Something New

We’re back! Our time in Kenya has been great and we would still be there, but God has opened the door for our early return. A couple months ago, we found out that Tascha was pregnant! This is our first child and we are very excited! She is roughly 10 weeks and mamma and baby Fyke are doing well. After our initial shock and excitement, I (like most new dads) shifted into provider mode and started looking for a job back in the States. I am currently talking with a few churches and am at the point where we need to meet in person. Tascha and I are very excited about our new addition to our family and for what God has in store for us in this new chapter of our lives. 

I want to personally thank all of you who have partnered with us financially, in prayer and by sending donations. Tascha and I know that we will continue to be involved in missions, but we won’t be returning to Kenya just yet. With that said, we would still love for all of you to continue to support what God is doing in Kenya! Dan and Dana Jacobs (www.wgm.org/jacobs) and April Hershberger (www.wgm.org/hershberger) are two missionaries that we worked with at the AGC Baby Centre. Check out their webpages and please pray about ways you can support them. In our next newsletter, which comes out next month, we will give a more in-depth recap of our time here in Kenya as well as more information about the Jacobs and April. 

Jacobs Family

April Hershberger

God is so good! He has blessed our time here in Kenya and we eagerly await what He has in store in this next leg of our journey. Please let us know if you would like to meet for coffee of something and hear about the ministries we have been a part of and what God is doing in Kenya!

Our Kenyan Anniversary

This past Thursday Jeff and I celebrated 4 years of marriage. We wanted to be intentional about taking some time to spend together and just enjoy each other’s company. We decided on lunch and some shopping, since we don’t go out after dark here. 

We hired a taxi to take us to the closest town. This is the way that we get around here because we do not have a car or our Kenyan driver’s licenses. We had the driver drop us off at the mall, which consists of a couple of restaurants, a grocery store, and some other shops. 

We had lunch at an asian restaurant and it was very delicious. The place is actually quite nice, but they were in the process of installing windows so it was rather loud. We still had a great time and are used to such inconveniences, this is Africa after all. Oh, and we are pretty sure that the place uses the Fruit of the Loom logo??

After lunch, I went to the choo (restroom) and was so excited to see toilet paper provided that I just had to take a picture. I didn’t even have to pay for the toilet paper! It is not common to have toilet paper provided in the restrooms here, so I usually carry some in my purse.

Our next stop was the grocery store. It is the closest thing to a Walmart here and we can actually find almost anything we could want there (if you are willing to pay much more than you would in the states to get the types of things we are used to eating/using). For example, I was really wanting to get a nice soft towel to use (ours are stiff and rough here from the way we do the laundry), but Jeff didn’t think we should spend $20 on a towel! And I don’t blame him! We had a nice stroll through the store, just taking our time and discovering new items. If you know me well, you know that I love going to Walmart and just taking my time, so it was very enjoyable. 

We then went to the other restaurant that is in the mall for dessert. We splurged on Cookie Sundaes and they were so yummy! We spent time talking and laughing and just relaxing together. Then it was time to call our driver to take us back home. We ended our night with cookies for dinner and a movie. 

So it was not exactly what our past anniversaries in the states have looked like. We didn’t go out to dinner and a movie (because the closest theater is hours away, and dinnertime here is after dark). We didn’t go stay at a fancy hotel, or go to a Braves game and Six Flags (which is what we did for our first three anniversaries), but we had a great day spent together and that is what matters.

We love our life here and wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. We are thankful that God has given us 4 wonderful years of marriage and we look forward to many more! Our life together has certainly been a crazy and amazing journey so far and we are excited to see what the next chapter of our life will hold. Please join us in praying about what God would have us do next, as our time here is drawing closer and closer to an end. Thanks and God Bless!  - Tasch

Don't Let Your Past Dictate Your Future

This past week I have had the privilege to shoot a video for the Correctional Ministry here in Kenya. I had to opportunity to meet and interview not only the chaplains at the prisons, but also the staff and prisoners. God is doing amazing things through this ministry and lives are being transformed. 

I interviewed one prisoner (with the help of one of the chaplains) who had been greatly impacted by the Correctional Ministry in the prison. He told me that  

“When I came to prison, I saw that I had no hope at all. Through the preachings of the chaplains that have visited many times, I have come to know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.” 

He went on to tell me his testimony which was powerful and then talked about his conviction for the lost.

 “I am very much concerned for the perishing souls. Since I’ve been saved, I have seen the Lord Jesus Christ working in my life…God healed me through the Lord Jesus Christ while in prison. From 2010 til now I have been preaching Jesus Christ because I have seen He has done great things in my life, He has changed me completely, He has healed my insanity, and I have been trying as much as possible to bring many many to Jesus Christ.” 

He concluded by giving a beautiful depiction of Salvation. 

