"Grace, mercy, & peace will be with us, from God the
Father & from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth & love." 2 John
1:3.
I
hope you are all feeling God's presence and clinging to Him in this time
of uncertainty. We are
holding onto the Lord and have seen both blessings and challenges in the last
several months. We have some very big blessings in our life to share with you
so you can rejoice with us and also pray for us.
Our family activity level is
rising everyday as Patience is becoming more verbally eloquent and Benaiah is
crawling faster than an African lizard chasing a beetle! The kids love to be
outside and Joyce has greatly appreciated the warmer weather, though dreading
the looming approach of winter. Planting, Going to Farmer’s Markets, barefoot
running (Jonathan’s crazy pastime), and taking walks has occupied a
good part of our summer. Here in the Berkshires we have begun to enjoy fresh apples
and a tinge of color in the foliage.
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| Hiking with "Baba". |
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| Benaiah loves fresh Corn! |
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| Family hike on Mahanna Cobble. |
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| Harvesting Asobi(Black-eyed Pea Greens) |
Our first big praise report is the provision of housing!
From the bottom of our hearts we want to thank
the dear friends who let us stay in their home for a whole year before we found
this place! You will always be family “Papa” and “Grandma”.
In the beginning of July, we were able to move into a small cottage in Lenoxdale, MA. We are renting from the lady who was the midwife for our son Benaiah and it really has been a mutual blessing to be here. In addition to affordable housing in a beautiful little town, Joyce is getting one-on-one mentorship in midwifery, which has been the desire of her heart. It has been a great joy to have our own space as a family, with a beautiful piece of land for the children to play on.
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| A woodstove to keep Joyce warm. |
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| Our Living room and Dining Room |
Joyce's Doula Training 
The Birth Circle in our backyard.
Another very big praise we have is concerning
Joyce’s citizenship process. We have been waiting for an interview to be
scheduled for Joyce’s citizenship test and the date has finally been set.
This is a great miracle, as we only applied back in the spring and some
applicants who applied in 2019 still haven’t been scheduled. The day is October
6th and we greatly appreciate your prayers as Joyce tries to
find time, between taking care of the kids, to study and prepare. Once Joyce is
a citizen, we would be able to freely move in and out of the USA without any
fear of being blocked entrance.
Our hearts
desire is to travel to Africa in late fall or early winter 2020/2021. We are yearning for a reunion with Joyce’s
family and asking God to make a way. There is a list of things that need to
come together such as Joyce‘s citizenship, Passports, Yellow Fever Vaccines, and
open borders. We know God has the perfect timing for our trip and are taking
the steps that we can, trusting that He will take care of the rest.
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| Bath Time! |
Patience the acrobat!
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| "We love Mama!" |
From the bottom of my heart I want to thank all
those who have and are supporting us, whether it is through prayer or by
giving. God has been generous in many creative ways to supply our daily needs
and the ability to help Joyce’s family in Africa. For those who are supporting
us or who might consider supporting financially, please know that we are
putting the funds we receive towards:
-Communications
with our family in South Sudan/Uganda
-Preparations for our upcoming trip to Africa
-Helping Joyce’s family with any pressing needs that
arise.
We have been busy in the last several months and
I have not had a chance to send an update (I had a fully composed blog post
deleted on me a month ago, Technology is great when it works!). Even though there
has been a lack of posting on our end, we are always grateful for your prayer
and support that we receive. Thank you for partnering with us as we follow God’s
trail back to East Africa and pray that we can be a light of the Gospel to our
family and people there.
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| The African Luekens |
For those who wish to pray for us, our prayer
needs are:
~Studying and preparation for Joyce’s
citizenship test which is scheduled for October 6. We are at two weeks and
counting!
~The Lord’s blessing on Joyce as she learns from
a seasoned midwife and prepares to help mothers in S Sudan and East Africa.
~ The time needed to continue working through
our Mentored Sonship Discipleship course, while juggling the daily
activities of a busy family.
~For borders to be open and preparations completed
for a late fall or early winter 2020/21 trip to visit Joyce’s family in South Sudan.
We can’t wait to see all of our dear family there and trusting God will
open the way in His timing.
~ Joyce’s cousin in the refugee camps who has a severe infection
in his leg and has not received proper care from the medical facilities there,
allowing the infection to spread. He has been dealing with this problem for
years and has not received the proper diagnosis and treatment, even from the
largest regional hospital. A very similar situation to what Joyce’s brother
Lodu (AKA “Reggae”) went through. We are praying for healing, but also that God
would speak to his heart and use the physical trials he is going through to draw
him closer to Jesus.
~The Gospel of Jesus Christ to continue to spread
into the hearts of Joyce’s family, her people in South Sudan, and those in the
Refugee camps.
Rubanga Kolu Anyito (God be with you all)!
Jonathan, Joyce, Patience, and Benaiah
Phone #: 774-203-8308
PayPal jonlueken@gmail.com
Mail checks PAYABLE to Jonathan Lueken
PO Box 1611 Stockbridge, MA, 01262
Temporary GoFundMe link for those who don't have Paypal: www.gofundme.com/jonathan-and-joyce-lueken-in-s-sudan
Jonathan and Joyce Lueken
Roger and Pattty Lueken
PO Box 1611, 16 West Stockbridge Rd., Stockbridge, MA, 01262
