Ferguson Four! - Wait, Ferguson Five!

Refreshed and Renewed

2012-01-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

A little over two years ago we moved our family of four into an exciting adventure in Nairobi, Kenya. Excited to start a new life as "missionaries" we began an intensive language coarse to learn Kiswahili. We knew little about how anything would pan out. Did we have enough money to make it to next month? How would we get a car? We coasted on trusting in the one and only thing we knew, God called us and he would be with us. Everything was exciting because we were taking God at His word. About a month into our move, everything from within me cried out for my life in America. The comforts, the certainty, my friends, family, convenience. Although I've never seen this first hand, watching me was probably a bit like watching a drug addict give up their habit. I frequently called home in tears over hearing their voices, I craved to walk through malls sipping coffee, I craved my independence. One thing was for sure, I was sinking. I would be crippled somedays with thoughts of helplessness, fear, anxiety. Just a bit of peace was all I wanted. In my mind I knew peace came from our Lord but in my flesh I wanted just one more hit of America, a coffee shop, a bit of shopping, anything to get my mind off of my quiet, unfamiliar, uneventful, frustrating life. We began to wake up from awful nightmares and an alarming event where a frightening confrontation between our guard and a drunk really caused me to pray and read God's word faithfully. I understood for the first time what I had to change in my life to hold on to God without resentment or fear. I begged God to become our hope, our light, our familiar place. I wouldn't take back these two years in Kenya for anything. It was in this desert where I found the only well spring that became my refuge. And Jesus met me there. When I've spoke to wonderful families such as Bob and Teresa Keenan (serving in Iraq), I've always wondered how they have this unshakeable trust in the Lord. It was because God has placed them in fires that they clung to the Lord. I am in a lot of ways like a new born baby, clinging to it's mother, waiting for the next feeding, tired, joyful one moment, in tears the next. These last two years have been precious for my personal growth in Christ and have been priceless as a family. We have grown together in Jesus and in his Word and have seen the work of His hands. The best part and worst part about being a missionary is we don't actually have any long-term plans. God holds it all. The work God has done in our lives has proved that He will never leave us or forsake us and He is absolutely faithful, even when I am faithless. We attended the missions conference this past week and were renewed, refreshed and reminded that this work in Kenya is His work, not ours. He gets all the glory and praise because He has done great things in us and in His church! We praise Him because He is letting us be involved in His precious church, He's working in us and He's not finished with us. We are so thankful to have spent this precious time with our family and friends. A special thank you for all your love and support during our visit. We will be flying home, Tuesday, Jan. 17th. We are excited to kick this year off, praising our Lord for the great things He has done in 2011 and we are excited to see the great things He has in store this year!

Ephesians 2:19-22Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Adjusting to American Life

2011-11-29T13:40:00.001-08:00

We have been in the states for about six weeks now and we can hardly contain the whirlwind of events that are swirling around us. One of the main reasons for coming out was to be a part of my

younger sister, Kristin, and her fiance, Kevin's wedding. We have been swimming around in the world of wedding events at my grandmother's house (where we are currently staying). With less than one week till my sister's big day and all of the wedding events and other appointments it was inevitable that someone was going to get sick. So here I am, day 2 of residing in what I refer to as "the bat cave" and loading myself up with orange juice, Emergen-C, 7-up, tea, soup, Nyquil and whatever else I can get my hands on to heal up before the big day. And most importantly, staying away from everyone else in the house is absolutely ESSENTIAL. Not only are the bride and groom at the same house, but the ring bearers (Josiah and Christopher), the officiator (Jonathan), and of course two bridesmaids (myself and my sister, Erica). So everyone is avoiding my sick space like the plague! But I am so blessed that they are all still taking very good care of me and everyone seems to be chipping in to take care of the boys. Benjamin has started walking and he is SO great at his balance now. A minute ago I left the "bat cave" and saw him walking around and balancing so much better. It's such a sweet time to have family all around and to have our little Benjamin in the beginning stages of walking. We enjoy seeing family get a kick out of him too. We were surprised by my sister and brother-in-law who flew in from Australia on the day before Thanksgiving. We thought they were coming in on Friday but the surprise was on us this time!!! We have never had the chance to meet our Australian born brother-in-law, Mitch, so we were beyond blessed to meet such a precious addition to our family. Cheers mate! Thanksgiving was an absolute dream for our family. The company was amazing and we got to connect and catch up with so many family members. The time was precious, so refreshing and dear to me. I even signed up for the Long Beach Turkey Trot and ran my first 5K before the Thanksgiving festivities began! I wanted to update the blog with a few pictures of what we've been up to while we've been here. I hope you enjoy them!

Fergusons are here, SURPRISE!

2011-10-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed and thankful to have made it here to California safely. After traveling with a 4, 3 and 1 yr. old for 19 hours, we were praising God for our sanity! We were so excited that we had our whole family and friends believing we were coming home on November 10th when the WHOLE TIME we had planned on coming in Oct. 19th. We had each and every surprise planned for months and we could hardly wait till we were finally embracing family after two long years away from them. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. Our first thoughts as we came back into America were, "Wow, everything is so big and open here." And we were in awe of all the advertising. It's funny how much we can forget by being over seas for just two years. Jonathan has been invited to speak at a few churches to share what the Lord has been doing with us in Kenya and to teach some studies. We are so excited to meet new friends and are thankful for the opportunities to share with other believers. Tomorrow Jonathan will be teaching at a church in Arizona called Cross Connection International Fellowship. Please pray that the fellowship is blessed by the teaching and pray for opportunities to minister in this sweet fellowship. Things have been a whirlwind since we've arrived and we ask for your continued prayers for our family as we adjust for this short period of time. We will be in California till mid-January. Special thanks to my best friend, my grandma, Judy, for running around all over town to get everything in the house so we didn't have to worry about coming home and having to shop for diapers, find a high chair or stroller, get food. And thanks for keeping up the web of lies on our behalf so we can surprise the rest of the family. Special thanks to our F5 care team; Linda and Ross, Dorrys,Susan and Les, Katie, Nikki, The Copalbo Family and the Hinrichs Family for the goody basket and for all of your arranging and running around on our behalf so we can settle quickly. We just love you guys and are so thankful and blessed. We thank you again for your out pour of love for our family. If you would like us to share with your small group or church, please contact Jonathan Ferguson at mungubariki@gmail.com. Love, The Fergusons

Jehovah Jireh

2011-09-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

One of the many blessings about being on the mission field is not only do we get to witness God move and change us and the people He's called us to but we see Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. One of my favorite things to do with our missionary friends before we moved to Kenya was find out all of the ways they have seen God work and the ways they were provided for. Over and over I've heard friends say, "We saw the amount of money that came in, we saw what needed to be paid and the we were definitely in the red! At the end of the month we saw the money we paid out and looked at what came in and we knew the Lord how 'multiplied the loaves'!" I loved hearing that story. I definitely don't love learning the story before we have seen the loaves multiplied. In light of the last post I just thought I wouldshare with you a bit of how God has been faithful and as the saying goes, "Where God guides, God provides". This month has been a test of faith. Do we believe God has called us? Absolutely. With this truth firm in our hearts we wondered how we would survive this month and how God was going to provide. Immediately stuff began to pour out of my heart that surprised me. "Well, I guess we're done. We're going home permanently," I began to tell myself. "I don't even see how we have grocery money." I'm not saying this to guilt anyone but where we are weak God proves himself strong. Where we lack, He covers. Where we come up short, He is our complete provider. I did not have see or even have faith that we would make it through the month. I began to panic and lost sleep at night. Panicing and worrying about finances is like trying to come up for air when you feel like you're drowning in a pool and you're floundering to make it to the top. Yes, I've had time to examine this feeling well. The next day I went to my weekly Women's Bible Study. We are studying Revelation with Beth Moore and in the beginning introduction to the session she says something like, "I don't know what your situation is today and what you're dealing with at home but can I ask you, has God dropped you before? Why would he drop you now? Say it out loud altogether, (all audience in unison says) Why would God drop me now?" Tears began streaming down my face as I said, "Why would God drop me now?" In my heart I say, "I'm suffocating Lord, help me!" Then peace. I wish I could say that was the end of my wishy-washy doubt-to-hope-and-complete-faith experience but we love to grab back on to worry, don't we people? In my mind I kept hearing missionary friends say, "Never have we gone without". I tried to embrace it but quickly came sinking back down to the bottom of the pool with the reality of our situation. All I could do was pray. Can I make that story mine now? The one where God multiplies the loaves? Can I say that we've seen SO MANY miracles this month that we've lost count? Can I tell you that right now, at the end of the month we are not hungry but full? Can I tell you that God is good beyond compare? Psalm 65:9-13 says, "You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing." One of my favorite passages where Jesus talks about worrying is in Matthew 6 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." His word is true. I hope this story blesses you. I don't know what your situation is today, whether you were just let go from work or can't find a job. Whether you are living in plenty or in need but God is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. Can I ask you to do something strange right now and say out loud, "Why would God drop me now?" He won't. You are His child. Adrienne for the F5

A Request...

2011-09-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

This is never an easy thing to talk about. Most missionaries would rather never mention this. But after much prayer, we felt that it was something that we should share with you all.

Over the last few months, our support levels have dropped. This happens to missionaries at various times, especially during the summer months. Each month our support level is different, but God has been good, we always end the month with enough.

The support we received this month was $500 less than what our usual expenses are, not inclusive of additional expenses such as doctor's visits, computer and car repairs, and travel expenses relating to our upcoming furlough. God again has proven faithful, continually providing additional support as we have needed it.

We currently are in need of an increase in monthly support of about $500/month. This may sound like a lot, but our current monthly support (after paying social security taxes and insurance) averages about $1100/month. We try to live very frugal lives, as this amount must cover rent for our house, utilities, food, rent for church, gas for the car, and any other expenses that arise.

As the month is drawing to a close, we are asking for you to prayerfully consider financially supporting us. At the end of this post is the contact info for Shepherd's Staff, the organization that handles our finances.

If you are currently supporting us financially, we want to thank you for this. We want you to know that you are just as important a team member as us on the field, for without you, we would not be here today.

Thank You!
Jonathan, for the Ferguson Five

You can mail checks to:
Shepherd's Staff Mission Facilitators
PO Box 53640
Albuquerque, NM 87153-3640
Please be sure to put Acct: 5509 on the memo line

Or, you can give electronically through credit/debit card by visiting:

http://shepsstaff.org/ferguson.aspx

and clicking on the "Donate Now" button.

Please Pray...

2011-08-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

Hi gang!

We wanted to update a prayer request we had in our last newsletter regarding a lady in our fellowship. She is HIV Positive and has not been doing well lately. We are praising God that she knows Jesus but we are sad to see her body deteriorating so quickly. Her medicines have stopped working and she has been prescribed medicine that will reduce the pain as her time seems very short. One of her last requests was to get baptized and since she hasn't been well the last few weeks she hasn't been able to come to church so we are praying about what the Lord would have us do. We know that as Christians, baptism is a commandment given to us by Jesus but we also know that it is not essential for salvation. With that being said, we would love to see her baptized and we know that this is very important to her. Please pray for an open door so we can see this sweet sister baptized.

Praise!

We praise God that he has given us a whole year with our sweet baby boy, Benjamin. We had some neighbors over for cake and tea and had great fellowship. We can't wait for you all to meet our little guy when we come in November! (We also can't wait to watch him get his first taste of an In-N-Out Burger!!!!)

We thank the Lord and your prayers for our move. Although we were only moving next door, we were consumed in organizing our friend's house (we were housesitting for another family) so they could come home from Germany with a nice tidy house. We are now in our home and we still get the pleasure of watching amazing animals just outside our window. Just last night the lions were roaring louder than I've ever heard them. (: Thank you Jesus for your AMAZING gifts to us.

Thanks so much for keeping us in your prayers and for your notes of encouragement and love.

Adrienne for the F5

On the Home Front...

2011-07-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

We have been getting ourselves prepared for yet another move. We thank God that He has allowed us to live in a few different places since moving to Kenya. This will be the fourth house our family has been in in just two years. We have been painting our new house. This house has some sentimental value to it as we are moving into the old Gorden household. We are so excited and blessed that we can stay out here in Rongai because we will still be looking out into the game park and the kids will have lots of room to play. Our landlords will be the German Family we have been housesitting for and they are a wonderful family in the Lord.

We have been trying to settle into a routine here, trying to balance taking care of someone else's home, their pets and getting our new home clean and prepared for us to move in. One of our exciting projects is our gardening endeavors. Jonathan has started a garden for the German family for when they get home. We have harvested so much from the garden already! Every time we pull lettuce from the garden our heart swells with pride because we've NEVER done anything like this before! Praise God!

Recently we were eating dinner when we spotted some giraffe outside our home and we ran outside to watch. Here's a picture we snapped. Notice the kids still have their bibs on! We though you'd get a kick out of seeing this awesome photo.

Praise and prayers:

We have received our approval for our visas and we take our passports in next week to get them stamped! Thank you Lord!

We are also getting excited to visit friends and family as we prepare to come back to the states Nov. 10th. We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible! Please pray for all the details surrounding our flights and our time in the states.

We thank God for your continual prayers for our family out here. Earlier in the month Jonathan got an amoeba and was very ill but we praise God that he has fully recovered and God was so faithful to our family for carrying us through that rough period.

Bless you guys,
The Fergusons

Living Water Christian & Farewell to the Gordens

2011-05-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am finally mustering up the energy to write about the happenings of the last few weeks. It has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster since we bid our dear friends, the Gordens goodbye. Let me start off by saying the church was officially handed over in early April to Jonathan. Calvary Chapel Missionaries here in Kenya, stood with us in unity that Sunday to pray and witness a neat transition for the church. Robbie's message was bitter sweet as he encouraged the LWCF saints to continue in the word and encouraged Jonathan to stand strong and stay humble as a servant and under shepherd of God's people. After the message was over, Robbie had Jonathan and I sit at the front so he could pray for us and invited the congregation to pray as they laid hands on us. This was so reminiscent for me of our final Sunday at Refuge where folks we loved and prayed for prayed for us and committed us into the hands of the Lord. Unexpectedly, people stood up one by one and gave their testimonies of God's grace in their lives. They couldn't help but rejoice as they recounted their lives before they knew Christ and how grateful they were to have been fed the word of God so well. I was blown away and touched by how good our God is. The service was beautiful, full of love, joy and a few tears. The experience was one I'm sure I'll never forget.

So the time came, the dreaded day of April 28th, to say goodbye to our mentors, our family, our pastor, our friends the Gordens. Leading up to the date we had sweet fellowship as the Gordens expressed their excitement for what God is going to do in Living Water. Counting down to the date, weeks turned in to days, turned into hours. Before we knew it we were sitting with a few friends, eating pizza and trying to figure out how we were going to get through the next hour. Just as quick as that Thursday came, the Gordens were whisked away in a taxi to head to the airport.

Please continue to pray as we are finally getting used to the new normal. It was very difficult to see our dear friends go but we are so blessed for a friendship that is stronger than we thought a friendship could be. The closeness that comes between friends when Christ is it's center is just beautiful. Please pray for the Gordens as they are now in the states before they head off to Samoa.

Adrienne

Blessed...

2011-04-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

We have been so blessed the past few weeks with great fellowship, encouragement and well, just life! We have approximately 8 days till the Gordons leave and it's starting to become real. I know it sounds ridiculous since we've known for months that they will leave for W. Samoa. It seemed like an event that would take place months, weeks, but now just days away.

Let me share a bit of the events that have taken place:

Christopher turned three! We were so blessed to have our friends join us at a local restaurant, The Carnivore, to celebrate another year of life for our "Christopher Mistopher"! Jonathan made the most outstanding cake in the whole world. I would say, for me, the highlight of the whole birthday party was watching this new side of Christopher that gets embarrassed! (as displayed in the video) He was so funny!

We gathered together for a one day overnighter in Limuru for a Calvary Chapel missionary retreat. Representatives from Calvary Chapel Nairobi, a Calvary church plant taking place in Eldoret, our own Living Water Christian Fellowship, Radio Broadcast Biblia Husema, a Calvary church plant in Mombasa, Calvary Chapel Lakeside in Kisumu, Calvary Chapel Kenya in Ongata Rongai, Calvary International Fellowship in Githurai and other ministries were all present. It was amazing to see all of us gathered together in unity. It was also great to be back in Limuru (where we went to language school) with the clean crisp air and the refreshing fellowship. Jonathan got an opportunity to share at the evening session where he taught Zech. 4:6 which says, "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."

When we came home from the retreat, to our surprise, Java, the German Shepherd we have been caring for, had her puppies. Praise the Lord, Alice, our house cleaner put her into her kennel before she left that day. As you may know we live on the game park and lions and other wild life have been known to prowl around close to the house. Java had 5 puppies but unfortunately one passed away just yesterday. The other 4 are doing well and are getting big now!

Oh and Benny wishes you a very Happy Easter as well as the rest of us!

God bless you!
Adrienne for the F5

"Excuse Me"

2011-02-15T07:56:00.000-08:00

"My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment." James 3:1

Here is a sampling of the teaching that is given in most Kenyan churches. This is from a famous pastor out here, who has a daily radio show:

Blessed Is Everything That Comes Forth From You by Joseph Prince

Deuteronomy 28:4
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body…

The Bible records that Jesus’ spit healed a blind man (Mark 8:23–25), Peter’s shadow healed the sick (Acts 5:15), and handkerchiefs and aprons from Paul’s body drove out evil spirits and diseases. (Acts 19:11–12) This tells us that what comes forth from our bodies can be so blessed that it brings about blessings and miracles to others.

Indeed, God said, “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body…” He was not just referring to your children, or He would have simply said, “Blessed shall be your children.” No, God meant that everything that proceeds from your body will be blessed. All that is of and from your body will be of top-notch quality!

This includes your health. So even if your doctor has said that you have a particular medical condition in your body, just believe that God calls your health, the fruit of your body, blessed. And expect to walk continuously in divine health!

God calls your thinking ability, the fruit of your body, blessed too. You will impress your teachers and schoolmates in school with your mental prowess, or your superiors and colleagues at work with your innovative ideas and solutions. Your mental faculties will be of quality par excellence!

If you are married, you will enjoy a truly blessed marriage and a fulfilling sex life with your spouse. A secular song that laments, “I can’t get no satisfaction…” will never be true for you because God calls your marital relationship (both the emotional and physical parts of it), the fruit of your body, blessed!

If you are a parent, God calls your children, the fruit of your body, blessed. This means that they are special, having exceptional qualities. So the child you are taking care of is not just a child. You are holding a champion in your hands. He will grow up to be a general in God’s kingdom!

Beloved, because Jesus has paid the price — His body was beaten, scourged and pierced for you, all these blessings are yours. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body!

Thought Of The Day
Because Jesus has paid the price, everything that proceeds from your body will be blessed.

