April 2012 Report

[James Taylor]

April 2012

“Our vision is to be a ministry of eternal significance that impacts the cause of Christ through the advancement and multiplication of His churches.”

 

Malindi Building Improvements

 

 I got to work with Ricklynn and Godfrey to finish one end of the building in Malindi. I really enjoyed working with the guys and the improvements look really good.

Summer Groups

We continued our planning for the summer groups making two trips to visit with the head of the Primary School and the head mistress of the Special Needs School where we will be working this summer. We were able to confirm that we have been welcomed to work at the special needs school as well. I also needed to confirm the number of students in each grade for the primary school. The smallest grade has 97 students and the largest has 211. This means that in July about 1500 students are going to hear the gospel message and be given a Bible. Pray for their salvation.

New Generator

   A big thank you goes to our friends Dwayne and Sally Bell of Indianapolis for helping us get this generator. It is now installed and ready to keep us going even when the electricity isn’t.

 

Missionary Retreat

     I received an email from Brother Lynn Raburn concerning this year’s missionary retreat. I have never had the opportunity to go to this event, but I have always heard that it is a time of great revival and refreshing. Our sponsoring church has set aside some money to help us and the Taylors both go this year, and we are very excited to have the opportunity. If you would like to send an offering to help us, just send it to Pauline BC marked  MISSIONARY RETREAT.

Special Projects

 

   * Container: If you would like to help with this consolidated shipment for the Bourlands, Taylors, Hoppers, and Eddie Williams, funds may be sent to

WWLP World-Wide Literature and Missionary Supplies, P. O. Box 128, Hamburg, AR 71646.

   * Vehicle: The Bourlands currently do not have a vehicle. We will need about $15,000 to get an appropriate vehicle. We are hoping to purchase it by June of this year.

    *Bibles: This summer we will be having a 516 Missions group of 35 coming.  We need around $8,000 to purchase Swahili Bibles that will be distributed.

     *Monthly Support: As a result of visiting the churches our support has raised but we still have need of a little more monthly support.

      

  Taylor’s Furlough 2012

     We had a tremendous month on furlough this month with several special events:

-We had a great time visiting our supporting churches. We even were able to visit six churches in one day!

-I was privileged to speak at the Arkansas Youth Conference this year and had a wonderful time! Last year AYC gave us $13,000 for Bibles so it was great to be able to thank everyone in person.

-I also preached a 4-day revival at Bethel MBC in Morrilton, AR and really had a special time with the folks at Bethel.   

-Missionary Training Ministry (MTM) also met this month at the Missionary Baptist Seminary and Brother Joe Morrell asked me to teach a class with him on the Pauline Cycle. It was truly an honor to teach with Brother Morrell.

-To top everything off we were invited to the Missions banquet of Flatwoods MBC in Mountain View, AR to be honored with Brother and Sister Cloud. It was an amazing evening!

 

Tickets Have Been Purchased!

We depart JULY 3 for another Three Year Term

 

James Taylor PO Box 811 Malindi, Kenya 80200

Phone 011-254-713289014  missiona...@gmail.com

Scott Bourland PO Box 5906 Malindi, Kenya 80200

Phone 011-719661243 missionar...@gmail.com

 

MAMBO YA JAMii

    

Taylors

       This month was great with Easter. We were able to go home to Indiana and spend the holiday with our families. We had an Easter get-together with James Mom’s family on the Saturday before Easter and went to church with my mom on Easter. We enjoyed the services very much. We have had little pockets of time with our family which has made us be very deliberate about focusing on them when we are there. I know for our parents it’s never enough, but we take what we have. The kids and I stayed an extra week while James flew to Arkansas to preach the Arkansas Youth Conference. My sister was having some health issues, so I decided to stay while she got the results of her tests. Thankfully the tests came back in the normal range. God answered our prayers on my sister’s behalf. I would ask you to pray for my sister’s husband, Curtis. I have had several opportunities to have conversation with him about the Lord. He has a bad taste in his mouth for Christians and anything to do with God or the Bible. But since we have been in the states I feel like his hard heart is beginning to soften towards the gospel. As Christians we need to be so careful how we judge the lost and guard our testimony in our communities. Christians have said some very damaging things to Curtis and have pushed him further away from Christ. People who are lost act like lost people, and we shouldn’t expect them to act like saved people. We need to be constantly looking for ways to show Jesus in our lives and share Him with others. I pray that I am different and that Curtis will see that in my life. I want him to know that God doesn’t judge him, that He loves him, and sent Jesus to pay for his sins so that one day when he is judged, God won’t see his sin but the righteousness of Christ.

