Prayer Letters

November 2021
Dear Pastor and Church family:
One Year in Kenya!

On October 22nd of last year, Crystal and I arrived in Kenya. I was thrilled to be back in Kenya after being gone for many years. I was also excited to have Crystal with me, and I looked forward to showing her the country the Lord had put into my heart. We praise the Lord for all that we have been able to learn and experience in the last year. Due to the pandemic and various lockdowns, our expectations changed of what our first year as missionaries would be like. We are grateful that, in spite of some challenges, the Lord saw fit to allow us to work with a veteran missionary who would help us push ourselves to grow in learning ministry, language, and culture in Kenya.

Language and culture have been big areas where Crystal and I have worked to gain understanding. Crystal has had a bigger hill to climb than I since she had never been to Kenya; however, the Lord’s grace is a help and comfort to us both as we learn. At the end of this past October, Crystal completed her language learning. The completion of class does not mean she is fluent, but she does now have all the tools she needs to continue growing in her knowledge of Swahili.

Also this past month, Crystal’s dependent pass was approved! After many months of waiting for the approval process to be completed, (which included them losing our paperwork twice) we can breathe easier now that things are finalized. We appreciate your prayers on our behalf as we have labored this past year here in Kenya!

Continued Evangelism in Embulbul

As we work to spread the Gospel of Christ in the area of Embulbul in the figurative (and sometimes literal) shadow of a mosque, we praise the Lord that not all conversations with people about the Lord are cold. I was able to meet a young man named Ochieng as he was leaving his apartment. I had the chance to speak with him for a couple minutes about his eternal home. He did not have time to speak long, but I had the opportunity to break the ice with him once I heard his name. The name “Ochieng” is a name of the Luo tribe. Knowing this, I began speaking a little of the Luo language that I had learned over 20 years ago. He was surprised by this mzungu (white man) speaking not only Swahili but his mother tongue. This opened the door for a follow-up visit when he had more time. Please pray the Lord will work on Ochieng’s heart about his need of salvation.

Later, I and Missionary Cormier had the opportunity to knock on Paul and Sharon’s door. After a couple moments of introduction, I began asking her about the question posed on the face of the Gospel tract. The question about where her eternal home would be caused her to think a bit. Sharon invited us in where we then met her husband Paul and their young children Precious and Ignacius. After I introduced ourselves to Paul, I realized that I needed some help as it was near the end of the day and my vocabulary was running out. I invited Missionary Cormier to take over the conversation as the pastor of Karen Baptist Church. After a little more than an hour of careful explanation, both Paul and Sharon accepted the Lord as their Saviour. Praise the Lord! Please pray for them as we follow up with them in home discipleship.

Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support!

Billy and Crystal Coley