Church Birthing & Evangelism

On Saturday we continued our evangelism efforts in Mawe Tatu (3) Stones.

Terry and I reached Pastor Shadrach’s shamba (Farm) early Saturday morning from Eldoret. The Lord gave us a safe safari and for that we thank Him. The roads are so bad in Kenya that every time you travel you must pray for safety and then you thank God when you arrive. We had a total of 3 men and 4 women present for evangelism. After Chai and Makate, (Tea & bread) we headed out. As we were leaving to make our visits a neighbor named John showed up out of curiosity. He then proceeded to follow the ladies from house to house. During the course of the morning he heard the gospel taught many times and came under conviction that he had never trusted Christ. Since he was with the ladies, Terry had the presence of heart to ask him if he needed to receive Jesus. While he was following them out of simple curiosity, God knew his heart and birthed him into the family of God.

Just a reminder, we never know who the Lord has brought into our path to receive Christ and we never know who is listening or watching. If we simply share the love of God and His Word many will believe. We have experienced this many times in the hospital, a nursing home, out on the street or in the desert. After a wonderful day of sharing the gospel, praying for the sick and inviting people to the new Church plant at Pastor Shadrach’s house we left with our cups overflowing. There were a total of 10 professions of faith in Christ and the new Church is growing each week with many of the new converts attending as well as the visitors that were invited. We take so much for granted sometimes. During the week Terry and I bought small New Testament Bibles for the evangelism team. We also bought the Pastors new Bibles that had zipper covers on them as well as gospel tracts. When we gave them to the team you would have thought we gave them a million dollars. They were so happy to have the Word of God. Many do not have Bibles at all and if they do they are falling apart, missing pages and torn. It is a reminder of how blessed we are in America where most have multiple Bibles that are often not even used. Terry and I have purposed in our hearts that at the very least we as missionaries will do our best to keep people supplied with the Word of God.

On Sunday we attended the Ndivisi Landmark Baptist Church again with Pastor Peter. It was an awesome day with the Church completely filled.

I preached on the Power of the Cross and Terry taught the Ladies after the service. The Mommas here are so hungry for teaching. I thank the Lord he has given me a wife that has a heart for the people, particularly the Mommas and the Children. At the conclusion of the service the Pastor had a special offering for his vision of a Bible institute at his Church. The nearest Bible Institute is 100Km (60 mi.)away and is at its capacity. The offering time lasted almost an hour with singing and praising while the basket was passed a dozen times.

The most touching part came at the end when a young man brought forth a live chicken and three avocado’s. More money was given towards those items than the rest of the day. A humbling experience to say the least. There was also Pastors or members from 9 other local Churches who brought offerings to help with the building. Over 10,000 ksh was given toward the Bible Institute which is around $120.00 and is about 10% of what is needed. They praised the Lord for what was given. Terry and I are praying about how much we give towards this work. After a long day of visiting homes, going to Church, preaching and teaching we drove back to Eldoret. As I walked in the door last night I got a kick out of how dirty you get here in Kenya. We were literally covered with dirt from head to toe. In the USA we are so clean and sterile but here you come home looking like you have been digging a ditch all day. If you ever come to visit make sure you bring Church clothes you do not mind getting dirt on. LOL.

God Bless You All,

Chuck & Terry Fernandez

Prayer for...Mawia Tatu...3 Stones

Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you for partnering with us, however, we need your support through prayers as well. I ask you to pray today for a town called Mawia Tatu (Three Stones) here in Kenya that has a population of 7000 and does
not have a single Church. Tomorrow Terry and I will travel 100 km(60 mi.) with one of the Pastors in our Associated work to do evangelism there.
This Pastor Peter drives his bike from his village 4 hours to this town to share the gospel. He is burdened for the people and ask for our help to go soul winning. The effectual fervent prayer is what we need to see sinners converted from condemnation to everlasting life.
Please pray the Spirit of God will move in the hearts of those that we share the Gospel with tomorrow and that many will trust Christ as personal Lord and Savior.
Thank u for including us in your prayers.

Will update u on our efforts next week.

God Speed,

Bro. Chuck & Sis Terry Fernandez
Missionaries 2 Kenya

Eldoret Guest house Rental & Events

Our first week of language training went far better than Terry and I had anticipated. Our Mwalimu (teacher) Wycliffe not only made learning Swahili fun but he has a program that is well organized and proven.

This week we learned how to greet, introduce ourselves, order food (essential), count and the days of the week. Pretty impressive start for Grandparents. Yesterday we had the opportunity to eat lunch with 10 area Pastors within our associated work and had a chance to practice what we learned. They were impressed for only one week of lessons. Or maybe they were just being kind. Lol. At the end of our luncheon I received an invitation from the hosting Pastor to teach and preach tomorrow at Mwembwe Baptist Church. Another Pastor invited us to do evangelism with him next Saturday in a town of 7,000 called Mawai Tatu (3 Stones) . This Pastor has been riding his bike 4 hours to bring the gospel to this town that does not have a single Church. It looks like we will get to be involved in a Church plant in this town while we are in language school. Please pray for us as we share the gospel with Pastor Peter next Saturday. The town is about 100km(60 mi.) from Eldoret where we are living.

Update on our Landlord- This week we meet the man who owns the house that we live in. Remember it is a guest house next to his personal 15 bedroom house.

