7.05.2008
Family, fireworks, & fireflies
6.25.2008
Some quick updates
*Salyna's mom has been home from the hospital for a little over a week. She is supposed to be having a second round of radiation treatments soon but we don't know much beyond that.
*"Joe" moved to Oklahoma a couple weeks ago to live in a half way type house that is supposed to be Christian based. He is required to go to meetings and church which we pray will keep him on a sober path where he can deepen his relationship with the Lord. Miles has not talked to him much since he left but the last time he did he sounded good.
Blessings ~Miles & Salyna
6.08.2008
Kennedy five...will be six
Our family will be growing again with the birth of our 4th baby sometime in mid-February. We are overjoyed that the Lord has chosen to bless us with another child. We are really excited - so can you imagine the kid's reactions, considering Davis has been praying for a baby sister for almost a year now!! Sydni's reaction has been our favorite so far. After several minutes of discussing this with the kids (which consisted of us trying to convince them, "yes", after they repeatedly asked "Are you sure?") Sydni said "Are you sure you want to do this again?" All we could do was laugh & say "yes". The family as a whole is of course hoping for a girl, but we will be happy no matter what.
5.29.2008
Salyna's Mother
Our visit with her was challenging in some ways but it was good. The kids were sad to see their "Mimi" not feeling well as I was. I pray the Lord will comfort her and encourage her heart.
~Salyna
5.23.2008
More Misc. stuff...
We also got to attend the annual Wichita Riverfest with lots of food, music, and kid's activities. We really enjoyed this time as a family! Davis enjoyed the Kansas National Guard vehicles.Sydni & Andrew with "The Bubbleman"
Sydni has finished Kindergarten and thinks the summer will last "forever" before she gets to go to 1st grade. This picture is from her field day the last week of school. Davis got to go visit the Kindergarten classrooms and meet the teachers, so he is anticipating summer taking "forever" as well!
Other stuff...
Thank you for continuing to pray for "Joe" and what role Miles is playing in his life. They have become friends and Joe is extremely thirsty for the Truth, seeking out answers, and has quite a few convictions he is working through. It has been amazing to listen to Miles talk about much Joe is grasping and passing on to his roommates. He still struggles as he seeks to live his life in a godly manner. It's very awesome to watch the Lord work through Miles.
Also we got the results of Davis' blood tests for allergies and they all came back negative. He has puzzled the doctors as well as mom and dad. His response was "I knew God would help me with my allergies, I've been praying about it every night!" What a humbling experience for us! It has shown us how much our faith is lacking. Rejoice with us in Davis' faith! So we have stopped his medicine for now to see how he does.
I will now conitue to enjoy the excitement of the springtime weather in Kansas...haha! The western part of the state has had A LOT of tornados the last two days and now those storms are headed our way. What an amazing display of power!
Until next time...Salyna
5.04.2008
Misc. Stuff
*We also got the blood test results for Salyna. The rheumatologist was encouraged that the lupus and inflammation markers are low, which probably has something to do with her feeling pretty good lately. :)
*We've had some confusing information about Davis' allergies. The doctor did the skin testing again for all the environmental allergens and he tested negative for everything when less than a year ago in South Dakota he tested positive for nearly everything they tested him for. So now we are waiting on the results of his blood tests. We pray the Lord will make these things clear for us so we know how to continue treating him. He has been struggling the last couple months with his allergies leading to sickness.
*Andrew had his second experience with a cut on his forehead. This one was worse than last year; bigger, deeper, pretty gross. Instead of stitches they glued the cut shut and then put strips over top of it. It has healed really well but it looked bad for awhile.
*We have been trying to enjoy the Kansas storms. It would be much easier to do if they didn't happen at 2am.
*Today Miles took the Mobile Medical Clinic to Lighthouse Community Church, a World Impact church plant. They are planning on having the clinic begin to come to their church parking lot in June. It was so inspiring to see their church body and several World Impact folks praying together for this ministry. They have such a desire to help the hurting in their community. Here is a picture from this morning.
We hope you are having a wonderful spring and enjoying whatever celebrations may be going on... graduations, weddings, retirements, new babies, or even just the lilacs blooming. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Phil 4:4
4.13.2008
Update
4.09.2008
April 2008 Connection Letter
Please let us know what is going on in your lives and how we can be praying for you!
Below are some pictures of the kids and what they would like to share with you about what has been going on in their lives...enjoy :)
"I like school. My favorite subject at school is PE because we play games. And I also like Music because we sing a lot. I like my teachers too. I make lots of new friends. I like World Impact because that's how we tell people about Jesus more. We've been bringing one of Daddy's new friends to church with us. We went to Nebraska and I got to see my cousin Gatlin. I was really excited because we hadn't seen him since my birthday. At Christmastime we went to California and I had lots of fun with my grandpa at the zoo. My cat is fun to play with." "I like to color and play games. I got a new bike because I learned to ride on two wheels. I am growing up to be Christian and loving and caring about my brother and sister. And learning to do what my mommy tells me to. I am doing good. I love everybody who we are sending this to. "
I have been talking more and more and surprising my mom and dad with what I know. I am constantly on the go. I slow down for nothing...unless I fall. I love going to church and I take my own Bible (little blue New Testament). I also carry in my own bag because I have been learning to use the potty. Most times I am pretty excited about it, but sometimes I just don't want to do it. For some reason this makes Mom and Dad a little annoyed, but I don't see what the big deal is. My favorite hobby is terrorizing Penny (the cat). My first favorite cartoon/movie/book/toy is anything Bob (you know, the tomato from Veggie Tales). My second favorite is Spiderman. I am very consistent or should I say that I like everything to be consistent and I don't like change at all. I try to do anything that my brother and sister do, which is cute sometimes but sometimes it gets me in trouble. I like going to Daddy's office to feed the fish. (as told by Mommy)
4.02.2008
More on "Joe"...
We are just amazed at how God is working in their lives, not to mention our own!
Please continue to pray for them and how the Lord might use Miles in all of this.
3.30.2008
Prayer request
3.27.2008
Prayers
3.23.2008
He Is Risen!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little of what we've been up to...
A couple weeks ago Miles set up the Mobile Medical Clinic for an outreach event that a church was doing. Salyna set up World Impact books and info inside and gave tours as well as helping out with doing blood pressure checks. She was able to give information to an uninsured lady in need of healthcare and we learned that she did get the help she needed. It was a great time of fellowship for the whole family. There were all kinds of activities for the kids.
Mobile set up
Kids tricylce race
This weekend we surprised the kids by meeting in Nebraska with their cousin from Wyoming. They got to spend an evening, late night, and morning playing together. And the adult fellowship wasn't bad either!



