Mosaic Global Mission

A Great Verse:

Psalms 92: 1-2 “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness, in the evening.”

A Glimpse of Life in Kenya:

Laughter—I am convinced that laughter is a key part of life here in Kenya. Well, if it is not, it needs to be. When we went through the mission training, I learned in ladies class that laughter (a sense of humor) is a key characteristic of a missionary. I must confess, I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I do now. Laughter, from joy, is a must in our daily lives. Laughter should be a part of every Christian’s life and everyone who lives in Kenya! I am learning we can laugh at the insane things that happen in our life because, if nothing else, at the very least, we have a sovereign Lord who has ordained every aspect of our day. So, here are some things that we laugh about here in Kenya….

We laugh when the wind whips so hard into our house that dishes break on the floor and dust comes roaring in—always right after I have swept and mopped. We laugh, when a goat comes into church during the service and makes all the little kids giggle. We laugh when the mud is so think on the road I am convinced we are going to get stuck and Paul and Annabelle just squeal because it is “so fun” to swerve in the slippery mud. We laugh when I am sick to death of all the flies and as I try in vain to hit them Belle says, “Mommy! Don’t kill the flies, flies are nice. Flies are just trying to find a spot. (to sit)” We laugh when we order camel meat from the local butcher and I find a tail (with all its hair and skin) in the bag with other questionable parts of meat.  We laugh when we hold the most adorable local babies and they have accidents right on our laps because of course they aren’t wearing diapers. We laugh when huge (the size of your hand) hunter spiders crawl over you in the night. (Ok, I don’t really laugh at that—Paul does and I scream.) Oh, I could go on and on. But, we can laugh at many, many things because we have a Great God who gives us strength for everything, and joy, and delight, if we choose to be thankful.

Oh and I must mention, most Kenyans have a great sense of humor. They will laugh and laugh…. You might not find it funny, but they certainly do. Yes, you just have to laugh with them.

Updates:

What a wonderful new year we are enjoying! Yes, it has been hot, but we are working, staying busy, and having fun!!!! I taught my first real ladies meeting lesson and children’s Sunday school class this past week! I was so excited and terrified. Cheryl was in there with me to help with questions and different things. (What a blessing!) But, we made it and I am going to keep studying and teaching different lessons. It is wild but I am learning and talking a tiny bit more. How fun!!!! How insane it is to never understand what people are saying and then finally be able to get tiny bits of conversations!!!

Paul continues with the youth Sunday school and daily morning devotions. He stays busy studying!  And, these past three weeks he was been almost entirely on the loader digging for the source of our water!!! He has moved so much dirt it is amazing. The local kids love to watch, in fact we do too. We definitely have water but we just haven’t hit bed rock yet, so the digging continues and Paul is getting quite the tan!

Prayer Requests:

Please keep us in your prayers! We need strength and wisdom for our daily activities. And pray that God will help us to do “everything in love.” Please also pray that we will hit bedrock soon!

Thank you dear supporters and friends,

Callie +2

Lake Turkana Teasdales

Happy New Year!!!!

I thought I would just write a quick little letter to say hello and let you all know that we are doing great! We haven’t been sick (with anything bad) and had the most wonderful 2 week break! The New Year’s games were very fun. Everyone was laughing and being silly. I have included a few pictures of some of the games.

We also had a day at the “beach” with our fellow missionaries. Around the lake shore there are mostly rocks but we have found one stretch about a hour from our house that has sand so we all packed up our four wheelers and spent a day at the beach. The guys loaded up tarps and ropes to construct a tent for us and we even brought a water tank and pump to get water from the lake! So the kids had a little “pool” from the water tank and we had a “water slide”. It was such a fun day.

We still have some grass and green, but the picture you see was taken early December right by the lake. Isn’t it amazingly beautiful? This view is normally completely gray, brown, and all rocks.

Our ladies bible study Christmas party included several games. One of the games was to dress up 3 Kenyan ladies like us and they dressed us up like Samburu ladies. (beads, skins, etc) This was so fun and everyone was laughing. Here you can see Nonurro and Theresa. They had a blast.

A Great Quote:

I have been reading John MacArthur’s book, “Slave” It is an incredible book for those of you who haven’t read it and I found this amazing quote from Alexander Maclaren that I just had to share with you all. (Maclaren was a Scottish pastor and a contemporary of Charles Spurgeon)

“The true position, then, for a man is be God’s slave…Absolute submission, unconditional obedience, on the slave’s part: and on the part of the Master complete ownership, the right of life and death, the right of disposing of all goods and chattels,…the right of issuing commandments without a reason, the right to expect that those commandments shall be swiftly, unhesitatingly, punctiliously, and completely performed—these things inhere in our relation to God, Blessed [is] the man who has learned that they do and has accepted them as his highest glory and the security of his most blessed life! For, brethren, such submission, absolute and unconditional, the blending and the absorption of my own will in his will, is the secret of all that makes manhood glorious and great and happy…[I]n the New Testament these names of slave and owner are transferred to Christians and Jesus Christ.”

