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Dr. Friedhelm and Esther Focking
Missionaries with The Master's Mission
since 1989
F O C K I N G’ S N E W S L E T T
E R
March 2008
I lift up my eyes to the hills –
where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of
heaven and earth.
Psalm 121,1-2
Dear Friends,
Who had thought that last years
general election in Kenya would trigger so much violence, road blocks,
killings, looting and destructions especially in the western parts of the
country. For almost two months people lived in fear of attacks because they
did not belong to the ethnic group in that area. More than 1000 people died
and more than 350,000 became refugees in their own country. Some of them are
still living in refugee camps. Now they are called IPDs (internal displaced
person(s)). There are different reasons for the outbreak of violence but the
election result ignited the disaster. Cheating of the polling station
results took place on both sides and that is one reason that the opposition
did not demand a recount.
After agreeing on Kofi Anan
(former UN Secretary General) as the mediator and after many talks and
meetings both sides agreed on a compromise. Some of these agreements need a
change of constitution which the MPs will have to pass in parliament during
the next few weeks.
Many people thought that Kenya
was a stable Christian country but they were surprised about the brutality
and extend of the violence. Recently we saw an interview with a Pastor on
TV. He said that for many Kenyans Christianity is only part of their
religious life and “not deeper than an inch”. And because it does not affect
their whole life in situations like this they forget all Christian values.
But we heard testimonies from true believers who were hiding their
“enemies”, helping them to escape, feeding them and showing many more signs
of the love of Jesus.
How did it affect us? In our
area there were no politically motivated clashes. We continued our ministry
in the clinic, church and projects like before. In January we had to take
Momsi to school and spent 3 weeks in Nairobi with shopping and office work.
Since demonstrations usually were planned for afternoons we planned our time
in town mostly for the morning hours until noon time. We avoided areas of
planned demonstrations and the Swiss Embassy informed us by email regularly
about insecure areas. But at the end it was always God’s protection and we
praise him for this.
In Nolpilipili the
church building is finished and right now the Pastor’s house is under
construction for Simon, his wife Josephine and their three boys. They have
moved to Gatab from outside and travel to Nolpilipili when ever possible for
evangelism outreach. Two rooms in the church will be used as first aid post
Friedhelm, Esther, Josephine &
Simon at the new church building in Nolpilipili
and for mobile clinics since
Josephine is a government trained and licensed community health worker. We
pray that until completion of the house in April the Lord will provide for
the missing funds.
On 1st of March we
visited the village by airplane together with Simon and his wife. While
Friedhelm and the pilot completed the water pipe into the church building
Simon held a bible study with about 40 older and younger men. Esther and
Josephine had a women meeting with more than 60 participants and three
ladies invited Jesus into their lives. There is joy in heaven about it.
Beginning of February outside
our district capital Marsabit four young men from Nolpilipili were injured
by bullets when the truck they were sitting on top was attacked. The same
day we were travelling back from Nairobi to Gatab and received the message
by mobile phone. Eroo, a young leader of the village was seriously
injured and needed referral to another hospital. We were able to organise a
medical evacuation to Kijabe near Nairobi to a mission hospital where he
could receive appropriate medical treatment and surgery. After 3 weeks he
was sent back to our clinic for further treatment of his wounds. He gave a
testimony that he only survived because Jesus protected him. And therefore
he wants to give him his life and wants to live with Jesus. Praise the Lord.
The other three injured men were brought to Gatab and Friedhelm operated
their wounds at the hands and leg.
But generally we had less
inpatients during the last few weeks. It was good to catch up with other
work in the clinic. On the other side the administrative, clinical and
outreach responsibilities increased through the official setup of the VCT
(HIV/AIDS) centre in our clinic.
Our Family
Jonathan Sawaya
is upgrading in Parasitology and preparing for his MCAT exam before
continuing his studies in August at the Medical School in
Blacksburg/Virginia. His fiancée Mary will move to Blacksburg on 1st
of April to manage a small Inn. Who ever will need accommodation in and
around Blacksburg is welcome to stay in the Inn. They are planning to get
married on 26th of July.
Nethanja and Debora
have finished their lessons at the University. Currently Nethanja is in his
last month of his practicum and will have to write a thesis before finishing
his studies with a BA in Information and Communication Technology
Engineering. Debora has started the thesis in Language and Communication.
Momsi
will finish his school in July and graduate from middle school. He will
continue a basic training in industrial mechanic in Germany. We are glad
that he was accepted for this training since it is not easy to apply from
Kenya for further training. We are very grateful for that.
Giraffe Sandwich
This
change for Momsi will also affect us as parents. We will accompany Momsi to
Germany for the next time to help him settle down in Germany and to support
him in his new job. But our hearts will be still in Gatab and if it is God’s
will, we want to return to Kenya later again. We will leave behind several
of our foster children but we will continue to support them and also to help
the clinic. Until now there is no replacement for Friedhelm. This is an
urgent prayer request.
Before we will leave for
Germany we still have to complete some projects, then we have to move out of
the house all our personal effects into our container and our workshop.
After our arrival in Germany we will fly to the States for Sawayas wedding.
Where we will have our new home or where Friedhelm will find work is open.
The Easter time is
coming closer. Momsi will come home from Nairobi and will spend his last two
weeks in Gatab. We pray that God will lead him in his future life. We wish
you God’s blessing and a good Easter time where Jesus will be the center of
our worship.
With many greetings
Esther, Friedhelm and Momsi Focking
Address:
Dr. Friedhelm & Esther Focking, AIC Gatab, P.O.Box 21028 - 0505,
Nairobi/Kenya
In
connection with The Master’s Mission, P.O.Box 547, Robbinsville NC 28771
USA
Friedhelm:
f-h-focking@gmx.de
Esther:
E.Focking-Stolz@gmx.de
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