
As we approach Thanksgiving our family reflects on this year and we have so much to be thankful for. We are thankful for a healthy, thriving church we have been blessed to be a part of for the last six years, for a car that can safely carry our family, for friends that have shared in ministry together with us this year, for continued opportunities to share the gospel with those whom we meet and a home that is being expanded. We are so excited to be sharing a multinational Thanksgiving this Sunday at a friend's house. We always love spending this time of year with friends from all over the world!

Dear friends who do various outreaches such as deaf outreach and relief and ministry in S. Sudan
Thankful for the small things






Visit with grandma!
Our ever faithful care team who keeps us in ministry in Kenya
Jonathan has spent the last two weeks in the U.S. to attend his sister's wedding. Although the trip was very short he was able to see many friends and of course, lots of family. The trip was a bit of a whirlwind between trying to run necessary errands like getting his driver's license renewed and shopping for stuff the family needs (and wants!).

We just wanted to give you a short update on our happenings since it has been a while since we have written.

Jonathan is currently teaching at the Bible college twice a week and we are working on the finishing things we need to get done before we officially leave Living Water Christian Fellowship by the end of the year.
We ask that you stand with us in prayer because our health issues continue to persist relentlessly it seems.
We ask for you to pray for Living Water's leadership, for wisdom and guidance.
We ask that you would pray over our vehicles as we are having lots of car issues that keep coming up due to an accident where a bus hit the back of our car.
We ask for prayer as we start a new church plant down our road at the beginning of the year.
Our first court hearing for Jabali's adoption is this Friday!!! PLEASE pray for this! The Pope is also in town that day and will be holding a mass just two miles away so that means LOTS of traffic, people and a possible cancellation of our long awaited court date!
Our replacement back door after the accident

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Funds raised! Thank you, thank you!


 Thank you to all who donated and prayed us into a safe car for our whole family! We don't even know what to say. As we look around us it is hard to believe all the things God has given to us. A beautiful new son, whom we ADORE, wonderful friends and a thriving ministry, a home that sits on the outskirts of the game park and a vision for the future, it just doesn't get better. I giggle as I think back to the 12 year old girl sitting in her room telling The Lord, "I don't want to give you my life because I know you'll send me to Africa!" Ha! Our walk with Jesus in never boring and oh, so full of joy!






Wednesday, June 10, 2015

A Safe Car for the F6



We want to share an exciting opportunity we have to purchase a car that will be much more reliable and seat our now, family of SIX! We want to ask you to partner with us for the purchase. The car is a 2001 LandCruiser that seats 8. We are looking to buy the car from some missionaries who are leaving the field in August. We have currently raised about half the funds we need. We have about three more weeks to give the family a definite yes as they have graciously waited to see if we could raise the funds to purchase the car.
Our Current Car 1996 Toyota Carib
2001 Toyota LandCruiser GX (same model-pic found on internet)
Why a new car for the F6? Our current car has undergone several maintenance repairs and is honestly not fit for the roads we drive as we frequently have to change flat tires, have suspension trouble, not to mention that we can’t buckle our children safely in the car as it only seats 5. As we travel down the roads we are frequently dodging oncoming cars that come in the wrong lane to pass the car in front of them. It is terrifying when the whole family is in the car and we don’t feel we have a car that can “withstand a hit” from oncoming cars. The purchase of this car would provide a safe means of travel for the whole family, it is a larger bulkier car that can stand up to bullying buses, public transport vehicles and other large cars that like to bully us off the road. The car is built to withstand our Kenyan rough roads and will even have 2 available spaces for other passengers.

How can you help? The price of the car is $12,100 and we currently have $5,665 raised for the purchase of the car. Will you please consider sending a tax deductible donation of any size to assist in the purchase of the car? We only have $6,435 to go!
Send check to:
Refuge
7800 Edinger Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA 92647 Memo Section: Ferguson Family Car Fund
Or Online at:
Refugecalvarychapel.givingfire.com
Under the “Fund” icon click Ferguson Family (Kenya)
Under the notes write “Ferguson Family Car fund”

Monday, March 9, 2015

Please Pray With Us

Isn't it "funny" how many times we need to go back and relearn lessons God has taught us in the past? "Funny" is a word for it. Sometimes it's discouraging and hard. I mean, we want to think we have progressed past lessons "learned". Like diets for example. We all know what kinds of food are good for us. Eat the rainbow. Drink water. Eat moderately. Exercise daily. But there we are, kicking ourselves after we have had too many "cheat meals/days," wallowing in our poor choices and relearning lessons. We are learning to wait on the Lord. We are learning that He will accomplish what He has set out for us to do despite our failings. THIS IS HARD.
Here are the events that lead us to a place of complete dependance upon the Lord:
Recently we learned that two amazing families that serve on the mission field are leaving on new endeavors back to the U.S. Now in the Calvary Chapel circle, us missionaries are pretty tight. We can talk to one another, share similar struggles, frustrations, joys and accomplishments. It's hard when one of our own leaves. It makes us reassess our time here. We hurt. Sometimes we question.
As the news of our friends leaving sunk in, we were hit with week after week of varying sicknesses. We had the flu, common cold, Silas got Pneumoneia, has a horrible cough, my allergies started in full force, Jonathan had been so sick he went to see the Tropical medicine doctor to get more testing done. He had so many "critters" in his stomach we started calling him the human aquarium. Praise God he got medicine to take care of the "critters in the aquarium" however his gut isn't fully healed. Jonathan and I were hit with something else that was causing severe stomach cramping two days ago and although I have recovered, he hasn't. We are on two months of sickness. As we speak poor Benny has got a horrible barking cough. Jonathan is so wiped out it is a struggle for him to do simple things.
Our car has broken down several times this last month and we can't seem to get it fixed.
We praise God for the construction being done for the expansion of the house but the concrete dust and horrible dry winds we've had have only prolonged our sicknesses.
Can I be real for a sec? It's hard when things start to snowball. You know what I mean? We can start to feel guilty that we aren't doing enough. I mean how is this going to sound in a newsletter, "Thanks for your support, we've all been flat on our backs for close to two months!" Although that is not exactly true,  the feeling of guilt is there.
The lesson we are learning is to cling to God and He will accomplish His purposes in us and the work He has called us to even when we are laying flat on our backs from sheer exhaustion. Please understand we are not writing to complain, but writing so our brothers and sisters in Jesus can rise up and do battle with us. On our knees.

So I ask you to pray with us. We don't necessarily want to be delivered from the fire although it would be nice but we want to come forth as gold. We want the Lord to burn away every selfish and sinful piece of us so we can be refined for His use. I want to have peace for that resounding mommy guilt that tells me I'm not doing enough. Peace that God will carry us through this and that our children will see and we will see the hand of our Lord. He has never let us down and He won't now.