Leister's Kenyan Life

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ, our family! How we love you all and are so appreciative for you. Saying "thank you" again for your standing with us in this call to kenya, does not seem enough! We know that you are all praying for us, we can see it here in our lives and feel it too. We are all safe and for the time being so is the city that we live in but our hearts are heavy. The happy, friendly people we have grown to love, are no longer! Please pray for the Kenyan people! We hope that many of you joined us on the 25th as the world stood in prayer for Kenya! We are declaring that the hand of God has been moved to put good, what the enemy has ment for evil. Now to the rebuilding of what was lost and unfortunately in some areas is still being lost. As you have probubly read in the papers and seen on the news over 250,000, maybe as many as a million kenyan people have been displaced in this country. A large amount of them in this area around the city we live in, Elodoret...

Hello to all our family! We are well and on the way to recovery we pray here in what we are claiming is the Blessed country of Kenya! If you keep up with the Interntional news, decisions are being made, not all, but we again are claiming Jesus as Lord here and not the wicked acts of men. Josh is back with us and we are so happy, his flights were good, each one. Keith Gafner and his family moved home on the 10th. They are feeling very safe there now and nothing was harmed on their property while they were gone, Praise God! We learnt alot from each other while they were with us, we are trying not to lose what we gained. We went to church on Sunday and got to see many of the children that we have made relationship with. The Chege family, who pastor, called and said they were going" would we feel safe enough to come". So we did, God's presence was very strong and Pastor Chege gave all of us a strong message about Jesus' Peace not the worlds ( Jesus' peace: Actively c...

Hello our beloved family & friends! How thankful we are for all of you! Eldoret has been visited by some people from the Embassy, they knew our name, because of all the e-mails and phone calls from people who were concerned for us, thank you so much. We also know that bigger than that you have all been sending those same cries for safety and peace up! The bowls full of your prayers have been pouring out for Kenya, we feel so small here but are made large by your support. Where do I begin about the situation here, Horace has always prayed that we would be people who lived on the edge of what God is doing. Well, I feel like we have had a bit of a glimps of the edge. God is so good, each evening I go to bed with just enough courage to make it through the gunfire and loudness that has been our night hrs here, then each morning I wake up praying that God will give me the strength and courage to hear what has taken place during the evening. Not a surprise, He has answered those prayers e...

Hello everyone, I am going to try to keep this one shorter. I realize that the last few I have relayed to you through mom have been rather long. I just get the opportunity to talk with her, so I want you to be able to get as much as possible from my conversations with her. Dad, Keith and Japhet made it to the Gafner's property safely. They found everything protected and intact in their compound. If all remains quiet, they will return to their home Wednesday. Grace, Keith's wife, will have to remain in doors for some time, because she is Kikuyu, but I believe that they will just enjoy being in their own home again. Please pray for their continued safety, especially once they return home. Mom, Dad, Keith, Grace and Rachel had a wonderful opportunity today also. They were able to go to a Catholic church where people were taking refuge. A medical center has also been set up in the church. They were able to pray with people and just let them talk with them. Mom was paired o...

3rd January Dear Brethren, Greetings in the Wonderful Name of our Lord, I thought that I would try to send an update on our situation. FIRST of all, know that we are SAFE and that the Lord has heard your prayers and is taking care of us and the Leister family. The kids are happy and playing outside as I write this letter. Also, as an update as of this afternoon , the people who threatened to burn the Zakayo Kiprono home because they helped 5 Kikuyu families while their homes were being burned, did not do so. But he did move his family to a gov't compound. He told me that he was going home today to gather the church to pray. Today, there were a good number of stores open in town, that people who have money could get food. I meet with two of our preachers who minister at the edge of town. They walked all night and took their families to a forested area, along with some Kikuyu families. This was two days ago. I listened to their stories, that I will not repeat here. I gave them the mo...

As things continue, the fam has found that they have had many opportunities to give to the people. I am not sure I have mentioned how they have had the opportunity to spend time in prayer with those who live in their complex every morning. They have also had the opportunity to hand out food to those who are in need. The reality of the situation in Eldoret is this. There are now so many more children in need of homes. Before this situation took place, the statistics for orphaned children were 80,000 in the Eldoret area and only 600 of those in children's homes. Now as you can imagine that number has grown. There are also at this 100,000 just in the Eldoret area that have been displaced from their homes. They either cannot get back to their homes because of potential harm or they have no home to go back to. As you can imagine, many opportunities are before Mom and Dad. Any opportunity that will soon be before you is to give to the relief of Kenya. I am not 100% sure of the d...

As I spoke with Mom today, she said that they have had a quieter day. As I am sure that you know, Odinga, the opposition, tried to have a rally in Nairobi mainly. There was some talk of other cities having ones also, but I did not find any information on the news regarding those. Eldoret was possibly going to have one, but they did not. So the day went by quietly. Please be praying for a convoy of Kikuyu people that were being transported from Eldoret to the Nairobi area, where the majority of Kikuyu live. They left Eldoret Wednesday night and Mom had not heard yet whether they had arrived safely. There were many people in that convoy Mom and Dad knew. Be encouraged, because there are good things happening during this time also. Mom, Dad, the Gafners and others from their compound are getting together in the mornings for a time of prayer and worship. Mom and Dad are also able to supply food for those who do not have any. They were also able to see a friend who had been missing ...

This is Jessica again. I wish that my mom could right to you and give you a first hand account of what is going on, but she is not able to at this time. At this time, they are still being advised by the US Embassy to remain in their homes and not to venture out onto the streets. I spoke with someone at the Embassy in Kenya this morning and they assure me they are monitoring the situation. They do not feel at this time that they need to remove Americans from the situation. They told me that Americans are not being targeted, so there is no reason to remove them. My family continues to ask for your prayers. They know that is what is going to make the difference in this situation. Things to pray specifically are: 1. Continued Protection - My family has another family living with them. It is an American man married to a Kenya lady. She is Kikuyu. They have two young daughters. 2. The American Embassy - That they would stay in touch with my family. They would also make wise decision...

To Everyone, This is actually Jess Movius, the Leister's daughter stateside. If you have been watching the news, you have seen that Kenya is in the middle of strife and possible civil war. Mom and Dad wanted me to give you a clearer picture of what is going on and give you some specific prayer points. My family, at this time, is safe. They feel that they are not in any real physical harm. This is very much an internal battle between tribes. Because of the way President Kibaki handled the election, the opposing tribe wants retribution. There are many in the Kukuyu tribe that are being targeted just because they are of that tribe. My parents have been in contact with the US Embassy there in Kenya. There is a warden over each city and they have spoken with the one for Eldoret. They have assured them that if the situation worsens they will extract Americans from the country. Things to be praying for: 1. Protection - Obviously, anything could happen. Please pray protection for m...