Ball Ken Sharon 1997 Kenya

8/11/2019 Ball Ken Sharon 1997 Kenya

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phone 317-578-2700

fax

317 578 2827

GOD

HAS

POURED OUT H IS MERCY

ON KENYA

In lateMarch,we sentout an all-points bulletin to eachof you for prayer for the

Republic of

Kenya.

Kenyawas

suffering

from a

severe

drought which was developing

intoa life-threatening famine. The

Lord

heard your

prayers

andpoured outa blessing on

Kenya that they literally cannot contain. It began to rain the day before Easter and, in

many areas ofKenya, it hasn't stoppedyet A friend recently said that the grass in most

areasof Maas^and resembles indoor/outdoor

carpet

butat ourprimaryresidence in

Elang'ata Enterit it is a full-blownshag Isn't God great

As I said before^ this blessing literally caimot be contained. The latest word fromour

teammates is that the riverwhich borders two sidesofourhome/yardhad becomevery

swollen. After oneparticularly strongrain, it brokeits banks,flowedthrough our

yar4

breachedour 2' dikewhich protected themain house and, ultimately,flooded that house.

The early report is that the furniture and the appliancesare a total loss. Currently,the

state

of

the roads prohibits our team fromgoing into the areafor a good look

Thank you again and again for '-praying open the windowsofheaven. God has shown

His greatmercyand loveforKenyaandher people. Wewillkeepyou up-to-date on our

flooded home Pleaserest assuredthat this floodis a minorsetbackcompared to the rich

blessing

of

the rain that it accompanied.

Rejoicing in His goodness.

Ken

anfrSharon Ball

5/21/97

M International

P.O. Box501020 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-6020 U.S.A


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Ken&

Sharon

Ball

111 Alderwood Lane

Longview, WA 98632

360-423-4269

e-mail, [email protected]

}\Mssionanes

to

thekaasai

Ken, Sharon, Charlie, and Marcus

CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIP Prayer

Newsletter

April 1997

A book I read recently contained thisquote:

When written

in Chinese , the word 'crisis' is

composed of twocharacters one represents

danger and the other represents opportunity

When we arrived Stateside in earlyAugust 1996,we

projectedour activities for the next five monthswould

fall

into three

areas, Family

... Church Relations ...

Finance.

Family: Assist Sarahin getting settled in college with

Jonathan.

Church Relations: Visitwith asmany of our

supporters as possible.

Finance: Raise $800 per month more monthly

support and $16,000 one-time support.

Now what do the quote and our projections havein

common?

EVERYTHING

Dangercan bemore fully

defined

as

exposure

or vulnerability to

risk

or

harm.

Let me giveyou some examples ...

Family

In lateAugust,Jonathan approached uswith the

suggestion that he not return to college thisyear. He

wanted to take a year off to work and to do some

thinking and planning for his future. Suddenlythe

red alert sirens startedwhiningin our parental hearts.

Danger Danger Impending risk or possible harm

Was this a good idea; would he really be able to return

to school after a year off; what would

Sarah

think

Chuich Relations

In June 1996, our major supporting church merged

with two other local churches in the Longview,

Washington

area.

Even though wewere thoroughly

forewarned

abouthowmuch larger the churchwas

after the merge, wesuddenly felt as ifwe had walked

into a group of strangers. Marcus said, Mom,

where

areall thepeople we used to know? I had no idea. Red

alert

one

more

time

We ended our morning services and scooted off to a

barbecue

at one th e

elders'

homes. There

we

found

th e

minister and

one

or two

elders from

each

the

three

merged

churches. The talkwas lively,

warmhearted, and very intimate. The opportunity to

openly

share

the

struggles

and

successes

ofour last

term, eat greathamburgers, and laughsurrounded

us.

Weended our afternoon with a lengthy, supportive

prayer timewhere the newmerged church laid hands

on

us

and sent us out to continue th e work t he Lor d

had for us in

Kenya

CRISIS = danger/vulnerability/risk + opportunity

Finances

In October, our give-till-it-hurts major supporting

church

was forced

to

advise

us that theywould need to

reduce

their monthly support from $2,300 per month

to $500 per month. Even this reducedamount would

be in keepingwith their give-till-it-hurts motto bfii as

financially they were looking at very grim circumstanc

es. Consequently, sowere weasa large deficitbalance


3/4

We have

received

commitments for $1,100

per

month

more support; our deficit has been

reduced

to only

$5,800 at thiswriting, and

CRISIS =danger/vulnerabiiity/risk +

opportunity

I may never learn to look first for the

opportunities that crisis brings, but I am

confident that my focus is changing.

Our tickets are booked to return to

Kenya

onJuly6,

1997.