Prayer Requests:

The work and classes have begun again! Please pray for us as we are teaching. (I am starting to teach a little too—in Swahili—ahhh!) We are doing well and staying healthy. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Love,

Callie +2

Lake Turkana Teasdales

A Great Verse:

Psalm 119: 59—I considered my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies.

A Glimpse of Life in Kenya:

Monkeys—Ok, it was bound to happen….I am not terribly fond of monkeys anymore. Yes, they are still incredibly cute with their little hands and their bug eyes. BUT…they steal and destroy things!!!! Ahhhh, because we live in the middle of the desert, we never see monkeys in Loy but we love seeing them when we come down country. Bella squeals with delight when she sees them on the side of the road or in trees. However, monkeys snuck into our shop (in Nairobi) and ripped open two of my (rather expensive) bags of dried fruit. I was quite put out! (Because monkeys carry diseases humans can get, we had to throw the bags away!) Then, one little black monkey—the ringleader—snuck into a fellow missionary’s container!!!…. and stole a little bunch of bananas. Oh my goodness! So, needless to say, now when the little boys are throwing rocks at the monkeys to get them away from our containers, I say Bella can join them!

Updates:

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! I suppose that the Nov. and Dec. prayer letters have been combined this year! Somehow in the midst of all our daily chaos these letters got away from me. So sorry!

Well, we have been in Nairobi for the past week and the week before we were in Maasai Mara. (another mission station) We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with fellow missionary families and just relax for a few days as it rained every day we were in Maasai! This was my first time to visit Maasai but because of the rain we weren’t able to drive in the game park. Oh well—we have an excuse to go back!

Thank you for your prayers for our truck! Paul finished working on it at 2AM the morning we were to leave Loy! It still needs several more things but it is definitely working better and the bed is completely finished which has made the truck amazingly lighter!

As the month of December has come upon us we are excited to begin preparing for the Christmas festivities in Loy. There is going to be a Christmas presentation as the various Sunday school classes are memorizing scripture, songs, and our primary class will give a short skit as well. Christmas morning will bring chai and donuts at 8:00 AM followed by the Christmas service/presentation at 9:00. (We try to celebrate early as December is quite hot in Loy!) December also brings a two week “break” to our mission station as the work crew gets off, and devotions as well as the various bible studies are postponed until Jan. We are looking forward to some rest and family time.

Prayer Requests:

Health—Please always pray for our heath! And we have just heard (because at all our wonderful rain!!! Truly is a blessing) malaria is all over Loy right now. We are still incredibly thankful for our rain, but please pray for the health of the locals in Loy as well as for us.

My Swahili—I am still working on it! I can hear more and talk a bit more but I am still not fully grasping it! Please pray for my mind to absorb the Swahili language as well as for me to be diligent to study and make time everyday to practice my new works and phrases.

Wisdom and joy as we go about our daily activities.

Love,

Callie +2

A Great Verse:

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

A Glimpse of Life in Kenya:

Sawgrass—I’m not sure if this is the correct spelling, but I will just go with it. This is the grass we have here in Loy. But, like most things in Loyangaloni, it comes with a twist. It is prickly and hurts when you step on it! Ahhh! We had an awesome day of solid rain 3 weeks ago so everything started blooming (well the thorn trees and thorn bushes) and the sawgrass came up. Paul said, “Oh, isn’t it nice to have grass?” I replied, “No, this isn’t grass. This is the distant uncle of grass…that lives upstairs…who we don’t talk about.” Needless to say, I am not terribly fond of sawgrass, but it is unique and a part of the wild and versatile landscape that we are blessed to call “our backyard.”

Updates:

Our truck is the big thing for the next month. Paul has been working on it nonstop between devotions, various meetings/bible studies, etc. As most of you know, our trucks out here are equipped with a unique bed for hauling supplies and side boxes for transporting camping gear, truck repair equipment and camping/safari food. Our bed was VERY heavy so this new bed will be approximately ½ the weight of our old one. We also have various other parts and pieces of the truck that need to be fixed/repaired as well. If it seems like Paul is always fixing our truck it is because—he is! This truck was used by a former missionary and was used heavily but we hope that one day it will be running beautifully. We rely on our vehicles so much out here it is vital to have them running smoothly and be reliable.

We have also had 2 ladies and 1 man make professions of faith! The man is the husband of Nturunywa, who you might remember was baptized last month! So right now the three are going though baptism class and we are watching and praying to see if their actions display a truly changed heart. It is really exciting to see!

Prayer Requests:

Local Believers—Please pray that they will stand strong amidst opposition and remain faithful to their Lord as well as grow in their relationship with Him.

