The Bristow’s dot COM

Some of my readers know that my wife and I had plans to serve in Kenya with AfricaHope. Kenya has been in the news for the past month with reports of wide spread violence and people being displaced from their homes.

Here is an article that was in the New York Times Today to get you caught up with what is happening in Kenya right now.

NAIROBI, Kenya — The death toll in Kenya surpassed 1,000 people on Tuesday as negotiations to end the country’s violent political crisis entered a critical stage.

According to the Red Cross, most of the killings have been in the turbulent Rift Valley, where gangs from opposing ethnic groups have fought fiercely in the past few days.

“It’s a very volatile situation out there,” said Anthony Mwangi, a spokesman for the Kenya Red Cross.

Mr. Mwangi said that more than 300,000 people had been driven from their homes and the continuing insecurity, especially in the countryside, was slowing down the delivery of food, water and tents.

On Tuesday, officials from the government and Kenya’s top opposition party began specific discussions about how to address the political crisis. Both sides have so far refused to budge, claiming they won the election in December.

Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, is mediating the talks. Solutions could include a power-sharing arrangement between the government and the opposition; a transitional government to serve until a new election is held; or an audit of the election results.

Mr. Annan is also pushing for a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the explosion of violence that has convulsed Kenya, which up until recently was viewed as one of the most stable and promising countries on the African continent.

On Tuesday, Mr. Annan met with Kenya’s top business leaders who pleaded with him to speed up the negotiations because the country’s economy has been devastated by the violence.

As the violence has intensified, roadblocks manned by young men armed with machetes and bows and arrows have popped up across the country. In many places, the rowdy youth act like toll booths, extracting payment before lifting barriers to allow vehicles to pass.

Kenya descended into turmoil after the deeply flawed election in December. The country’s electoral commission declared that the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, had narrowly beaten the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, but election observers have said there was widespread evidence of vote rigging.

The dispute uncorked decades of frustration about political, economic and land issues, pitting opposition supporters against members of the president’s ethnic group and against other groups perceived to support the government. Much of the violence has taken on an ethnic flavor, though many participants insist their motives are political.

Kenya’s billion-dollar-a-year tourism industry has been brought to its knees, with game parks and beach hotels deserted. Agriculture has also been hard hit because the insecurity in the Rift Valley has blocked the flow of produce and commodities like tea and office. The stock market is down roughly 25 percent in dollar terms and business leaders estimate the economy has already lost several billion dollars.

The area that we would have been in (Narok) has seen a huge influx of refuges. AfricaHope missionaries have been providing blankets and support to as many refuges as they can, while doing their best to not favor any one tribal group over another. The situation there must be unimaginably difficult, and my heart goes out to them. I find myself wishing I could be there to help them in some way. My prayers go out to Jordan and Lee Anne Johnson, Tres & Susan Crone and their children, Tim & Lorna Mantai, Elijah & Ellen Ombati, Erin Schwend and to all of the people in Kenya.

Today is World AIDS Day. This day has been set apart for us all to recognize the vastness of HIV/AIDS and its impact on the world.

But there is Hope. Jesus Christ loves each and every one of these people. They are not just statistics but each number represents a person that our savior cares deeply for. Jesus is the Hope that we are able to bring to a world that is being ravaged by this horrible disease. And just as Jesus met physical needs we will be helping educate about HIV/AIDS, helping to prevent this disease from spreading more. We also hope that each of you will spend some time asking God what He wants you, personally, to be doing about this disease and how it fits into the work that He has called you. There is no doubt that the HIV pandemic is the greatest opportunity the Church has seen in our lifetime for believers to demonstrate the love of Christ to a hurting world. How will you respond?

Update on what we are doing…..

For much of the month of October we were in Kenya for a conference that involved almost 150 NMSI Missionaries! This was a very exciting time for us since the conference was where we will be serving. We got to meet with our future team members with AfricaHope and see the work that is currently being done in Narok. For me (Jeff) this opportunity was amazing. This was my first time in Kenya and being there has helped me to see the great needs that exist in Kenya. At times my heart was broken as I saw the needs and at the same time encouraged that I am following where God is leading.

To see our pictures from Kenya you can go to http://www.thebristows.com/?p=26

Upon our arrival back to the United States we were welcomed by Hurricane Wilma.

