Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

November and December Update Merry Christmas and Happy New year! Last month we started the paperwork for Zephaniah to become an official American citizen. This all happened in good time! We are currently applying for new work permits (a 4 year Visa) for Josh and the family. This is going to get tricky. We have been told that the government is not going to be allowing westerners to stay longer than 2 years. They are saying that they want to create more jobs for Kenyans. This wont happen if they send all the westerners away. We think there is something deeper going on. There are a lot of Muslims in the government and I think they don’t want missionaries here. This is all speculation. Nevertheless…. We need prayer for this process. Once our current visa expires in February if we are not approved we will all have to leave the country and come back in. This will give us 3 months in the country as tourists; if it is not renewed in that following 3 months we will need to do it again. We know that the Lord will have us here as long as He wants. He knows all these things but He still tells us to pray about our concerns so there it is. Also last month: Our Car broke down and the part was impossible to find in Kenya. We started looking online and found one in the states for $75. We found the same part in Uganda for $700. Through the Lords help we were able to get the part in the States and send it with a family member of Missionaries here and she brought it to us very quickly! This was a miracle because things usually don’t make it to Kenya quickly. The part was for a vehicle with a different name and we were not sure that it would even work but it DID! We praise the Lord for this. December: Josh did his first wedding and an African one at that! It was good. It went a little rough with the difference in cultural things. Weddings here never start on time so it was 3 hours late! Despite the bumps along the way they were married in the end. That’s what counts. So many things have happened it’s hard to know where to start. We had a nice Christmas, it was spent with 2 different families and a single girl who came for breakfast. It was wonderful to spend nice time with friends who feel more like family. A few days ago Josh’s father passed away He had been sick but it was still shocking and a bit heartbreaking. Josh is flying right now January 1st to the States where he will perform the funeral and spend some much needed time with his grieving family. Please pray for strength for him and his family in this time. The kids and I had to stay back due to funds. The miracle behind all this is that we didn’t have any money for Josh to go but through a Facebook fundraiser so many people participated in getting Josh to the states. Enough money was raised in 48 hours for Josh’s ticket and for car, lodging and food. Thank you all for your encouraging words and for the help. It is impossible to thank each person because half of the people who helped donate I don’t even know! We are humbled and blessed. I pray that the Lord will abundantly bless and provide for each of the needs of you all. For those of you who helped… There are no words to express our gratitude. Thank you.