Bridge Families - James127 Father

Hello from Nakuru, Kenya!          So many experiences and stories could be told, it's hard to know where to start. We all hear of "orphans" and have compassion in our hearts...but I want to SHOUT from the roof tops the need for families. These babies are precious and perfect. They are a gift. ANYONE would, and should, be honored to call one of these babies, son or daughter. Sadly, very few see these gifts. Orphanages around the world are full of gifts, not just here in Kenya. Our babies needs here at Haven of Hope are very well cared for, but nothing replaces a healthy family. The enemy has been super crafty in blinding the community and painting children as burdens or unworthy. My heart breaks for the babies and also for those that are blind to the need. The current government setup does legally require orphanages here in Kenya. The foster and adoption program is set up very differently than the USA program. A child with any known living family can ne...

Every week day morning includes time for the men to gather for Bible study & devotion.  We have a prepared study to go through together, discuss and pray for each other. Talk about an amazing time with a great group of men.  This morning the discussion got a little warmer than average, but the resulting debate was powerful.  How do we as men support each other well? How do we lift our brothers up and help them when they stumble? We laughed, we got very quiet at times, but we all know how to better lift each other up.  When we prayed for our coming time in Kenya moments like this were at the center of our prayers.  We are exited to get this time and many others yet to come. Subscribe to our Newsletter Support us by designation to "family ministry" here: Donate Now

In case you missed the "We touched down in Kenya" news. Here is a quick update. Our crew did rather amazing considering the hours of travel to arrive here. We may have "ugly" passed out in Zurich for an hour or so. The flight crew on the Swiss Air flight included an attendant who had been adopted and took the sweetest shine to our family. Took above and beyond care of all of us through the flight. Upon handing out the immigration papers to be filled out, the attendant suggested that I use counter in the galley for more room. Then he found additional flight crew to help fill out all the required documents. Talk about feeling loved and seeing the hand of the Lord go before us. Simply put, the forms they filled out were much more legible than those I filled out. Kenya immigrations and customs went incredibly smooth. Met friends in the parking lot who ventured to see us with a beautiful cake. We spent a short night in Nairobi then headed to Naku...

Y'all, I can't say Enough about MVTI  and Denis who served us by working to book our flights.  We thought we had flights lined up and the bottom fell out with our meager efforts.  There was a moment yesterday that we began to think about changing schedules completely.  But the Lord had other plans to not just show up, but show off working through Denis.                                                        Subscribe to our Newsletter

First a quick trip report, if you want the big news skip to the second paragraph:  We had the opportunity to travel into Texas to see Jim & Trena with their girls in Austin early this week.  So we took off late last week headed south.  Really, it was perfect weather timing, Kansas City was getting the first blustery cold front of the fall.  Stopped traveling along the route to see dinosaur tracks in a creek bed that defy reality.  It is one thing to see posed fossils in a museum, but seeing trackways in a riverbed stretched all of our imaginations. We were hosted a few nights by our old neighbors (who 'kind of' knew cray cray they were inviting). Sunday were blessed to attend a worship service at Houston's First.  Monday we drove to Austin to see Jim & Trena.  We had an amazing visit playing at the park and shared a meal together.  Spent a night in Galveston, played at the beach and drove back to our furlough home in Kansas City. We...

We have four boys, they take turns mowing the lawn with dad. We are blessed to live in a furlough residence as we finalize paperwork and prepare to serve at His Cherished Ones in Kenya. Our family will be going to Kenya in February 2020.  Of our four boys, a couple have been mowing with me for several years while the younger boys are just learning.  Our last mowing was accomplished by a less seasoned crew member who was struggling. The struggle was not if could he push the self propelled mower.  His battle was where to keep his focus.  Each time he turned the mower around, lining up the next pass using the front wheels to get proper spacing.  However, his struggle was not looking further down the path. With every mowed pass keeping the wrong focus, the harder it was to keep the mower on track. The tracks were no longer straight, easy paths, but curving arches that are not as easy with the push mower.  Keeping his head down looking at the closest visual c...

We find ourselves on this journey as a family. Getting our crew ready to serve in a different role.  Praying constantly for the Lord to give us opportunities to prepare each of us for things yet to come.  Home schooling was clearly the best option for the time being for the school aged children. Thanks to a local church we have enrolled Ruby in a pre-k program.   The connections with the boys and Wren as we "help" with the homework have been so good.  Being able to focus time with them to build connections and strengthen our relationship together has proven a gift.  Today we rolled out early to give a family member some support with our hands and feet.  Something as small as cutting back a summer's worth of growth and bagging the spoils of war with common weeds. It is just plain good for us to work together.  On the drive home we learned the children's home we are going to serve in Kenya took a new placement today. Hearing our family excited in the ...