Williams, David & Rachel, Australia
April 2008 Prayer Letter (click
here for Acrobat pdf version)
G’Day …
We wrote a prayer letter in July last year, our last prayer letter from Nairobi. We promised to write again from Australia in November. As you know, Australia is in a different time zone to the rest of the world, which explains why you are only receiving this letter now. Many apologies for our poor communication! However, to help you relate to our new culture the next paragraph is written in Australian rather than English.
A lot has happened in the last few months – in fact I’ve been flat out like a lizard drinking. I left Kenya at the end of October. Rachel and the boys followed two weeks later, when Sam had finished GCSEs. Since he hadn’t completed the syllabus, we thought he had Buckley’s chance, but his hard yakka paid off. When the results came through cries of “Ripper” and “You Beaut!” were heard throughout the Williams household. We shipped a container from Nairobi to Melbourne and were told to expect it soon after we arrived. We thought this would be a complete furphy, but strike me pink, it arrived only six days after Rachel and the boys.
It is hard to believe that we have been in Australia for over four months. We are slowly beginning to settle and we are grateful for your prayers as we cope with this transition. Tom, Sam and Jonathan have started school well and have generally found it welcoming and friendly, although it takes time to build true friendships. We are starting to make a home in a local church, where the boys love the youth group and are getting involved in small group Bible studies. It has been a privilege to get to know two CMS missionary families who returned to Melbourne around the same time that we arrived here. We have much in common with them.
However, our minds have still been much focussed on Kenya. It has been hard to believe that the country we knew so well has fallen apart so dramatically. I’m sure that all of you have been very aware of the violence that flared up following the disputed elections. Rachel and I have watched in horror at what has happened and have been distressed by many emails and text messages from Kenyan friends sharing tragic stories with us. The physical property of Carlile College was undamaged by the violence, but every student will have been effected in some way or other. Remarkably, the Centre for Urban Mission in Kibera also escaped largely unscathed. The card project building was not so lucky. It was looted and then burnt down in the first few days of January. However, the women from the project have cared for one another in remarkable and sacrificial ways. The Kipepeo Designs trustees are trying to discern the best way forward. They have already rented another property in Kibera and are setting up again. Please pray for Wambui, Nillah and the trustees as they struggle with all the issues of starting again. It’s hard to imagine a more difficult set of circumstances for Tim and Gertrude Wambunya to arrive in Kenya with their family and to take over the leadership at Carlile College. Please keep on praying for them, that they might know God’s guidance and protection through a difficult time.
I have been finding my feet with CMS-Australia and have greatly enjoyed getting to know my new colleagues. My job is a new role within CMS, so it has been interesting trying to work out quite what it involves. As far as I can tell there are three main components:
1. Leading the CMS training team.
2. Overseeing training of missionaries.
3. Assisting the CMS leadership in strategic planning, development and mission thinking.
It has been exciting to start thinking about growth and development in these areas. It has also been great to learn more about CMS Australia missionaries and the strategic places where many of them are working. CMS is very committed to long term service – one couple just retired after 45 years of missionary service! My job involves much more travelling that I have been used to. So far most of this has been between Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin, but there will an international component as time goes on. It is taking some time for us to adjust to this as a family. Rachel has worked hard to get the rest of us settled and is now wondering where she fits in to living in Australia. She doesn’t want to start any ministry commitments unless she can remain committed for the longer term, and so is taking things slowly. She remains committed to helping Kipepeo Designs in its ministry in Kibera.
This is the last prayer letter that we are sending out to our link churches. However, we continue to serve as Crosslinks Associates and will continue to send out prayer updates to you, mainly by e-mail. Many of you responded to our last prayer letter and told us that you would like to go on hearing from us. If you didn’t respond to the last prayer letter and would like to go on receiving news from us, please send us an email to
dwilliams[at]crosslinks.org or write to us here in Australia.
Points for Prayer:
- For Tim and Gertrude Wambunya as they settle into a very different Kenya to the country we knew. For Tim’s wise leadership at Carlile College and for the rest of the staff team.
- For Wambui and the trustees of the Kipepeo Designs. Please pray that the Lord would provide them with the resources they need to get the project running again.
- For Nillah and the other women from Kibera who work at Kipepeo. Please pray that they would be salt and light after all the ethnic division and violence, that they would go on following Jesus each day.
- For wisdom for Rachel as she discerns where the Lord wants her to use her gifts in his service.
- For Tom, Sam and Jonathan as they slowly settle into school and youth group. Please pray that they would make some good Christian friends.
- For wisdom and grace for David in his new role with CMS-Australia.
With our grateful thanks for your support of us,
David and Rachel, Tom, Sam and Jonathan
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