We arrived back in Fort Myers just in time to pack up important belongings from our mobile home and take them to a safe location. We rode out the storm in Jaime’s parents home in North Fort Myers. This was a rough time jumping into emergency mode from being in Kenya just days earlier, yet it appeared to help us get over any jet lag we may have had! When the storm passed we were thankful for how God had protected us and our possessions during Wilma. Our home experienced no damage, just a few downed tree limbs. The power was out for only a couple of days and God blessed us with cool weather after the storm so most of the time electricity wasn’t missed at all since we did not need air conditioning. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us during Wilma! The Lord kept us safe!

We are currently working to pay off some debt before we move to Kenya. I am busy working with our online business selling computer accessories while continuing to provide support to NMSI as needed. Our online store address is http://store.thebristows.com , in case you are interested. Jaime is working with a Christian lawyer in Fort Myers. She has been deeply blessed by working at the law office. The job has its stress but the environment is encouraging and the people there are great! So we are very grateful for the people God has placed in our lives and for the opportunities God has given us to pay our bills so we can head to Kenya as soon as possible.

Just this past week we decided that we need to focus on raising more support to go to Kenya early next year. So we have postponed our departure date to the end of March 2006. Just one month later than our initial goal. In January we will be traveling to meet with Churches and individuals to raise the funds we need to serve in Kenya for our full initial 3 year term. In February we will be going to the Missionary training Institute in Colorado for two weeks of enculturation and language acquisition training before departing for Kenya.

We are excited to be heading to Kenya so soon. Would you pray for how you might be able to help us serve in Kenya?

We are in need of prayer supporters, monthly financial supporters, and one time gifts to help us reach Kenya. Is God leading you to help send us to Kenya?

Blessings and have a Very Merry Christmas this year!!

It has been a bit over a month since our last update, and we have some great news to share this month!

Over the past couple months Jaime had been going to the doctor about an abnormality found with her heart. As of last month’s update we were not sure what actually was wrong, we just knew from the doctor that something was not perfect. So Jaime was referred to a Cardiologist. After meeting with the Cardiologist we found out that the abnormalities found are not anything for us to be concerned about. The Cardiologist basically said “You are fine, there is no need for you to be here.” So we want to thank everyone for all of their prayers!!! God has heard and responded!

Having this lifted from our shoulders is great, and now we can focus with confidence on our goal to serve in Kenya! Speaking of Kenya, we will be in Kenya for most of the month of October with NMSI. We are excited about being there for three weeks.I (Jeff) have not yet been to Kenya so I am extremely eager to see where we will be serving and begin to have a better grasp on the scope of the ministry we have before us. One of our major plans is to begin a Foster Care program in Narok, placing children into caring Kenyan families. So being able to see first hand the challenge before us is going to be a great blessing. We will be in Kenya this October with 150 NMSI Missionaries from around the globe. We are meeting for our Triennial Retreat (cleverly named since it happens every three years) . We depart Fort Myers for Kenya on October 4th at 9:00am so we are busy packing and getting everything ‘in order’ to be gone for three weeks.

At the end of this month on September 30th, we are traveling to Washington D.C. for the launch of a new Church in Waldorf, Maryland. We are excited to be a part of this Church as they begin ministry in Waldorf and globally in Kenya through AfricaHope. We return from D.C on October 3rd late and ready to depart the following morning to Kenya! So we have a lot of traveling packed in the end of this month.

During our time in Kenya we won’t have email or phone access on a regular basis or possibly not at all. So we will be out of touch for a few weeks. We will send out another update when we return, the next one with more pictures of where we will be serving!

Prayer Requests:

Travel to D.C. and to Kenya
God will increase our passion for the people of Kenya
Financial Support Partners (we still have significant funds to raise prior to our February departure)

Blessings,

Jeff & Jaime Bristow
AfricaHope Missionaries
New Mission Systems International

Ministry News
The past few months have been very busy. Jaime and I are preparing to move to Narok, Kenya in February of 2006. This is just around the corner! We have been busy raising support, making connections with Churches and Individuals so that we will have the fiancial and prayer support needed to serve in Kenya. As of today we are near 35% funded, so we still have a great need so we can move to Kenya in early 2006.

