severns ron linda 1987 kenya

8/12/2019 Severns Ron Linda 1987 Kenya

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M i ss io na ri e s to

t h e MAASAI

Ron L inda

Sevenn s

P.O.

Box

110

Narok,

Kenya

AFRICA

April , 1987

Dear Fr iends ~ ~ ~

I

ju s t real ized tha t

i t

has

been

nine

months since we have sent a

newsle t ter .

While those who write to us or

contribute

to our financial support have had

more

regular

correspondence,

others

may be

wondering

what s

happening

to the

Seve rns

Last

May

Ron taught a church growth at a local course with 15

Maasai

church

leaders

in

attendance, then Linda and I went to Turkana for a few days to

vis i t ou r Christian Missionary Fellowship colleagues there.

June

Saw

the beginning of

two

weekly

Bible s tu dy

classes at

Oltiani and

Oloombokokish i

Late in

July

e received

word

that

Linda s

father

had

passed

away and we

returned

to

the

States

for seven

weeks

to attend the

funeral,

help Linda s

mother.

While we were there, we shared with five of our suppor ting churches.

In

October

Ron resumed

the

Bible

studies

that had been disrupted by our

return

to

the

States . e also installed a solar electr ic system that gives us electr ic

l ights , and finished a water system

that

allows the rainwater we trap from

our roof

to

run into the house. So now we

have

(almost)

a l l

the

conveniences o f home.

My parents came to vis i t us in November

om

and dad

enjoyed

mee ting both

our co-workers

and

the

Maasai

people

we

are working with. And i t was a real joy for us to have

ou r

friends meet

my parents and vice

versa.

The rst week in December

I taught a class on church leadership at our big annual course for al l

Maasai men in Narok. Then, of co urse , there was Christmas. We had a

t r ad i t i ona l American

Chr i s tmas d inne r on Chr i s tmas Eve wi th some

fe l low

missionaries, then

spent

Christmas

Day

with the

Maasai

Christians,

as

they

celebrated

our

Lord s birthday.

January

Seemed to be a month of p repa ra tion . I

prepared

a wedding ceremony and

lessons

fo r

a

course,

both

of

which were

held in

February.

I

worked

on a

teacher s manual to go with th e new

bel iever s

lessons

that

have been

taped in Maasai, and spent time

editing the LOMON

a newsletter

the

Christ ian Missionary Fellowship/Maasai missio na rie s a re puttin g out. And

most importantly, I talked with

church

leaders

about

plans

for

the growth

o f

th e chu rch

in

1987

February

Saw

completion

of many of the plans and

preparations

begun in

January.

I taught

my

f i r s t course completely in Maasai with lessons on

Jesus

the

Great Revea le r of God

our

Great High

Pries t and

the Great Sac ri fi ce f or

ou r

s i n s

CHRISTIAN

MISSIONARY

FELLOWSHIP


2/4

I performed

the f i r s t

two

Christian

Maasai weddings in our area; the

OMON was completed and sent off; and the

English

manual for the f i r s t

two sets

of

the

new believer s lessons was completed.

February

also saw

the plans for the church

that

we

had made in January begin

to

be

fulfilled

as

we

started regular studies

a t

Ole tuka t, ano ther

one

of

the

churches in

our area

I t has been a busy and fulfilling nine months. We have seen progress and

growth in

the

Maasai churches. Thank you for your prayers and financial

support

that

have

undergirded

us in t h i s work.

Yours because HE LIVESl

f

Ron

and L i n d a S e v e r n s

Please

pray

for:

01e

Sangiriaki ,

Ololchoki,

and Die

Sukantet; leaders

of the

new

age set

that I hope will come to Christ and lead many

of

their

peers to Christ .

Die Nchoei and Die Sina; young Christ ians, but leaders

of

the

newest

churches we are working with.

L e a d e r s

o f a l l t h e c h u r c h e s we

work

w i t h

Our continued

health

and s tr ength to do

the

work

that God has

c a l l e d us

t o

d o

June

7th

(Pentecost

Sunday

has

been

designated

a Day

of

Prayer

for

World

Evangelism.

Please pray with us on

that

day for people who will t e l l othe rs the Good

News

of forgiveness and

salvation

in

Christ

(harvesters as Jesus called them in

Luke

10:2),

anrd for

those in our wono

w h ^ a v e ^ n o t ^ e t

heard t n a t m e g i v i n g

m e s s a g e

4 87

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/ Co L)

M i ss io na rie s to

t h e MAASAi

Ron L inda

Sevenns

P.O. Box 110

Narok,

Kenya

AFRICA

November, 1987

Dear Friends ,

Scripture

has taken

on

new meaning as

we live

and

work

here

among

the

Maasai

in Kenya.

Matthew

5:42 Give to

the one

who a sk s

you, and do not turn away from the one

who wants to borrow from you.

There

Is a knock

at

th e door. The vyoman

who

greets me

when I

answer the

door is

al l too familiar. She and he r four smal l

children live

just

a

stone s

throw from

our

house. We

sit

and

visit.

She

has

a

prob

lem, she says. Her

husband hasn t

come

to bring money for

them

to buy food

again. The children are hungry; their thin

arms and legs look almost

comical

against their swollen stomachs. Again, I

give

them

potatoes

and

carrots

and

sug

ar and tea. Oh, Lord, give me a

thankful

and

wiiiing spirit

to

give to

t h o s e in need

Philippians 4:18-19 7 have received full

payment

and

even more;

I

am

amply

sup

plied, now

that

I

have

received... the gifts

you

sent. They are a fragrant offering, an

acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

And my

God

will

meet

all your needs ac

cording to His glorious riches in Christ

Jesus

Oh, look, I exclaim, as Iopen our sup

port giving report. Isn t God good? Our

supporters have been so faithful in their

giving. You know, it humbies me to think

how many of them are sacrificing so that

the

Maasai

can

h ea r t he wonderful

news

of Jesus Christ. I appreciate them

and

hope and pray that

they

know

we

couldn t

be

here

without

them.

