:: BERACHAH BAPTIST CHURCH ::

sunday evening we were able to spend some time with pastor lamar ferrell and his congregation at Berachah Baptist Church in Middletown, Ohio-with the whole team. they were having their missions banquet competition. each class got together and made food from a particular people group (such as african, german, polynesian, etc) - team kenya were the judges for this intense competition. there was TONS of food-lots of great stuff! we were stuffed. turns out we voted the polynesian group as the winners!

during this time shantelle and ryan and i were able to share our testimonies. actually ryan and i missed the morning service here since we were at another church that morning-the rest of the team was able to share in the morning.

we had a great time visiting with the people here-they were all so nice and inviting. THANK YOU for having us Berachah Baptist Church. you all were truly a blessing to us!
www.placeofblessing.com

:: now go ::

We just got back from 4 days up in Harrisburg, PA for another weekend of ABWE training. We were there Friday night for our recognition ceremony-which went really well. Two men from our church on the mission committee came up to share the special time with us.

Saturday and Sunday we had Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship Training. It was some really good stuff that they were teaching us! We got great tools to use and lots of great ideas. Most of all, I think it gave us all a fire in us to go make intentional relationships and just talk to everyone we can to share the love of Christ with them!!

To see more about what we learned this weekend check out www.goodsoil.com.

The hardest part of this weekend was not being with Eden for 4 days! We've never left her before, but were unable to bring her this trip. She stayed with Jayme's parents and had a great time with them but it was hard being away for that long! We made it though!!

I'm pretty sure all of Team Kenya feels the same way but I can only speak for myself when I say that this weekend has put a desire in me that has been renewed from God saying "NOW GO - TELL OTHERS ABOUT ME!"

our first missions conference

This past week we had our first missions conference as a team. It was at our home church-Grace Baptist Church of Mason, March 22-25. It was such a special and amazing week.

GOOD OLE BRUCE
Each night Bruce O'Neal challenged the congregation. Bruce is the president of Manna Worldwide-the ministry we will be partnering with for the feeding centers aspect of our ministry. He is an amazing man and someone our team has definitely grown to love in such a big way!

HOW THIS WEEK WENT
After Bruce spoke, some members of our team took a turn to speak about a certain aspect of the team - Sunday night the Guzmans and Shantelle spoke about 'compassion', Monday night Ryan and I and Alisa spoke on 'spreading the Gospel', and Tuesday night the Boons and Brittany spoke on 'discipleship'.

Wednesday night was a little different service-our commissioning service. It was an amazing service to be in. Our team got to share our testimonies and the church voted on commissioning us. They also had to vote on the support aspect-by ballot, which came back unanimous-everyone was for it! So humbling an encouraging to know that our church is so behind us and supportive!

There was also a time of prayer. Our team went up to the front of the church and sat-facing the congregation. The officers of the church spread out and prayed with us-laying their hands on us. Then they opened up the opportunity for the congregation to do the same. It was such an overwhelming experience-so many of our church family came up to pray with us. It was amazing! We were there until about 9:30pm.


There really aren't sufficient words to express our feelings of gratitude right now. We are so blessed to have the home church and the families that we have.

So, lots has happened these past few weeks. So many great things!

THE NEXT STEPS
Our next step now is just to call churches and get connections to set up meetings to raise the support we need. Please pray as Ryan will be contacting many churches-that we will get the meetings needed to raise support and as we start traveling-hopefully later on this year.


THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT AND PRAYERS!

our testimony

The Kuenkels
Ryan and Jayme Kuenkel were married in December of 2005. Together they surrendered their lives to God, not yet knowing what His plan would be. They began serving God in student ministries at Grace Baptist Church, Mason Ohio.

In 2008 they were blessed with their first little girl, Eden, and have enjoyed the learning process of being parents.

Our Calling
Ryan was saved at the age of 13 and felt God’s call into the ministry at a mission’s conference two years later. Since then, Ryan has had a heavy burden for missions and even had the privilege of living on the mission field in Puerto Rico during his childhood.

Jayme was also saved at 13 years of age. One year later she met Ryan while attending a Christian high school. It was in high school that Jayme surrendered her life to God. She attended Trinity Baptist College and finished her business degree at the University of Cincinnati.

In July of 2007 God began working in both Ryan and Jayme’s hearts specifically towards missions. After much prayer, they realized that God was leading them to the mission field. Their calling was confirmed after returning from their survey trip to Mombasa, Kenya in 2008.

Our Goals
The Kuenkels are a part of a team of believers from Grace Baptist Church. Their passion is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Kenyan people. Through the local church, they will be establishing various methods of ministries in efforts to reach the Kenyan people more effectively.

An area of ministry near to the hearts of Ryan and Jayme is to start a youth camp in the city of Mombasa. This camp will serve a variety of different purposes in efforts to reach the neglected youth in Kenya.

Please pray for the Kuenkels in their pre-field ministry as they work to get to the field of Mombasa, Kenya.