January 2006 — December 2006

December 23, 2006 - — From Nairobi … Mimi and I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas season. May you enjoy the awe and wonder of our season of celebration. Over recent days, my African students have well reminded me that celebrating Christmas is essentially celebrating life. May we celebrate together with brothers and sisters all over the world life created, life birthed, life sustained, life nurtured, life matured, life protected, life redeemed, life enriched by the lives of others, and life fulfilled in the love of others. Mimi and I pray that you ...

November 22, 2006 - — Mimi and I thank God for you and we pray that you and your family will enjoy a restful and a refreshing Thanksgiving holiday. May God continue to bless you and yours! We rejoice and continue to give thanks over God blessing all ongoing efforts in helping our brothers and sisters in Africa. Since our return from sub-Saharan Africa in late August, God has brought a flurry of blessings that Mimi and I want to share with you. Please do be encouraged, as we are. Friends have helped us organize and incorporate our ministry entity, ...

August 23, 2006 - — < > Mimi, Angie, and I have just returned safely to Houston from Kenya. Mimi and I are back at HBU preparing for another school year to begin next week. I’ve already attended a meeting at SWBTS preparing for my Greek class to begin next week at the seminary. Yikes! Rebeka and Gratien have now begun their fall semester at Daystar University, Nairobi. We miss them terribly! Mimi and I are back in familiar surroundings, but nothing is the same. On behalf of our African family of faith, Mimi and I thank you all for your prayers ...

August 06, 2006 - — Over the coming days, Mimi and I look forward to introducing you to two new "members of our family." God has gifted us with a deep love for two precious university students that we will now relate to as our own. Just briefly (much more later!), Rebeka Teshome is completing her first year at Daystar University. Rebeka is working towards a B.S. in Management Information Systems. She is excelling in my New Testament Theology class! Rebeka is a precious 19 year-old Christian young lady from Ethiopia. Born to a single woman following her ...

July 26, 2006 - — We rejoice with our African colleagues in their recent publication of the Africa Bible Commentary (“ABC,” Tokunboh Adeyemo, general editor, Nairobi: WordAlive/Zondervan, 2006). The first of its kind, and over 12 years in the making, the ABC is written by over 70 African biblical scholars and church leaders. The ABC explains the complete text of the Bible and applies the Bible’s teaching to contemporary Africa. Its interpreters respect the integrity of the biblical text and use African proverbs, metaphors, and stories to ...

July 23, 2006 - — All three of us thank you for your prayers. Our meetings last week with the leadership of Daystar University went splendidly, thank you. Please continue to pray that we can now execute our plans at the university for the rest of our stay here in Nairobi, Kenya this summer. Jamie, Mimi, and Angie have much that we hope to get accomplished before we head back to Houston. Thank you, we are well and working hard. My New Testament Theology class at the university is a blast! Thank you Lord! Please do pray for continuing good health ...

July 16, 2006 - — Thank you all for praying. Our friend, Angie, arrived safely Friday night. She and four large containers made it through Kenya Customs with no problems. Praise the Lord! All the computers, other electronic equipment, and books for Daystar University came right to us with no hassle and no duty charges. Our God is so very good! Your prayers for our work are deeply appreciated. My teaching has been a great joy - the students are responding brilliantly. My preaching opportunities have each been different - and each has been a great ...

July 09, 2006 - — Please excuse our cyber hiccup, but your previous "Comments" have been eaten by digital unknowns. Mimi and I remember all of your expressions, and we thank you for them. Your encouragement and prayers are greatly appreciated! Our techno friends now have the "Comments" eater dealt with, so please continue to share. Mimi and I will continue to update you as we are able. Our work is going very well, and Mimi is doing great. I have had some digestive troubles, but I am feeling a bit better today. African bacteria! Thank you for praying....

July 01, 2006 - — Returning from Nairobi to Athi River along Mombasa Road our university bus came upon a horrific scene, one which Mimi and I immediately recognized from last year's trips up and down the Kenyan "roads" - another fatal accident. Like last summer, we saw lives poured out on the horrible "roads" around here - an ugly and wrenching reminder of death in the midst of this mayhem. Mimi and I can just almost feel the pain in the faces of the onlooking crowds. For many here, life is very hard, and then it seems to end. Lord, help us to do justice, ...

June 29, 2006 - — Mimi and I continue to be well, and we are now back working at Daystar University during the week. Our time at the Athi River campus brings new adventures every day. The savannah is very dry this time of year, and the surrounding area has been suffering from a draught for some time. We have water some days and we have electricity some days. Every so often, we have water and electricity all in the same day. Mimi and I appreciate a hot shower, a cup of tea, and a light at night like never before! We notice that none of this ebb and flow ...

June 21, 2006 - — Thank you for your prayers. God is blessing! Mimi and I are well and we are enjoying our work at Daystar University in Nairobi and in Athi River. Please continue to pray for us and for all those whom we share God's love with here. Mimi and I are off to the Kenya Baptist Theological College for days of meeting and preaching in Limuru. We anticipate bad weather in the mountains. Thank you for praying especially for our health and stamina over the coming days! < >

June 19, 2006 - — The African smells, sights, sounds, and sensual rhythms welcomed us back. Every sensation prompted us to think differently - more deeply. Disruption of our usual patterns and ways brought more natural daily rhythms. With occasion to watch, to listen, and to think ... conversations eased ... even with God. Mimi and I have been slowed down to African rhythms. Everything takes longer, and we wanted to think it frustrating. But we smell, we listen, we look, and we learn. Mimi and I learn much from my African students - thank you, Lord, ...

June 10, 2006 - — As Mimi and I stopped over in Memphis for a few days to be with our family, I was reminded by Paul's sermon in Athens that these days our home is in Christ. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set ...

May 30, 2006 - — Mimi and I are one week away from leaving Houston for Nairobi, and we are busy like beavers. One wedding, too many errands, more than enough meetings, a bunch of packing, and then we go to the airport. Thanks to all our friends and family that have endured our frenetic pace these last few days. We love you … despite our rush! Please know that we leave our closest only to go and minister to some of our Lord’s closest…. Mimi and I thank God for all of you; your expressions of support and encouragement will travel with us....