“Because I have been saved, I have that inward feeling that I must reach the rest of those lost souls here…I share my testimony with the inmates and the staff in the aim that I must reach them also that they may come out darkness so they may become children of God.”

Prisons are not the happiest and brightest places, but on that day, when this man told his testimony and talked about his conviction, the light of God illuminated the prison compound. Just because someone may have a rough past, doesn't mean that God cant use them. Think about it.  Moses was a murderer, Noah was a drunk, and Paul (Saul) was a persecutor of Christians. Your past may be rough, but through the power of the cross, your future is bright through the power and blood of Jesus Christ. 

A Kenyan 4th of July

The other day was the 4th of July. I enjoyed seeing everyone back home all dressed in the red,

white, and blue. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of fireworks and the lake and the cookouts. We

did have a cookout of our own with our Baby Centre family, the missionaries and Kenyan staff

here, but it didn’t quite feel like the 4th of July without being in America. We did have a lovely

time together and some really great food. However, the thing I will remember about this 4th of

July really has nothing to do with Independence Day.

Friday, I said goodbye to a very special little boy who went home to be with his forever family. It

is always a beautiful experience to witness the adoption ceremonies here, but yesterday’s was

bittersweet. Here at the Baby Centre, it is customary for each of our babies to have a temporary

“mother” and “father” until their adoptive parent(s) come for them. The moms and dads are

sometimes caregivers, staff members, or missionaries. It just means that those people have a

little extra love for and attachment to that particular baby or babies. These people say a little

something at the adoption ceremony and “hand off” the child to the parent(s). Well, just weeks

after we arrived here, the caregivers started calling me mama to a precious little boy named

Philip. Friday I was able to witness and be a part of the joining together of his forever family.

As I watched Philip bonding with his parents all morning, I could not help but feel happy and

sad. So extremely happy that God had answered my prayers and brought him parents, but sad

that I would no longer get to see him and play with him each day. I tried to hold it together during

the ceremony, but as his parents were speaking about how happy they were to make him their

son, the tears began to flow. It was a beautiful moment. We always sing songs and the Baby

Centre “parents” will hold the child and then hand the child to their new parents, their forever

parents. When they placed Philip in my arms, I had to smile for him as I saw the huge smile on

his face. I wondered if he understood any of what was going on. Did he realize that his life was

completely changing? He now had a family and an exciting chapter of his life was beginning. I

cherished those last moments with him and gladly handed him to his smiling mommy and

daddy. His father looked at me and said thank you, and I knew what he meant by those two little

words. Thank you for loving my son until I could. Thank you for holding him and playing with him

until I could. Thank you for helping to take such good care of him. I knew that is what he meant.

I said thank you back and I hope that he knew that I was saying, Thank you for choosing to love

this child as your own. Thank you for coming for him. Thank you for giving him the family he

deserves. Then his father looked me in the eyes and said, “He is in good hands” as his mother

said, “We will love him very much.” And I knew they meant it. The three of them made a perfect

little family and you could tell how much they already loved each other.

When the ceremony was over, April (a missionary who has been here a while) looked at me and

said “It doesn’t get any easier.” This work God has called us to do here is not easy. Saying

goodbye to these children is hard. The caregivers, the staff, and the missionaries here are often

the first people to truly love these precious babies. It would be so much easier to not fall in love

with them, to keep your distance. But they deserve to be loved, God has called us to love them,

and I will choose to love them until God sends them a family to love them. So, I will endure the

heartache as they drive away with their forever families. Yes, it is sad not knowing if you will

ever see them again, but as I caught a glimpse of Philip’s smiling face through the car window

as he drove away to his new home, I could not help but smile too, knowing that everything we

are doing here at the Baby Centre is worth it. All of the hard work is to help join these families

together and to give God all of the glory for what He is doing in this place. 

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July holiday. This was one that I will never forget. !

Much love! Tascha

Hands of Love

“In His hands that bring us life, in His hands we come alive. In His hands, He's holding us!”

In Crowder’s “Hands of Love” we are reassured that the hands that hung the stars, the hands that bore the scars are the same hands that bring us life and these hands are holding us! The past few months Tascha and I have been immersed in orphan ministry. We have been serving at the Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre where the kids are our number one priority. The Baby Centre is not an orphanage or a children's home, but rather a rescue centre for orphaned and abandoned babies. The goal is to be the hands of Christ to these babies until they are adopted into forever families. Tascha has been spending a ton of time in the three wings working with the kids and loving them unconditionally. My ministry here at the Baby Centre has been working on the new AGC Baby Centre website and doing media. I also spend some time with the kids. For more information about the Baby Centre and to meet the kiddos here, visit our new website at www.agcbabycenter.org 

This past week, Tascha and I had the privilege of serving with the Least of These ministry (www.wgm.org/leastofthese). I had been asked to do a video for the ministry showing what they do and how you can get involved with it. This is an amazing ministry and Tascha and I are so blessed to have been able to be a part of it. I wont say too much about the ministry and let Robyn, Mwali and Anthony tell you about the Least of These in the video below. 

