Thank you very much for your prayers for the seminar last week. God’s blessings were very evident. Below is a link to watch a short video (less than four minutes) of a few testimonies about how God used the seminar.
Your prayers would be appreciated for Donna’s family as her father faces some health challenges and some key decisions need to be made in the coming weeks.
I am writing from Johannesburg South Africa. I am here for meetings and to do a seminar on Spiritual Growth Through Doctrine next week (Sept 8-12). One of the things I pray for before preaching or teaching is for brokenness. Brokenness is a sacrifice to God that He will not despise (Ps 51:17).
As many of you know, I have been working on a booklet call TWR Statement of Doctrinal Position: What it Says, What it Means and Why You Should Care (WIS WIM WYSC). This booklet was to help with the trainings and teachings I am to be doing. WIS WIM WYSC has hit a snag as it needs approval from a higher level in TWR than anticipated. Because of this, I will not be able to use it for the seminar next week.
To be honest, this has been a real disappointment and discouragement. Lots of midnight oil went into getting WIS WIM WYSC ready to be used next week. However, this snag has been a great tool in God’s hands to bring brokenness into my life. For that, I am thankful. Thank God with me for His breaking, pray God would continue and that I would not be stubborn. Pray for me as I modify and then present this seminar. May God be honored next week in what I present and in how I present it. Continue to pray for WIS WIM WYSC.
My daughter Miriam has been reunited with her cat, Asa. He made the trip from Benin to Kenya in good form and was very happy to see Miriam. Asa was a birthday gift to Miriam from some Peace Corps friends when we where in Benin. Hence Asa has a special place in Miriam’s heart along with the Peace Corps volunteers. Asa and our dog Jesse are getting along with each other without too many incidents. Give thanks to God for Asa’s safe trip and happy renunion with Miriam and the rest of the family.
Alyssa, whom I mentioned in my blog in June, is at the end of her mission in Kenya where she worked with Life Beads Kenya. She has been a tremendous blessing to our family. She has brought coffee to a whole new dimension in the Cox household! Below are some of her thoughts on her time in Kenya:
“It was devastating to leave home, but so exciting to be venturing out to serve the Lord in a place I had always dreamed of, and for so long…. When I first saw the town [Naivasha], I was in such culture shock and had no idea how to process being away from home and in such an unfamiliar place. Relatively quickly, though it felt like a slow process, I adapted to my new surroundings.”
“Over the course of the next two months, I learned how business worked in Kenya, and how bringing change was much easier said than done. It was such a blessing to be welcomed in by the Life Beads Kenya family. They all helped me understand Kenyan culture better, and a little bit of Swahili too. I was able to visit various other outreach organizations around Naivasha. All of them were monumental, I can’t really choose which one I loved the most, but I can assuredly say that the ones involving children were my favorites.”
A little more of Alyssa’s story will be featured in our September Newsletter. Praise God with us for Alyssa’s time with us.
This week we received our things from Benin. There was great rejoicing in the Cox Family and the constant questions: “Dad which box has the dog leaches. Dad, where did you pack my swing. Has anyone seen the blue bag.” Please thank God that our things arrived.
Please continue to pray for the final steps in becoming official alien residents in Kenya. We are waiting on our Alien Registration Cards which should have been out of immigration this week.
Praise God after I arrived back in Kenya Donna and I received our work permits. We are incredibly grateful. There are a couple more straight forward administrative steps that we have already started to become official alien residents in Kenya. We are told that these last steps are easy, pray that what we have been told is true.
I had a wonderful time escorting my mom back to USA, spending time with my family and spending time with Donna’s family. Thank you very much for your prayers. The trip back with my mom was close to flawless. The airlines did a great job having wheelchairs available at all the airports along with helpful staff who knew how to navigate the ins and outs of the airports. It was delightful and fitting to spend time with family in the USA. There were some great times of fellowship and conversation.
Donna has started helping (two mornings a week) at a school called Helping Hands (www.helpinghandsofkenya.com) that works with children who have disabilities. The main goal is for her to help the staff and teachers improve their service to these children. Pray for her as she works with Helping Hands.
In our last newsletter I talked about my project: What it Says, What it Means and Why You Should Care which explains the importance and significance of TWR’s Statement of Doctrinal Position. Your continued prayers for this will be appreciated.
My mom has had a great time here in Kenya. Praise God with us that she was able to see a good number of things and that she has been healthy while here. As you know from previous blogs, I am traveling back to the States with her and will be spending some time with my family and Donna’s family. Your prayers for our travels would be appreciated.
Alyssa, who just arrived in Kenya, is a friend from New Mexico who is staying with us in Naivasha as she works with a ministry to those who have AIDS. Alyssa will be in Kenya for two months and we are very excited to have her around. Pray for her as she serves those with AIDS.