So, at what point do you draw the line? If I drink a soda, and then burp in your face, does that mean I have blessed you, since it proceeded out of my body?

This Health-and-Wealth Prosperity Gospel is found in most churches here in Kenya. They promise money, fame, and healings are guaranteed if you have enough faith.

The main issue here is that this line of reasoning stands in complete opposition to the Word of God. "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

What role does the sovereignty of God have in a world where your faith can force God to do something?

Please pray for the country of Kenya, that the Truth would be taught in a mighty way.

Blessings,
Jonathan

Ferguson update

2011-02-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

Dear friends and family,

Let me start off by saying thank you to all who have been asking about little Abigail Gorden, who was bit by a Puff Adder a few weeks ago. We have been so blessed to hear of your prayers before the Lord. Abigail is recovering well and believe it or not, walking on her foot! Please keep our families in prayer with the wild life here. Although it is a huge blessing to be amongst such majestic creatures such as giraffe, zebra, lion, it comes with it's price too. We get some deadly snakes in the area and for an Orange County mama, I'm still learning how to handle all the "what if" scenarios when our kids go out to play. Praise God, a neighbor had advised us on a snake repelent that the Gordens and our family have put around the house.

We have some exciting things coming our way. This year has proved to be the season of change between our friends, extended family and ourselves. Jonathan has taught the last few Sundays at the church and is looking forward to what the Lord has for Living Water Christian Fellowship. The Gorden Family may in fact move their leave date to mid to late April so Jonathan will be taking the church very soon. Please keep all the details in prayer.

A few of the Calvary missionaries have gotten together and arranged a one day retreat for all Calvary Chapel ministry leaders and missionaries. The date if set for mid April. Our family is so looking forward to the refreshing the Lord will bring. What a treat!

Also another change for our extended family is my sister is getting married in Australia! She is getting married the seventeenth of February and we are so excited for this new season in her life. Please keep her and her fiance in prayer as they celebrate this joyous season of life! We love you Erica and Mitch! Many blessings to you both and Mitch, take care of my baby sister!

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and our friends, the Gordens.

God Bless you all,
Adrienne for the F5

Big Changes for the F5

2011-01-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

Friends and Family,

We thank you for your continued support and prayers!

Looking back on this last year, there have been lots of sweet times with the Lord and lots of rough patches where we've grown as individuals and as a family. I (Adrienne) was looking forward to 2011 as a year where adapting to life here wouldn't be quite as difficult and hoped we would get into our own "groove" in ministry and life in general. In Proverbs 16 verse 9, the Bible reminds us that "In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the LORD establishes their steps." This verse is the one that stands out as I share the beginnings of a huge change for the Fergusons. Last week was the beginning of the events that took us completely by surprise. Robbie, Sr. pastor of Living Water Christian Fellowship, shared that the Lord is directing them to Western Samoa. The Gordons plan on moving late May to early June. With that, he has asked Jonathan to take over as the senior pastor of the church. Jonathan has accepted and we are both sad we are losing such beautiful friends and excited about what the Lord will do in the next few months and the years to come. So please keep the following in prayer:

The Gordon Family as they wrap up ten years of ministry and life here in Kenya and direction as they head on to W. Samoa
Jonathan as he is praying for everything that involves taking over a church (vision for ministry, personal time with the Lord)
The saints of Living Water Christian Fellowship
That God would be glorified through the transition
Prayer for furlough plans as we may have to make some changes to our plans

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T10:47:00.000-08:00

Hi there friends and family,

Boy are we missing you all this time of year. The Christmas cards are coming in from friends and family and we are so thankful to be a part of all of your lives. It's so neat to see your pictures and to hear the latest happenings of your lives!
A few days ago we settled into our temporary house. We are house sitting for a German family while they are in Germany. I can't tell you how the Lord blessed us in this house. It's incredible! We are right on the Nairobi National Game Park and we woke up our first morning to three giraffe right outside the window!
Last night we spent an early Christmas dinner with the Kliebe Family. It was the first time all month that it actually felt like Christmas. The Kliebes made a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy,biscuits and pumpkin bread. We made orange sorbet and peppermint hot chocolate (with real candy canes that my grandma sent us!!!)It was truly a night that we will not forget. There's nothing like friends cooking in the kitchen together, sharing great fellowship, eating a great meal, playing a game and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. God is so good! Enjoy the pics from last night.

Merry Christmas and God Bless you!

Quick Update

2010-11-28T09:18:00.001-08:00

Hi friends and family,

There has been so much happening on this end and not a minute to write about all of it!

First of all, THANK YOU Refuge family. We got your cards of encouragement and all of your gifts that you sent for Baby Ben! What a blessing. (For those that aren't at Refuge, our church family sent us DOZENS of cards with an amount of money they contributed towards Benny for a baby shower. Some index cards had an amount of money for diapers, clothes, wipes, baby blankets...everything one would get for a baby shower! We were and are beyond blessed. We also received those that contributed towards getting us our plane tickets for our furlough coming up in October of 2011. We were so touched at such thoughtful gifts.)

Living Water Christian Fellowship is doing amazing. We've been going through Hebrews 11 and the church is excited to look at the pillars of the faith and be encouraged. What a blessing!

The midweek studies are doing well. We have just a few that attend but they are growing in the word of God. The midweek studies will have the month of December off and will pick up in January. I, Adrienne, have had the privilege (thanks to my super duper husband) of attending the Wednesday study through Revelation. Truly exciting times we are living in!

The Fergusons will be moving AGAIN! We have some German missionary friends that will be leaving the country for 8 months and needed house sitters. And seeing as that we have a VERY expensive plane trip to pay for and they were willing to charge half the rent we are paying now, we jumped at the opportunity! Moving day is 8 days before Christmas. With that, please pray for our house lady whom we employ, Mary. She needs a job and right now there is nothing that has come her way. Also for a woman who lives with us named Agnus. Angus and Mary are both sweet sisters in the Lord whom we care deeply for. Agnus also needs a job.

Jonathan and Robbie, pastor of our church, received and exciting opportunity to do a Bible answer program on a local radio station called, "Family Radio". The one hour program is titled "The Mirror". The idea came from the verse in James chapter one which says, " Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do." Kenyans can text in their questions and have them answered live. The first airing of the radio program was tonight and went well. Please keep the program in prayer as Jonathan will be assisting answering the questions with Robbie a few times a month on Sunday nights.

We had an excellent Thanksgiving. We had all the traditional food we would normally have in the States. Every person contributed food to bring so our great big Thanksgiving had about 40 people including kids. We ate Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, mango salad, rolls, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake and a great big chocolate cake to celebrate some birthdays. We had a great time and left the house in a turkey coma! (Sound familiar?)

We didn't make the group Thanksgiving pic because we were running late but here are the neat missionaries we spent Thanksgiving with.

The Lord Bless you this holiday season and we will shoot out another update very soon!

Love,
The Fergusons

Never a dull moment...

2010-10-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

As I leave the house this morning, I glance at the dresser and see my camera. "I should take this today," I say to myself. "Right, when am I going to have time to take pictures of the kids at the playground when I'm most likely going to be nursing, holding the baby and feeding the kids lunch." So I leave it on the desk, safe and secure and unable to give you the evidence of today's adventure.
Today Jonathan is studying for Sunday service. Every third Sunday Jonathan teaches as well as Mondays, Fridays and occasionally Wednesdays. Today was the perfect opportunity to get the kids out of the house so daddy can study in peace and quiet. Days like this usually mean an adventure, to say the least, for mommy.
I leave the house, hopeful that today will go somewhat smoothly. 3 year old Josiah, 2 year old Christopher and 8 week old Ben are in the car, ready to terrorize the day. As we pull up to Carnivore, a local restaurant and playground, I grab the kid's packed lunch, pull out the stroller and pull out an anxious Josiah and Christopher and a screaming Ben. I can feel my cappuccino on the horizon, just inside Carnivore. We navigate through the parking lot as I crazily banter directions to the kids so they just get inside the doors of Carnivore safely. We get to the playground and the boys sit down for lunch at a nearby bench. Their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches resting on their foil "plates" and the boys begin to eat. I nurse the baby. "Okay, things are going smoothly, I'll just go a few feet away to tell the waiter to bring a coffee." I get up, order the coffee and I look up to see the kids have left the bench to go on the slide despite my directions to sit and eat and then play after they have finished. I give the waiter my order when I hear two screams from the playground.
I look towards the slide as I see a monkey enter into the play area. I run over to the play area where two stiff-screaming boys are holding pieces of their sandwiches. One monkey, perched on top of the bench, with a mouth full of peanut butter and jelly, glares at me out of the corner of his eye, worried I will take the remaining sandwiches. I take the kids away from the monkey and carry them safely to another area. The monkey appears panicked as Josiah and Christopher scream and now, Baby Ben is crying in his blanket covered stroller. The monkey eyes the boys, then Ben, then me. The monkey seems to be surprised and worried that he caused such a commotion. I would say the monkey looked remorseful had I not seen him eating and collecting the sandwiches frantically. The monkey's family rests on the tin roof of a nearby structure, waiting for their portion. We surrender the sandwiches gladly. Now not even ten minutes into out playtime we are on plan B.
After glancing at the expensive prices on Carnivore's menu, I decided to go to the local grocery store to get something more reasonably priced. I remembered they had a small arcade inside the grocery store area and the kids could play. As I approach the waiter requesting the bill, two young Kenyan girls approach Josiah and Christopher. Now, for some reason, Kenyans seem to like to tease our children. I don't think it's because they want to see them cry, or do they? They approach our family and begin to admire Baby Ben and ask the usual question they normally ask when seeing any of our children, "Please, you will let me go home with this one." This absolutely panics Josiah and Christopher. This interrogation lasts 15 minutes until the waiter finally brings back the bill and makes change. The conversation went something like this, "Are these two twins?" (Meaning Josiah and Christopher). "No, they are 16 months apart." "And what's your little girl's name?" "Well, he's a boy, his name is Benjamin." "Please, let me take this one home," the young girl directs the question at Josiah. Josiah, "NOOO! That's my baby." "But I will take him home and he will be my baby." Panicked Josiah glares her in the eye and says, "NOOO, this is MY brother!" The relentless teasing about taking the baby home inevitably leads to teasing about taking Josiah and Christopher home. The panic increases in the boys and I think, "Why do you guys do this? Can't you see that this upsets them?" The kids are in full hysteria as I keep interjecting that they won't take anyone home. Then the girl's say, "What if I take your mommy and daddy." "Really???" I think. I calm the kids down and politely try to move things along as I assure the kids that we aren't going anywhere and neither are they.
We load back into the car, off to the grocery store to continue our adventure. On the way out I notice a Kenyan man in his twenties wearing a bright tie-dyed shirt with the words on the back, "Nifty, Nifty, Someone's Turning Fifty!" Now this isn't the first time I've seen something like this. The second hand clothing stores in Kenya are where most Kenyans get their clothes. We've seen a Kenyan wearing a "Smith Family Reunion" shirt with a happy white family on the front. Or a Kenyan man wearing a Little League jacket with the team name, city and state on the front. Even shirts that have come from Disneyland or other theme parks from America. This has given me a broad sense of the "big picture" of things. Although this seems silly and even alarming to us, it's a minor thing here. They are just clothes to cover your back and keep you warm. Nothing more. Mostly we've observed that Kenyans typically dress very well. The women are usually in nice dresses, kangas or occasionally in a pants suit. Always nice shoes, a pair of high heels. Men are dressed in a pair of nice slacks and usually a button down, long sleeved shirt. Even if they are farmers, pouring concrete or doing strenuous work. On our first trip to Kenya, this had surprised me. I thought that I would see more Kenyans in grungy jeans and t-shirts. I am reading a book where the author makes the point that to buy clothes such as jeans and t-shirts is a luxury, usually reserved for rich people. After chewing on this bit of information I thought, "Of course! If I made a small bit of money, I would save it to buy something that looked really nice to wear to work and to go to church in." If you came to Kenya you may observe that Kenyans dress much better than the foreigners.We observed a Maasai man today that fascinated me with his traditional wrap on the bottom half, his staff in hand and a business jacket. Truly wished I had brought my camera today.
Well, as our day wound down, it ended much like it began. Removing an anxious Josiah and Christopher from the car and a screaming Benjamin. They scurried on back into the house. Another day conquered.

Kenyan men and women

2010-09-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

It's typical to see women in Kenya who are responsible for much. You can see many Kenyan women taking care of daily tasks with a child strapped to their back. They can be responsible for the household tasks, child rearing and even hold down a job. We've seen them carrying HUGE bundles of wood for miles and miles, even in old age. We have found that often the case is the men will work or try to find work but wont help much around the house or even with the children. The women are expected to have the household chores done, keep the children quiet and provide an income for the family. Due to limited jobs and Kenyan culture, there are many instances where the men will sit around and the women will find the work. (Not all, but a lot) Mary, our house lady even explained that when mom's have babies, other women will come to help for a month and then they are expected to maintain their regular work at home, get up with the baby at night, feed the family and any unexpected visitors. Mary even explained that it is very normal to have women going through depression during this time.

It has been interesting observing the reaction of Kenyans when we go out in public and Baby Benjamin is crying. We have found that Kenyans don't really let their babies cry. I have heard this from a few missionaries and observed it when our house lady, Mary, immediately remedies Baby Ben's crying by picking him up. We were in a taxi a few weeks (due to car troubles) with Baby Benjamin and Josiah. The taxi driver looked at me in disbelief as Baby Benjamin was crying (he hates the car seat) and I seemed rather calm. He finally said, "Isn't their SOMETHING you can do to keep the baby quiet?" I saw the taxi driver's discomfort and took the baby out of the car seat to try and ease Ben's distress.

So what's the big deal about the baby crying? Well as I thought through the cultural aspects of the situation I came up with nothing. Until today. I was meeting some moms at a local restaurant called Carnivore. We try to get together on Tuesdays for a play group. Carnivore has a huge playground and the kids can play for free (very rare here). As we entered the play area Benjamin cried the whole way in. I quickly passed by the coffee shop, "Dormans" located near the play area. I asked in desperation, "Are you open yet?" "Just a few minutes ma'am," he replied. I returned with Ben in his stroller and a blanket covering the opening of the stroller so he could sleep. The barista looked up and said, "That one was crying so bad." Already frustrated with the way things started out today I replied, "Yep, that's what babies do at this age. They cry." He agreed,"Hmmm...they do. Even mine. When my little girl was small she was always crying." Seeing the discomfort in his eyes as he recalled the days of his little girl's infancy, I asked curiously, "Didn't you know that babies cry? Or did you expect your wife to stop her from crying?" And he said, "Yes. When I come home I don't want to hear all the crying." Hmmm...there it was. It is the woman's responsibility to keep things running smooth. No interruptions. No crying or disturbances from the children. Any mom at this point is probably wondering how a woman can be responsible for keeping small children from acting out in public or keep babies from crying, even when fed, changed and burped. Especially if they have multiple children.

The redeeming part for Kenyan men that changed my thinking:

So I continue the conversation, hoping for a chance to start a relationship to share the Lord (especially if we will be returning weekly). He explained that his daughter was now 17 months old and he takes his daughter every Wednesday for just daddy and daughter time. WOW! A VERY rare thing to hear about. He explained that he has the dates with his daughter because he remembers growing up and not spending quality time with his parents and he wanted it to be different with his child. That and he would get the opportunity to give his wife the day off. What a guy! This may not seem to be much to those of us women who have husbands that are "hands on" but this is HUGE for Kenyan men.

I have resolved to not conclude anything from my limited experience with these observations. I hope there is a generation of Kenyan men that will love their wives and share the burden of daily tasks and responsibilities.

-Adrienne

Still Learning

2010-09-24T04:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I (Adrienne) went to meet a girl new to life in Kenya. She actually works as a midwife in Sudan and will be out in Kenya a few weeks at a time for some R & R. So another missionary friend, Kelli Compean, arranged to have her meet some women who are in the Calvary Chapel circle here in Kenya and show her around. Kelli gave some cultural debriefing for Stephanie, the midwife, and I must say, there is lots I am still learning. For example, here are some cultural lessons I learned:
Never compare a person to an animal. For example: "You are running around like a chicken with your head cut off."
I am notorious for telling my kids that they're a bunch of monkeys. Even if I didn't say that directly to a Kenyan but a Kenyan heard me talking to my kids that way, it is offensive. Mary, our house lady said, "People would wonder why you talk to your children like that."

Also, never cry in front of a Kenyan. Why? Well, as Americans we cry when we are happy, sad, overwhelmed or pretty much for any reason. Kenyans cry when they fear. So you can imagine how offensive it would be to cry in front of a Kenyan friend. They would assume you fear them!

Just goes to show, we've been in country for a year now and have so much to still learn.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go back to the language school and see our teachers and friends. What a blessing it was to feel like we were back "home". The weather was was sunny and cool. The green landscape and friendly faces made us feel as if we had never left. I praised God for remembering lots of Kiswahili and I was able to speak most of the time in Kiswahili. Our friends were overjoyed to meet Baby Benjamin and reconnect with Josiah, Christopher, Jonathan and myself. We had a great day of fellowship and afterwards we met Joyce, the woman who used to take care of our kids while we were in language school. What a great day.

I absolutely had to post this picture. It just cracks me up. This is Christopher feeding his dinosaur "Christopher milk". How funny it is to see him walking around with a giant dinosaur underneath his shirt. Enjoy!

Ferguson Update

2010-08-26T23:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends and Family!

Thanks so much for hanging tight as we've just had Baby Benjamin here for a little over two weeks. Would you like to meet him? (Any excuse to throw up pictures of our adorable little one!)

Josiah and Christopher just adore their new little brother. Josiah often asks me, "Is Benjamin staying for a long long day?" They are both very protective over Benjamin. I walked into the room where Mary, our house lady, was holding Ben and Josiah said, "Hey! Get your own baby!!!!"
We are adjusting well and getting plenty of sleep. This month has been a great time for adjusting with the baby. The Bible school has a break in December, April and August. So Jonathan has been taking care of Josiah and Christopher while I've been able to focus on the baby.
Thanks so much for keeping us in your prayers. Please continue to pray. We've recently had some warfare between our water situation (you can see the previous post for details), Christopher just had his second seizure here caused by fevers and I (Adrienne) have days where the homesickness can seem overwhelming. Especially with a new baby.
God Bless you guys!
Adrienne

Water Wars

2010-08-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

So here in Nairobi, we only get water from the city once a week. We have a large tank the water is pumped into, and another in our attic. We also store a lot of water in water containers that we store in our carport.

So late Friday night this week, the water starts coming. The problem was that we had no power. No power meant that we were unable to pump the water into our tank in the attic, and had to siphon water off the main tank into the smaller containers, instead of using the pump.

