Funds raised! Thank you, thank you!

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

A Safe Car for the F6

We want to share an exciting opportunity we have to purchase a car that will be much more reliable and seat our now, family of SIX! We want to ask you to partner with us for the purchase. The car is a 2001 LandCruiser that seats 8. We are looking to buy the car from some missionaries who are leaving the field in August. We have currently raised about half the funds we need. We have about three more weeks to give the family a definite yes as they have graciously waited to see if we could raise the funds to purchase the car.

Our Current Car 1996 Toyota Carib

2001 Toyota LandCruiser GX (same model-pic found on internet)

Why a new car for the F6? Our current car has undergone several maintenance repairs and is honestly not fit for the roads we drive as we frequently have to change flat tires, have suspension trouble, not to mention that we can’t buckle our children safely in the car as it only seats 5. As we travel down the roads we are frequently dodging oncoming cars that come in the wrong lane to pass the car in front of them. It is terrifying when the whole family is in the car and we don’t feel we have a car that can “withstand a hit” from oncoming cars. The purchase of this car would provide a safe means of travel for the whole family, it is a larger bulkier car that can stand up to bullying buses, public transport vehicles and other large cars that like to bully us off the road. The car is built to withstand our Kenyan rough roads and will even have 2 available spaces for other passengers.

How can you help? The price of the car is $12,100 and we currently have $5,665 raised for the purchase of the car. Will you please consider sending a tax deductible donation of any size to assist in the purchase of the car? We only have $6,435 to go!

Send check to:

Refuge

7800 Edinger Avenue

Huntington Beach, CA 92647 Memo Section: Ferguson Family Car Fund

Or Online at:

Refugecalvarychapel.givingfire.com

Under the “Fund” icon click Ferguson Family (Kenya)

Under the notes write “Ferguson Family Car fund”

Please Pray With Us

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

Can I be real for a sec? It's hard when things start to snowball. You know what I mean? We can start to feel guilty that we aren't doing enough. I mean how is this going to sound in a newsletter, "Thanks for your support, we've all been flat on our backs for close to two months!" Although that is not exactly true,  the feeling of guilt is there.
The lesson we are learning is to cling to God and He will accomplish His purposes in us and the work He has called us to even when we are laying flat on our backs from sheer exhaustion. Please understand we are not writing to complain, but writing so our brothers and sisters in Jesus can rise up and do battle with us. On our knees.

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

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you and yours! Have you made any resolutions this year? Jonathan and I are both starting on a reading plan to take us through the Bible in a year.
We pray that your walk with Jesus will be fresh and new in 2015 as you seek Him. If you don't know Jesus as your savior, we are glad to share with you that Jesus will wash away your sins and forgive you of all your wrong doing when you turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Don't put it off any longer! Today is the day of salvation and tomorrow is promised to no man. I'm sure we have all been touched by a life that unexpectedly ended this year. Put your trust in Jesus, pick up a Bible and start reading it or dust the Bible off of your shelf and start in the book of Luke or John. We pray you will be blessed as you discover how much God loves you and the lengths that God went to so you might be forgiven of your sin and cleansed from all unrighteousness.
 

It's hard to believe in our last post we mentioned that we were just starting to collect our paperwork for our adoption.  As I am sitting here, our new addition is playing outside with his brothers. Just days before Christmas, we came home with Silas. He is a little boy who is full of joy, love and lots of jokes! We couldn't be more thrilled that the "Ferg 5" is now the "Ferg 6". Please pray for our adjustment as a family and peace as Adrienne steps back on ministry commitments.

We are so thankful for the projector that our home church has donated. We can finally have worship words and some power point on Sunday mornings on a large screen.This has enhanced worship tremendously for the church. Instead of looking down at our songbooks and finding song numbers, we can all look up at the screen for the words. Thank you Jesus!




We celebrated our 2nd annual Christmas party with the Children's Ministry. This year our teachers put on a Christmas story play. It was SOOO good and the kids loved it.