Please pray. Andwhile you

are praying, here's a brief listof the great

opportunities we havebetween now and

then:

Ken to

finish

his last eight hours of

master's degree credit byMay

31

Sarah's wedding to ScottChristopher

Creson on June 14, 1997 to be a whole lot

o f fun

$1,500permonth of support to be

committed

The deficit amount in our monthly

account to bewiped out

The remaining $6,000 in our one-time

needs account

to

come

in

God to pour out a great rainy

season

on

the countryof Kenya duringApril and

May

With Alphonse Karr, I am learning to say

that although ... Somepeople are

always

grumbling because roses have thorns; I am

thankful that

thxxms

have roses.

Looking for

every

opportunity,

Sharon

4/97

n/IISSIOM

STRATEGY: CLINIC MOTORCYCLES

Currently, our five CMF bush

clinics

in

Maasailand rely

on

seven motorcycles to provide transportation for our clinicians

to reach patients who are too sick to reach a clinic on foot.

Since

public

and private transportation are practically

nonexistent in our remote locations, these motorcycles are

essential equipment for medical ministry. They also provide

mobility for clinic nurses to respond to

emergency

outbreaks of

diseases

such as

measles,

meningitis, and typhoid.

We would like to challenge any doctors, nurses, or other

medical

personnel to consider making a

special gift

toward the

purchase

of replacement motorcycles. We would like to

replace

th e current

well worn

bikes with

a uniform

fleet

in

order to

ease maintenance and repairs, and provide a more reliable

means of transportation.

For those business-minded

readers

who value planning ahead:

once we replace the current fleet, we plan to sell the old bikes,

bank the proceeds, and let the interest accrue so that five to

seven

years

from nowthe

funds will

be available to

purchase

the

next

fleet.

The high

resale

rates for motorcycles in

Kenya

make

this a reasonable proposal. This approach is also in line with

our disengagement strategy in turning over a viable health care

system to the Maasai community in the years to come.

Please

consider making a

special

gift marked Ball Clinic

Motorcycle Fund. Wewill purchase motorcycles only as God

moves

His people to provide the

funds.

Checks should be

made out and sent to Christian Missionary Fellowship. Thank

you in

advance

for considering this important need.


4/4

Ken &

Sharon

Bali

PO Box

110

Narok, Kenya

East

Africa

e-mail, [email protected]

Mssionaries to theMaasai

Ken, Sharon, Charlie, and Marcus

XA

CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIP

Prayer Newsletter

September 1997

The peace of evening

was

settlingon the village. The

cows

wereanxious to be milked, and the day

seemed

equally

anx ious to cool down. We sa t

on

short stools and

leaned

on the sun-warmed cowdung

walls

asI thought, Soon we

willname the baby 'Jedidiah,' the one God loves

One day earlier,as I had read 2 Samuel

11

and 12, God's

faithful, pursuing

love

hadstirredmy heart. Yes, King

Davidhas sinned. God's severe mercy had disciplined

him. Davidhumblyrepented, and, finally, he was given

his newson ... Solomon. At that point, I decided that

should I ever get a chance to nameanother baby, I would

call him Jedidiah (Solomon's God-given name)

Later that sameday,a

Maasai

Christian brother came

askingus to participate in a

special

namingceremony for

his baby boy. We were to bring the name. So, the baby

would be named Jedidiah. Our

repose

came to an end as

we moved from our peaceful observation posts against the

cowdung wall into the house. After a bowlof pumpkin,

beans, and potatoes, the official namingbegan.

We sang, prayed, then read 2 Samuel

11

and 12. The

eyes

of the parents were excited asthe storyunfolded. Like

Davidand

Bathsheba,

they

sorrowed

over the

loss

ofason

this year. Finally the moment came to call out the new

name,

Father

ofJedidiahV

Yes

They had heard the newname.

Father

ofJedidiah?

Yes

Again

it was called asit would be twomoretimesbefore a

prayer

of blessing wouldbe

given

to the baby. Then the

callwasmade to the mother, Mother ofJedidiah?

Yes

Mother ofJedidiah?

Yes

And

i t continued

until

th e

fourth call was made

and anoth

blessing

given.

The official tensionsuddenly brokeas

everyone began to practice the new name. Those outside

the housewaited to hear the news.

Yes,

the babywouldb

called Jedidiah.

This

is a slice o f

what t he last months have held

as

we

returned to Kenya, the

Maasai people,

and Elang'ata

Enterit. Passing through customs at the airport on July 8

without oneproblem nowseems but a shadowy memory

Traveling on to Elang'ata Enterit and recognizing the hug

clean-upeffort our Maasai friends made on our flooded

houseisstill a fresh and pleasant memory. The lineon th

outside of the house clearly showsa two-footwatermark.

The thick layerof mud heaped outside the front porch wa

shoveled out of the dining room,

living

room,and kitchen

Yetthe inside of the house looks unscathed. A

few

warped

floor boards,

some

discolored wall,

and

lots of stories are a

that remain

of

th e flood.

Thank you for your faithful, generoussupport that carried

us back to Kenya. Thank you for your faithful and

generous prayers that will sustain ushere.

Yours

in Him,

Ken and Sharon

Documents

Ball Ken Sharon 1997 Kenya