Saturday morning came, and there was still no power. I started looking for any containers we had to fill with water. I filled trash cans, the baby bath, buckets, pots, pans, whatever we could find! The tank in the attic holds 2,500 gallons, so without power, we would be short that much water!

The funny thing is that usually, the water shuts off around noon on Saturday, but this week it stayed on until after 4:00. It was like the water company was taunting us with all this water, that we were unable to use.

I turned the pump on, so that the water would begin pumping as soon as the power came on. We had to run an errand, and so left, the house. While we were gone, the power came back on, and pumped the water from our outside tank to the attic tank. Our quick errand took longer than usual, and when we returned, the outside tank had been emptied. We figured the upper tank was full. We went inside and I turned on the sink to wash my hands, but no water came out.

I checked the other sinks, and found that a faucet had been left on the whole time. 2,500 gallons of water had flowed through the sink, and down the drain. I had spent 12 hours that day trying to save as much water as possible, but to no avail.

So, this week, we have a total of 2,500 gallons, where we usually have 3x that amount. The best thing - We have three guests staying with us this week - 3 extra people using 1/3 the water as usual!

Welcome to Kenya!

Jonathan, for the Ferguson Five

Kenya's New Constitution

2010-06-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

This August Kenya will decide whether to accept the newly proposed constitution. The line has clearly been drawn between those for and against. The Government is strongly pushing for this constitution to pass, with only a few (but some high ranking) Members of Parliament opposed. However, the churches here in Kenya are highly opposed to this new constitution, due to a few very controversial clauses.

One of the contentious issues is the clause that references abortion. While the constitution guarantees a person's right to life, and states that life begins at conception, it goes on to say that they are instances where abortion is legal. the exact wording says, "Abortion is not permitted unless, in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if permitted by any other written law." The problem with this is that the wording has been changed from current law and the previous constitution draft. Currently, the wording says "registered medical practitioner". This makes a huge difference here in Kenya, where there are many people who qualify as "trained health professional", including pharmacists and even so called "herbalists", also known as witch doctors!

The second issue deals with Islamic law and the inclusion of Islamic courts in the country. If passed, the constitution will allow for government funded Islamic courts. While these courts will have jurisdiction only over issues related to inheritance, marriage and divorce, and personal status, this is just the first step in the allowing of full Islamic law to be introduced.

The battle lines have been drawn, and there has been violence over this constitution. Two weeks ago, during a prayer rally for the "NO" camp, three grenades were set off in a large crowd of demonstrators. Six people were killed, and over 100 more were injured. This happened at a park about 3 miles from our house.

Please pray for peace in Kenya during this time. Kenya doesn't have the most stable of governments, and recent elections have not gone smoothly. Please keep this nation in your prayers, and our family, too. Please pray that God would protect us, and give us wisdom in how to best serve this nation that God has called us to.

Jonathan (for the Ferguson 5)

And on every missionary blog/newsletter you'll find...

2010-05-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

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You'll find the words, "So it's been a long time since we've blogged" or "sorry I haven't been able to get around to an update but things have been crazy." So joins the Fergusons amongst these missionary excuse-makers! Haha! Well, we've had quite a month so far. Oh and please forgive me because I am behind on my support thank you cards and (of course) my blogging.

VISITORS!
It seems like this months has been the month of visitors. What an AMAZING blessing! We can't tell you how much we look forward to this part of our time here. We LOVE talking to new people about what God's doing in their lives, what brought them to Kenya and what God is or has taught them.
Jonathan just left the house to see a movie with some visitors we've had, Ray and Nate. Ray and Nate attend and serve Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. It's been so neat to have these new friends and people from our area come to stay with us and with Robbie and Elizabeth. We've been so blessed by their gifts! Ray and Nate work in the office for the Children's Ministry at Costa Mesa and have a great heart to do whatever needs to get done! They've done everything from build chicken coupes, to helping us chop wood, working in an orphanage, moving large boulders, helping the church move. They've been such a blessing to our family and Living Water Christian Felloship. Nate also plays the guitar and leads worship so we've been taking advantage of their gifts as much as possible! What an amazing time it has been to watch these to 21-yr. olds just come out to serve in whatever capacity they can. What an encouragement it has been! We'll post a picture of all of us together soon. If you are interested in reading about their adventures, I'd HIGHLY encourage you to. The blog is: seraphim188.blogspot.com.

The Herscowitz Family is a beautiful family that's been serving Jesus in Kisumu, Kenya for 5 years and the Lord called them back to their hometown in California. We can't begin to tell you all we learned from them and what a blessing it was that this family ended their time in Kenya in our home. The Herscowitz's departure was delayed for several months due to some hold-ups with their son, Paul's adoption and visa issuance. What a test of faith it was! Down to the day they before they were supposed to leave they STILL hadn't received the proper documents. We prayed in faith knowing God had a plan and the Lord saw to it that the visa was issued the day before they needed to leave. Praise God! We were overjoyed that they were finally able to take their son home but so sad that their time with us was over. We'd spent many late nights talking and we were so encouraged by their witness.

We've had a few other visitors come and stay including a couple that just moved out to Kenya two weeks ago from Georgia and another young guy from Texas who will be here in Kenya will mid-June.

We are SO excited for this week! Our very own Helen Parks will be coming to stay with us for TWO WEEKS! We are so excited! I may just burst into tears when I see her! Praise God for all the new and old friends. We can't tell you how nice it is to have people around and how we get the incredible privilege to watch and learn about their experiences on the mission field and as a follower of Jesus.

Women's Bible Study!

I am so excited I got the opportunity to join a Tuesday Bible Study lead by a long-time missionary, Vicky Vule. We are going through the Beth Moore study, "A Woman's Heart". I have found myself SO excited about the homework and SO looking forward to Tuesdays to just be fed and poured into. What an amazing gift it has been to join these women!

U-Turn For Christ Pig Roast

U-Turn for Christ is a ministry here in Kenya that helps Kenyans get off of drugs and alcohol. At the facility, they are introduced to Jesus and have Bible studies amongst other things. Every year they put a pig roast together and Jonathan had the honor of attending this fun-filled celebration. The families of those in U-Turn are welcome to come to the event and it's just a neat day of celebrating what God has done. I stayed home and Jonathan, Josiah, Christopher, Ray and Nate attended the pig roast. Jonathan was especially encouraged by the testimonies that were personally shared by those in U-Turn. The even was scheduled to start at 9AM and Jonathan thought, "Hmmm...I'll show up at ten so we aren't the first ones there." Jonathan called me and says, "It's 10:15 and we are the FIRST ones here!!!!" Well, that's Kenyan time for ya'!

Well, since it's been so long, that's enough catching up for now. Thanks so much for stopping by and catching up to what the Ferg5 are up to!

Prayer Requests:
The church as they grow in the knowledge of our savior
The Bible school-Jonathan is starting to teach the book of Mark
The Fergusons as they drive around and Kenyans taking public transport-those who drive public transport are endangering people's lives on the road and in their matatus (mini buses). There isn't a month that goes by that we aren't nearly in an accident. It's by God's grace that He's kept us so far!
Adrienne and she is entering into the 3rd trimester and prayer for Baby Benjamin's health
Robbie (Senior Pastor) as he studies the word of God and brings it to our church body
Safety and preservation of Robbie and his family (mostly with driving and such)
The Fergusons, Robbie and Family, Nate and Ray's health. We've been battling colds, coughs, stomach bugs and such

Have a great week!
Adrienne for the Ferg5!

April Newsletter

2010-04-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! In the interest of saving money and time, we have decided to email our newsletters instead of mailing them through the postal service. We will also be posting the newsletter here on the blog, as well as having copies available at the Missions Table at Refuge. Here is April's newsletter, enjoy!

Jonathan

April 2010 Newsletter

Prayer Update

2010-04-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends and Family,

Thanks for praying for us as we serve God here in Kenya. We wanted to update you all on the need for prayer as we have a lot of transitions coming.

Please pray for our leadership at Living Water. For unity and wisdom.
Please as our church was recently robbed for the second time in 7 months. Pray for salvation/repentance for the person/people involved.
Our church is undergoing MAJOR transitions with many things which I am not permitted yet to share. All these changes are good and we're super excited.
Pray for our congregation that they would grow in the wisdom and knowledge of God.
Pray for the Bible School as Jonathan began teaching "The Scarlet Thread of Redemption." It's an emphasis on showing God's plan of redemption throughout the whole Bible with an emphasis on finding Jesus in the Old and New Testament. Jonathan teaches every Mon, Wed., Fri.
Pray for the up and coming delivery of baby Benjamin. Our C-section is scheduled for Aug. 17th
Pray for Josiah, Christopher and Adrienne as we start homeschooling little by little.

We praise God for continually confirming our call here in Kenya. We are so excited about the plans God has for us and we rest that we are in His hands.

Blessings,
Adrienne

Kikuyu Wedding

2010-03-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

The other day, while we were at home relaxing, we began to hear cars honking, or hooting, as it is called here. More and more cars were coming into our complex, all hooting. We went outside to see what was going on, and realized it was a wedding party. Adrienne grabbed the video camera and started filming this very cool event taking place.

We found out (by asking our neighbors who came out to watch as well) that this was a traditional Kikuyu wedding. The women from the groom's family had come to collect the bride from her parent's house. They sing outside the gate until they are let in, then they bring the bride out to a waiting car and take her to the ceremony.

Enjoy the singing and dancing!

Jonathan

Getting settled in

2010-03-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Since our last post we have been crazy with getting a routine started with our kids and dinner menus and finalizing all the paperwork for our car, getting a PO Box, painting the house, dealing with a sick kitten, potty training and ministry. Phew!

The move went great. On moving day, after 2 1/2 hours of waiting for our moving truck, the moving guy calls us to say the truck has been in the shop and it would be several more hours till he was able to get there. So a friend from language school called up someone that he knew who was supposed to have the same size truck we had ordered through this other place. But when he came to our house, he came in a pick up truck instead of a lori. I wish I hadn't packed my

camera because this truck was stacked so high it was truly a miracle that the movers actually made it to our house intact. The pictures shown are just ones I found online, but it'll give you a good feeling of how the day went. All of our stuff was moved that day with the exception of Josiah's bed frame, a stroller and my guitar. We were blessed that a few guys came out from the church. I don't think we've EVER had so much help during a move. It was great!

We got our car! We are the proud owners of a Toyota Carib. Since we don't have any of those in America, I posted a picture for you. This is not a pic of our actual car but our looks just like it!

Today we went to get our ultrasound of the baby and found out we are going to have a boy!!! Woohoo! Benjamin David Ferguson is expected to be here early August. We appreciate your continued prayers for this pregnancy. It has not been an easy one!

Well, we are excited to get our first painting project underway. We are painting Christopher and Josiah's room with a cars theme. It's coming along well, we should be finished by tomorrow! The picture shown is one we found online and decided to do a car theme instead of an airplane theme. We are so excited to post the final picture!

Our tests went great at language school. Although we haven't gotten the results of the final written exam, Adrienne got a 6.7 out of 7

on the oral exam. Please pray as Jonathan will be taking his oral exam this week. We got news of Jonathan's dad who was due to have surgery on his carotid artery so that took his attention away from taking the oral exam.

As I mentioned, Jonathan's dad, Kim had surgery last week and came through the surgery successfully. He is now home working on recovery. Can you believe he wasn't on any pain meds after the surgery. What a man!!!!

Jonathan's grandma was also admitted to the hospital around the same time with high blood pressure. Apparently the 4th time she had been admitted in 2 weeks. She is now home but please pray for her health and full recovery.

So recently we bought a kitten off the side of the road. We figured this would be a great solution to cock roaches and spiders hanging around the house. BUT as we should've realized, buying a cat off the side of the road has it's share of problems. Currently the kitten is in quarantine in one of our staff quarters with ringworm, apparently VERY contagious. So we got her shots and cream for the problem and we're hoping it clears up soon. I would post a picture but she's losing hair around her face and is lookin' a little scary!

Hopefully by now, you should've received our newsletter. If you have not and would like a copy, please forward your mailing or email address us at Ferg4africa@gmail.com and we'll make sure to send one right out!

Blessings,

Adrienne

The next step...

2010-02-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

Friends,

We have had such an emotional week, with this being our last at Language School. Today was heart-breaking as we said goodbye to our Joyce and all of the teachers that have helped us from the time we got here. The only thing that kept us from "losing it" is the fact that we still have to return for our finals and that I will see Joyce on Monday...

Free Cervical Screening for Women of Nairobi!

On Wednesday, Robbie, our pastor, picked up about 5-6 women to take for a free breast and cervical cancer screening. A team came from Loma Linda to put on this clinic and the women of Nairobi are so excited. Joyce, the lady who helps us with the boys while we attend class, and I met the ladies from our church to get in line for their free screening when we discovered there were women waiting from the day before! Needless to say, our women didn't get seen but praise the Lord, the guy from the head of the clinic has been in contact with me via email and arranged for our women to come and get an appt. His name is Mark and we've been in touch about this clinic for about a year. Mark is a Christian and has asked for your prayers during the clinic. He will come worship with us at church on Sunday and have lunch with us afterwards. This appt. was such a blessing considering the team will only be here till about March 11th and the women are served on a first come first served basis. The women from our church come from all different areas but Joyce lives near us in Tigoni, making it very difficult for her to get there early. Our women went away glad in their hearts that the Lord provided this screening and an appointment for them.

A Date with Joyce

So, since Joyce and I had planned on being at the hospital all day for this screening, now, we had the whole day to ourselves! A blessing because I wanted to take her to get her nails done and have lunch as a thank you for all she does. It was funny, Joyce and I had been talking about this "day of fun" since last week. We got to a place called Village Market where we could grab lunch and get our nails done but after talking more with her, Joyce wasn't so sure about the "pedicure thing". I don't think she had ever had one before, so we settled for lunch and an ice cream cone. (:

Car News

Also, this week we checked out another car. A Toyota Carib. Jonathan took the car to the mechanic and everything checked out great! We made an offer on the car and negotiated pricing today! Since we just worked out the pricing of the car, we are still going to be finalizing paperwork and such. We are so glad we are finally going to have a car! PRAISE THE LORD!

We got a package!

So today was especially emotional because we found out we got the car, we had to say goodbye to Joyce and our sweet friendships from Language School AND we got a package from our care team back at Refuge. Apparently the package was sent way back in December and we JUST got it today. Let me tell you how touched we were...We opened the package to find two hand-knitted beanies for our boys that had the colors of the Kenyan flag and said, "Kenya" on the front. These beanies were made by one of our girls in the youth group at Refuge, Jasmine. Our team sent birthday and Christmas cards for all of us, a book for Jonathan, a Phil Whickham CD, a new Veggie Tales Christmas DVD (that the boys are watching as we speak) and a touching DVD that brought Jonathan and I to weeping. The DVD was a slideshow put to music with all of our favorite people from Refuge holding up signs that said, "Merry Christmas Ferguson Family". Our friend, Jack, took pictures of the Jr. High all together with a sign that said they missed us. We can not tell you how much this touched us. The fact that they went to so much effort and seeing all of our friends smiling faces brought joy and gladness to our hearts. It also made us long for home. Thanks to our care team and to all our brothers and sisters at Refuge. We really want to try and figure out a way to show you all so bare with us as we figure it out. We love you guys!

Move on Monday!

The last bit of news is our move starts on Monday. Josiah, Christopher and I will spend the night at the new house on Sunday night and Jonathan will come back to Tigoni so he can be at the house when the moving truck comes. Please pray for this day, we have SO MUCH going on. This is actually the day that the appt. was made for our ladies at church so I am going to Kenyatta National Hospital and then I'm going to rush back to help with organizing things in and putting them in their right place. We are so excited about our new place and praise the Lord for all He's done. AND we'll get to Skype with friends and family without a problem on the internet.

New Class Starts for Bible School

Please pray as our church is beginning a new class at the Bible School and we have about 3-5 eager students. This school isn't designed to give people a degree in theology but to go through all the books of the Bible and get them grounded in the word of God. We are soooo excited and Jonathan is excited to FINALLY get back into teaching. Thank you Jesus!

Love you guys!

Adrienne for the Ferg5!

Don't be discouraged...

2010-02-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

We are winding down from language school and can hardly believe next week is our finals. I can hardly believe we are about to end our time at school. This school has been such an unimaginable blessing to our family. There are hardly words to describe our experience here. We've made some amazing friendships here and it will be difficult to leave. The teachers here have been like our parents and mentors. We feel like kids that are going to make our attempt to move out of "mom and dad's place" for the first time. We look forward to posting some pictures when our connection to the internet is better.

Lately I've had some phone conversations with my mom and grandma, and in trying to articulate the blessing of being in Kenya, there are frustrations that surface about the injustices which happen to the people of Kenya. It's so easy to be frustrated when we read in the newspaper about discontinuing funding for children who need medicine for Malaria while then turning the page of the newspaper and reading about members of parliament who give themselves a raise when they are already getting an enormous salary. There are so many frustrations and we can get so caught up in the headache of the way things are run here and how they oppress the people. It's difficult.

Today we had lunch with a Kenyan couple whom I had just met and their perspective was refreshing and encouraging. I told them how it seems that people don't consider the enormous "in your face" corruption a problem because it doesn't affect their everyday lives. Her perspective really gave me some insight. She had said that the people of Kenya had been under oppressive governments before and the people never rose up for fear of gov't. But now that there is more "freedom to speak out" it has created a society of people that don't care about the level of corruption that people are involved in because it doesn't directly affect their lives. It has also made the people jump into "survival mode", where everyone just looks out for themselves. This woman explained about the frustrations and injustices she has seen. She shared her experiences about opportunities that the Lord has given her to speak directly to some corrupt official responsible concerning a few matters. Before approaching them she was confronted by others who asked her the question, "Well, who are you?" Good question. She thought to herself, "Who am I to approach these people?" After tracking down this certain person, she was just about to give them a "piece of her mind" when out from her mouth poured words of encouragement and edification to this person who was responsible for matters that brought injustice. She could hardly believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. This was not the plan! But God had other plans. The point was not that this person was doing an amazing job but it's God's heart to win the soul of the person. It reminded me of this scripture (Col. 4:5), "Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." (NIV) When we think the person deserves justice, He gives them grace so that they may come to know Him. This person had opened up his heart and let her know that there were corrupt officials above himself and that if she wrote letters and made " a stir" about the situation, he would be behind her. What a blessing! I know this story is a bit vague but I'm sparing the details to share about how much I was encouraged today.

Kenya is a country where there are so many relief funds and aid from other countries and organizations and still there are your poverty stricken folks and very rich folks. Seeing money falling into the hands of thieves is so disheartening when so many people can't get their basic needs met. Corruption runs so deep in the roots of Kenya.

But yet there's life here. There's a need for Jesus in this country filled with poverty, business, robberies, corruption, missionary aid groups and NGO's. There's a proud Kenyan spirit here that's just contagious despite the hardship. This country doesn't need more money but they need Jesus. He's the one that can change the hearts of the people, that will turn them from their sin. Jesus gets to the root of the evil and that's the heart.