New Mission Systems International is continuing to grow. We sent a record number of Interns to 6 different counties this year and have a growing number of missionaries joining NMSI every month. It is exciting to be a part of NMSI and help people follow God’s call on their life. I have been serving NMSI as the Information Technology guy for over a year now. I began this role soon after Hurricane Charley severely damaged our main office building. Since then I have been maintaining NMSI computers and our network from two locations. Our office is still not ready for us to move in and it has now been almost 1 year since hurricane Charley. We are expecting to move into our renovated and repaired office by the end of this year. God has used my computer skills during this time of crisis at NMSI, and it has been a huge blessing to be an integral part of keeping our missionaries connected with their friends and supporters and being the ‘behind the scenes’ person for much of what occurs at the Center for Global Outreach . We are so dependent on computers that when they have trouble ministry is much more difficult from the Center for Global Outreach. So I have been truly blessed to help NMSI during this time. Over the past two years I have also served Christian Campus Fellowship as Campus Minister. Serving CCF has taught me more about ministry than any other task I have ever done. CCF has prepared me for Kenya in ways tht I never expected. I now have more confidence in myself, which is huge. But more importantly I have learned to trust God and follow after Him. I also learned that ministry is not something that you put together with a clear plan and run with. You serve God and seek after Him and make Him your focus. This is not to say that planning and strategy are unimportant but we must not make the mistake of focusing on our plans, our ideas, and our agenda instead of focusing on God’s plan, His purpose, His agenda. I am grateful to have served with CCF before moving to Kenya. Currently I am serving NMSI at the Center for Global Outreach and raising support for our move to Kenya.

Personal & Health News
Now to more personal news. Jaime and I have moved to a mobile home in North Fort Myers (about 5 miles away from our offices). The picture in this newsletter is the front of our new home. We are renting from Jaime’s Father until we move to Kenya. Jaime is a registered Nurse but since we are planning to move to Kenya so soon she was unable to acquire a Nursing job. But God has provided. Jaime is working at a lawfirm in downtown Fort Myers. Her boss is a Christian and she has been blessed by an encouraging Christian environment to work in.

NMSI recently joined a group Insurance program so Jaime and I now have Health Insurance! This plan has added $480 to our budget each month, but we are very grateful for this added cost because of the benefits. And we got Insurance just in time. Two weeks ago Jaime went to the doctor about a spot on her eyelid. The doctor discovered that this spot is no big deal, but as she listened to Jaime’s heart she heard an irregularity. So Jaime had an EKG. Her EKG came out abnormal as well. She has a shortened Pr Interval. Jaime then wore a heart monitor for 24 hours so they could record her heart and gather more data. Yesterday we learned that her heart is beating at near 120 beats per minute for over 2 hours per day. We also learned that her blood labs came back all very good. So Jaime has been referred to a Cardiologist for further study and treatment. This is a time of nervousness for us, as we are not sure what is happening. So please pray for us, and pray for Jaime that her heart will be healed. It would be wonderful for the Cardiologist to find nothing wrong and wonder why she was ever referred to him at all !

Exiting New Things!
We have also started a small business to help us pay our bills before moving to Kenya. We are selling computer products from Kensington through eBay. We are learning that starting a business is a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work. We started our business about a week ago so we are still very new at this. If you would like to see what we are selling you can go to: http://store.thebristows.com . Our prayer for our business is that we will actually be able to make a profit before this October! Could you pray for this as well?

Prayer Requests

Jaime’s health
Financial Support for Kenya (if you feel led to partner with our ministry you can donate to our ministry online through NMSI)
Our new business
NMSI’s office repair

HIV/AIDS FACTS

*HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death worldwide among the ages of 15-59.

**2.9 million people are estimated to have died from HIV/AIDS in 2003. 2.2 million of these were in Sub-Sahara Africa. About half a million of them were children.

**Of the estimated 37.8 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 25 million of them live in sub-sahara Africa.

**15 million children living today are estimated to have become orphans from the AIDS epidemic. 12 million of them live in Sub-Sahara Africa.

*WHO, The World Health Report 2004 - Changing History, May 2004
**UNAIDS, 2004 Report for Global AIDS Epidemic, July 2004.
Adults are defined as women and men ages 15-49. Orphans are defined as children who have lost their mother or both parents to HIV/AIDS while they were under the age of 15.