2.22.2008
Winter fun...no, cabin fever!
2.14.2008
Love Day
1.31.2008
Snow Day!
1.07.2008
Meet our new family member...


Became a Kennedy on Jan. 6th, 2008
9 months old
6 lbs.
We adopted Penny from the Kansas Humane Society. She is a mix of black and white and torti. Her name was Penny and we've decided to keep it. Try to get a family of 5 to decide on a better name...haha! She is really cute and playful. She is adapting to our home pretty well or as well as can be expected with a 2 yr old running around. Cats are one of the few things that Davis is not allergic to, so we've been hoping to get one ever since we moved. Penny is overwhelming loved by all here!!
1.04.2008
California Vacation
WOW!
What a way to spend Christmas Eve... wasn't it snowing or something in Kansas?



Four Generations


Birch Aquarium at Scripps with Mimi



Monkeying around at the zoo with Grandpa

First time the kids had been to the beach, La Jolla (Andrew slept)

Happy Birthday... 2 and 5... can you believe it?!

Our kids with Elisha and Keira Kontz. (Paul & Sarah's kids)
12.25.2007
What an amazing gift!
What an amazing gift was given to us so many years ago, such a divine gift, humbly wrapped in swaddling clothes in a lowly manger. Blessed be HIS name!
12.17.2007
Christmas came early...