It was refreshing to remember the reason why we came. Not so we can do or be everything the Kenyan people need. But it's to give them the only thing we have and that's Jesus. We can feed hunger for a while but God is the giver of the bread of life. We could dig bore holes to help the people get a drink but God is the one who quenches with living water. He's the provider, He's the savior, not us. And that is a huge lesson that I'm learning and will continue to learn here, I'm sure.

Adrienne

I Am From Nairobi

2010-02-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

No, I didn't write this, and Oyunga Pala is not my pen name. I found this article in a magazine here in Kenya. I loved it, and thought that you guys would like it as well. It seems to be a prety good description of Nairobi. - Jonathan

I Am From Nairobi

By Oyungu Pala

The first time I flew into Bangkok, a friendly Thai passenger gave ma a litany of scenarios and characters in order to avoid getting mugged or conned. I got similar warnings when I walked through Oliver Tambo airport in Johannesburg. My response was always, “Thanks, but I’’m from Nairobi.

In all my trips in and out of the city, whenever someone asked me where I was from, I never said, “Kenya.” It was always, “Nai.” It sounded cocky, as if to say, “You do not know my kind.” You see, nothing fazes us. Tried and tested. Nairobi does that to you.

In my 10 years as a newspaper columnist focusing on social commentary, I learned that the only way to see Nairobi is through its contrasts. It’s a bit of colonial relic with its historical buildings, the most significant being the Railway Museum, where the story of ‘Nai’ begins. At the same time, it beckons to be one of the continent’s leading, cosmopolitan cities.

In the late 1890’s. it was called Ewaso Nai’beri: a Maasai homeland, known as the place of cool waters. Thanks to English affectations, it was mispronounced, ‘Nairaby’. It became a British railway camp, a rest point as they built the lunitic express – an elaborate attempt to capture a virgin country’s resources.

Today, it is a city that blends all humanity, where its easier to learn Japanese than it is to learn Kimeru or any of the other local languages, for that matter. It could also be seen as a basket case, if you train your eyes on the poverty that defines the majority of it’s citizens. Or you might just mistake it for a Western capital, if your priority is enjoying ice-skating in the tropics.

It’s the city of Barrack Obama’s father, knocking back Johnny Walkers at the swanky United Kenya Club. The same city claimed by President Obama’s lost brother George, who now makes headlines from a hovel in Dandora.

It’s a city of contrasts, like the city that hosts the headquarters of UNEP and UN-habitat offices situated less than 20kms from the largest slum in Africa. But man, you can still get a world-class cappuccino.

I recall when Nairobi was known as the ‘green city in the sun’. Post cards from Nairobi composed the picture of a giraffe in the background of the Kenyatta Conference Centre. Praises sung about the friendly-faced locals added to this beautiful mosaic of an idealized modern African city. The people were very hospitable and the patriotic slogans were ‘Jambo Bwana’, ‘Karibu Kenya’ and ‘Hakuna Matata’. The illusion of this has slowly ground down.

Nairobi became known as Nairobbery. That reality was best captured by pioneer hip-hop band Kalamashaka, in their hit song ‘Tafsiri hii’. The line that became an anthem among the urban youth was, ‘polisi au jambazi’. Cops or robbers? The difference was the same. The common trait among Nairobians was that we had all suffered a break in, a mugging or a carjacking; at least paid a bribe to the police for no crime, or greased a government officials palm before you got a basic service that was free of charge. In those days, every tourist was handed a survival handbook. Every sentence began with the words, Avoid, Don’t or Stay Away.

I got accustomed to power rationing. Dry taps. Clogged traffic. Potholed roads. All of it due to the bizarre political policies that squeezed the life out of my personal progress.

I was here when the war correspondents made it their hub. Somali was burning. South Sudan was in turmoil. Rwanda in the midst of a genocide and the LRA running riot in Uganda. Nairobi was the luxurious haven of peace in a region plagued by conflict – a place to chill out and spend your hardship allowance.

At the turn of the century, at the dawn of a new era, Nairobi was the centre of new optimism. Investors were back by the droves and the economy was growing. It became known as one of the most important business capitals in Africa. For expatriates, it was tropical paradise – a dream posting that would leave any expatriate wife feeling kind of ‘OK’. It felt almost like home, but only that the weather was better.

The middle class was expanding. There was a real estate boom. Then the bubble burst after election mass violence rained havoc on our little parade of prosperity. I watched the same buoyant expatriates moaning about the rising cost of living and the need for a fresh look at their compensation packages.

I reacted differently. I had real scars from the city’s tragedies. I was there during the ’82 attempted coup, the 1998 US embassy bombing and the post election chaos. Each time, the faint-hearted lost hope, but Nairobians brushed themselves up and said, ‘C’est la vie in Nairobee!;

Despite the ups and downs, in and outs (and as prickly as she is), she is still a rose. Nairobi has instilled in me the capacity to survive and reinvent despite anything that life throws at me. I am in many ways an embodiment of a city that prepared me for the worst of everything; yet this city simultaneously taught me that ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’. All we have to do is look behind what we see.

Today, Nairobi is rising again – on another turn upward. I see a burgeoning media industry, a surge of creativity and expression. Yes, we have more bars and restaurants and nightclubs. But that’s not the soul. For me, Nairobi is cool because of its hardships and not in spite of them. This gives us an edge over the rest. We’re tested. We’re tried and we’ve come through.

‘We are from Nairobi.’

Immediate Request ANSWERED!!!!

2010-02-02T06:21:00.000-08:00

We are so excited we got the house mentioned in the below request! Wow! You guys are prayer warriors! (;

We are so excited and thankful. We'll post pictures soon!!!!

The Fergusons!

Prayer Update!

2010-02-02T03:16:00.000-08:00

Hello! We can't believe we are winding down in language school and are getting ready for the next phase, moving to Nairobi! Could you pray for a few things? Pray that we remain diligent in our studies, school end late March Pray for an opportunity to rent a home within our budget-a home became available that we are in love with. Close to the supermarket and 5 min. away from our church that's in a gated safe area. The landlord is a Christian who's praying about renting to us or another gentleman. The house is 4 bedrooms/3 bathrooms for $525/mo.! Incredible for Nairobi! We are praying that the Lord will provide to come up with 2 months rent deposit AND three months rent in advance as the rent is paid quarterly. We are still praying about the sale of our truck in Cali (We know economic times are bad) and a car. There's a man named John who's a Christian who's looking for a car for us within our budget. Pray for an exciting opportunity for ministry/evangelism as a team will be coming out from the states the end of Feb-Mar. 11th to set up a free breast/cervical screening for women. We will advertise it at our church. Pray that the women wouldn't be afraid to come and that the Lord provides transportation to the hospital for the women and that the women from our church would reach out to unbelievers also waiting to be screened. Pray for our church. The Lord has provided laborers and we are so thankful because they are SO needed. Please pray for unity in ministry and within the church. The word is going forth, seeds are being planted, watered and are growing beautifully. Please pray for a gentleman named John who gave his life to the Lord a month or two ago. After years of glue-sniffing and becoming drug and alcohol-addicted, he is returning to his old ways. Please pray for the battle for his soul. He comes to church every week but isn't in his right mind. Please pray for the widows at our church. They so love Jesus and serve Him with all they have even though they don't have much. Please pray for their health and God's providence over their lives. They are such precious women whom we love dearly. Praise Report: The health of Baby Ferguson #3 is great. I'm feeling much better and we will find out the sex of the baby March 22nd! Yaay! Love you guys and thanks for lifting us up! Adrienne and Jonathan

2010-01-11T01:32:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year family and friends! We can hardly believe we are starting 2010 in Kenya. Our Christmas was fantastic and quiet at home. We've put together a short video of our life here in Kenya for the past four months. We hope you enjoy it! Mwaka mpya uliona furaha! (Happy New Year!) Oh! Almost forgot! In case you have not heard yet, we are expecting Ferguson baby #3! Woohoo! Please pray for me (Adrienne) as I've been in bed for nearly two weeks now. Thanks so much!

Merry Christmas from Kenya!

2009-12-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Just wanted to leave you a short message this Christmas!

Hadithi hii imetoka katika kitabu cha Luka, mlango wa pili, kifungu cha kwanza mpaka cha ishirini. (This story is from Luke 2:1-20)

Siku zile Kaisari Augusto, mtawala wa milki ya Kirumi, aliamuru ya kwamba watu wote wa milki yake waandikishwe. Hii ilikuwa ni sensa ya kwanza kufanyika nayo ilitokea wakati Kirenio alipokuwa liwali wa Siria. Watu wote walikwenda katika sehemu walikozaliwa ili waandikishwe huko. Yusufu alitoka mji wa Nazareti uliopo Galilaya akaenda mpaka Bethlehemu mji wa Daudi kwa sababu yeye alikuwa wa ukoo wa Daudi. Alikwenda huko kujiandikisha pamoja na mchumba wake Mariamu ambaye kwa wakati huu alikuwa mja mzito.

Walipokuwa Bethlehemu, wakati wa Mariamu kujifungua uli fika, naye akamzaa mtoto wa kiume, kifungua mimba. Akamfunika kwa vinguo na kumlaza horini, kwa sababu hapakuwa na nafasi katika nyumba ya wageni.

Usiku ule walikuwako wachungaji wakilinda kondoo zao nje ya mji. Ghafla malaika wa Bwana akawatokea, na utukufu wa Mungu ukawang'azia pande zote. Wakajawa na hofu kuu. Lakini malaika akawatuliza akisema: ``Msiogope! Nawaletea habari njema ya furaha kubwa, na habari hii ni kwa faida ya watu wote! Kwa maana leo katika mji wa Bethlehemu, amezaliwa Mwokozi ambaye ndiye Kristo Bwana. Na hivi ndivyo mtakavyomtambua: mtamkuta mtoto mchanga amefunikwa vinguo na kulazwa horini.''

Mara jeshi kubwa la malaika wa mbinguni likatokea na pamoja wakamsifu Mungu wakiimba:``Atukuzwe Mungu juu mbin guni, na duniani iwepo amani kwa watu ambao amependezwa nao.''

Malaika hao waliporudi mbinguni wale wachungaji walish auriana: ``Jamani, twendeni Bethlehemu tukaone mambo haya ya ajabu yaliyotokea, ambayo Bwana ametufahamisha.''

Kwa hiyo wakaenda haraka Bethlehemu, wakawakuta Mariamu na Yusufu; na yule mtoto mchanga alikuwa amelala mahali pa kulia ng'ombe. Walipomwona mtoto, wakawaeleza yale waliyokuwa wameambiwa. Na wote waliosikia habari hizi wakastaajabia yale waliyoambiwa na wachungaji.Lakini Mariamu akayaweka mambo haya yote moyoni mwake, akayafikiria mara kwa mara.

Wale wachungaji wakarudi, huku wakimtukuza Mungu na kum sifu kwa yale waliyoyasikia na kuyaona.

Merry Christmas!

Jonathan for the Ferguson Family

2 Ferguson birthdays and Mbui mbui zaidi (more spiders)!

2009-12-14T01:33:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!

We are currently in the middle of

studying for our midterms. We can hardly believe we are HALF way done with school! Please pray for us as we have an oral midterm and a written test. We also had a written test last Friday so we've been studying hard!

This last week was Josiah's and Jonathan's birthday. Josiah was born on the 7th and Jonathan, the 9th. So we celebrated during chai time on the day of Josiah's birthday (half hour break between classes) and had Josiah's birthday party this

last Saturday. Check the video below to see Josiah getting sung to in English, Kiswahili and Korean!

This is the cake Jonathan made. "Dirt and Worms"

Josiah and his buddies enjoying chakula cha mchana (lunch). This is probably the most diverse party we've ever had!

Dada (sister) Stella-One of our instructors. The name "dada" is actually not associated so much as a "Catholic" title but you can use "dada" with any sister in the Lord.

Okay so after I uploaded that video of the spider eating it's prey (a termite), I wanted to share with you a few more "little" spiders we found in the house.

This is an African Rain Spider. Apparently not harmless but I have to say, I freaked out like a little girl (for the record this is Adrienne :) ) Jonathan caught it in the bucket above and put it outside.

Okay, I really wanted to post this video but I want to apologize for how many times I say "Oh my God"....I won't make excuses....I feel really bad about that but check out the video!

And to end on a good note, watch Josiah get sung to in three different languages!

Bless you guys!

The Ferg4

SPIDERS and bugs!!!

2009-12-03T01:41:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

I decided to post a videos GNARLY scary spider video here. Let me

ALSO just note that there is an ACTUAL dead tarantula at our church too....I've not seen any live ones though. Okay I have a second video BUT I need to find a way to load that second video better because for some reason the whole thing won't load ): but I am putting up some pictures too!

Love,

The Fergusons

So, believe it or not, this is the pile of WINGS I swept up after last nights rain

. When it rains we get hundreds of termites outside that will swarm to the lights and apparently their wings are very delicate. We woke up this morning and these wings of these termites were EVERYWHERE!!!! Each termite has four wings!

We took a class trip to the Tea Farm about 20 minutes away from the school. There were Colobus monkeys on the roof and this is a picture of Jonathan feeding them mangoes!

This picture is at our friend, Ruth's house. Ruth is the one on the swing. This is the same house where we had Thanksgiving

Josiah and his friend from Sudan.

This picture was also taken at another time at the tea farm. This is Josiah's friend, Mary. Josiah ABSOLUTELY adores Mary.

Happy Thanksgiving from Kenya!

2009-11-26T00:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it's finally here, our favorite time of year where we all stuff ourselves silly! It's funny when you're a kid you love the special days of the year where we get presents and it seems like the older Jonathan and I get, we just look forward to special days of eating! haha! Today, (Thanksgiving for us) we are currently waiting for friends, fellow missionaries to come celebrate this special Turkey Day. We have so much to be thankful for and it is our ABSOLUTE privelage to serve the folks here in Kenya. We are developing great relationships with people and even testing out our Kiswahili. We are actually having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We are having turkey, stuffing, gravy, salad, mashed potatoes, yams, sweet potato pie and Jonathan and I made pumpkin cheesecake. Oh happy day!

Since we haven't updated in a WHOLE MONTH, we have a lot to catch you up on! Swahili school is going very well. We are becoming more confident in speaking Kiswahili with the locals. We are just excited about the school we are at. They have given us confidence in speaking Kiswahili. When we speak Kiswahili with the locals, people are so excited to help us along with the language. It's great!

We had a guy move in our house a few weeks ago. His parents are Baptist missionaries that lived in Kenya for several years and hey were just assigned to oversee missionaries in Uganda. We love having him at our house, he's a wealth of information since he's been an missionary kid for years.

We have just put up our Christmas tree a few days ago. So it feels like Christmas at our house a little earlier than usual. I told Jonathan that I wanted to make it look like Santa Claus threw up in our house. haha! With us being away from family and friends this year we just need to feel Christmas for a while. So we want to get some Christmas scented candles, have lots of goodies and do lots of Christmas projects with Josiah and Christopher.

Well, we tried uploading some new pictures for you to see but our internet isn't loading them so we'll try again real soon.

Furaha Siku ya Shukarani! Have a great Thanksgiving!

The Fergusons

A Man Named Samuel

2009-10-21T10:10:00.007-07:00

A few weeks ago, Adrienne and I took the boys up to Brackenhurst for a snack and to let the boys run around a bit. We had our usual fun, and then began the walk back home. (I thoroughly enjoy the walk home from Brackenhurst more than the walk there, as coming home is all downhill!) On our way home, we stopped to buy some bread at a duka (small shop) by the road. An older man was sitting outside the shop, and asked us something in Swahili that we were not able to understand. He repeated himself, and as we were about to simply say "Pole sana" (very sorry!), A younger man came by and translated for us. After answering the question, we began talking with our new translator.

His name was Samuel, and he looked no older than I do. He was walking with his son, who was named Isaac. We walked down the road as we talked, and I asked him where he was from. He said that he was from Western Provence, and that he was in Limuru looking for work to support his son and himself. He asked us what we were doing in Kenya. I answered that we were missionaries, and had come to share the message of the cross. His face immediately lit up, and shared that he was a believer as well. He said that he had already found a great church in the community, and loved going every Sunday. I thought, here is this guy who came looking for work, but even before he found a job, he made sure he found his church. I knew then there was something special about Samuel.

As we walked toward our home, Samuel began talking about how it was wonderful that we were following God, even when he called us away from our home. He reminded me about Abraham, and how he was called apart from his family as well. He encouraged me to stay strong in the Lord, to remember that if we tried to do the work using our own power, we would fail. It would only be in relying on the power of Christ that we would succeed. Here I was, in Kenya to encourage the Body of Christ, and I was being ministered to myself. I thought to myself, and then said it aloud, God is good.

One of the best parts for me was that, as we went our separate ways, Samuel did not ask for help. He had just been talking about how God will provide for our every need, and it appeared that he wasn't just talking the talk, but was actively living what he shared. We are often asked for money, simply because of the color of our skin. But here was a man that has not been able to find work, who was simply trusting God to provide for him and his son. I later thought about his son Isaac, and the example that he has in his father of what it means to be a Christian man.

I was deeply encouraged by our short conversation we had, walking down the road from Brackenhurst. I was stirred up in my spirit from seeing this man's faith, and from seeing the way his son looked up at him as we walked. His son looked like he was proud that Samuel was his father. I looked down at Christopher, whom I was pushing in his stroller. I hope that one day, Christopher and Josiah will be able to look up to me with that same pride.

Neema na Amani,

Jonathan, for the Ferg4

Trials and Tests...

2009-10-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

Language School: As I mentioned before, we took our first Kiswahili test last Friday and we got the results back. All glory to the Lord, Jonathan and I both aced our tests! What a relief. We celebrated by taking the kids to Brackenhurst to play on the playground and we just relaxed the rest of the day. This week the school has added a new part of our instruction. The school hires “conversants” to spend about an hour with us everyday speaking in Kiswahili only. The first day was miserable from stumbling over grammatical errors and constantly asking for the “word for this or that”. It was frustrating. The second day with our conversant was amazing. Jonathan and I were able to have a normal (closer to normal than the day before) conversation in Kiswahili. Wow! We are actually believing we are going to speak Kiswahili well at the end of the six month school. Incredible, huh? Oh! And every Monday, we sing praise songs in Kiswahili and we get a devotion from one of the instructors. The devotion is always in Kiswahili only, no translations. It’s always exciting when we catch a word or two or three more than we had the previous week.

Living Water Christian Fellowship, the church we are attending and will eventually serve after language school, is thriving and doing well. The fellowship is a small group of people but they are getting grounded in the Word of God. The people are so wonderful and very friendly. Please pray with us as Jonathan and I are praying about taking over Children’s Ministry as soon as school is over.