 Jonathan recently volunteered as secretary for our community's self help group which provides security to the whole community. We are looking forward to becoming more involved in the community and getting the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with anyone who will listen. We just love the road we live on. Not only is there an opportunity to see wildlife at every corner but we love that our neighbors are a melting pot of so many different people groups including Sudanese, Kenyans, British, Germans, Danish, Egyptians, French, Dutch and more. To visit the people on our road is like taking a little trip around the world.  Adrienne is also trying to get a 5k fundraiser going to assist in the funding of the security guards on the road.

Jonathan also has been given an opportunity to assist in a planned crusade in June. Jonathan plans to disciple the pastors who will be speaking at the crusade. There will be some folks from the U.S. and missionaries on the ground here who are collaborating efforts to see that the gospel message is clear and discipleship and follow up for the people attending is available.

Jonathan will be starting to teach a new semester at the Calvary Chapel Bible College through Calvary Chapel Nairobi. He will be teaching a class on preparing and delivering a sermon (Pastor's class) and two different discipleship classes.  

We thank you for your love, support and prayers as our family serves the Lord here in Kenya. Here's how you can pray:

• Pray for more laborers in Kenya. Although there are many missionaries here, Kenya needs more people who will share the love of Christ and commit to discipling people here.
• Pray for strength as we enter into a very busy season of life. 
• Pray for the completion of our adoption. We will hopefully go to court to finalize Silas' adoption in a few months. 
• Please pray with us for funds for a car. Our car currently seats 5 and we are a family of 6! 
• Pray for the completion of our home extension which should be underway soon. The extension will turn our home from a 3 bedroom/1 bath to a four bedroom/2 bath.
• Please pray for the crusade in June-that God would be glorified and that people will understand their commitment to follow Jesus.  Pray that the teaching from the pulpit will be glorifying to God and people will get "plugged in" to a good healthy Bible teaching church.
• Please pray for the teams that will come in the next six months to assist the work in Kenya.

Thank you for you love and support!

The Ferguson 6

Our Furlough

Uncle Ryan and Josiah at the Fire Station

Hi friends! We have been stateside since the 4th of July and have had such a great time of refreshing in the word and with our friends and family. It has been so fun to see our sisters in a new season of life as mommies, seeing our grandmothers, grandfather, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, watching our children interact with their family, seeing new growth at our home church at Refuge and reconnecting with dear friends. There have been too many highlights from our trip to mention. Our families, friends and church have completely and utterly SPOILED us rotten (really, you should see the amount of toys we have to pack!).

Awesome shot!

We have been so excited this trip as we have begun collecting our paperwork to start an adoption in Kenya. How exciting! Please pray with us as we need more space in our home and in our car!
On Monday, we will be headed to the East Coast to spend some time with our family and other church family at Calvary in Delaware County.
Please keep us in prayer as we are about to go through some pretty heart-wrenching goodbyes. Again. This is the worst part. Enjoy the pics from our stay.

At the Diamondbacks game

Disneyland

Uncle and Auntie

Chris with his cuz!

Goofy and friends

Eeyore and friends

Pooh and friends

WWII Museum with my Grams

Chris on the Cars ride

Lemonade Stand!

Langhammers, Carters and Fergies

Beach fun for Benny's Bday

Grown Ups

Happy 4th Benny!

Beach cupcake

Birthday fun!

We met Ray Comfort!

Mater!

Refuge Missions

We are overjoyed that our very first team came to visit us from Refuge. They have been in country for two days and for Jonathan and I, it is a dream come true! We are so proud that they came from so far to love the Kenyan people, love on us and it is so much fun to show them what we get to see everyday. Jonathan and I are like giddy little kids going over the details of the conversations we had during the day with our Refuge friends.
Thank you Refuge for sending this team, for praying for them and for supporting us. We are overwhelmed and blessed. Words just can't express what this team means.

