Ferguson Update

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

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

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...

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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

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

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

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