God has been so faithful to meet us right where we are at. The last week for me, Adrienne, has proved to be a bit better in terms of homesickness. It’s very easy for me to let my mind drift into the happenings of life in So. California and to be honest, get resentful of this calling to Kenya. I start thinking about missing out on major family events like birthdays, holidays or my mom’s up and coming wedding. I’m not going to lie, it gets hard. About a week ago, I admit, that I was praying and asking God why He would ask this if us. Why he would take us away from everyone whom we love so much. The Lord told me, “I know, I’ve been there too.” And it hit me, Jesus had to leave his mom, his brothers, friends, everything. The Lord above all other people knows what it feels like to be in a foreign place without the comforts of home to do soley what He came to do. Not to equate what we do out here with the work Jesus did for us on the cross. But He knows. It’s hard but worth it. I thanked the Lord for meeting me at that place and at that moment. The following Sunday, we were unable to attend church because of the high cost to hire a driver to take us an hour away to Living Water Christian. So we resolved to attend Living Water every other week until we move closer or get a car. So, last Sunday we walked to Brackenhurst to download some Sunday studies from Refuge and a few Wednesday nights. Sunday night, as I was making dinner, I listened to Peyton Jones’ Wednesday night teaching at Refuge. Man, was that teaching an answer to prayer. Peyton and his wife, Andrea, missionaries to Wales, were in town and Peyton gave a study that really ministered to Jonathan and I. We were nearly in tears till the end. Peyton’s message talked about how the Lord not only knows how it feels to leave family and friends behind as Jesus did on the cross, but he gave us to each other to be the body of Christ. Jesus told Mary, (John 19:26) “Dear woman, here is your son” and then Jesus told John, “Here is your mother.” Jesus knew how hard it would be for Mary to lose her first born son and how hard it would be to for John, Jesus’ disciple, to lose such a close friend, a Rabbi (teacher). So Jesus gave them one to another to fill that gap. That’s what the Lord is doing with us here in Kenya, he has given us friends and other members of the body of Christ when we need our family and friends that are so far away. The church here is Jesus to us when we want to see Him so desperately. God is so faithful!

Prayer Requests:

Josiah to get over this bad fever he got yesterday and that it wouldn’t infect the rest of us.

For Jonathan and I would be diligent in studying Kiswahili and that the language would continue to “click”

For a car!

Financial provision

Wisdom in dealing with street children/beggers

For our family to be in the Word daily and to seek God as our sole provider

For the Lord to be our strength when we feel homesick.

Robbie and Elizabeth and their daughter, Abigail (Senior Pastor of LWCF and family)

Thanks so much for your love, prayers and support. We miss all of you terribly but just know that God is working in us and stretching us in ways that we never thought

The Ferg4

Nakumatt, Haircuts and a Test!

2009-09-30T03:24:00.000-07:00

Our life in Kenya has proved to be a challenge in many areas. We have seen God’s mercy as we get by without a car and learn how to cook from

scratch. It seems that our lives consist of making grocery lists (there aren’t many preservatives in the foods here so they don’t last long), studying and playing with the boys.

Our first test is this Friday, so

we have been studying hard this week. After our review in class today we feel like we can do well if we keep studying. Friday will be a short day in class for us. We plan on taking the kids to Brackenhurst and letting them play on the playground.

Going to the grocery store over the weekends has been no easy task. We shop at a store called “Nakumatt”. It’s kind of an “all encompassing” store. You can do your regular grocery shopping, buy appliances, furniture and lots

of other things. The Nakumatt we went to this last weekend was three flo

ors. The hard part about the shopping is figuring out how everything is categorized while our one and two yr. old boys sit in the cart. The last three times I’ve been to Nakumatt, it was very warm inside and one of the times we had t

hree power outages in the store. It was completely pitch black inside. It’s all part of the adventure.

Last Sunday on our trip to Nakumatt we had to pick up hair clippers. Having three boys in the house, we needed to figure out a solution to their ever-growing hair. Yesterday I cut Jonathan’s hair and it turned out great (I used to cut his hair consistently about 2-3 years ago.) Josiah, who loves getting his haircut, hopped right

in the chair for his turn. As I started to cut the back I realized I had WAYYY to short of a setting for the clippers. I called Jonathan in the room to help “fix” it. Although I can’t say the results were disastrous, they were DEFINITELY less than what we hoped for! The front looks great but the back….well, that’s a different story. Poor unassuming Josiah.

Well, please pray for us as we take our first exam on Friday. We’ll let you know how we did!

Blessings,

Adrienne

Welcome KWAVE Listeners!

2009-09-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

Hi there KWAVE listeners!

Welcome to our blog! We love to keep our blog updated with the latest happenings of our lives, here in Kenya so please come back and check in often for our updates. If you would like to be added to our email list, please email us at at Ferg4africa@gmail.com and send us your address if you would like to be added to our newsletter.

In case you missed the message Friday, visit www.refugefm.com to download the message!

Bless you guys!

Adrienne and Jonathan Ferguson

Tune in this Friday!

2009-09-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Jonathan and I looked at each other a few hours ago and knew we had to do it. The long (for us) treck to Brackenhurst. It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't so many hills. But we wanted to post an update for you guys.

This weekend was a crazy whirlwind of events. Saturday, our friends Robbie and Elizabeth (the Sr. Pastor and his wife) of Living Water Christian Fellowship, came to pick us up for another shopping trip in Nairobi. We needed to pick up some groceries as well as some essentials for cooking and such. After a long shopping trip at Nakumat (the grocery store) and THREE blackouts while shopping, we were ready for a break. We hopped back into the car and made the trip back to Limuru (which is about 30 minutes), dropped off our groceries and our friends took us back to the church. Around 8:30 PM we were dropped off at the church to spend the night and so we wouldn't have to make the hour drive on a busy Sunday morning. Praise the Lord, we got rain on Saturday night (Kenya's been in a severe drought) but it also caused a piece of the ceiling in the church to cave in and collapse. The thud was so loud it scared us half to death and it made a long night for Jonathan who was wide-eyed after that.

The church service was great. The boys were a little rowdy and they have been fighting off a little cold since the plane ride and they have been going #2 after every meal. So we had lost a few outfits to the accidents. We were able to visit with friends we haven't seen in a few years and go out to Ethiopian food. After that, the boys passed out in the car and we made the hour drive back to Tigoni. Upon arrival, Jonathan noticed something was missing. OUR KEYS!!!! Our keys were back in Nairobi and the boys were so fussy. We thought, "Oh no!!!!" Thankfully our instructor, Peter, lives just don the road and had a spare set of keys. Once we got inside, we got settled and went our back to HAND WASH our clothes. After dinner (which was quite eventful!) we heard rain. About an hour later I erupted into laughter and thought, "Our clothes are STILL on the line!" haha. If we didn't laugh we would probably cry!

In other news, this Friday our interview on KWAVE (107.9) at 4:30 will be on the air. So tune in!

We thank the Lord that he has brought us to this place and we love the people and know the Lord has been faithfully providing.

Adrienne for the Ferg4

Thank goodness it's Ijumaa!

2009-09-18T04:16:00.000-07:00

Josiah and Christopher in front of the house

Jonathan, Josiah and Christopher in front of the house

This is our classroom. We have 3 people in the class which makes it great for asking questions and really understanding the instructor.

You may not be able to tell from the picture but this is a HUGE pit we put our trash in. It's located at the back of the house and someone will come by and burn it for us. haha! The pit is HUGE!!!

This is Joyce. She takes care of the children while we are in class and helps around the house. Joyce is used to working with Americans and has been such a help with getting our life started here in Kenya. She also brought us a big bag of avocados from her tree at home. GUACAMOLE!!!!

Pole (sorry) this picture is sideways ): This is our house/language school. It is beautiful, isn't it?

Ahhh....sweet Christopher and Josiah love hanging out in the kitchen while we are doing chores and making meals. They are having a ball here!

This little lizard was found in the bathtub drain as Jonathan tried to take a shower one morning. We think someone left the window open and the little guy crawled right in. Jonathan picked him up and the lizard jumped straight off the second story and landed on the ground. Poor little guy!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the boys on the plane. Aren't they cute?

Habari za nchama! (What is the news of the afternoon?) We have just finished up our first week in language school and can say thank goodness it's Ijumaa (Friday)! We also have a holiday coming on Monday which is the break fast for the muslims so we've got a three day weekend.

Language school is proving to be a challenge but Jonathan and I are studying so hard and practicing our kiswahili on the locals. For two days we greeted people on the streets in kiswahili and most of the time we wouldn't get a response. So we asked our instructor about this and he replied, "It is not often that you come down the street and just greet them." Oops! haha. The people were very gracious with us wazungu (white people).

We are looking forward to a great weekend. Our pastor, Robbie, will pick us up tomorrow and take us to village market to do some grocery shopping and we will spend the night at the church. After church we will come back to the house once again.

A couple days ago we were invited to Zeb's house, a fellow student, for dinner. It was about a 30 min. walk to his house, but the view was breathtaking! I actually had to hold back tears once I got to his house. It was indescribable. Pole (sorry) I forgot to bring my camera ):

We have had a great first week here in Tigoni and the language school has proved to be the best thing we could be doing right now. It is the perfect transition to our life here. Every morning Peter, our instructor, greets us with, "Habari za asubuhi?" (What is the news of the morning?) In which we reply, "Nzuri" (good). Then he will ask us, "Habari za watoto" (What is the news of the children?) and we reply, "Nzuri". Dada Stella, the woman who teaches the second half of the class, has been teaching us our numbers, how to tell the time, verbs and lots of other things. After next week we will be in class from 8:30 AM till 3:30 PM. We have been so blessed by the school and the instructors.

Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers. As the language school gets more intense we will need prayer for rest and patience with our children. Being in school to learn a new language can be quite exhausting.

Ferguson Update

2009-09-14T04:39:00.001-07:00

Hi there everyone,

We just got a few minutes to update everyone on the happenings since our arrival on Thursday. First of all, THANK YOU so much for your prayers. We have TRULY felt them.

First of all, Praise the Lord, we got ALL our luggage and went through customs with no problems at all.

The first night in Kenya we stayed with Pastor Robbie aned his wife, Elizabeth as well as their lovely daughter Abigail. We all slept great and woke up to (beleive it or not) wild baboons playing just outside the house. Josiah wasd so excited to get to see animals and talked about them all day long. We see lots of animals on the road...cattle, sheep, donkeys. Every bit of it has been such a thrill for Josiah and Christopher. Believe it or not, Josiah and Christopher are sooo well adjusted. It has been such a blessing.

Robbie and Elizabeth took us out to shop for food and necessities Friday and moved us into our place. It was an all day affair and we were exhausted by the end of the day.

So here are a few details on the school we started just today:

The school meets just downstairs of where we stay so that is a HUGE blessing. We just had our first day of language school and we learned the "dos and don'ts" of the culture as well as some other things. For the first two weeks we will attend class from 8:30-12:15 and then we will progress to stay at school till 3:30PM. The kids LOVe our new home in Limuru and they just got acquainted with Joyce, the woman who will take care of the boys while Jonathan and I attend the school. It's so great because we have a chai break (tea and mandazas <----spelling?) around 10 and the kids come down for chai too.

I'm sure there's a lot more I could share and we have been tremendously blessed so far. We will update with lots of pictures as soon as possible.

Love you guys!
Adrienne

Saying goodbye....

2009-09-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the Fergusons are just days from departure and we can hardly believe the time has just flown by!

We had a change of plans with our language school that threw us for a loop this last week. We were emailed by the language school and they informed us that school will start Sept. 14th (we thought school would start in Oct!!!!) We land in Nairobi on the 10th so we are definitely going to be stretched the first few weeks in Kenya.

We've posted some pictures of just some of the

goodbyes we've had in the last month. To be honest, emotions have been on such highs and lows with the (Jonathan's side of the family)

realization that we have to say goodbye to everyone we love so deeply. Our friends and family has showered us with love, prayers and support as we make this transition.

Flight Details:Our flight leaves, Tuesday September 8th (3 days!!!) at 9:15 PM (Flight #BA268) from LAX and we land in Heathrow, London at 3:30 PM on the 9th. We leave the 10th of Sept. from London to Kenya (Flight #BA 65) and land in Kenya at 8:55 PM.

Our care team meeting had a potluck last Monday for our last meeting together. We had such a great time together and people pulled out their best recipes and we had a great meal together! (Shout out to Linda for making THE BEST bread pudding I've ever had!!! Laurie-the BEST chocolate covered strawberries and Susan for THE BEST chicken EVER!) Wow, I feel like I'm giving out awards at the Emmy's or something!

(Adrienne's side of the family)

(Adrienne's dad's side of the family)

Jackratana.com

JackRatana Photography- Family Farewell Potluck

Disneyland with some friends Friday night

On Friday night we had A BLAST with some of our fellow "Refugees" and great friends at Disneyland. You should've seen us trying to load onto rides at the park (14 people!). We had a great time!

Breakfast with the Hinrichs

The Hinrichs treated our family to an AMAZING breakfast at the Pancake House in Anaheim. Jonathan got the apple pancake (HIGHLY recommended). The word "pancake" just does not do that monster justice. It was more like an apple pie. We had great fun with the Hinrichs, as always!

Today I had a great time hanging out with my mom. She's getting married October 17th and so I got to go see her try on her GORGEOUS wedding dress. I was going to post pictures of my hot mama (smile) but then I realized, Gabe, my mom's fiance, may catch a glimpse of my mom in her dress. Sorry, Gabe, you'll have to just wait!

(Last Care Team Meeting all together)

Look for our newsletter!

2009-08-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Today comes with the realization that we will be on a flight outta here so very soon. We have been so blessed living with the Hinrichs. Observing a loving mother and father such as Troy and Jess has been so nice. They have taught us a lot without even trying! Our kids have had so much fun playing with Faith, their daughter. Our boys have definitely kept poor little Faithy on her toes!

I just came back from the Women's Retreat with our church yesterday and I had an amazing time. (Pictures to the left) The theme was "His Princess" and our speaker, Sherri Rose Shepherd, was amazing (---> check out the website http://www.hisprincess.com)Our retreat was at the Calvary Chapel Twin Peaks conference center. I even got the chance to share my testimony with the ladies. Coming off the mountain gave me the sad realization that I will be leaving some of the most influential women in my life. They have taught me so much without ever realizing my eyes were watching. God has blessed me abundantly with a healthy, thriving church that includes some of the most loving, selfless people I know.

Jonathan had the opportunity to give the Sunday

morning message at Emmanuel United Presbyterian Church in Long Beach. He was so blessed by the fellowship and all the more excited about getting out to Kenya.

We are so excited that we have just finished our last newsletter that will come out of the states. We are trying to work out how our future newsletters will be sent, as we were planning to mail them all. We may be emailing them until we can figure out a better arrangement. Please bare with us! (:

Sunday, Sept. 6th is our farewell BBQ at the church. We would love to see you and say goodbye personally. The BBQ will be held in the Youth Room after second service. If you would like to come and visit our church for the first time, here are the details:

Refuge

7800 Edinger Street

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

1st Service begins at 8:30 AM and 2nd Service begins at 10:30 AM

The church will provide the hamburgers and hot dogs so please bring a side dish to share.

Our plans upon arrival:

We will be staying at Living Water Christian Fellowship when we arrive in Nairobi until we language school begins in October. The church is a three bedroom, two bathroom house. The power will be out three days a week as most of Nairobi is on a specific sched. (One rotation of people lose power Mon., Wed. Fri. and another loses power Tues, Thurs., Sat.) In October we will move out to Limuru where we will begin school and we will be driving back to the church on the weekends to build relationships and be with the people at Living Water.

Hope to see you there!

Adrienne

Counting Down...

2009-08-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

We are continuing to count down our departure and we are so excited we will be breathing Nairobi air in less than one month! Our good friends, The Hinrichs, have let us invade their space until our move. You know, the Lord has been so good. The Hinrichs have a lovely home where our kids can play in the backyard and front yard. We were living in an upstairs apartment that didn't allow for casual running in and out of the house. Josiah even cries when we have to go back to the apartment to clean because he thinks we are leaving The Hinrichs home!

We are so blessed to have nearly everything sold. Our last garage sale will be this Saturday at Debbie and Howard Oakes home. We are also hoping that our truck will sell in the next 30 days, so please be praying for that.

Jonathan gave his last Bible Study to the high schoolers and junior highers this last Sunday. The study was a great exhortation to the kids about going where God's called you and doing great things for God. At the end of the study Pastor Geoff had Jonathan and I come forward while the kids prayed for us. By the end of that prayer session, Jonathan and I were full of tears. The five years Jonathan has loved and invested into these kids lives were evident. We love our church and those kids so much, it will be hard to say goodbye.

The next few weeks are filled with doctor's appointments, lunch with friends and family and last minute things before we board our flight. It's amazing all the things that need to be in order before we can go. Like, what happens to our mail when we leave? haha...if you know than please let us know because we are stumped for now! haha!

Well, we hope you are well and thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Blessings,

Adrienne

Our apartment is shrinking!

2009-07-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

It's crazy that just a few months ago we were praying for the Lord's timing and direction and now...an empty apartment. Well, almost empty. We had our garage sale yesterday and praise the Lord, all our furniture sold! So what's the plan now? We will be moving in with some friends in August until our departure date. We are excited to move in with our friends, the Hinrichs. They have a home with a nice backyard and huge front yard for the kids to play and an adorable little girl Josiah just adores! It will be great to be with such good friends before we go. Especially when emotions start to run high as experienced yesterday.

Yesterday was also our family's going away party for us. We were so blessed to have family that drove out from Nevada, Arizona and Colorado to bid us farewell. The day was full of catching up, pictures, food and cousins playing. Kece, Jonathan's mom, put the whole event together and even arranged a beautiful scrapbook for the boys. The scrapbook was filled with entries from my sisters, sister-in-law, cousins, mom and my grandma wishing the kids well on our happy adventure. The scrapbook was just filled with beautiful memories of my family with the boys. What a precious treasure that will be for Josiah and Christopher. Needless to say the day ended in tears and goodbyes from family we wont see for a long time.

We will update the blog with pictures from the party soon.

God Bless You,

Adrienne

We're on the Radio! (Not Yet, But Soon!)

2009-07-10T03:11:00.000-07:00

The Ferguson Four will be featured on Refuge Radio! Adrienne and I were interviewed yesterday by Pastor Geoff Wilson for a future show on KWVE! It was a great blessing. Refuge Radio is the church's radio show, on KWVE (107.9FM) weekdays at 4:30pm. Each month Pastor Bill interviews Refuge missionaries, and the Ferguson Four will be featured in September! Make sure you tune in September 25th at 4:30pm! If you miss it, check out www.refugefm.com afterwards for the archived message.

