Moving back to Kenya

August 9, 2016

We hope this letter finds you doing well. We have good news that we wanted to share with you. TEAM CHEROMEI ,FOR HIS GLORY, IS MOVING BACK TO KENYA AGAIN: DAVID “ZION”, LAUREL “SOTI”, LILY JERUTO, LEVI KIPTOO, & LUCY JELAGAT. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE BEE FAMILY HEADING TO KENYA. We are leaving tomorrow morning. I have already resigned from my coaching job at Liberty University and am excited to follow God’s calling to go serve again in Kenya.  It has been a struggle to follow His calling, but I feel at peace to finally let Him have His way.  God spoke to my heart through GALATIANS 2:20 which says “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (NIV) Leaving everything behind and moving forward to His calling is the right thing to do. Jesus loved us so much to the point that He gave himself to us.  After a long struggle, I can now boldly say “IT IS NOT ABOUT ME BUT IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM WHO LIVES IN ME! “My family and I are trusting in the Lord and moving forward to serving Him in Kenya again.

I personally questioned God a lot as to why He would bring me to America then me to want me to go back to Kenya-Africa in 2013.  Yet after a few weeks of our stay in Kenya, God showed to us the reason He wanted us to go Kenya. He wanted us to rescue a baby boy child whom we named Moses. Moses could have died or been child trafficked if we didn’t listen to God’s calling. Moses is now 3 years old and doing very well in school. We are so honored for God using us for His Kingdom work. We came back to America when we found out that we were going to have a baby. Lucy is now 17 months and with God’s timing we are now ready to go back to continue with His mission in Kenya.  2 Corinthians 4:1 says, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy, we have this ministry, we do not lose heart”. We love the ministry in Kenya the Lord has blessed us with. We want to continue letting Him use us to expand His ministry for His glory. I am so thankful that God gave me a wonderful wife, Laurel, who is full of fun and always ready to be used by God. I am very excited to have her in my life as we continue with all the adventures together in Kenya.

Our children’s ministry (GOGCP) has been able to return the innocence of youth to the children. Thank you for joining us with your prayers and support.

God bless and thank you for your support,

David “ Zion” for the Bee Family

Thoughts from Laurel:

You know how you can make plans and think this is how my life is going to go and it will all be wonderful? Well, that is what we thought when we were brought back to America for the birth of our youngest, Lucy, and David’s dream coaching job at Liberty University. The first time we moved to Kenya in June 2013, I was pretty reluctant to go and take such a big leap of faith, and I did not feel that adventurous with an 18 month and almost 3 year old in tow. Let us just say once we settled in Kenya there were many times I dreamed of what life would be like if we were just in America again living a comfortable life. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn’t it? You forget that there are challenges, hardships, crises, and hard decisions anywhere you live.

“For He chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan” (Ephesians 1:11 NLT) God knows what we need and what we do not need. His timing is always perfect and we go through challenges in our life to shape us into the people He purposed us to be. We feel God used the time at Liberty as a time of refining and getting our focus back to His work and plans. David was faced with enormous obstacles as he coached at Liberty. It has not been easy to say the least as we have lived and worked in America. We found ourselves questioning at times why did we move back? Was it pretty petty of me to question the medical care in Kenya and figure out an excuse to move back to America? Was it worth it for Grace Family to go through all of these changes and for the staff to not work out as well as we hoped? Is life really better in America? So many questions but what I know is true is that God is good. My Father in heaven has given me a new perspective and focus. I am ready to return to Kenya and truly embrace all God has in store for us.

God inspired us with a new focus of preserving families in Kenya. We don’t know what all of this entails, but we do know that we would like to start with helping the families that Grace family came from. Some of the children brought to Grace family still have siblings and a mother or guardian. It has been bothered me for a long time that we could not help the whole family, but with this new focus from God, my heart is encouraged, and I trust He will show us how to help preserve families in Kenya.

As we embark on this new but familiar adventure tomorrow, August 10^th, we can look back and see God encouraging us with His great care for our family. His timing is perfect. Recently I had to have emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix while visiting my parents in Charleston, SC. My parents were able to care for Lily, Levi and our little Lucy while I was in the hospital. Yesterday God provided more tender care as we searched for medical care for Lucy while visiting my sister in the DC area. Thankfully Lucy had only a dislocated elbow, and it wasn’t broken, but even in that disconcerting time, a woman and the church she attends offered to help pay some of our Emergency Room bill from the hospital. The way the Lord networks in our lives and brings people together for His kingdom work is amazing!

As we write this, we have a large pile of 50 pound bags packed, 2 children excited for the plane ride, 1 child wondering what is going on with all of these changes, and us, the parents, excited and a little overwhelmed with what lies ahead in Kenya. Please pray that we would continually wait and trust in God’s timing and plans.

Many thanks and much love, Laurel