Please Pray for Crossroads

I am writing from Kenya to bring to your attention a serious issue facing our church, Crossroad Fellowship. 

It seems there is going to be building of apartments on the land in front of and surrounding the church property. Last week builders constructed a fence and told us that our property boundary wall was inside their property! 

Gary talked to the architect and the builder of our church and both men assured him that our fence was on our property line. Now it seems that one of the men that represents the construction of the apartments as he was on our church. We would call that a conflict of interest. But here with enough money a bribe can be paid and we will be at fault even if it is not our fault! 

The man building the apartments and his family are not opposed to pay as many bribes as necessary to get their way. But God can intervene. So please pray for this situation to be resolved and for God to get the glory in it! 

Feeling Good

I just stopped by to use our friend's computer so that I can give you a short update. 

Gary preached today, it was his first time since we got here, out of respect to Pastor Dave from Park Chapel being here and preaching last weekend. 

At any rate, many of you have asked about Gary's health, so I just wanted to write to say he is feeling good! He doesn't have the strength or stamina that he once had, but for the most part is doing well. He had a blood test this week and his blood thinner level was perfect and his diabetes seems to be under control without medication. He has had many meetings and already been asked for counseling sessions from the very first week. 

We are so much enjoying the weather, too. It is running about 88 - 95 degrees everyday with the humidity about 60% - 70%, but it is great to be out of that terrible Indiana weather. 

We love all of you so much and appreciate your prayers. 

Update from Mombasa

Dear Friends, 

We wanted to drop you a note and tell you that we have three visitors from the states, Pastor David Woods, Terry Tillett and Gary West. They are from Park Chapel Christian Church. 

Pastor David preached at Crossroads Fellowshipt today, and it was a good message. It was well received and there were 4 people tat came to Christ for the first time! CF broke all previous records of regular church attendance with 753 people! We praise God for how He has used this ministry so far. It is so much fun to be a part of such a thriving ministry in Christ Jesus! 

We are having a wonderful time, visiting various other ministries that some of our CF people are involved in such as the feeding centers. In a place called Vipingo there is a church plant a Manna Feeding Center, and a small school. 

Tomorrow and Tuesday we will all go to visit two more feeding centers that have been raised up. Park Chapel supports the one that we are visiting tomorrow. It is called Injili meaning Gospel feeding center. Alan Owino, a Muslim convert, is the pastor and overseer of the feeding center, the church and school, which is all located in the same compound. Alan is also head of another center that we are visiting on Tuesday. 

We are so thankful that the Lord has made a way for us to be here! It makes us realize how much we have missed being here. 

God bless you and thanks to all of you who are praying for us. 

Greetings from Mombasa

We have arrived safe and sound in Mombasa! We have already seen the new church building and settling in, jet-lagged, but enjoying being here. It is hot and humid but LOVELY! 

We love you all and please keep us in prayer. 

A Short Return to Kenya

Dear Praying Friends, 

Gary had a good report from the doctor this week and we made out plane reservations to return to Kenya on January 23! We are only going to be allowed to go for 5 weeks because the cardiologist here says he wants to see how the labs in Kenya will handle the weekly blood draw to check his blood thinner levels. When we come back they plan to do extensive checkups here to see if everything in Kenya was handled correctly and if so, then we can go back for a longer period of time. 

We are so thankful to the Lord for allowing us to be able to go back to Kenya! But it is kind of like the first time we went, kind of apprehensive, yet excited. This will be the first time we have gotten to see the finished church building, the official home of Crossroads Fellowship! 

Our Pastor, David Woods is going to be in Kenya during our time there. We are excited about that because Park Chapel has partnered with us in building Crossroads Fellowship. 

Thanks for standing with us, our partners in ministry and thanks for all the prayers on our behalf. But please don't stop praying! Of course, the most urgent request is that God will keep Gary safe  in Kenya with him being on the blood thinners. 

We love you and appreciate you all, you are blessing to us! 

Gary &  Jean

Update on Gary's Health

Just wanted to update you on what is going on with us. First note, our new website at http://www.crossroads.or.ke  We ask that you take a look and see what God has accomplished and how he used you in prayer and financial support. All Glory to Him!  

Also I wanted to give you an update on Gary's health. He went in for the nerve root block and they were unable to complete the procedure because he went into A-Fib. This week he had three episodes and on Wednesday I took him to the VA Hospital in Indianapolis. They kept him overnight and ran some tests. There was no damage to his heart, but he is still in A-fib. We are not sure why he continues to have these episodes. He is still on blood thinners, and that seems to be working for now. They need to shock his heart back into rhythm, but he has to remain on the blood thinners for a least another 3 weeks. 

Also, Tina, our daughter-in-law, has been found to have a second blod clot in her lung. She is unable to work full time, but now that Nathan is out of college for the summer, he is working full time. Also, they have launched a website called http://visionsbysmiddy.com, which showcases Tina's photography and Nathan's furniture design. 

Hanna is taking a course in summer school and working more hours. 

We love and trust the Lord. Jer 29:11 

Continuing to Grow

Crossroads Fellowship Church continues to grow and with the building being finally completed, the members are enjoying their own place to worship the Lord. Some of the members report that there is landscaping taking place as well as the parking lot reaching completion. There has been a temporary building completed for the Sunday School program, however, plans are to build on to the worship center and complete a two story education building. God miraculously supplied all we needed for the worship center, so we know he will provide the money for Phase II. 

The marriage of our son Nathan to Tina (Okken) Smiddy began the year 2008, with all of us traveling to Arizona for the wedding. Hanna, along with Tina's brothers were all attendants in the wedding. Even Gary and Tina's father, Tim participated in the ceremony. As is typical in weddings in Kenya, Gary paid cows to Tim as a dowry for his daughter. It was quite a surprise to everyone that attended! 

Although it is difficult for any missionary kid to come home, Hanna is adjusting well, working a part time job and learning to balance college, work and life in the States. She is in a Christian organization on campus, which has helped her spiritually, and she has made some friends along the way. 

It has been difficult to decide when to write this letter as we seem to once again be in God's waiting room. Gary had an MRI in January and it showed that he has four vertebrae in his neck compressed with never damage at each one. Surgery seems inevitable, however, we will not know definitely until April. We have been waiting a long time for all the testing and appointments to take place and this may delay our return to Kenya. Please pray for Gary and this situation. It has been a long time since you have heard from us, so we wanted to write now rather than wait for an appointment. 

Thanks for your financial support and prayer. What a true blessing you are to us! May God Bless You.