Middle of Summer

 

July 2025

"May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands." ~Psalm 90:17

Interns

Our 2025 summer interns are already well over halfway through their internships. It's hard to believe! They are working deep on their various projects for the summer. Four are working with Community Development Team, two on the Power Solutions Team and one in Media and Communications.  We are so grateful for them. We've enjoyed getting to know them at the office and at the house. Jean has had the pleasure of mentoring Alisha this summer! Please pray for them as they continue to work on their projects and as they wrap up their time of service with us.

Zachary, Rebecca, Noah, Alisha, Alex, Nathan and Cynthia

Catching Up

We are both trying to get back up to speed now after being at Kijani Farm. Jean has been serving in her new role in Accounts Payable and stills works in Communications as well. John is still HR and is chaplain on top of the software creation and support he does. While our schedules did not allow hosting of interns, we were/are able to host several others, whether they be volunteers, staff that comes into town or guests. We enjoy getting to know everyone and are grateful for their work on the SonSet Solutions team.

Family Update

Our children are doing well. Elizabeth and Pete are busy with their three. Micah and Eleanor are both taking piano lessons and are on break from homeschooling at home with Elizabeth. Abel has kept busy with t-ball this summer. They are all active in a homeschool group and have fabulous field trips. They continue to attend our sending church Lansing Bible Church. JR continues on at Lee Richardson Zoo as Lead Animal Keeper in Kansas. It is busy there with staffing changes and sometimes long hours. He attends church in person when he can. David and Dominique are now the parents of a busy toddler. David continues to work as a programmer at Marknet Alliance. It seems that Marley enjoys being in the toddler nursery of their church in Taylorville.  We are happy to share that we will have one more grandchild coming: Baby Moun will be arriving January 2026! Anina and Tyler are both busy with their careers as well and look forward to this arrival. The first week of August we will all be together for a family vacation. Even JR can come for that!

Praises/Thanksgiving Praise the Lord that John's hands are better after an outbreak in Kenya. The dermatologist he saw also removed two lesions, which are out for biopsy, which they suspect are cancerous. We praise the Lord for work completed at Casa Radio in Colombia. We praise the Lord we have three new staff who are raising their full-time support team. We are very excited and are glad to have them be in our SonSet Solutions family.  Prayer Requests ​Continue to pray as Jean will once again serve as one of the camp nurses at Checkpoint Bible Camp the last week of July. ​​Pray for a team preparing to serve in Fiji in August. There is equipment to prepare before this departure. Please pray for Baby Moun and Anina and Tyler as they prepare to be parents and the decisions they need to make. Please pray for the Lord's leading of our interns as they consider their futures and whether it would include missions.

Kijani Farm Update

 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”  – Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭40‬

June 2025

Kijani Farm Update​

We have returned from Kenya with full hearts, and have been humbled, once again, by the generosity of the Maasai people. John, Mike, Ethan and Breck worked together on the extension of the internet (Starlink) to key buildings on Kijani Farm. Rachel and Jean were helping where needed and with a bit of first aid at the school on Kijani. We visited the four other schools that Kijani is connected with as well as several women's homes in the surrounding neighborhood.

The photos are a very, very, very small glimpse of what we did in Kenya. Above, Jean spoke to the dormitory girls at the local government school about some health considerations. John was on the roof installing IT components. Daily chai time is a great time for conversation. John was able to share some encouraging words at the church service we attended. ​Below, John helped in the construction of a small sheet metal home for Maria, who is a widow in the area. As a second wife with no sons, she has a harder life than most Maasai. Jean helped a PP1 (preschool) student, who needed some extra help with her numbers (Yay! Math!).

The pictures don't show the scope and depth of conversation and all we participated in. There were many conversations about the future medical clinic, the blueprints, how another Solar Ministry Toolkit could help there as well as the extension of the Starlink connection to the clinic. They don't show the men's and women's weekly Bible study and the discussions, the homes of the Maasai or how children are children everywhere, nor the Maasai widows and what they endure. Please continue to pray for Brian and Heather Dellamater of Kijani Farm and the Maasai people. Learn more about Kijani here: Kijani Farm.

Women's Retreat in Oregon

Jean was so blessed by being able to speak at Immanuel Baptist Church's Women's Retreat in May.  What a great group of ladies and young moms who traveled far with their babies to attend! John and I always enjoy going deeper with our supporting churches and are thankful for this church and our other churches who provide for us in prayer, finances, and in other ways.

Praises/Thanksgiving Praise the Lord for the work He is doing among the Maasai through our ministry partner Kijani Farm. They are truly a ministry that is "going an inch wide and a mile deep into the Maasai community, investing heavily into the people." ​We thank you all for your prayers! ​Thank you to the churches who collected medical supplies for us to take to Kijani Farm.  Prayer Requests ​Please pray for the complete healing of John's hands. His eczema really flared up while in Kenya. We aren't sure why. ​Please pray that the government will approve the blueprints for the future medical clinic to be located at Kijani Farm. ​Please pray as Jean gets ready to serve as one of the nurses at Checkpoint Bible Camp in July.