      We have gotten a little school done and have decided whatever is done by May 18^th is what it’s going to be. We have had a pretty inconsistent year; but despite our circumstances, I think getting through 125 lessons isn’t bad. Especially when you add in that we had lots of field trips and hands on learning.

     We had a wonderful time this month in a missions conference at Flatwoods Baptist Church. They rolled out the red carpet (complete with limousines) for us and other missionaries and made us feel special. Our kids were amazed when a limo picked us up for the banquet. Gifts waiting in their seats, the kids rushed in before James and I even got to the car. We were escorted to the banquet in celebrity style. When we arrived they introduced us by name as we strolled through the tunnel of people applauding us. We ate like royalty while their teens served us well. After finishing our desserts they presented each family with gifts. The kids each received a bicycle, on which Samuel immediately climbed and began riding circles. Although we feel like an everyday, average, ordinary family, some call us heroes and describe us as amazing. We don’t feel that we deserve such esteem, but we are thankful for those who show their appreciation and love for us. We are honored that some see us as an example of Christian service. I only hope the Lord is proud of the example that they see.

     As our time is winding down here in the states, I am so longing to get back to our life of ministry. Furlough has been a ministry in and of itself, but I want to get back to Kenya to the people we love, to the people we have been called to minister to. While we are here, we see so many opportunities for ministry; and it’s easy to just want to do it all, but God has called us to a wonderful work in Kenya and we are ready to get back.

Thanks for reading and praying!

Bourlands

     This has been a very slow month for me. I have had a severe UTI and E-coli, so I have not been doing very much at all. After going to the lab and having a urinalysis and a culture done, I was able to send all the results to my nephew who is a doctor in Nashville, Tennessee. He was able to read the results and tell me what antibiotic I needed to ask the chemist for.  So after 2 rounds of meds, which I will finish tomorrow, I am praying it has been taken care of. Please pray that it is completely gone.

     Our grandson Jax turned 2 this month. We were able to do a video call with Josh and Caleb together to watch Jax open his new Big Wheel! He was so funny, it was not even put together, but he loved it and the box! Daddy (Josh) did put it together.  The next day we got great pictures of him enjoying his new big boy bike. Even a few pics with Josh on it too, crazy boy, I miss him and his ability to make me laugh no matter what kind of day I am having!

     Everyone else is doing great. Leah and Carson are enjoying school. Ethan is enjoying being home alone with Mommy and baby sister, who has just recently started crawling.  Look out, Kelli!  Kevin’s job is secure again, thank the Lord, and they are doing a great job with their ministry as well. Caleb is just about to complete his first real estate deal, and Jessica has a new job at a nursing home. Continue to pray for them and their new jobs.

     I continue working on books and translating Sunday School material with Gertrude. I have almost completed the Giriama translation, which has been difficult because I do not understand any of it, so I am just trusting Alphonse to tell me if it is right. We went to Magangani last week and I had some questions for him. I didn’t know he had shared with some of the Wazee (older men) about the book being written in their own language. They are so excited, they all gathered around to help me with my questions. As they spelled some of the words I was not sure about them. I tried to say them as best I could.  At one point one of the men had tears in his eyes as he told me that I was speaking their language now. Wow, what an emotional moment! Sometimes I get tired of sitting at my computer for hours writing and rewriting and translating and RE-translating, but that made it all worth it for me! I can’t wait to get it finished and attempt to read it for them!

     I will be going to speak to the lady who runs the orphanage I visited back in 2008 to see about being able to go there once a week to work with some of the kids. I wanted to do this as soon as we got here, but some things had changed there; and I was really disappointed and discouraged by the changes, but God has showed me that this is indeed the place I should be trying to help.  So I am going to have a “heart-to-heart” with Mama Dee. Keep this in your prayers, I want to be an encouragement to her if she will let me, and get to share God’s love with the children. The opportunities to minister to children are so numerous, I am having a hard time finding my niche! Pray with me as I seek HIS will!