Today we had a great fund raiser put on by our awesome care team! EXTREME WAFFLES! Imagine....one waffle topped with vanilla ice cream, strawberries, chocolate syrup, another waffle, whipped cream more strawberries and MORE

chocolate sauce. Yes, that was today's fund raiser. It was so much fun. Our team had a blast putting together the fund raiser and we enjoyed watching

the kids (and adults) who got an EXTREME WAFFLE for breakfast!

LAST THING...we are having our garage sale on Saturday, July 25th at 214 W. Utica Street in Huntington Beach. We will be selling all of our stuff for our big move so swing on by that day!

We hope you are all doing well. Thanks for stopping by our blog as we update you with our move to Nairobi, Kenya.

Bless you guys,

Jonathan and Adrienne

62 days to go...

2009-07-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Christopher's surgery went so great. Thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts. They were truly felt. I (Adrienne) was getting nervous as the time approached. I knew it was a minor surgery but surgery nonetheless. We arrived to check in at 6:30 AM and Christopher was taken by the anesthesiologist by 7:37 AM. They were calling us back to come get Christopher by 7:53 AM! We were in the car and on the way home by 8:20 AM. His eye looks so much better right now (for those that don't know, Christopher had a blocked tear duct so they had to prod the tear duct to clear it).

Well, we finally booked our tickets! Can you believe it? The tickets were emailed to us today and we are due to leave sunny California on Tuesday, September 8th. We will arrive in Nairobi late on Sept 10th. Wow! The clock is officially ticking (62 days to go).

Here are some questions that people have

asked us:

Where are you going to live when you get there?

We will be staying at the church we will serve in. There are a few unoccupied bedrooms that short term teams usually stay in. We will only be there for a month and language school will start in October. When we arrive in Limuru for language school, we will stay in a cottage at the school. After language school is finished in April, we will move closer to the church and find a house or apartment.

Are you afraid to take your kids?

Our family is definitely human and we have worries about things. We are trusting our God whom has guided us this far to take care of our family. We know that there are no guarantees in life and we are ready to take this journey that God has called us to. We look forward to walking closer with God through this time and trust Him for complete provision and guidance when it comes to our family. As I've heard Gregg Laurie so eloquently say, "We are not afriad to trust our unknown future to a known God."

How long will you live in Kenya?

The Lord tells us very little about what we'd like to know concerning our future, doesn't He? We know He has called us to go and we plan on staying till He tells us otherwise. In the meantime, we have made a commitment to serve Living Water Christian Fellowship for three years and we will be praying to plant a church from that point in Kenya.

Are you selling ALL your stuff?

Yes. Pretty much all of it. We will leave behind a few things that we aren't able to bring over on this trip. We will be allowed a total of 12 suitcases. So we will jam pack those suit cases as much as possible! We will be able to take our stroller and we are taking the baby's crib and Josiah's bed. Everything else must go!!!! (Sounds like a furniture store going out of business, huh?)

Please pray:

That we will raise the rest of our monthly support (We currently need 110 supporters who can commit to $25/mo.)
That we will walk and spend time with the Lord daily and have patience with one another
That our cars sell quickly
Currently there is no more yellow fever vaccines and Josiah needs the vaccine. Please pray for availability of the vaccine
That our student visas get expedited speedily
Wisdom in the timing of Jonathan quitting his job
For our upcoming yard sale (August) that all our stuff would sell.
For our care team who continues to meet biweekly. For the planning of the fund raising and for continued guidance and favor from God.

Thanks so much for being so faithful to see us through and pray for us as we transition out.

Love you guys,

Adrienne

Thanks so much

The Mormon Mirage

2009-06-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

The Mormon Mirage

Latayne C. Scott

Zondervan

There have been countless books written that detail the theological differences of Mormonism and Christianity. There have been more written on the connection of Mormonism to Masonry and the Occult. I have read many of these books, and have found them to be written with various degrees of skill and truth.

The Mormon Mirage is definitely one of the best books on Mormonism I have read. This third edition has been updated extensively, with two new chapters dealing with major issues and challenges facing Mormonism in the 21st century. This issues include race and gender, the availability of information on the internet, and the visibility of splinter and fundamentalist groups that have arisen lately. New endnotes have been added providing additional support for Scott's points, and corrections have been made where needed. Well written and detailed, The Mormon Mirage has been a worthy addition to the literature available on Mormonism.

Latayne C. Scott grew up in Mormonism, attending BYU university. After a few years of school, she was challenged to examine the teachings of Mormonism, and compare them to the Bible. After doing so, she realized that Mormonism did not hold up to true Biblical Christianity, and left the Mormon church.

As she mentions in her opening chapter, most literature written against Mormonism makes one of two mistakes. Either the authors underestimate the intelligence, integrity or character of the Mormon people, or they fail to fact check. Both of these are turnoffs, both for the Mormon and non-Mormon readers. With her background in Mormonism, Scott deftly maneuvers this book between these pitfalls, avoiding crashing into either.

While the majority of the information has been found in other books I have read, there were some surprises that were here, enough even, to hurry to my wife and read her portions.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who want a book on Mormonism that is written from a loving viewpoint. In her conclusion, discussing her work, Scott says,

More than anything, it is a symbolic representation of the actions of the waving of a white handkerchief before the Lord, as I ask him again and again through liberating truth to save those people who are as I once was, when I was there, and I believed.

Grace and Peace,

Jonathan

For more reviews on this book, check out

Latayne Scott's website.

Jr. High Camp and Newsletters!

2009-06-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

We are so glad to be back in our cozy little apartment after a week with crazy Jr. Highers! God did some great things at camp and it was emotional for Jonathan as he taught his last camp study. Leaving Jr. High is bringing

the realization of Kenya just a little closer. The theme for camp was "Rock of Ages". The kids were split into teams and participated in color war games for the week. One of the highlights of camp was watching the kids perform their "music video" to different Veggie Tales songs covered by Christian bands like Stevenson, Tait, Superchic and Reliant K. The kids fished, hiked, wrestled, braided hair (the girls of course!) and worshipped the living God. We were so blessed to be a part of this camp. God even got me (Adrienne) through all the cooking.

Jesaiah Keenan putting up his tent

Some of the kids wrote this AWESOME song and performed it for us. It was so catchy! We were all humming the song for days!

And Jonathan passes the baton to the new Jr. High Pastor, Chris Duarte. Please keep him in prayer.

***All of the pictures above were taken by Autumn Keenan. Amazing job, huh? To see more camp pics visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnklarebear/3667452172/in/set-72157620520671811/

Newsletters

We are going to be mailing out our newsletters so if you would like to sign up to get our newsletter, please email Adrienne with your physical address at ferg4africa@gmail.com.

This week...

2009-06-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Our family will be headed to Big Bear for Jr. High Summer Camp. So we went from unpacking our bags from Mexico to packing our bags up again to head for summer camp. Tonight Jonathan and I did the shopping for the food for summer camp and it was quite comical. We were lugging around two shopping carts and a dolly/cart absolutely full of items. As we stacked up the carts, Josiah and Christopher kept throwing items out into the aisle. We were at Smart and Final for like 2 1/2 hours so the kids were quite antsy. Once Jonathan and I got to aisle eleven we were laughing hysterically and uncontrollably over how comical the whole situation was and how we were so overwhelmed. Our kids were sooo done with the shopping trip and all we could do was laugh. We had just completely lost it. It was either laugh hysterically or cry hysterically. It was one of those moments. So we thought we'd blog and ask you...NO...beg you to keep us in prayer as we will be leaving for summer camp on Monday. This will be our last camp before our move in late Aug./Sept.

We are also still in need of a truck or two that can tow a trailer. We have a small box trailer and a large 5th wheel. If you are able to tow a trailer, we are able to go up either Sunday or Monday, and also need the trailers towed back Friday. Email Jonathan (mungubariki@gmail.com) if you are able to help us out!

*Please pray for summer camp*

*Please pray for an awesome time with the Lord for the leaders and kids.

*Pray that the Lord gives wisdom and discernment to the leaders as issues come up.

*Pray the kids would meet and come to know God in a deep and personal way.

*That the cook (me) wouldn't go insane & everything concerning the food and cooking equipment would go smoothly. (I've never cooked for a camp before)

*Pray for Jonathan and Chris Duarte (the new Junior High Pastor) who are giving the studies

*Pray that the kids would be safe (Jr. Highers and Josiah and Christopher)

*Pray that the kids would welcome those kids that don't have friends at camp and that their aren't "cliques"

Thanks for your prayers!

Adrienne

Wrapping up the last week of our F.I.T. Training

2009-06-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

So instead of giving you a play-by-play of the last week at our F.I.T. Training, I figured, I'd post some of our pictures and bring you into our experience at the training center in La Gloria.

We spent some time teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to some of the members of Capillo Calvario Las Granjas and there were lots of kids that came to learn as well. So our team divided up the people into groups based on how much English they knew and we started our teaching. These pictures were from the second day of teaching ESL.

One of the kids at the church wanted to take my picture so I'm posting the better of the two he took. Trust me, you don't want to see the other one!

Jonathan teaching some English words to the kids

Jonathan has some kind of kid magnet inside of him. It doesn't matter where we go whether it's a family reunion or a church in Mexico, kids just love him!

Kids playing "Red Light, Green Light". Jonathan and I being as mean as we are would periodically shout out, "Purple! Blue! Grrrrrray!" They got a kick out of our trickery!

We played Duck-duck goose in English so the kids could learn some new words and have fun with them! It was hard to keep their attention when all they could think of was tackling Jonathan!

The kids wanted their picture taken. They loved looking at the digital image on the camera.

Jonathan had a line of kids that wanted Jonathan to lift them up into the air. His poor back. After about ten kids Jonathan was trying to figure out how to say his back was hurting in Spanish and all he could muster up was, "Back es muy malo!" Needless to say, they were persistent little guys

Another one of our little friends waiting for his turn...

We took a group picture because the Wallins had to leave early to make it to a wedding. Unfortunately ALL my boys were napping so they didn't make the picture. The Wallins are the young couple on the left.

One of our assignments was to try "Tostilocos". It was great minus the pickled pork rinds....

An up close look at Tostilocos

This is the family our family stayed with for the "cultural immersion" portion of our training. This is Pastor Jorge (25 yrs. old) and his wife, Erica (21 yrs. old) and a boy they take care of, Moises (11 years old.) They spoke very little English and we spoke very little Spanish which made for a wild game of charades during our conversations!

The first night we stayed with the family they had us come to their kitchen for dessert. It was a sugary type bread that was very good.

The boys as we do a little shopping excursion. We had to find the prices for certain items as part of our culture immersion experience. Like the price of beans, rice, milk and such. The idea was to give us a taste of what it will be like once we are out on our own in Kenya and have to find these things out.

It was crazy to see how much Mexican candy can fit in one spot. This wasn't even an eighth of the candy in this one dulceria

Josiah contemplating which machete would be best for slicing open a coconut (:

Pinatas....hundreds of them covering the ceiling in the dulcerias.

Christopher looking our the window as we are driving along the streets in Mexico.

And Pastor Jorge makes the jump! Yes, we even went swimming as one of our cultural immersion experiences.

Jonathan follows up with an impressive cannon ball!

Josiah couldn't resist. He was so excited to get in the water but he just shivered in the pool. He lasted about 15 minutes before he was ready to get out.

Jonathan helping Pastor Jorge and Erica with their English pronunciation

Graduating Field-environment Intensive

Training Class

Please pray for our class:

Denise and Geiner-Future missionaries to Costa Rica (scheduled to leave end of June)

Alison, Mike, Ben and Faith Wallin-Future missionaries to Rome, Italy

(scheduled to leave end of August)

Susan-Future missionary praying for the Lord's direction

(prays she will be leaving by the end of the year)

Jonathan-Future missionary to Israel

Easy like Sunday morning

2009-06-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well, today has been so nice. This morning we headed to church in an area of Mexico that looked a lot like Nairobi, believe it or not. The service was completely in Spanish and we had such a great time during the worship session. The kids let us know as soon as they got there that they desperately needed a nap so we spent most of the service trying to keep them from having a complete meltdown. It was a good taste of what to expect when we get to Kenya. WE didn't have control over much but we were able to keep calm through it and the kids did fine. Tomorrow night we will be going back to the same area and doing an ESL (English as a Second Language) class. I wish I could show you pictures of the surrounding area but I didn't feel right about snapping shots of perfect strangers. Maybe after we've established some relationships and ask the people, I might be able to post some pics.

After we got home, Jonathan went to the store and the boys and I got a much needed nap. After, the team decided to go back to Tacos La Gloria and so we enjoyed another meal with THE BEST tacos ever!!!

Tacos La Gloria

We weren't able to take our van that fits everyone because the keys were left with Ron who had left to pick up our speaker for tomorrow, Tripp Kimball. So, we piled in the back of a truck (Christopher and I were in the cab, buckled up). We had tacos and ice cream. The perfect ending to a long morning!

You know what they say...When in Rome.... Christopher's Sunday afternoon nap.

F.I.T. Week one

2009-06-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Reflecting back on this last week it can be summed up best as one of our instructors described, "Like drinking from a fire hose." Yes, that's exactly what this week has been. We have been in the classroom from 8:30 in the morning till between 8:30 to 9 P.M. (minus 15 min. breaks and meal time) We have been mentally exhausted but the information we have received here has been invaluable. In the morning we are up at 6 AM and get the kids ready for the day. At 7 AM, all of the future missionaries gather in our room and we do a group devotion. We have breakfast at 7:30 AM and are in class pluggin' away. In the classroom today, we

discussed culture/language acquisition. We learned about methods and ways to study language and we were able to put them into immediate practice. We were taken to Rosarito where we practiced our new methods of learning a foreign language. During this excursion, Jonathan and I met a man who sold paintings his cousin made. After lots of exchange he told us that his three yr. old daughter passed away 8 months ago and showed us a picture of this precious angel. He allowed us to pray for him right there. Our hearts were broken as we left for this man and his family. After coming home from our trip to Rosarito we FINALLY had our first break since we've been here. We took the opportunity to have tacos at the infamous Tacos La Gloria stand, followed up by ice cream. As I post this blog our team is sitting and

watching Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events. It feels so nice to finally put our brains in neutral. Tomorrow we will attend a church service that is spoken in Spanish only. After church we will have the whole day to relax. We have been so thankful for the time here and have met some pretty great people who are going out on the mission field. There's a couple here going to Costa Rica, another young couple with two small children about our kids age, going to Italy, a single guy going to Israel and a single woman who is still praying for where God will send her. It has been so neat to see how God brought all of them to this place. Not just at the

training center but how God spoke to their hearts about the mission field and specifically,

where they were called.

Please pray for the families and singles here as we seek the Lord and gain in knowledge.

Pray that we will retain and apply the information learned here to ministries back home and on the mission field.

Please pray for strength for our family as we head into another week of intensive learning. Please pray for Josiah as he still has a fever.

Please pray for God to confirm timing of our move and financial provision.

Thanks so much for being a part of our lives and the ministry we and all of you are privileged to be a part of.

Bless you guys,

Adrienne

F.I.T. Update

2009-06-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we have an amazing time here in Mexico at the training center. Let me just say first off that Christopher's temp went away and he was great on Monday morning. Josiah, however, has had a temp. Please keep the kids in prayer. We have one of the girls here who watches the kids pretty much all day (accept for breaks and mealtimes) so both Jonathan and I can be at the sessions. Please pray for Ilandra as she is in charge of two 2 yr. olds, a 14 month old and a 7 month old. She is so sweet and is doing such a great job with the kids. I'm sure the days are long for her though.

So far we have had several sessions that were so eye-opening and beneficial for the ministry we will be going to in Kenya. Sessions such as church-planting, conflict resolution, spiritual warfare, family relationships on the field and so much more are the classes we are in (sounds ike a commercial, huh?). They have been so great.

Thanks so much for keeping us up in your prayers!

Adrienne for the Ferg4

Prayer Update

2009-05-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

We arrived safe and sound at the training center in La Gloria yesterday. We picked up a few different families from the San Diego airport, made a quick In-N-Out stop (woohoo!) and headed across the border. Once we got settled in our rooms it was dinner time

and orientation. Today has been an incre

dible day. We went to church at Calvary Chapel Rosarito and came back to the training center. We had lunch (some of the best tostadas I've ever had!) and headed in for our first session of teaching. We went through a session called "Missionary God" and went through the whole Bible and learned how God has reached out to all of man kind from the beginning of time. It was an amazing, rich study of how our God is truly a

(Jonathan riding on a wood bench in the back of a van headed for church in Tijuana. It officially felt like Mexico!)

missionary God. Tomorrow morning Jonathan is doing the morning devotion with the whole group and then we will be off to another filled day of rich and applicable studies.

We wanted to let you know that Chris s

piked a pretty bad temp on Friday evening and it is being controlled Motrin/Tylenol. We thought it was teething initially since the doctor couldn't find anything other than the temp that was the problem. A few minutes ago Josiah woke up with what felt like a temp too. Please pray for the boys and our whole family as we are fighting off this thing. We don't believe that this sudden sickness came by coincidence. Please pray that we are able to stay at the training center and we

(Adrienne and Christopher at Comericial Mexicana-local grocery store)

get over this thing. If we need to get out we have people who are able to take us home so we can see a doctor if need be.

Thanks so much for faithfully being with us in prayer. We will post pictures in the next couple days and give you more specifics on what's going on here.

Bless you guys, Adrienne

(Christopher enjoying his tostada at lunch)

(Josiah reminding mommy to blog)

Root Beer Floats, Plane Tickets, Churches, Mexico and Brownies!

2009-05-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Don't you love this picture?

This verse is the verse that resounds in my mind as I share lots of exciting news with you....

Root Beer Floats: First of all, our root beer float fund raiser was quite a success! Our team raised $452 this last Sunday. Praise God! THANK YOU to our team who gave there time to make this fund raiser a success and THANK YOU for all who gave out of the abundance of your heart. We are so blessed and thankful.

Calvary Chapel West Grove: Last Tuesday, Jonathan had the opportunity to share about our call to Kenya with the CC West Grove missions board. Jonathan came home with a renewed enthusiasm and excitement for what God has called us to and a passion for sharing that with others. We praised the Lord for the opportunity to share with the board and glad they were interested! We are so excited and blessed that CC West Grove will be supporting our efforts on the mission field. Thank you, CC West Grove for the opportunity to share what God is doing in our lives and your hearts for reaching the lost in Nairobi, Kenya.

Plane Tickets: Wow, again, praise God for this exciting news. Our plane tickets were recently donated by a faithful follower of Christ at Refuge. What else can we say? Where God leads us He will provide. We are very blessed and humbled for such a supportive church body! The realization of purchased tickets makes everything that much more real!