The Least of These Ministry 2014 from Jeff and Tascha Fyke on Vimeo.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard the depths of the love God has for us all. Our God is great and mighty and doesn't start caring for us when we are grown. In Matthew 19:14 it says Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

These beautiful children, made in the image of God, are precious. God loves them, and has entrusted those at the AGC Baby Centre, the Least of These and many other organizations with their care. It is not a light responsibility and takes all that we have, but these little ones are worth our lives and more. They are the face of Christ and all we do for these, the least of these, we have done for Christ (Matt. 25:40). 

So I encourage you, pray for these ministries and get involved! You don’t have to physically be here in Kenya to touch the lives of these kids

SEND

We are all called to be a part of missions. Some of us are called to go. Those who are not called to go, are called to send! There are many ways to send. Here are just a few:

- Pray about a missions worker God might want you to encourage.

• If you would like to be on our prayer team, you can sign up on our website (www.jeffandtaschafyke.com) under the "support" tab

- Create a local sending group. Consider sending care packages.
- Encourage a missions worker by e-mail, Facebook, telephone or Skype webcam call.

• We are on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Twitter and Skype! Visit our website for links to all or our Social Media sites

- Share a meal, your professional skills, a car or guest room with a missions worker.
- Financially support a missionary or project.

• You can financially support us by going to www.wgm.org/fyke or by going to our website and clicking the support tab

- Plan a trip with your life group to visit missionaries where they serve.

GO

Learning and Praying are wonderful ways to get started in missions. However, nothing beats actually going on a trip and allowing God to use you in a mighty way! Now, going doesn't have to be across the world, it can be in your home town. In Knoxville, Tascha and I have worked with The Lost Sheep Ministries and Knoxville Area Rescue Ministry (KARM) serving the homeless. Homeless ministry was out of my comfort zone at first and I believe that because it was, God was able to teach me, shape me and bless me more through it because I was more reliant on Him than I was myself. When we do missions, we do not do them to be a hero to the world, Jesus is that hero. We do missions not only because it is our purpose to reach every tribe and tongue, but because we cant not share the love of Christ! Our love for others is the overflowing of God love for us! Below are a few ways to GO!

• Go on a short-term cross-cultural trip with your church or a mission group.
• Tascha and I did this when we went to Uganda
• Use your profession to share the good news and Christ's love among the nations.
• Students can go on a "back and forth" trip with their college group or seminary. 
• I did this when I went to East Asia and Kenya
• Contact a few mission agencies to see how they might utilize your skills short term or long term.
• World Gospel Mission - www.wgm.org
• International Mission Board - www.imb.org
• Wycliffe Bible Translators - www.wycliffe.org
• Serving In Mission (SIM) - www.sim.org
• Africa Inland Mission (AIM) - www.aimint.org
• The World Race - www.theworldrace.org

BIG Announcement!

Tascha and I are leaving for Kenya in January! Watch the video for more info and ways to get involved!



Kenya Field Date Announcement from Jeff and Tascha Fyke on Vimeo.

Why?

The other day I was talking to some of my co-workers about Tascha and I working in Kenya. One of them asked “What exactly will you be doing over there?” I told them we would be working with youth, orphans and street children. “How long will you be there?” “Two years” I responded. Then she said “I’m not trying to be rude or critical or anything, but why are you going to Kenya for two years to work with orphans and youth when we have tons of orphans and youth here that need care?” That’s a very good question. There are a lot of orphans and youth here in the states that need care. I was one of them.

I grew up in a broken home. My parents divorced when I was only 2 months old and my mother never remarried. I didn't have any siblings and grew up basically by myself. My mom lived a very structured life. I was the complete opposite. I am an out of the box thinker and very spontaneous. We had a mother-son relationship, but it wasn't as strong as I would have liked it to be. I went to a Christian school, where I was introduced to the Lord, but I didn't really have a relationship with Him until college. Mom and I never went to church and my mom claimed to be a Christian, but there wasn't really any fruit of a relationship with Him.

In March of 2004 I was on my way home from Maine after a spring break mission trip. My mom called me and informed me that her brother had died from a heart attack. It was hard on all of us, but it hit mom the hardest. Chuck was her best friend and life without him was going to be hard. That July, I received word that my father had passed on. I never knew my dad, never got to hear his voice and now I never would. In December 2004, mom was diagnosed with Pancoast Syndrome, a very rare form of lung cancer. Two years later, on September 16, 2006, she lost her battle. I was 21.

