Thank you so much for your prayers for Neil and Sonja's flights to Nairobi. The first
miracle was weighing the 4 large checked bags, mostly filled with new leather bound
study Bibles still in their boxes for safe keeping. Each passenger is allowed 2 checked
bags at 50 pounds each. For accurate weights, Neil had carefully weighed the bags
on his grandfather's platform scale, used for weighing sacks of grain on the farm.
However, just before leaving our house, Neil tucked a favorite old pair of tennis shoes
into one of the bags to have the soles repaired in Nairobi, which put that piece of luggage over the weight limit by one pound. Thankfully, there was another bag that was just that much under the limit, and he was good to go. But when explaining to Sonja the luggage allowance for the cabin, Neil had not been clear enough, and her carryon was overweight. Sonja would need to use a small sack of some sort to carry some of the items separately. Neither Neil nor Sonja had such a small bag. The counter agent saw Sonja begin to fret, and kindly pulled out a courtesy bag from Delta, assuring Sonja it was her's to keep. When Neil called Ruth after boarding the plane, he said both he and Sonja considered that a miracle.
Another courtesy was allowing Sonja to board early, along with her traveling companion, because Sonja had requested wheelchair service to the gate. In order to help Sonja deplane upon arrival in Paris, their seating assignment was rearranged, moving them 20 rows closer to the exit door. Please pray for Sonja. Her family has experienced some tragic events recently, including a death of one of the younger family members. Sonja has also been overcoming the grief of losing her dear husband Dale in December of 2025. Dale was her lifelong companion and dearest friend. When he began playing golf in retirement, Sonja had chided him asking if God might have something else in mind. But Dale just smiled and asked if Sonja could think there would be some on the golf course who might need to hear about Jesus.
While Sonja and Neil were in the air, Ruth was in the midst of another type of flying. Western Union became another of a series of money transfer companies who were unable to provide timely service. On Tuesday Ruth got an error message when trying to send the funds for the Kenyan caregivers for the destitute children supported through Outfitters for Adventure. The customer care agent courteously explained that all USA customers were experiencing difficulty in sending their funds. However, the tech experts were refreshing the tables, and Ruth should be able to get the funds through. After failed attempts for the next 4 hours, Ruth began searching for another company and found Pangea. It took only a few minutes to enter the needed information to create an account with Pangea, and as quickly as pressing the send button, Francis had received the funds in Kenya. A few hours later Francis sent Ruth copies of the transactions he had completed to send the funds to the caregivers. However, in comparing Francis' transaction receipts with Ruth's list of caregivers, there were several that hadn't posted yet. Francis has his hands so full finalizing preparations for taking Neil to the east coast, that Ruth told him to send her the remaining receipts when he has time.
That brought Ruth through the night, as she glanced at the flight tracker now and then, following the progress of Neil's flight to Nairobi. At 8:30 a.m., Ruth joined the Wednesday morning prayer team from several nations praying for the work of a Canadian missionary couple in SE Asia who had been bringing humanitarian aid to the refugees along the border of the country they worked in. They trained a team of young people who wanted to help them, to become vibrant Christian witnesses, as they shared their talents and love for Jesus. One of their team members heard of a cousin who was dying, and she cried to think he might not have heard of Jesus. Family members were afraid to be near someone who was dying, but she traveled to where he was and arrived after he had gone into a coma. However, she hoped that the Holy Spirit would allow him to hear her tell of Jesus' love for him, and then she prayed a prayer of dedication of his life to Jesus. She asked if he heard her tell him about Jesus. He blinked his eyes not once, but twice. Then she asked if he had prayed with her to give his life to Jesus. Again, he blinked his eyes twice. She stayed beside him as his life drained from his body, and she had the reassurance of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was on the other side taking him by the hand.
At his funeral many in attendance were Buddhist, but the one leading the service explained that there was a road that separated into two paths. Those who were Christian should walk in one direction, and those who were not should walk in the other direction. So as the people came forward, they had to make a decision which path they were to take. One of the family members looked back at the young cousin and asked, isn't she the one who was the black sheep in the family? How has she become so confident and full of light? The Buddhists had one funeral service, and the Christians had their funeral service where they worshipped Jesus. When we heard that story this morning, we prayed for the family members who walked the Buddhist path to have spiritual hunger for the true God, and that they will allow the Holy Spirit to draw them to the young girls' path who is hoping they will all come to Jesus.
When Neil and Sonja arrived in Nairobi, Sonja was greeted by an escort with a wheelchair. She smiled and waved goodbye to Neil as she was wheeled out to meet the friends in her mission work. Neil brought his 4 suitcases of checked luggage to the Customs area. When the Customs officials saw the beautifully leather-bound Bibles still in their original boxes, they said Neil needed to pay $600 in customs taxes. Neil texted Ruth to ask for prayer, so she quickly shared the urgent prayer need with their church prayer team and with some friends. Cosmas was called in to help and with the prayer support, Cosmas was able to bring the amount down to $300. Those Bibles belong to God, and He will make sure they get into the hands of the pastors who need them. Most of the pastors have not been through a Bible college, and many of them have not had a Bible of their own. They can get the Bible on apps on their phones, but there is something so special about having a Bible in your hands, and especially one with study notes, pictures, and maps to help them understand the history and cultures of the various nations mentioned throughout the Bible. When you can put the Bible into context, it becomes so much more real and alive as if you are walking through those times with the characters in the Bible.
Please pray for Neil:
- for safety as he travels with Francis and Martin to teach in the small churches along the east coast near Mombasa for the next few days.
- for rest and good health for all of the travelers.
- for Cosmas' van to hold together and run well.
- for the people in the churches to have receptive hearts and that they will be strengthened in their faith in Jesus.