Getting Away

     It is said that missionaries are at a steady state of stress. We felt it when we moved here but we can often forget because the state of stress just becomes normal. The increased threat of terrorism, the conditions of the traffic and the reckless driving, the worry over the ministry and the constant pull of things begging for our attention. It's endless.
     I was reading a blog (http://blogs.ntm.org/brian-pruett/2012/03/23/just-how-stressed-are-missionaries-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/) that stated, "Back in 1999, Drs Lois and Larry Dodds (of Heartstream Resources) were studying the levels of stress on the mission field, using a modified version of the Holmes-Rahe Scale.

     In Holmes and Rahe’s original study, they found that if you reached a level of 200 on the scale in a year, the cumulative stress would have consequences for some time to come.  In fact, they found that 50% of those who reached this level were hospitalized within two years.  The reasons included heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and other severe illness.     So, the Dodds wanted to find out what the typical missionary went through.  As you might have guessed, the news wasn't good.     The typical missionary had not just peaking levels above 300 – they had sustained levels over 300 – – – year after year. The typical missionary, in fact, had [peaked at] double that level – 600 on the scale!"

     

Kenya Missions Retreat, 2014

All to say, the Calvary Chapel Missions Retreat came at just the right time for us! Jeff and Madeline Schlenz from Calvary Chapel DC Metro came to encourage us. I just wanted to share some things that encouraged us in our work out here:     Jonathan and I were encouraged in these words: "We are called to a difficult work, but you are not alone and God says you will win."
     Our hearts cried, "Amen!" as we agreed when Jeff pointed out "We will be tired in the work but not of the work."
     

Lovely Ladies at the Missionary Mixer Night

We were encouraged to remind ourselves of how we came here five years ago: We were brought out here to Kenya by some miracle of God, we scoured the scriptures in search of confirmation, we were at a heightened alert, looking for continued confirmation that God, indeed was speaking to us about our move to Kenya. We doubted at times but the evidence that God was speaking to us concerning Kenya was overwhelming. Once we received the call to go, it was confirmed by Godly men and we were sent out not "only by God but in support of those we loved and have called us "brothers and sisters". 

The Guys Gather for their Picture

    We were encouraged to refresh our memory on the work we do now: "There was once a time where we looked up to this time, where we are and what we are doing." To revisit this truth clears out the weeds of the "daily gardening". When we go outside to the garden (the ministry), the garden in many ways looks the same as it did yesterday. It's hard work. It's stressful work. But it's glorious work.
     We were encouraged that just like Timothy, we will have frequent infirmities with no healing. But we press on. I know that doesn't sound so encouraging but when we read in the book of Acts how the early apostles suffered the same, we feel encouraged that we don't stand alone.
   

The Missionary Kids and Their Teachers

  We were encouraged to work hard and then rest. Such a simple but difficult truth when we don't have a "clock in" and "clock out" time. The work we do can be constant and "inconvenient". But that is the work of a shepherd who tends the flock. True shepherds will stay in difficult times and the sheep don't always know what it cost the shepherd. I'm certain we can't even begin to grasp what it cost Jesus, the good shepherd (John 10:11) to tend to the sheep and ultimately die for the sheep.
 

Women's Session

   We sat together as fellow Calvary Chapel missionaries, laughed at our mistakes, cried with each others over heart breaks, held each other’s hands when we reminisced over loved ones so far away and prayed together for strength to continue on. We left our annual Calvary Chapel Retreat, committed to God's work, remembering our calling and committed to pray for the work each one is involved in here in Kenya.
     I encourage you to pray with us to stand strong. We have seen God at work through Calvary Chapel with several church plants. It's invigorating to be a part of. We are alive and awake in the work God has for us. We desire to be no where else but in the hand of our Lord. Please stand with all of us in prayer. Be a part of the work here.

Josiah Taking a Break for a Quick Dunk