I can’t really explain what I felt. I was devastated, mad, sad, frustrated, confused. The next January, I was in the financial aid office at ETSU and was told I had a new grant. I was excited and asked what it was for. They told me what it was and that it was for orphans. “Excuse me?” They then informed me that in the state of Tennessee, if you are under 25, still in school and have lost both parents, you are considered an orphan. My heart sank. I felt like I was all alone in the world, no family, no one to go to and that I had absolutely nothing. “I’m an orphan?” I said to myself over and over and over. When I thought of orphans, I typically thought little kids in Africa or Asia. God was shaping me and molding me. I didn't know it at the time, but hindsight is 20/20.

My good friend James and the staff at the Well Ministries on campus became Christ to me. They reminded me that God does love me, that He does care for me and that He has an awesome plan for my life! They showed me that I was not alone, but in fact part of a huge family in Christ! They invested in me, discipled me, cared for me and loved me. God used them to breathe life back into these dry bones. While in college I have had the opportunity to go to East Asia and Kenya to work with children and students. It was in Kenya that I felt the call to ministry. After I got back from Kenya, I started volunteering with the youth at my church. My final senior year at ETSU I became a youth and college intern. After graduation, Tascha and I got married and I became a Youth Director in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2012, we moved to Alabama where I was a Worship Director and we both volunteered in the youth department. It was that year that we went to Uganda to work with orphans. In Uganda, God revealed to both Tascha and I that He wanted us to love on orphans. After much prayer, we felt that Kenya was the place He was calling us to.

In Sub-Sahara Africa, there are 43.4 million orphans. 3 million of them reside in Kenya. To put that in Jeff terms, there are more orphans in Kenya than there is total number of children in the state of Tennessee! Currently in Kenya, 700 children are orphaned every day, 1/3 due to HIV/AIDS.

Yes, there are orphans and youth in America that need love and care. God has a plan for each and every one as He did and still does for me. God also has a plan for the youth and orphans of Kenya and Tascha and I are apart of that plan. We are excited for what God has in store for us! Please let us know if you would like more information about this ministry or would like to be a part of it! To financially support this ministry, please visit www.wgm.org/fyke

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18

"Am I Making A Difference"

“Is what I’m doing making a difference?” I ask myself this question a lot and I’m sure some of you do as well. I know that I am created for something more than myself, but is the way I am spending my time really making a difference in the world? James 1:27 says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

If I were to paraphrase this verse, I would say “A relationship with God that is genuine entails looking after the broken and hurting and guarding yourself against losing focus on what’s important.” We are all created for relationships; primarily a relationship with our Creator. We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) and out of that love for Christ comes our love for one another. This is when the caring for the broken, hurting, homeless, orphans, widows, etc. comes into play without us even having to really think about it. This is what Tascha and I are called to do in Kenya.

The second half of this verse is the hard part though. “Keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Think about it. The movies and TV shows we watch, the music we listen to, the people we are around. There are a ton of things in this world buying for our attention and if we are not careful, they will win us over and distract us and could permanently pull us away from what God has called each and every one of us to do: love the least of these.

Over the next week, take inventory of what you watch, listen to and the type of people you hang around. If what you are spending your time listening to, watching or doing is not honoring to God (or you wouldn't do it if He were physically standing next to you), then I challenge you to find something that is pleasing to God. This might be listening to Christian radio, not watching things with vulgarity or sexual scenes, or maybe even making some new friends. I guarantee you, your relationship with Christ will improve and so will your focus on what is really important. 

A Lesson in Faith

"Faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. " - Hebrews 11:1

                Faith is something many people struggle to define. A youth pastor friend of mine said that "Faith was what we do form the time we hear God speak until the next time we hear Him speak." God has called Tascha and I to go to Africa. We stepped out on faith by exploring various mission organizations and God partnered us with World Gospel Mission (www.wgm.org). I have had to take off of work twice in order to go to Indiana for our interview and training and both times I have been able to. Tascha and I have some classes to take in preparation for the field and God has provided in that area as well. And this past week I explained to my boss that I was going to have to miss a week here and there this summer for Tascha and I to speak at a few camps. I had been very weary of discussing this matter with him because it is almost impossible to take vacation during the summer because it is our busiest time. But I knew that God had called Tascha and I to go to Kenya and that He would make a way. My boss heard me out and we worked it out so that I would be able to miss the weeks needed this summer!

                God has been so good to Tascha and I! No, we are not perfect, but God chose us to go to Kenya to serve the sick, the brokenhearted, the hungry, and the hurting. He equips those He calls and is faithful in His calling. I may not know how we are going to get to Kenya, or even an exact date, but I do know who we are going with, and through Him, we can do all things!