F.I.T. Training: Well, the Ferg4 is off to Mexico in just two days (Sat. May 30th). We are staying at the La Gloria Training Center. We appreciate your prayers as our family spends the next two weeks filling our brains with lots of info. Please pray that we retain and put into practice all that we are taught. We are so excited to meet families that are walking through the same doors we are. Pray there is unity, love and encouragement amongst our group.

BAKE SALE: Our team will be raising funds on Sat. June 6th and Sun. June 7th. We would love for you to donate and/or buy some baked goods! You can eat lots of yummy treats and feel good about spending your money

towards helping our family make our way out to Kenya.

Root Beer Floats! And More!

2009-05-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow Refugees, this post is for you! Sunday May 24, we will be having church in the park (10:30 service only, behind the library in Central Park). After service, be sure to stop by the Ferguson Four Table for Root Beer Floats! Yum! We will also have Orange Floats, and for all you connoisseurs out there, we will also be having Coca-Cola Floats. See you after service in the park!

Jonathan

We would love to visit your church!

2009-05-08T22:18:00.001-07:00

As our family approaches our move date we would LOVE the opportunity to come share about the ministry in Kenya we are called to. We would love to share at your church or even your home study or youth group.

Please contact Jonathan via email: mungubariki@gmail.com

Here is our prayer update:

We are starting the registration process for language school in Kenya. Pray that our papers make it to Kenya and everything gets processed in a timely manner. The process usually takes about 3 months. We are planning on starting school in October.
Health for our boys as we begin vaccinations.
Prayer for Christopher for his upcoming surgery. (He has a blocked tear duct and has to get it cleared). The surgery date is at 7:30 AM July 6th.
Pray for safety and a time of refreshing as Adrienne leaves Friday, May 15th to see our good friends, the Langhams, in Mississippi (kids will be at home with lots of people caring for them....pray for the child care too! Hopefully our friends/family don't go crazy)
Prayer for our family's upcoming trip to Mexico (F.I.T. training). Pray for our health, the kids napping schedule and that they will adjust to the schedule changes, rest during our trip, for Jonathan and I to be flexible on this trip and for God to speak to us clearly about our plans in Kenya and to confirm timing.
Prayer for the other families we will meet at the training in MX. Pray for their plans, safety and such as they prepare to move their families to the mission field.
Most importantly for our family to spend time daily with the Lord in prayer and in the Bible. That we would walk closely with Him.

We look forward to the opportunity to meet you, your home church and/or your home study.

Adrienne for the Ferg4

F.I.T. Training Schedule

2009-04-25T07:14:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, we will be in Mexico May 30-June 13 for Field-environment Intensive Training (FIT) to prepare for life in Kenya. We recently received the schedule for this amazing time of edification and encouragement. Here is a list of the classes we will be attending:

Missionary God * Culture Matters * Culture Shock * Re-entry

Church Planting * Spiritual Warfare - Armor

Prayer, Fasting & Personal Worship * Failure Management

Missionary Guilt & Rest * Relationships With Other Missionaries

Interpersonal Skills * Conflict Resolution

Family Relationships * From the Beginning : Marriage

Family on the Field * Being Single Minded

Education on the Field * Managing Stress

Leadership on the Field * Church Relations

Jerusalem to Antioch; Antioch to Philippi and the World

Receiving Short-term Teams

Written Communications and Newsletter Techniques

Culture/ Language Acquisition * Support Considerations

Cross-Cultural Study of Acts * Making Disciples Within Oral Cultures

Inductive Bible Study (IBS) Techniques * The Essential Gospel

In addition to these classes, we will also be attending church services, helping lead three English as a Second Language Clinics for the community, and participating in an immersion program, where we will be staying with a local family for the weekend. The families are great Christian families, but they don't speak English. Talk about being thrown into a different culture!

We also received a list of the other students, and it appears that Josiah and Christopher will have some playmates - there are going to be five other kids there, all age 3 or younger.

Please pray for the Ferguson Four as we head off on this great adventure! We will keep you posted while we are down there - Wireless Internet is available!

Jonathan (for the Ferguson Four)

If these aren't the cutest little passports photos you ever did see...

2009-04-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

Hi there! We are so excited to finally get the kids passports! I always wondered what a kids passport would look like and they look just like a regular one....go figure, huh? EXCEPT...they are the cutest passport pictures I've ever seen (such a mom!)

Passports for little ones are only good for about five years. Then they'll go in a scrapbook, I'm sure.

I've always thought getting a passport is such a cool thing. It gives me the hope that we are going somewhere....anywhere. My grandma has instilled a sense of adventure in my sisters and I and I have to say when these passports came I got so excited for Josiah and Christopher. We are off to an adventure of some sort. How grand!

Adrienne for the Ferg4

What happened here?

2009-04-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

Typical Monday morning this morning. But yet, not so typical....

I drag myself out of bed preparing for the hot weather today and as usual I can hear my kids laughing and playing (Christopher through the bars of his crib laughs and Josiah usually tosses Christopher a few toys that will keep him entertained). As I walk out of my room, the sight I see is most unusual. I notice Josiah's door is open and our lamp is on in the living room. I thought, "Oh no, Josiah's been out here playing!" I rush into the kids room to see if they are okay and Josiah, looking pitiful in the corner next to Christopher's crib, I dare to ask, "What have you gotten into???" He looks up at me with these regretful, worried eyes, looking soaked and says, "haiwspway".

As I look over to Christopher's crib I see a managerie of toys, a diaper BOX and other items. Thank goodness Christopher was okay in his little crib. I have no idea how he avoided the toys and miscellaneous "missiles" flying for his head.

Needless to say, Josiah went straight into the bath where he was scrubbed silly. Praise the Lord, his hair, once severely stuck to his head, was restored to it's gorgeous color and more importantly, texture.

This reminded me of Lamentations Ch. 3:22-23 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Hmm...His mercies are new every morning but with young ones (as well as with me come to think of it) they are probably expended quickly. Oh wait, I think that's just my patience...haha

Isn't it awesome that God is never done with us? He never throws in the towel and calls us a "lost cause"? He just scoops us up and loves us and sometimes rebukes us. He is our loving father. He loves us despite our short comings. (:

FERGUSON FOUR MEET N GREET

Well, we were so blessed at the Meet N Greet yesterday. Thank you for all who came out to support our family. Your prayers love and support were such a blessing. I will post some pictures from the Meet N Greet soon.

SPECIAL THANKS

Special thanks to our awesome support team for putting together a smooth, flawless event. We were able sport our new "Ferguson Four" shirts with pride (thanks to Anastasia, Helen and Brett Stetzko for the time and effort spent on those shirts). Thanks to Geoff and his friend for providing the bounce house so our little ones could stay occupied. Thank you to Jessie Quintana for helping out with the sound and Shannon Quintana for the great worship. Thanks to my mama for watching our boys at home so we could meet people and go through with the event smoothly.

Adrienne for the Ferg4

Only in Kenya...

2009-04-19T03:14:00.000-07:00

Here is an article from BBC. I had to share it!

Jonathan

Man Bites Snake in Epic Battle

A Kenyan man bit a python which wrapped him in its coils and dragged him up a tree during a fierce three-hour struggle, police have told the BBC.

The serpent seized farm worker Ben Nyaumbe in the Malindi area of Kenya's Indian Ocean coast at the weekend.

Mr Nyaumbe bit the snake on the tip of the tail during the exhausting battle in the village of Sabaki.

Police rescued Mr Nyaumbe and captured the 13ft (4m) reptile, before taking it to a sanctuary, but it later escaped.

The victim told police he managed to reach his mobile phone from his pocket to raise the alarm when the python momentarily eased its grip after hauling him up a tree on Saturday evening.

Mr Nyaumbe used his shirt to smother the snake's head and prevent it from swallowing him.

His employer arrived with police and villagers, who tied the python with a rope and pulled them both down from the tree with a thud.

Peter Katam, superintendent of police in Malindi district, told the BBC News website: "Two officers on patrol were called and they found this man was struggling with a snake on a tree.

"The snake had coiled his hands and was trying to swallow him but he struggled very hard. The officers and villagers managed to rescue him and he was freed.

"He himself was injured on the lower lip of the mouth - it was bleeding a little bit - as the tip of the snake's tail was sharp when he said he bit it."

Mr Nyaumbe told the Daily Nation newspaper how he resorted to desperate measures after the python, which had apparently been hunting livestock, encircled his upper body in its coils.

"I stepped on a spongy thing on the ground and suddenly my leg was entangled with the body of a huge python," he said.

"I had to bite it."

Very mysterious

Supt Katam told the BBC the officers had wanted to shoot the snake but could not do so for fearing of injuring Mr Nyaumbe.

"If it wasn't for the villagers and officers who helped him, he would have been swallowed by the snake over the Easter holiday," said Supt Katam.

He added: "It's very mysterious, this ability to lift the man onto the tree. I've never heard of this before."

The police officer said they took the snake to a sanctuary in Malindi town but it escaped overnight, probably from a gap under the door in the room where it was kept.

"We are still seriously looking for the snake," said Supt Katam. "We want to arrest the snake because any one of us could fall a victim."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7999909.stm

Come one, come all. Invite your friends and bring a side dish!

2009-04-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Hi friends! As promised, we have the details regarding the Meet N Greet this Sunday, April 19th.

Meet us in the courtyard at Refuge this Sunday for an update on our family's move. We would love to meet you and your friends, family and whoever else is interested on our family's exciting new venture. We will be providing the hamburgers/hot dogs and would love for you to bring a side dish to share.

Refuge (across from the Bella Terra next to the NuVision Building)
Church address: 7800 Edinger Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

12:30-2:30 PM

THIS SUNDAY-April 19th

*Bounce house for the kids!

We can't wait to meet you!

Quick Update:

I wanted to ask on this day that you pray for a special family that's close to my heart today. Chris and Karen Lundblad lost their daughter (my best friend) Heidi in a car accident two years ago on this day. The family and friends close to Heidi still mourn our loss. We ask that you remember Chris, Karen, Dana and Michelle Lundblad in your prayers today. Thank you.

We had just an amazing Easter this year. What a blessing it is to reflect on Christ's death and resurrection. Jonathan and I couldn't help but have a renewed sense of hope and peace and love from our Lord. We felt so blessed to share the day with family, friends. Pastor Bill's (Refuge Calvary Chapel Huntington Beach) message was just awesome and hit home with many in the congregation. Several people professed their faith in the Lord for the first time and it was so wonderful to be a part of God's work at Refuge. Here are some pictures from our Easter....

Bless you guys and we hope to see you this Sunday,

Adrienne for the Ferg4

Save the Date! Sunday, April 19th Ferguson Meet N Greet

2009-04-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday Everyone,

We would love to see you at our Meet N Greet coming up on Sunday, April 19th. Come hear about our new plans for ministry in Kenya. (If you were at last year's Meet N Greet, our plans for ministry have changed since then). We have some cool things planned for the Meet N Greet and we would love to meet you and your family, friends and anyone who's interested. The Meet N Greet will be after Refuge's last service and will be scheduled to start at 12:30 in the high school room. More details to follow in the next few days.

Hope to see you there!

Blessings,
The Fergusons

Singing and Dancing, Kenya Style

2009-03-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

One of Jonathan and my memories of Kenya is how much song and dance is important to the culture. We wanted to give you an idea of the spirit of Kenya and fall in love with the people and culture as we have. We found this video on youtube and thought it captured the spirit of the Kenyan people. Hope you enjoy the video!

Adrienne

Thanks for praying!

2009-03-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

We are so happy to find out that we will be attending the F.I.T. training with Shepherd's Staff! Hooray! Jonathan got the approval for the time off and we are so glad. We truly feel like this training will help prepare our family as we venture off into the next chapter of our life. We are so excited about what lies ahead and what God's plan is for our family.

Lately Jonathan and I have been reading the autobiography of Hudson Taylor, missionary to China in the 1800's. We wanted to share a bit of the chapter we read that just humbled and spoke to our hearts:

"Having now the twofold object in view of accustoming myself to endure hardness, and of economizing in order to be able more largely to assist those among whom I spent a good deal of time laboring in the Gospel, I soon found that I could live upon very much less than I had previously thought possible. Butter, milk, and other such luxuries I soon ceased to use;and I found that by living mainly on oatmeal and rice, with occasional variations, a very small sum was sufficient for my needs. In this way I had more than two-thirds of my income available for those purposes; and my experience was that the less I spent on myself and the more I gave away, the fuller of happiness and blessing did my soul become. Unspeakable joy all the day long, and every day, was my happy experience. God, even my God, was a living, bright reality; and all I had to do was joyful service.

It was to me a grave matter, however, to contemplate going out to China, far away from all human aid, there to depend upon the living God alone for protection, supplies, and help of every kind. I felt that one's spiritual muscles required strengthening for such an undertaking. There was no doubt that if faith did not fail; God would not fail; but, then, what if one's faith should prove insufficient? I had not at that time learned that even, "If we believe not, he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself"; and it was consequentially a very serious question to my mind, not whether He was faithful, but whether I had strong enough faith to warrant my embarking in the enterprise set before me."-(Hudson Taylor, pg. 21-22)

As Jonathan and I read this chapter last night (this is just a small part of the rest of the chapter) we were blown away and humbled by the candidness of Hudson Taylor and the similar feelings I (Adrienne) had about this venture. Even though we can outwardly say, "I believe and trust God for all things," I am realizing I can put my trust in other things like the "promises" and "securities" of mine and Jonathan's job (Benefits, 401K plans and such). In reality, those things in themselves don't provide the security we need. To take this step in faith is challenging whether we trust God to do what He said He was going to do. He promised to take care of us for all things.

Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, that you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to this life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Amen!!!)

Bless you guys,

Adrienne for the "Ferg4"

F.I.T.

2009-03-14T21:18:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can hardly believe it is the middle of March. We are starting to feel like our move is coming faster and faster.

About a week ago Pat Kenney (our Shepherd's Staff rep) approached Jonathan and asked if we would be attending F.I.T. (Field-environment Intensive Training). The two week course in Tijuana, MX is designed to equip missionaries with skills they will need on the mission field such as:

1. Relational skills

2. Administrative skills

3. Practical ministry skills

4. Family relationships

5. Leadership skills

6. Personal Health

7. Cross-cultural skills

8. Church relationships

Pat had informed us that our whole family would be able to attend at no cost since we were missionaries with Shepherd's Staff. Wow! That's huge since our family of four would have paid $2,000 for those weeks. As we looked over the time frame (May 30th-June 13th) we didn't think it would be possible to go. Vacation time at Jonathan's work had already been requested and someone else already had that time reserved. Plus, Jonathan needed a week of vacation time for Jr. high summer camp. So we said, "Well, we can't do it unless God opens the doors." I got a call from Jonathan on Wed. night and he said, "You won't believe it, the reserved time for those weeks had been canceled. Those dates are open!" Jonathan also looked over his vacation time and found that he had enough for the total three weeks we needed. What an answer to prayer! So, Jonathan put in for the time and is now waiting for approval. Please pray that if the Lord wants us to go that this next door would open up. Also, I need to request the time off from my PT job at Starbucks. May is just around the corner and we are so excited at this possibility.

Oh! And our kids say, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"

Bless you guys,

Adrienne for the Ferg4

There are some folks we'd like you to meet....

2009-03-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

3 John 1:5-8 "Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. You will do them well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth."

We would like you to meet some of the members of our care team (believe it or not all of the members of our team are not in these photos!). Our family is so blessed that these group of individuals are here to pray and encourage us as we transition out. Our team meets every other Monday to help our family get out to Kenya. What do we do? Pray, plan, encourage and toss around ideas. Our team has a wealth of wisdom, gifts and SUCH a heart to serve God. We are so encouraged and blessed that God would send us such a wonderful group of people to accomplish what lies ahead.

These pictures are from this last weekend. We all met on Saturday and assembled breakfast burritos to sell at church the next day to raise some of the funds needed to start up in Kenya. It was so great to see our team get together on a Saturday and just have joy in the Lord and all work together. We are so humbled and blessed by our group.

Support

2009-02-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

Friends and family,

We thank you for your continued prayers and support as our family makes this exciting transition to Nairobi, Kenya. There are ways you can help and partake in the Lord's work as our family serves Living Water Christian Fellowship. As our family prepares to move we ask that you consider supporting our family prayerfully and financially. Missionaries rely on God as the provider but God uses His people to partake in the support of missionaries. What does this mean? Missionaries receive their funding from people like you! I know that it is often times assumed that the church cuts a check to the missionaries to keep them out on the field. Although the church may provide some sort of financial assistance, missionaries stay on the field by individual givers. We ask that you would pray and see if God would impress on your heart to pledge monthly support for our family. It is important that we have pledged support coming in before we leave to assure we will have enough once we get out there and to stay out there. If you are not in a position to give financially, we ask that you would consider keeping our family in LOTS and LOTS of prayer. As we move forward in this process the enemy is throwing lots of opposition our way.

Ways you can pray:

Peace for our children, they haven't been sleeping well at night, causing lots of spiritual warfare my way. When I'm really tired at night, it's always a sure way the enemy attacks.

Rest for Jonathan and I, again needing sleep...

That we would trust and rely on the Lord in all things and spend time with Him daily

For a new Jr. High pastor to replace Jonathan.

For God to give us continued peace about our move and that our plans would be His.

Also, I (Adrienne) have picked up my guitar again and am taking guitar lessons. Please pray that I would be diligent and focused on finally getting this instrument down and using it for the glory of God!

Financial End:

Of the $4,030/mo. we need in Kenya, we currently have 5% committed. Our goal is 160 supporters who can give $25/mo.

We currently have 2% donated of the $35,069 needed to start up. Here is the breakdown for our start up costs:

Plane tickets: $7,000 (for our family of four)

Language School: $3,275 (6 months preparation in Kenya for language and culture)

Entrance Visas: $200

Vaccinations for the kids: $550

Car: $10,000-20,000 depending on many factors. Unfortunately cars are all imported and so there is a high tax on the vehicles there. We need something with good suspension as the roads in Kenya are very rough.

Rent deposit, (first, last and one month): $2,658

Cooker: $570 (This is for a basic range and oven)

Fridge: $570 (Medium size)

Hot Pot: $38

Water Filter: $127

Pans: $127

Dishes: $127

Linens (Towels, sheets, blankets and such): $304

Basic Household Supplies: $228 (Mops, brooms and cleaners)

Water Storage Tanks: $51 (200 liters for when the water is off)

Mobile phones: $254 (A higher end phone with GPS navigation and an inexpensive phone)

Furniture: $1,140

Drapes: $444 (Most homes do not come with them and these will be needed for security)

Voltage Regulator: $228 (Needed to maintain appliances. This is for three)

Small Generator: $127 (This is for a 1kv generator to run lights, computer and maybe a television. It is not enough for the whole house but will allow for some sanity in prolonged power outages to study, communicate and cook.)

Kerosene Lanterns: $51 (Needed for power outages. This will supply three)

We know that these numbers can seem daunting, but we know that our God moves mountains.