Please continue to pray for our work permits. It appears that the process is close to being done. Pray that this is true and that the last steps can be completed.
Paul’s mom (Rosie) has made it to Kenya, she traveled with Donna who was returning from visiting her family. Rosie has enjoyed her grandkids in their native habitat. In addition, she has been able to see a few other animals in their natural environment. Praise God with us that her journey and trip so far have been good (other than the delayed arrival of one bag) and pray for the rest of her visit in Kenya (and the delivery of the bag that has yet to make it to Kenya).
Family and friends meet Jesse. Jesse meet family and friends. Jesse is a female ridgeback / mutt mix that we picked up at the Kenya Society of Protection and Care for Animals (the Kenyan equivalent of the pound). She is incredibly well behaved and loves to be around people. So far Jesse’s favorite thing to do is to visit the kids at RVA where she receives lots of attention. Jesse’s one idiosyncrasy is that she will not fetch a ball. She prefers fetching rocks, fetch Kenya style.
Our move to Kenya has cost about $7,000 more than we planned. Used cars in Kenya are very expensive plus the power steering went out in the vehicle we purchased two weeks after we got it. As they were working on the power steering they also found lots of suspension problems. If you would like to help with this you can send a check to TWR, PO Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512 put “Paul & Donna Cox Transfer Fund” on the memo line. To give via credit card please call TWR at 1.800.456.7897 and ask to make a gift to the Paul and Donna Cox Transfer Fund.
In the past couple of weeks the team at the Benin Transmitting Station (BTS) has had some personnel challenges. These challenges have been a strain on the whole team in Benin. The team would appreciate your prayers. Please pray for discernment and wisdom on the part of the leadership team. Pray that the team would be able to keep their focus on God, bring glory to His name and accomplish His tasks in the midst of these challenges.
Simon Burdett is responsible for BTS. You will remember from my April 12 blog (https://www.cox-net.com/prayer_blog/?p=409) that he was recently named as the interim Africa Regional Support Services Director (RSSD) after the departure of the previous Africa RSSD. In addition to the normal transition issues facing Simon, he will have to help deal with these personnel challenges. While Simon is an African who has extensive experience and expertise with African cultures, he is not familiar with the Benin culture and context. He would appreciate your prayers for insight, understanding, wisdom and resolution.
Many of you have been praying for our work permit. Thank you for these prayers. God has yet to grant us the work permit and our current visas will be expiring soon. In order to get a new visas we will have to leave East Africa. Along with this, Donna’s father (James) continues to face health challenges. We do not know how much longer the Lord will tarry his return or how much longer the Lord will wait before calling James home. But these two things have percepitated a trip to the USA for Donna. Please pray for Donna’s time with her family and her travels. (As much as Donna will want to see many of you, her time in the States will need to be spent with her family.)
When Donna returns from the States, my mom (Rosie) is going to return with Donna and visit us in Kenya. Rosie’s health is good right now and if she is ever going to make it to Africa to see us now is the time. Praise God with us for Rosie’s health, the opportunity to travel with Donna and her courage to visit her grandkids in their native habitat.
I will return to the USA with my mom. This will give her someone to travel with and give me a chance to have some time with James, Donna’s family and my family. In addition, if our work permits are not finished by the time Rosie leaves I will also renew my visa.
Thank you for praying for Micah Joy’s surgery and thank you to the many people who emailed and sent Facebook messages. We thank God that Micah Joy’s surgery went well. Her surgery was delayed by four hours and the waiting helped teach us patience. Micah Joy’s recovery is going well. She just is not chewing or saying much.
I know that this has been said a number of times, however, we are incredibly grateful to be closer to our kids. Praise God that we are able to be in Kenya at this time.
Donna and I are still waiting on our work permits. Please pray that these would be granted soon. There are a number of things that are waiting on the work permit. Two major things that are in a holding pattern are opening a bank account and shipping our belongings which are still in Benin. While we have borrowed and purchased enough to “get by,” it is frustrating when we need something that is sitting in a box in Benin.
Our other disappointment has been that the vehicle we purchased needed some work and it is taking a while to get the parts. We were hoping to do some exploring while our kids are on break and this has been hampered with our vehicle in the shop. Pray that right parts can be found and installed in a timely way.
Thanks for your prayers and support.
Errata for April 12, 2014 blog:
The position discussed is correctly called Africa Regional Support Services Director and it is abbreviated RSSD. The blog stated “Simon Burdett has been named as the acting DARSS.” The blog should have stated “Simon Burdett has been named as the interim RSSD.” Apologies are offered for any confusion or offense this may have caused. Obviously we are still a bit confused. lol