Matthew19:29 And everyone

who

has

left houses o r brothers

or

sis ters o r

father

or

mother

or

children

or

fields for my

sake

will receive

a

hundred t imes a s much

an d will inheri t eterna l

life.

I m so lonely 1think I

am

going to die, I

hurl a t

Ron

a s he walks

in

from his week

end teaching. I

need

to ta lk

to

someone

who can

understand

what I am saying.

I

want

to

go

to a mall

and shop.

I

want

a

diet Pepsi. Im iss my family. Iwant to

see

my nieces and nephews

before

they

are

grown up. I am sick of

these

awful roads and the flies and dirt and

the loneliness. Please

be

patient

with me, Lord.

Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you,

there is rejoicing in the

presence of

the

angels of God over one

sinner

who re

pents.

There is excitement in the air. Today,

we

are

having

a big osirua

(celebration). As we climb the steep

bank down to the river for the

baptisms,

we sing. My tongue

stumbles

over the

words, but my heart is singing freely.

There is rejoicing in

heaven

today be

cause of

these

people

who

are giving

thei r l ives to our Lord and Savior.

Thank you, Lord,

for

working

among

these

people. Thank

you

for

the aw esome a nd rewarding

task

of

bringing

your Good

News

to the

lost

among the Maasai.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not for I am with you,

be not dismayed for I

am your

God....

Iwake up, my heart racing for

some

un

known reason.

But

then

I

hear

it,

the

strange noise outside. Something is

trying to get in, my mind

screams

as I

fumble for

the

flashlight.

There

is a

scraping

and

digging noise outside

the

bedroom window. Why do

these

strange

noises always

have

to

happen

in the middle of the night when Ron is

gone? Suddenly, I

come

to my senses

and

realize

that

it is just a smail noctur

nal animal foraging for food. Sleep

comes again after quoting Scripture.

Matthew 10:42 And if anyone gives

even

a cup of cold water to

one

of

these

little ones because he

is my

discipie, I

tell you the truth, he will certainly

not

lose

h is r ewa r d

CHRISTIAN

MISSIONARY

FELLOWSHIP


4/4

I

can

tell by the small hesitant knock who

will be there

when

I answer

the door. The

three small, ragged dirty children bow

their

heads

in a

proper

Maasai

greeting.

Almost daily they

come

by to

get

a drink of

water.

They seem so

small to

have the

re

sponsibility of watching the goats and

sheep.

The

cool clean

cup

of water

and

a

slice of bread I sometimes give them is all

that these

children

will have to

ea t or drink

until they return to their village in the

evening.

Matthew

10:32 Whoever

acknowledges

me before men,

I will

also acknowledge

him before my

Father

in heaven.

Leseyo is excited. He

has

been witness

ing to his neighbors since his baptism a

month ago and four of them want to

be

come Christians. Would Ron please

come

to his village to do some more

teaching?

Philippians 4:13 7

can

do everything

through Him whogives me strength.

I don t have Ron this t ime; I am all on my

own. The cup of sour milk in my hand

looks innocent enough but I know that it

wiil take the power of God for me to get it

down without throwing it back up.

These

people

are

so gracious. They are my

friends. Ipray and God is so good that I

am able to get it

down

without even one

gag I For

someone

who even refused reg-

uiar milk

as

a small child it is truly a mira

cle. My faith and

trust

in God is

streng

thened

Matthew

9:37-38

Then He

said

to His

disciples.

The

harvest is plentiful but the

workers

are

few.

Ask

the

Lord

of

the

har

vest therefore to send out workers into

his ha r ve s t

field.

Please come

to

our

village

and

teach

us

the

Words of God the woman says. We

have

no

one

to

teach us. We meet togeth

er to pray and sing but no one can read

and w e

wan t to hear more.

11 87

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MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIP

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46226

mis

The

two men

stop

by again to

ask

Ron

when

he will be able to begin having

regular weekly lessons in their villages

like

he does at Oloombokishi,

Oltiani,

Oletukat, and

Olenkomeei.

They

are

new Christians and because they don t

read they need to have teaching in or

der

to grow.

I t is too far

for

us

to

walk to church ev e

ry Sunday. Please

come and start

a

church in

our area,

the

old

man

asks.

Truly the harvest is white. Please pray

for workers .

God

is

faithful. His Word

is a liv e and

living

and

working in our lives. Please

continue to pray that we will be

open

and

sensitive to

God s

Spirit;

that

His

Word

will become

more

and

more

an in

tegral part of our lives

so

that together

on that day of judgmentwe

can

stand

before

the throne

of

Grac e a nd

hear

our

Lord and Master s words, Well done,

thou

good

and faithfulservant

Here

because

you

care,

^LTlc cu

Linda

S e v e m s

P L E A S E P R A Y F O R

The 14

new Christians who

were bap

t ized in July;

Continued spiritual growth among

the

eight lldamat churches we workwith;

A Maasai-wide awakening

and

realiza

tion

of

their

need

for

Jesus

Christ;

Good health

fo r us

both;

Men s course in December and January

that Ron will

be teaching;

Darrel

and

Sharlene

Hoffmaster who

will be

taking over our work here and for

us

as

we

prepare

for furlough.

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Organization

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severns ron linda 1987 kenya

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