Ministry Update April-June

We have many exciting ministry opportunities to share with you all. First of all, we want to say thank you to each of you who have partnered with us in this ministry here. It is only because of your generous giving that we have been able to provide this help and support in Jesus’ name. Many times after we have helped someone here they are so thankful to us and I always tell them that it is because of our friends and family back home who are so generous that we are able to bring this help to them. They always say “Please tell them we are so thankful”. So, I am telling you, those you are helping here are SO THANKFUL!! We praise God for the ability to help and provide for needs here. To Him be the glory!

One opportunity I think I shared about last time was that we were going to build a chicken coop for a single mom here in the community that we know who is supporting her four children. We have been able to build the chicken coop and just a couple of weeks ago we were able to purchase the baby chicks. We are working with a man who works for the Department of Agriculture here in Kapsowar and he is keeping the chicks at his home for 8 weeks and then we will transfer them to their permanent coop. Please pray for this project as we are trying our best to make this a profitable business for this family. Pray that the mother would be able to be educated and learn how to properly care for these chicks so that she can have a thriving business. I hope to have pictures to post by the end of August of the finished coop and the chickens….Lord willing!

Another exciting ministry we have learned about here in Kapsowar is a Bible Translation and Literacy program that works in the smaller language groups of Kenya to help translate the bible into their “heart” language and then teach them how to read so that they can read the bible in their original language. This is a ministry of Wycliffe Bible Translation which some of you may be familiar with. We have become good friends with one of the pastors who works with this ministry and have been able to financially support the ministry projects here in the Marakwet community. They have finished translating the New Testament and are currently working on the Old Testament. In the picture below is a copy of the New Testament in Marakwet, which is the “heart” language here. We are very excited to be able to help support this ministry and be a part of helping people better understand and be able to have full access to the entire Bible in their own language. 

We mentioned in our previous ministry update the great need for help with school fees. Since our last update we have been presented we numerous opportunities to help needy families with this need. I will share a few of the situations in which we were able to provide help. We helped three boys at our church whose parent’s had died. We again provided help for the single mother we know personally. Another child’s mother had died and the father was struggling to provide. Another single mother whom we attend church with was in need of help for her child. We were also able to provide for a high school student from a needy family who would not have been able to keep going to school had we not been able to assist his family with these fees. Again, we thank all of you for your generous giving which has allowed us to help these families in their time of need and provide encouragement for these children who have already experienced much loss. School is so important here for many reasons. We are thankful that we are able to help these children get the education they need. Recently, we were presented with an opportunity to help support a student at a Bible College who is studying to become a pastor. He is in his third year and struggling to pay his tuition. Thankfully, we were able to give support to help him complete this year of schooling.

Also in the previous ministry post we shared about a young man who had experienced kidney failure and whose family and community was struggling to provide for the overwhelming hospital bills for his care. We were able to provide more financial support to this family and they have been so grateful and thankful for this act of love and support.

There are still more opportunities and projects to share with you all, but I will save them for another post. We are working on getting some equipment for the hospital and have been helping with some other projects. More on that next time! Please forgive me for not giving more frequent updates. The blog was neglected the last few months, but hopefully I can get on top of things again as we try and finish strong with our time here in Kapsowar. Thanks again for your support and faithful giving! May God be glorified in this work and in all our lives.

Big Changes for the Jones' family!!

I apologize for the long break from any blog updates. We have a lot of catching up to do! Many changes and surprises have occurred since the last blog. First of all, we would like to announce that Sonya is pregnant! This was the first big surprise to us that has led to the other changes that will be taking place. We are very excited and thankful for the blessing from the Lord. Sonya is 16 weeks along today and is due Dec. 1^st. Thankfully she has made it through the first trimester with minimum sickness, mostly just fatigued and feeling “yucky”. As soon as we found out that she was pregnant, we began praying for wisdom about the decisions that would need to be made, like where to deliver and then what to do after that. Sonya did begin experiencing an elevated heart rate in the mornings about 6 weeks ago and has been dealing with that almost daily since then. We thought her thyroid was off again, but the levels were fine and after speaking with an OB/GYN we were told that this is most likely just a side effect of having hyperthyroidism and being pregnant. It has improved some in the last couple of weeks and we are hoping it will continue to improve. Most of the time she can control it by laying down and resting.

After much prayer and seeking Godly counsel, we have decided that we will be going home (back to Knoxville, TN) to deliver and will be ending our time here in Kapsowar early. Sonya has struggled with her health off and on since we arrived here and her thyroid is likely to be an issue again after delivery with the change in hormones. Sonya also feels like we need to be near family during this time so we can have help and support as we welcome another member into the family! We do not know exactly what the Lord has planned for us next, but are hoping to come home, get healthy, have a baby and see where He leads us. We still desire to do missions and pray that the Lord will give us direction in the year to come.

Right now, we are looking at coming back around the last week of August or first of Sept. Please pray for us as we seek to finish strong here with the time we have left. We are so thankful for the opportunity the Lord gave us to come here and serve and learn and grow. It was a very difficult decision to leave early, but we are trusting the Lord in this unexpected transition. We know this was not a surprise to Him and we trust that He has a plan for our family, we just have to keep seeking Him. Thank you all so much for praying for us and encouraging us through our time here. It has been challenging, but the Lord has taught us much. His grace is sufficient no matter what and He is faithful to us always. He’s so good to continue to love us and pour out His grace on us.

On another note, some of you may not be aware that Aaron has been experiencing his share of health issues as well. About two weeks ago, our family was experiencing a bad stomach bug. After I had it, Aaron had to give me some IV fluids to help hydrate me. The good thing about being a missionary here is that I didn’t even have to go to the hospital. Aaron just brought them home and did a great job getting a line in me and then I sat in bed and watched some Little House on the Prairie while I got my fluids! I think Aaron had a new appreciation for his nurses after that experience. So the next night it hit Aaron and he was feeling nauseated. At about 1 AM, he had been vomiting and noticed his heart seemed out of rhythm. I heard him getting his clothes on and asked what he was doing and he said “just going to the hospital to get an EKG” (like it was no big deal). Long story short, he and the other American doctors got him hooked up and it showed that he was in Atrial Fibrilation. The hospital did not have the medicine that he needed in IV form, so he had to take some pills instead. Thankfully, he did not vomit anymore after taking the pills. About 6 hours later, after many, many prayers, his heart finally went back into regular rhythm. It was 7:30 AM here and I called to check on him and they told me the good news! What a long and frightening night it was, but again, the Lord is faithful and He gave us peace even amidst this scary situation. We praise God for answering our prayers and healing his heart.

So that is a short summary of what has been going on with us the last few months (at least with our health and family). We are also working on many ministry opportunities and I hope to do another blog update soon about all of that. Aaron is continuing to enjoy his work at the hospital and ministry there. Sonya is still leading a bible study for the nursing student girls at our house each Tuesday night. We are eager to share more about these opportunities soon. Thank you all so much for your generous support and prayers for the ministry here. The Lord has richly blessed us with friends and family who desire to serve and help others in Jesus’ name and it is because of you all that we are able to do these things here.

Please continue to pray for us during these last couple of months and as we prepare to transition again. There are many unknowns about the details of coming back home, but we are trusting the Lord to provide in His timing. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support of our family. We are continually encouraged by your prayers and they have helped sustain us along our journey here.

For His glory,

Aaron, Sonya, Braelyn, Layna & baby Jones #3  (Sorry no pics, bad internet connection)