Please send financial support to the following address:

Shepherd's Staff

P.O. Box 53640

Albuquerque, NM 87153

PLEASE MARK ACCT. #5509 ON THE MEMO SECTION OF YOUR CHECK

To give online and/or automatic debit, please visit the website:

www.shepsstaff.org/give.aspx

Bless you as you serve Him,

Jonathan, Adrienne, Josiah (2 yrs.)and Christopher (1 year in April)

Living Water Christian Fellowship

2009-02-17T15:21:00.001-08:00

We are excited to announce that our family has had a change of plans concerning ministry in Kenya. Our family will be working with a church in Nairobi known as Living Water Christian Fellowship. We are so thrilled to come alongside Robbie and Elizabeth Gorden (Senior pastor) to serve at this precious church.

How did this happen?

A dear friend of ours, Rick Deam, passed away in December here in the states while he was on furlough (picture above). Rick was an amazing man of God and served in a wide capacity at the church. As we grieved the loss of our friend, a need presented itself. We prayed and sought counsel as we desired to do whatever God wanted us to do. As we proceeded in this direction, doors just flew wide open. There's an overwhelming peace and comfort from our Lord for this new direction. We are making a three-year (verbal) commitment to the church.

We are also still looking forward to visiting Disciple Support Ministries while in Kenya. Which, comes to mind, please be in prayer for the Coopman Family (Bill, Brooke, little Ruby and Jonathan out of Calvary Chapel Beachside in HB) who will be moving to Nairobi, Kenya May 31st.

So when's the big day?

We had planned a short trip to Nairobi in June which is now not going to happen. Our move to Kenya will come at the end of August. Please pray as we are raising financial support and as we get our young boys ready for shots, passports and everything else.

History:

When Jonathan and I went to Nairobi on our first trip back in 2005 we met Robbie and Elizabeth Gorden. Back then, Robbie had a radio show that featured teachings through the Bible by Chuck Smith. It was amazing to see the message go out and hear the response from the people. We also got the chance to visit Living Water and meet the people. Elizabeth teaches the Bible to a group of Maasai Ladies and help with their crafts.

In 2006 Robbie and Elizabeth welcomed Jonathan and I into their home for two weeks as we took our "vision tour". Our hearts were knit to the Gordens as we saw their daily lives and how they loved each other as well as the people of Kenya. On this second trip, Jonathan again got to visit the radio show Robbie was hosting, and help answer some of the questions people called and texted in. Jonathan also had an opportunity to teach at Living Water.

We are so thrilled at this new direction and we ask that you stand and pray with us as we have many things to do between now and August. Please pray for Ruth Deam as she moves forward in ministry and life without her beloved Rick. We love you guys and thanks for praying!

Jonathan and Adrienne

More to come....

2009-02-07T21:40:00.001-08:00

Last night I was reading in Mark Ch. 2 where these men come and bring their friend to Jesus to heal him:

" A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was laying on. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' "

What faith! They didn't bring their friend all the way there, get there and turn around and go home. They could've walked away thinking, "I guess it wasn't God's will to heal our friend." But they knew their God. They had faith that Jesus was willing to heal him. It's so encouraging that my God honors the faith of a few and doesn't "zap" them. Why do we think God does that? We can be so afraid to step out of the will of God at times because we don't want God to forsake us or be angry. That's not God! He honors the faith of the men and forgives them. How does this tie in to our leaving? More to come....tune in next week for the "big announcement".

Adrienne for the Ferg Four

I Saw What I Saw by Sarah Groves

2009-01-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

Mmmm...cookies!

2009-01-29T20:42:00.000-08:00

We have been so blessed the last several weeks to be involved with the ministries in our church. As we come to the realization that our time in California is short, we treasure our relationships here and the time we have with our friends and family. We are so thankful to our support team who has really stepped up and have been gracious with giving us their time, talents and resources for the glory of God and the furtherance of the gospel.

God has been teaching us patience through the last few weeks. Jonathan and I attended the missions conference in Murrietta at the beginning of January. One of the things that God has been impressing on my heart is that it's not all about the ministry. Yes, ministry an important part of the way God moves in our lives and through the lives of others but us being in ministry isn't about us giving to others as much as it's about our relationship with God. Or "making cookies" as Jay Dangers of New Hope Uganda illustrated in one of the sessions at the missions conference. When we make cookies and invite our kids into the kitchen it's never about the cookies part as much as it's about the relationship we build with our children in the process of making cookies. The cookies are just a biproduct. If it was just about making the cookies I certainly wouldn't ask my two-yr. old to join me in the kitchen. He would just slow down the process. That is what ministry should be. It's always been about us becoming closer to God and it's never been about the cookies! (Despite the fact that it is so tempting to lose yourself in a huge batch of fresh, hot-out-of-the-oven, chocolate chip cookies. And don't even get me started on the ice cream! (: )

This has given me a different perspective on why this process seems to be taking so long. Our hearts are willing to go and sometimes I think to myself "doesn't the world need to hear? Don't we need more people on the mission field? Why aren't we there yet." I believe that God desires and longs for that close relationship with us and desires that we share that with others and that must always be our focus first. To love God with all your heart, soul and mind.

Praise be to our Father!

Adrienne for the Ferg4

Nairobi Here We Come!

2009-01-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

Alright everyone, the Ferguson Four are heading out to Nairobi again! We are going to be visiting Nairobi during the last half of June. The purpose of this trip is to visit DSM, the ministry we hope to partner with. Jonathan and Adrienne will be visiting the schools and meeting with the pastors. We are excited about this trip, and are interested in finding out how well our boys are going to do on a plane for 17 hours...Please pray for us!

If anyone is interested in learning more about our upcoming trip, please email us and we will be more than happy to fill you in on the details.

Jonathan
mungubariki@gmail.com
Adrienne
ferg4africa@gmail.com

Care Team Meeting

2008-11-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

Tonight we are meeting with some people who may join us in ministry on our care team. A care team is a group of people who are "back home" and who assist with keeping us on the field. Care teams help with areas such as logistics, communication, prayer, re-entry, and other things.

Please pray for this team, that God would bring them unity and joy working together.

God Bless!

Jonathan

Delays

2008-11-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

So...if you haven't heard yet, there has been a few adjustments made to our timeline. We have been asked by Paul and Marcia Cowley to come out to Nairobi one more time before making the big move, in order to get a chance to teach at DSM, and for our families to meet in person. Due to the fact that the Chesboros (who also work at DSM) will be on furlough from December through May, the earliest that we will be able to head out there is late May - early June. After this short trip, we will then finalize our plans for departing permanently to Nairobi.

Please pray that God would direct our steps as we go through this time of change. Pray that He would give us patience.

Blessings,
Jonathan

Pray for Calvary International Fellowship

2008-09-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to drop a quick note to ask you all to pray for CIF, a Calvary plant in Githurai, a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi. The owner of the building that the church meets in shut the doors last week, as he is having repairs made on the building. There was no warning, and there is no timetable for the reopening of the building. It appears that the church will meet outdoors for a while, while the plot of land they now own is made ready for construction of the new church building.

For all of us Refugees, we understand meeting outside, and know both the trials and joys that this brings. Please keep the church in your prayers, and pray for the Compean family as they continue to minister to the people of Githurai.

Jonathan

Kenyan Olympians...Way to go!

2008-08-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

I came across this article from a Kenyan paper today. Kinda cool!

Basking in the Olympic Glory, We Are All Kenyans

The Nation (Nairobi)

18 August 2008

By Macharia Gaitho
Nairobi

WE'RE IN ONE OF THOSE periods when we need to watch television broadcasts from far-off lands to become Kenyans.

Pamela Jelimo, Richard Matelong, Janeth Jepkosgei and Brimin Kipruto all did us proud on Monday with a fantastic medal haul of two gold, one silver and one bronze in just two track events.

Almost every place where there is a television set, Kenyans have been glued to the little screen yelling, cheering and screaming in unison.

Nobody gives a moment's thought to the ethnic origins, race, political affiliations or religious beliefs of the athletes doing their best to bring glory to Kenya at the Beijing Olympics.

They are Kenyans, period, and it is the Kenyan flag that is being paraded round the track and raised at the awards ceremony.

We all stand up and shout ourselves hoarse applauding a Kenyan victory, not a Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Luo, Giriama winner.

And when we lose to one of those darned Ethiopians, the groan expelled with the agony of defeat again encompasses the entire Kenyan nation irrespective of any of the puny sub-nations within.

There is something notable about this Olympic season: The decibel count from our noisy politicians has gone down. I don't know whether that is just a blessed coincidence or some realisation that they will get scant attention when Kenyans are preoccupied with much more important things during this time.

As we cheer on our boys and girls in Beijing, it is a real blessing, so far at least, that our attentions have not been diverted by the destructive sabre-rattling ethnic jingoism that our so-called leaders usually employ to divide us for selfish ends.

Actually, it is real wonder that not a single one of our leaders has come out to demand ethnic balance in the team.

No politician has taken to the stumps to demand that his ethnic group get its fair share in the team. There have been no calls for a Commission of Inquiry into the way the team was selected and why some tribes were left out.

Not even Parliament has bothered to send a select committee on a Beijing junket in an effort to establish the ethnic background of each team member and whether there was corruption, nepotism and ethnic bias in the conduct of the Kenya Olympic trials since 1964.

Neither have there been any calls for affirmative action in team selection or moves to address historical injustices that have given some communities domination when it comes to securing Olympic tickets.

Sports truly unites us and relegates all those diversionary issues to the back-burners where they belong.

Let's pray that true peace comes to Kenya, the peace that comes only through the love and grace of Jesus Christ!

Neema na Amani, (grace and peace)

Jonathan (for Adrienne, Josiah and Christopher)

Be A Part of the Ministry in Nairobi!

2008-08-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for all who were able to attend our BBQ in June. We had a wonderful time to share about the ministry and we had a great time getting to know those that were there.

There are SO MANY opportunities for you to become a part of the ministry in Kenya through Disciple Support Ministries. Here are the current needs:

Ministry needs:

Urgent need for missionaries:
Short-Term (10-12 days)
Feb-July 2009
Seminar and Bible Teaching Teams
Administrative Assistance
2-4 people per team

Mid-Length (14 wk commitment)
Bible Teachers
Administrative Assistance

Long and Full Term missionaries

Monthly Support for the Ferguson Family - ~$3500/month
(Includes: room and board, insurance, travel expenses, car and fuel costs, and taxes)

Ministry Financial needs:
Student Semester Supplies - $3000
Microphone system and small generator - $2300
Stationary supplies, handouts, copies - $2000
Student Meals - $1300/month
Latrine construction for one of the schools - $1200
Cooking Shed repairs - $500
Facility fees - $400
50 new Bibles - $9 each

Prayer! Prayer! Prayer!

Before leaving for furlough in December, the missionaries at DSM were ministering to 135 pastors and ministry leaders. Upon arrival in April, the attendance had jumped to 165. The May-July semester saw over 200 disciples! The demand for bible teaching has grown so much, that the ministry has had to add two additional days of teaching per week! But perhaps the most amazing part of this blessing is the fact that the five new teachers that DSM is using are former students! Please pray for these new disciple makers: Pastor Daniel Matheka, Pastor Felix Atila, Pastor Simon Mise, Pastor Edward Owino and Pastor David Ochieng (left to right above). Please prayerfully consider joining us in Nairobi as we minister along side these amazing men of God!

We would love to share with you or your church how you can be a part of this amazing ministry to the pastors of the least in Kenya! If you are interested in finding out more about Disciple Support Ministries, our heart for Kenya, and how you can partner with the ministry, please consider meeting with us. We would also love to share at your church, bible study, or small group!

Mungu Bariki, (God Bless)
Jonathan

BBQ for the Fergusons at Refuge

2008-06-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

We will be having a BBQ at our church for those who are interested in hearing more about Kenya. Please come if you are interested in any capacity. Here are the details:

Who: Adrienne, Jonathan, Josiah and Christopher Ferguson
What: BBQ-hamburgers and hot dogs will be provided. Bring a side dish to share!
When: Saturday, June 28th at noon
Where: Refuge-7800 Edinger Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
Why: We are leaving for Nairobi, Kenya and would love to share what we will be doing once we get there. We would love for you to come and be a part of this awesome work the Lord has called us to.

Please RSVP: ferg4africa@gmail.com
Since the church is providing the food, we need a head count so please RSVP.

We look forward to seeing you...

Adrienne

The Call

2008-05-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Today, I was visiting a website of a friend from our church. She is still in her teens and she has decided to spend 6 months in South Africa. Jonathan and I had the privilege of knowing this girl when we helped lead in the high school youth group at our church. This girl amazed me with her faith and spiritual maturity and her devotion to God. She continues to be an inspiration to me and an encouragement. She posted message on her website that brought me to tears and I wanted to share it with you all:

"Isaiah 61:1-3

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."

Proverbs 31:8,9 "Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die (sons of passing away). Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy."

This is my heart. I feel that God has spoken this to my heart in response to the verse above. I wrote it down a couple years ago in my journal. I feel that it is the best way to show where I am coming from and the best way to share the conviction which is compelling me to go out.

Whisper when the words aren’t spoken, hear when the words aren’t there. Speak for those whose hearts break open, shed with them their mournful tears. Look into their eyes and see it. Feel the need that they must feel. See the love they long for and be it. Take for them their burdens here. Hold up the weak, encourage the strong to be stronger. Don’t forget the lonely faces and don’t believe that someone else will do it. You are that someone. Simply caring isn’t enough to save lives. Act quickly, they are fading away. Give their voices a freedom to sing for joy. Break the chains around their feet so they can dance. Unlock their hands so they can clap. More beautiful than sunlight see their shining faces. Like no other sound, like angel’s voices rising all around.

I want to live a life worthy of the calling. Worthy of of Christ. I don’t see another way. I want to know God. I want to love like Jesus loved. I can’t ignore the scripture. I can’t pretend I didn’t hear Him calling me to live a more involved and selfless life. I can’t ignore it. I am accountable because I know. That is why I must go."

Reading this, you may think God can only use the mighty. But God uses the meek, a girl who has not been out of high school for long. God has called you to be something extraordinary. This is calling to all who follow Christ; to walk in fellowship with Him and be the hands and feet of Jesus to others. To disciple and love. I hope you are encouraged and I hope this has inspired you like it has me.

Adrienne

Christopher Ryan Ferguson

2008-04-08T12:35:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a few months since our last post and we are so excited to announce the arrival of our sweet son, Christopher Ryan Ferguson. He was born on Wednesday, April 2nd at a healthy 8 lbs. 12 oz, and 20 inches long.
We were so proud to see our sons meet face to face just hours after Christopher arrived. Josiah gave Christopher a big kiss and Jonathan and I read a few scriptures with our sons and prayed over them. It was such a blessing to have our little family reading and praying together as our first "event" we did as a family. Our hearts our full as we see our family growing and serving the Lord together.
We thank you for all your prayers and support over the delivery of baby Christopher. The C-section went very smoothly. The hospital care was excellent and we actually got sleep in the hospital!

A Late Night

2008-02-13T02:57:00.000-08:00

My work at the Police Department is not usually the cause of great moments in my faith, but last week I found that my shift produced an interesting moment.

My current work schedule has me coming home at 3:00 am four nights a week. Now after a ten hour day, I find it hard to fall asleep quickly. It usually takes me a while to relax enough to get to sleep.

Last week I found it expecially hard to unwind after my shift. I decided to read my Bible to help calm my nerves after this particularly hard evening at work. At the time I was reading through Exodus. Now I must confess, this particular night I thought, "well, I'm in the middle of reading about the construction of the tabernacle. If anything, this might help me fall asleep sooner." Not a great attitude to have when reading the Word of God!

I started off by praying, and my heart was really turned to praying about Kenya. I had been recieving a lot of flak about the idea of taking my family to a country in the midst of a near civil war, and began praying for God to guide us. I prayed that God would keep us here if it wasn't truly His will for us to go. Basically, I was asking God to keep us from going if it was just our emotions leading us.

I began my reading that night in Exodus 33. When I read vs 13-17, I caught my breath:
Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”

Here was my answer! God would go with us! It was truly a comfort to know that God would answer my prayer so quickly. I was floored, and began to thank God for the answer. What a confirmation of our calling.

I continued reading on into Exodus 34, where I came across v. 10:
And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

Praise the Lord God Almighty! I find so much comfort in a God that answers our prayers, that promises to go with us. I find great peace in knowing that our passion is not in vain. God will grant us the desires of our hearts, and I can't wait to see the "awesome things" that God is going to do in Nairobi!

Mungu Bariki, (God Bless)
Jonathan

Meeting with the Cowleys

2008-01-29T02:19:00.000-08:00

This last week I had the opportunity to fly out to Florida and meet with Paul and Marcia Cowley, who head up Disciple Support Ministries in Nairobi. It was a great trip out there, even though it was very short!

I flew out Monday night. After trying to check in at the airport, I found out the my flight had been cancelled A MONTH AGO and was never notified. The airline was able to get me on another airline to Tampa, but it required a little juggling of the schedule, and I made it in time to meet up with Paul and Marcia.

During the meeting, I was able to see just how amazing this ministry is. DSM reaches out to the pastors and ministry leaders of the churches in the slums of Kibera and Mathare. Since these men and women already lead churches, the impact is phenomenal. With approximately 150 students each semester, this ministry basically feeds 150 different churches, reaching out to thousands of Kenyans.

A typical day at the school is very full. At 6:30 in the morning, students begin their day with service. typical jobs include cooking breakfast, cleaning the floors, setting up the desks, and others. At 8:00 class starts. Normally they go through a book from the Old Testament. Class runs through 12:00, when they break for lunch. At 12:45 school begins again, and for the next four hours they study a book from the New Testament. at 4:45 clean up begins, and usually lasts until 5:30.The schools each operate one day a week. The pastors are required to maintain a job outside of the church while attending school, so they are not tempted to fall into fleecing the church members. The pastors also regularly meet with DSM leaders to discuss areas of discipleship, such as family and work issues.

There is only one textbook at this school: the Bible. The pastors are taught how to interpret the Bible and teach the Bible by relying on the Holy Spirit to enlighten them. Since most of these pastors would never be able to afford a commentary or book about the Bible, this truly is a blessing. It has been said that the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible, and this ministry seems to live on that motto.

The amount of paperwork created by this ministry is large. 150 students created 300 homework assignments a week that need to be graded, and 300 test a month. This work, combined with the student files for the 500+ students that have gone through the school, shows just how important the gift of Administration is to DSM. DSM is constantly in need of people with administrative backgrounds.

I left the meeting feeling very confident about working with DSM. At this point, we are praying for God to confirm yet again that this is where He wants us. Please join us in praying that God will confirm this to myself, Adrienne, the Cowleys, and all others involved.

Mungu Bariki,
Jonathan