Our Minds—that we will take every thought captive to Christ.

All of us—Wisdom and Joy as we go about our daily interactions with others and our work.

Love,

Callie +2

Lake Turkana Teasdales

A great verse:

Zephaniah 3:17—“The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”

A Glimpse of Life in Kenya:

Camel’s milk—ever tried it? It is not bad. I saw it in the grocery store in Nairobi and thought, “hey, why not.” It was a little odd, but not awful. I made pancakes with it and Paul was scared to try them. After seeing it for sale I got curious and discovered a few things. 1. Camel’s milk has tons of nutrients and vitamins in it, including Iron, and vitamins B6, A and C. 2. Camel’s milk also has naturally occurring antibodies that helps fight infections and diseases. There is much more about this awesome stuff that I could share but I just wanted to share these two things with you guys to emphasize how awesome our God is! In His sovereignty He created the camel, which is able to provide nutrition to people who seriously need it!

Updates:

At the beginning of this month, we had a baptism!!! There were 4 ladies and 2 men baptized. We brought a water tank into the church and used that!!

First, our fellow missionary Tim Hinds explained about baptism. He explained how it is a command of our Lord to be followed and an outward expression of our Salvation, but baptism is not what saves you. Then each person gave their testimony and was baptized. It was such an exciting morning. These people have been in baptism class for 1 year or more and fully understand that by claiming to follow Christ and making this public declaration of their faith they will be persecuted. We (the church) are their family now. Many of their friends and family will not like them, will leave them, etc. So, please pray for Veronica, Nturunywa, Emily, Sokote, Raphael, and Kristen. Pray that they will continue to mature in their walk with the Lord and that they will stand strong for Him.

The container arrived safely! How fun to have our things here and our pictures up on the walls. It feels like home!

We got a puppy and cat. The cat we got from the KSPCA. He is suppo sed to chase mice but he likes to sleep and be petted so we wonder if he will catch them at all! Our dog is supposed to be a guard dog (a Boer Boel, Rottweiler mix) but he is so cute and cuddly we aren’t sure about him either! Haha We do love our animals though and it is a blessing to have them around.

Prayer Requests:

Paul–wisdom as he leads morning devotions and Sunday school

Callie– that I will joyfully go about my daily chores and find time to study and master Swahili!

All of us—that we will spend time every day in God’s word

Thank you guys!

Love, Callie, Paul, and Bells

Dearest Friends,

Well, after an amazing 3 weeks in America we arrived back to Kenya very thankful to be able to sleep! Our dark container was wonderful and in a few days we felt back on schedule with no jet leg. The flight went well and all our luggage (9 footlockers!!!) arrived safely! Praise the Lord!

These past few weeks we have been busy getting back into the swing of things here in Loy, but it has been really fun too! The weather is so much cooler. Still hot, but such a difference over March and April that we have been sleeping and waking up rested—a huge blessing. Another blessing has been the arrival and visit of my friend Abby. She has been seriously awesome. Not only have we had a blast together she has been helping me wash dishes, was clothes (she has mastered the wringer washer!) she plays with Belle, and we just laugh a lot. Wasn’t God so kind to give me a friend for a few weeks as I adjust back to life in Kenya? Paul meanwhile has been enduring a house full of girls! Haha

The work here is exciting. Paul and I (well, I help a bit!) have started teaching the youth Sunday School class which is great. We are really looking forward to getting to know the youth at our church. Paul is going though Hebrews. He is also going though Hebrews in morning devotions so we are all learning great truths from this epistle. The daily work seems to consist of much dirt digging and rock hauling as of late, so us girls bake lots of cookies and treats for the hard working guys.

I have also learned a new skill this month as we helped a friend build her jikoni (kitchen). We helped with her walls by “playing in the mud”! Seriously, it can be hard work making mud pies of the right consistency for her to mold into walls. It was wild. So much dirt and water and “getting dirty” as Bella kept saying. We had such fun and were very dirty, but now a very nice kitchen is standing tall in her yard.

We took Abby to a nearby mountain called Porr. We camped under the stars on the top of the truck and then hiked in the morning. Because of taking turns carrying Annabelle (yes, we will blame her!) it took us 2 hours to go up and down! Bells was strapped onto backs the entire time so she keeps asking to “climb more mountains?”. She obviously doesn’t think it was too tiring.

We are getting ready to drive down to Nairobi this Sunday as the shipping container is coming!!!! My wringer washer and blender as well as all our pictures, clothes, tools, etc. are finally arriving after waiting for them for a year!!!! We are beyond excited. Now, if you come visit us I will be able to make you a smoothie—and wash your clothes!

Ok, I need to let you all go! Thank you for your prayers and support. We are doing so well. God is just taking such amazing care of us!

Love, Callie plus 2