12.12.2007
All is well.
All of the ice on the trees really is pretty!
12.10.2007
Winter?
And we were worried about tornados?! Someone forgot to tell us about the ice or maybe we just forgot?! I have to say that it is strange do have a downpour of rain when it's only 31 degrees!
We pray that this storm makes it's way through without inconveniencing our lives too bad and that Salyna's dad & stepmom will still make it down later this week. Then...maybe winter will be over by the end of next week when we get ready to head out ourselves....HA!
12.06.2007
House

11.19.2007
Thank You Lord!
This Thanksgiving we have so many things to be thankful for. We thank our friends who support us and bear our burdens with us. We thank our family for staying in touch across so many miles. We thank those of you who have faithfully supported us, no matter what! Of course, none of those people or things mentioned would be possible without a loving God who cares for us. We give thanks to our Lord and Savior. If we could have chosen anywhere to spend this holiday it would have been a tough choice to make, so we are also thankful we were able just to be home with our own little family, eating turkey and sweet potatoes and watching a little football.
10.23.2007
Connection Letter copy
“Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
‘Let God be magnified!’”
We have been in Wichita, Kansas for over a month already! We can hardly believe it. We are really enjoying this part of the country, and “no” we haven’t seen any tornados. There is a lot to do here with parks, museums, farmers markets, biking trails, and rivers. We haven’t done a whole lot yet, but we are looking forward to the time we will spend here, however long the Lord allows. We apologize for taking so long in getting an update letter out. We wanted to have some things to update on.
Family Happenings
Davis started Kindergarten (with some modifications). Sydni started 1st grade. Andrew stopped taking morning naps. Miles is working like crazy. Salyna’s hair is falling out. Not really! Everyone is doing very well. Homeschooling has been an adjustment to our family life, but a decision that we feel good about. We plan on taking it year by year, child by child. Sydni had exciting news with the loss of her first tooth. Davis is still struggling with his allergies. Salyna is getting used to living with stairs, but overall is still doing well. Can you believe the boys will be 2 and 5 years old in December?
We moved into our new place on Oct. 19th, a four bedroom/two bathroom town home. We live just short of a mile from World Impact. It is a lower income neighborhood with a large number of people in a small area. Opportunities to be a shining light abound here. It has been amazing to be working for the Lord and wholly giving our lives for Him. We are blessed with many loving people from WI. We are blessed to have brothers and sisters in Christ that share our burdens. We can always get mail at the World Impact address but if you prefer, our new home address is: 1206 N. Williamsburg St., Wichita, KS 67208. We still have the same cell phone numbers.
In the midst of moving, working, and schooling we have made some time to spend getting familiar with the city. With a population of about 350,000 it is a nice size for us, somewhere in between the chaos of southern California and the remoteness of South Dakota. We have found several nice parks, walked along the river, and even found our way out of a corn maze. The kids are adjusting and seem to really like it here. They have been attending AWANA at a church that we are considering making our home church.
More Than A Job
We only imagined how awesome it would be to have a job that required you to help hurting people and also be able to share not only the love of Jesus, but the gospel. We could only imagine what our minds could think up and we didn’t even come close. Miles recently wrote to some friends, “I thought I would be unprepared for ministry. I found out that I am not the concern and am reminded that the Holy Spirit is in control. The spiritual warfare is real and in your face. Satan is truly stripping the hope from people who have little to start with. I thought I would be fearful of the crime, but I am only more aware of the need of the oppressed. I can’t say that I drive the clinic into nice beautiful neighborhoods. In reality, I go where there are bars on windows and for good reason.”
The World Impact ministries reach way beyond the medical clinic, and they ARE reaching the poor and the oppressed. People, and in a lot of cases, families are being led to Christ. Families are being healed. The Bible is being taught to those who cannot attend formal institutions. Churches and Bible Clubs are being started right in their own neighborhoods.
PASSION-Something we can only describe in human terms because of the passion we have previously felt about something. Falling in love, a newborn baby, starting a new ministry, traveling to a foreign land and witnessing their way of life-then wanting to bring them hope, the good news of everlasting life. While several of our friends have passion for the unchurched people in another country. We have that same passion for the unchurched in the cities of our own country. May we all do this work, for His glory, not our own.
Praises & Prayers
* We had a safe trip! We are healthy! The Lord is graciously leading us!
° Please pray for safety and wisdom for Miles.
° Please pray for Salyna’s health to remain good and patience with school.
° Please pray for the people we minister to, that they would see Jesus’ love in us.
3701 E. 13th. St. N, Wichita,KS, 67208 · Miles 605-890-9646 · Salyna 605-890-9489
