Landlords 15 room House

You might call it a Nanny’s quarters but it is perfect for Terry and I because it is located 100 yards from the Indiana University House where we are going to school. He is a Kenyan national that works in Nairobi and is an engineer in the Kenyan Army.

While that is interesting enough we learned Noah Ngeny is the 2000 Olympic Games Gold Medal winner in Sydney, Australia in the 1500 m. He is also the current world record holder for the 1000m when he broke Sebastian Coes 18 year old record in Rieti, Italy. His time of 2:11.96 standss as a world record with no other runner coming within 2 seconds of that time since. He also holds two junior world records as well...

Noah Ngeny is a national hero as well as a celebrity and we live at his house.

Never in a thousand years could I have planned anything this cool. Noah is a very humble man. He and his family have made us feel very welcome and they are glad we are their tenants, please pray for this family as we want to be a blessing to them.

Look him up on the Internet.

Terry made Popsicle for landlords 3 daughters....

Thanks for taking time to read our journal.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez

Sandstorm....

Mac Med Event

Dear Family & Friends,

Below is our latest journal entry & pics from our mission work over the last several weeks. We are now settled in a city called Eldoret to start our language studies. Our Internet and phone service has vastly improved being in a more populated area. We can send and receive text messages now. Our phone # is 011-254-736509043. Feel free to call or text, we miss u all much and we are adjusting well. Terry continues to battle food poisoning so please continue to pray for her.

God Bless U all.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez

We have been without Internet and phone service for the last week and a half but now we are back online. We have spent the last several weeks in Lodwar, Turkana. During that time we have had the privilege of preaching at the villages churches as well as meeting local chiefs and officials in advance of the Mac Med team that was scheduled to arrive on the 22nd. All of the chiefs that we meet with were very thankful that the doctors were coming from America and pledged their full cooperation so that their people could get the help they need. During the week before the arrival of the Mac Med team we also had personal items to take care of like insurance on the truck. The nearest insurance agency was 8 hrs from Lodwar. We located an Insurance agent that caught a bus and traveled the 8 hrs from a town called Kitali. He wrote our policy and delivered the insurance certificate for 500ksh or $8.00 US. Not only did we need to get insurance but we also needed to find an extra spare for the truck because one spare in a desert filled with thorns is not wise. After visiting the local fundi (Mechanic) we found an extra tire and rim. It is not like the US where there is a junkyard on every corner. It is a good thing we found a second spare because we had 4 flats and a broken hub in the first two days of the medical campaign. The team of translators would joke saying our camel has weak feet. Every day we would travel out of the bush and take flat tires to have them repaired. At one point I was complaining to myself ( and maybe the Lord) about the amount of tire changing, when the Holy Spirit reminded me that there was a time in my life when I use to change tires 4 times on one night of stock car racing. The Lord sure knows how to keep things in perspective. The days moved fast and furious with the arrival of the doctors from the USA. They were well trained, equipped and prepared to put on the five days of mobile medical clinics. Our first task was to transport the volunteer translators to the villages. Including Terry and I, we transported as many as 12 people starting at 6 am in the morning in the “green camel” as they called our Land Cruiser. These people were essential for the doctors to communicate with the patients. Each of these men and women gave up a week of their to time to help others and serve the Lord. Wonderful bright people many of which could speak three languages. The medical team was well organized and hit the ground running. They set up a registration, a triage, nurses stations, doctors stations, eye care and a pharmacy every day. The average was near 300 patients every day. This was all done in a make shift hospital (usually in a church). The weather was in the 120’s everyday and some days the sand was blowing so hard that we were all covered with dust. They did a wonderful job of keeping the people moving. They treated everything from TB, malaria, intestinal problems, worms, skin diseases and even had chiropractor adjusting backs, neck, etc.. It was an impressive week of God’s love in action. For me the three most memorable patients was a man who was pulled and pushed in a worn out wheelbarrow because he could not walk. Now I have never seen leprosy but there was a boy who walked many miles by himself to see the doctors from a serious infection that could have passed for leprosy. He was so pitiful. In addition to these were the babies that were dying and the doctors could do nothing but pray over. Please continue to pray for all those that were treated and those that made professions of faith. Thank you for taking time to read our journal.

Looking & Longing 4 Jesus,

Chuck & Terry

Starting Language School

Hope things are going well on the home front. I have attached the latest pics for you to share our work last month with the church. We have relocated for the 3rd time to Eldoret this week. The 450km (270 mi.)trip down country took us 10 hrs fully loaded with household stuff from Turkana.

The roads are so bad that it is like a boxing match for 10hrs.

We made it safely and only need minor repairs to the master cylinder and an oil gauge.

Next week we start our language studies at IU with Wycliffe our teacher.
We will be in class 5 days per week. Tell everyone we are adjusting well but exhausted after Mac Med and another move.
I will send pics of the guest house we have rented here and the house we will be living in Lodwar after our school.
Thanks for all you do for us.
May God continue to bless your ministry.

Chuck & Terry

In Eldoret

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for taking time to read our latest news. Terry and I are adjusting well to life on the field. We have relocated from Lodwar, Turkana down country to Eldoret to start our language studies. We will be in class 5 days per week starting next week. I will send more pics of our latest work. God Bless.

Chuck & Terry