As 2006 came to an end, I looked back on it with the joy of knowing that God had truly been
glorified in EMA. Steve quit his job in May of 2006 to join me in the ministry full time. We
packed up most of our belongings and shipped them over in a shipping container to Kitale,
Kenya. God was gracious to us. He located and filled a 20 foot container only two weeks
before we were scheduled to leave the States the first of June for the move over. I have a
saying that God is never in a hurry but he does things quickly. And when most people say
he does things at the last minute, I have seen him more than once go into over time if you
know what I mean. But like always, God came through and blessed us with an entire
container full of things that we would need to begin the ministry over in Kitale.
We have been back in the States since November for the holidays and our son’s wedding in
February. After that, we will be heading back over to Africa until Thanksgiving of 2008.
In the six months that we were in Kitale, we were able to establish a home, a “Mother church”,
and a café. Our first Sunday service, September 24th, we had 214 attend along with a
celebration dinner (150 joined us). We ended a wonderful day with a dedication service.
God was so good to us our first service. It was a blessed day. People were saved and
healed. Up to this point, we have seen over 230 people come to the Lord through the
church and also door to door evangelism. We now have home fellowships along with lunch
hour meetings, over night prayer groups and outdoor crusades. God has been faithful. In
our café, we are now serving around 150+ a day with the hope of becoming known as the
café you can come and get healed spirit, soul or body along with a good American meal at a
reasonable price. Not a bad goal to have for a cafe.
Our heart is to return to enlarge the ministry by beginning two bible colleges. One college for
those called into the ministry and one for those called into the ministry of helps. We also feel
called to start another orphanage and to continue to establish new businesses. We are
renting a home that has an auto mechanic garage in the back yard. In the past, the garage
was the most well know garage in all of Kitale. We hope to open it back up as soon as we
are able to purchase all of the tools needed. In addition to servicing vehicles, we hope to
offer auto mechanic training as well.
Also located on our church property is a room that we will be using to open up a business
center and cyber café. We have been looking into areas and properties where the bible
school could be located, land to begin a hydroponics business and mushroom farming. We
already have a contact for a piece of property that could host the orphanage. We would like
to include in those plans a small business to help support the next orphanage. Our heart is
to start a business for each ministry that we begin. This gives much needed jobs to the
locals and will help with the expenses of the different ministries. We were busy our first six
months of living in Kenya full-time.
This is just a little look into what took place in 2006 and also some thoughts on just a few of
the plans that are in our hearts for the next couple of years. The vision is a large vision that
reaches into many nations. We know that the people perish without a vision and where the
Lord calls he equips and provides. Several individuals and small groups have spoken of
coming over this year. We welcome all who would like to join us. It takes a little bit of
planning on everyone’s part so let us know as soon as you begin thinking about it. That
would help us to help you plan. God bless you for all that each of you have done for us and
the staff at EM. We are grateful more than you will ever know. May our Lord richly bless you
as we work together during these end times.
Deb and Steve Sonner
