NEWS FOR MID JANUARY 2007

Dear Friends,

Please pray for the family of a friend of mine and a leader of my home church who was killed on the night of 6th January 2007. There are many rumours that other villagers plotted his death by encouraging him to move around at night then ambushing him. Alternatively those who killed him may genuinely have thought that he was a cattle rustler as he was walking in his home village after dark.

At the same time I was a few miles away participating in all-night Christmas celebrations! That is with our local Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox church - who always celebrate Christmas day on 7th January.

We are in the throes of visiting YTC students, and in hopeful anticipation of good attendance when we start teaching next week - with a new teacher, new clerk, new(ish) director and a new office for YTC!

Pray for the elections for a new bishop for my home church, Zion Harvest Mission, to be held on 13th January 2007, following the death of the previous bishop James Aweyo a year ago.

Besides being busy in church, home and community, I have also been spending time at Kima making preparations for my trip to the USA. Preparation has included writing and editing of articles and proposed seminars as well as lot of correspondence. Pray that I speak wisely and find receptive ears while in the US. I hope to encourage 'vulnerable mission' - that is mission that is not implicitly linked to 'Westernisation'. Especially to encourage young people who set out on mission to learn from their host communities before applying their 'superior wisdom.' . I plan to leave Kenya on 23rd January, and to return on 27th April.

Jim