Well, hello to all our dear family and friends! This time it’s Sharon writing. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying some beautiful spring weather by now. This year has been exciting and busy. I decided to jump in with both legs and started the year off with the Daniel Fast. Did any of you do this fast? I told my friend that I was on the Daniel Fast and the devil was coming out! The first three days was really hard but I must say that God was gracious and helped me make it through. It is very true that fasting draws the presence and voice of God. Or maybe it just gets us to a place where we are conscious of His presence more and have an ear to hear that voice.
January was full of company but as they say in Kenya, “Guests are a blessing”. The first week in February I went to Eldoret to do a WM training for District WM Leaders. It was a wonderful time and we certified 13 new leaders. In one session the women began to share about abuses. It was heartbreaking. There are wonderful marriages here, but there are also many marriages where abuse is common. I will never forget what one of the women shared about her friend who’s husband is a pastor and she leads the worhsip. She said, “My husband beats me on Saturday night then I have to lead worship on Sunday morning. I cry and people think that God is blessing me but I am asking God – “Why do You let my husband beat me then I have to listen to him preach?”" But we had some wonderful times of prayer and I believe God healed some hurting hearts.
In Mid – February Ron and I were privileged to travel to Rwanda, both a beautiful and very clean country . They are working hard to rebuild their nation . I held the first WM training for pastor’s wives in Rwanda. I was received very warmly and shared with them about “Giving birth to the Promise”. I traveled back to Kenya to help Janene prepare for her Valentine Banquet and Ron stayed on then traveled on to Congo and Burundi. Ron held pastors’ conferences in both these countries.
On March 1st Irvina Parker and her sister Evelyn Harlow came for a very special event here in Kenya. We held our first Girls’ Ministries training here in Kenya! Everywhere I travel women are asking for ministry to girls. This is so needed but we needed God to bring it about, and He did! I can never thank Irvina and Evelyn enough for their excellent training and ministry. Check out Girls’ Ministries on facebook to read about it. We had representatives from all four conferences and certified 25 GM Sponsors. The women told me, “The baby has been born, now it is up to us to feed it and help it grow. At one point in our meeting the women were on the floor crying out to God for the next generation. Please pray that the Girls’ Ministries will take off and blossom here in Kenya. Our dream is to see it spread all over Africa.
Next week I have another pastor’s wives conference and then we prepare for our first General Conference here in Kenya in April. So this year continues to be busy.
I must stop here to let you know of one other very, very important date coming up in April. We are very proud to announce that we are going to be grandparents in April! Josh and his wife Allison are expecting our first grandbaby girl on April 9th. We would appreciate your prayers for Allison that all goes well. We are so excited and can hardly wait! I have even taken up knitting again and have knitted a sweater, booties and a blanket for my sweet pea! And I am in full “spoil” mode.
I will be in the States for the month of May to see my new grandbaby, and my children. Being away from family is by far the hardest thing about being a missionary. Anyway, I will be in North and South Carolina and hope to see many of you. And you can be sure that I will have my pocket ”Grandma Photo Album” with me.
Well, I have run my mouth (or blog) long enough. I just want to close by saying that we love and appreciate you all. Your words of encouragement, your prayers and support are a life line to us. Thank you for every time you have called our names in prayer. We pray that God will richly bless each of you for your great kindness.
Love to all of you. Sharon, Ron, Jessica and Janene
We have new support numbers through our Mission.
Support or Love gift – earmark which and send to number 11531S
Our Ministry account – 11531M
You can also go online to http://wmm.iphc.org/missionaries/africa/wooten.html – You can give monthly or one time at this link. There is also a ways to Give button that gives you options for drafting bank accounts, etc..
Mailed gifts go to IPHC WMM, PO Box 12609, Oklahoma City, OK 73157
