Jambo!

So, its been a week since we left Knoxville, Tennessee for Kenya. Most of this past week has been traveling so we really have not settled down just yet. We arrived in Kenya late Thursday night and stayed in Nairobi for a few days with Jon and Vera (WGM Africa Regional Directors). There we got phones and rested. Saturday we left Nairobi for Nakuru by way of the Great Rift Valley. You can see for miles and miles at the top of the valley. As we drove through it, we saw zebras, gazelle and of course cattle and donkeys. 

When we arrived in Nakuru, we had lunch with the WGM Kenya directors (Jim and Alice) and then they took us to the Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre to meet April and see where we will be serving starting in a few months. We both loved spending time there learning about the ministry and just loving on the kids! For more information about the AGC Baby Centre, you can visit our website - www.jeffandtaschafyke.com

Sunday, we went with Jim and Alice to Ngata AGC which is next door to the Baby Centre. For January, their theme is “Discipleship” and the youth pastor spoke and gave a wonderful message out of John 15. One thing that stuck out was a statement he made. “Many of us know ABOUT God, but do you KNOW God?” He went on to talk about how some know of God and go through the routine of church, but unless we are in His word and communicate regularly through prayer (abiding in Him), then we do not know God on a personal level. He went on to say that discipleship is as easy as touching someone (investing in them). He then touched someone and that person got up and touched someone else and pretty quick, the entire congregation was standing because they had been touched. It was a great illustration. After church we met the pastors and they are excited that we are coming in April for six months!

After church we went and had lunch at Java House (the Kenyan Starbucks) which was amazing! I had so missed Java House from my previous trip to Kenya in 2008. We then shopped at a local grocery store and went with Jim and Alice to the Lake Nakuru National Park where we saw buffalo and baboons. I got out of the car to get a closer look at some of the baboons and to take a few pictures on Tascha’s phone. After our visit, we went back to the house and I helped Alice start up her blog. She is going to be a pro in no time! After our blog session, Alice taught Tascha how to make pizza dough from scratch since we were having grilled pizza for dinner. It was really good! 

Monday Jim and Alice brought us from Nakuru to Kericho, where we presently are serving. We took Monday evening and Tuesday to get settled and to meet with our hosts, Pat and Kathie Greco. Pat is the Vice Chancellor of Kenya Highlands Evangelical University where we are staying. Wednesday, we met most of the staff at the college during tea time. Every day at 10am and 4pm, everyone stops for tea… and I love it! After lunch, Kathie took us to Immanuel Africa Gospel Church to meet Joyce (the senior pastor) and the rest of the pastoral staff there. We discussed ministry opportunities and it looks like they are going to keep us busy! I will be helping with improving the audio and visual technologies for the church, as well as helping with their website. Tascha will be helping with children’s ministries. 

Tomorrow we will be at a picnic Immanuel AGC is hosting for the youth, and Sunday we will be attending both church services at Immanuel. As this week draws to a close and we begin wrapping our heads around the ministry opportunities here, please pray with us that God would continue to lead and guide us as we serve Him in Kericho at Kenya Highlands Evangelical University and Immanuel AGC. 

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

PRAY

Missionaries need prayer. All over the world, there are people laboring for the sake of the gospel. This is why Paul repeatedly asked those who sent him to pray for him (Rom 15:30; 2 Cor 1:11; 1 Thess 5:25; 2 Thess 3:1; Heb 13:18). Below are 6 ways to get involved in praying for missionaries (including us!)

• Sign up to receive prayer letters or missionary e-mails and pray regularly for them. You can sign up for ours by visiting our website (www.jeffandtaschafyke.com) or by emailing us (jeff.fyke@wgm.org)
• Ask God to show you for whom you should pray.
• Request country- or people-specific prayer guides for your computer or mobile phone . You can get the free Joshua Project app at http://www.joshuaproject.net/mobile.php
• Join or start a prayer group through your church or among your friends.
• Purchase the Operation World book and pray for people in a different country each day.
• Use an outline to pray for missionaries. You can find one at http://www.kingdompraying.com/assets/PDF/Scripture_Prayers_Missionaries.pdf

LEARN

Tascha and I just finished a 15 week class called "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement." In this class we have not only learned what missions is, but our part in every Christian's calling to missions. Every Christian has a mission: the be a part of the Great Commission.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 
Matthew 28:18-20


We all have a mission as Christians: To reach a lost and dying world for Christ. This brings God absolute glory! One way we can be a part of our mission is by learning about missions and missionaries. Here are a few ways to you can do that:

• Read a missionary biography

• Pray for people you see in world news reports.

• Take a course like Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.

• Go to the library and check out books about countries or people groups that interest you. You can visit www.JoshuaProject.net for more info on people groups!

• Use the internet to explore different areas of the world

Here is a video about the importance of learning about missions and ways to do it!

6 WAYS - LEARN from K H on Vimeo.

Video and info from OMF International

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