The Gabbra People

February 2008

Kenya 

A number of people have asked: What’s happening? Are the Gabbra involved? Are they being affected by this violence? How do we pray?

For the most part the traditional Gabbra are too far north to be affected directly by the violence though, for a time, there was an interruption of business vehicles and goods travelling up north that affected the availably of some things.

There are, however, other problems that arose. A number of the Gabbra youth going to Secondary School (High School) had to pass through some of the areas affected by violence. There are other Gabbra that have left the nomadic lifestyle and have moved to some of these areas in an effort to find jobs. These are the ones that would be the most affected by the violence.

Pray for the Kenya government to restore peace and to find a solution to the situation.

Ministries

The Hamptons continue to make friendships and prepare for the TIMO team that will arrive in April of this year.

The Hamptons wrote:

In addition to what we've been witnessing nationally, we've also recently heard some discouraging reports locally. While we have guessed for some time that there are those who come to church to see what they can get, we finally heard and saw firsthand that this is indeed the case with some. This realization came at the end of a very long week of helping the community and church people with many needs. In our exhaustion, perhaps the truth was a little more discouraging! Yet despite our disappointment our hearts continue to beat for these people. They are strong survivors who desperately need to be consumed by the love of God. They are kind, generous, and hospitable, but utterly lost apart from Christ. We truly count it a privilege to be in this place at this time. God has a plan for the Gabbra people and a plan for His church to reach them.

Pray

The TIMO team is busy raising their support. Would you pray that each one would have the finances they need to join the Hamptons April 25th? There will be two single ladies, Charmyn (Canada) and Barbara (US), and three couples, Steve and Angie (US), Joel, Migdalia and Sophia (US) and Paul and Salome (Kenya).

Continue to pray for the medical work. Ware has continued giving the basic care that she is allowed to do since September when the Gloria’s replacement nurse left. On some months a good portion of her salary was covered through the dispensary charges, which is a step in the right direction in making the on-going medical work, at Kalacha, self-sustaining. Pray for Ware that she will grow spiritually as she faithfully works there.

Continue to pray for Barako Boru. He returned to Kalacha, after taking his secondary school exams, and started helping at the dispensary. He still desires to continue his education in nursing if his marks are high enough but he won't know his exam results until March. It seems hopeful that he could get into nursing school at AIC's nursing school at Kijabe if the marks are high enough. Pray for his continued spiritual growth, too.

Pray for the church at Kalacha. Thank God for those who are faithful and ask that God would raise godly men to take leadership in that church and, in turn, they would reach out to the unsaved Gabbra in the surrounding areas.