Namarambi Evangelism, Funeral & Sunday Services

This past week the Lord gave us great week of school and evangelism here in El Doret. Terry has been praying for and mentoring a young housekeeper, Sarah, here that works for Noah Ngeny, the Olympic Gold medalist who lives next door to us and who is our landlord. They have been doing a Bible study together and after sharing the gospel with her Terry gave Sarah her a Bible and a gospel tract to read and to study. Sarah said after much reading and studying she prayed alone in her room to receive Christ.

Recently I had a problem with the tailgate on the “Green Camel” as it had sharp metal that had become fatigued and was protruding in areas.
I was worried as much we carry so many people in the back that someone was going to cut themselves while getting in. So I took the truck to a fabricator to buy a piece of aluminum diamond plate to cover it. Like many things here in Kenya it was not available so I had to settle for a piece of diamond plate steel. The fabricator talked me into letting him cover the inside of the tailgate which was my first mistake. What started as something simple that I should have done turned out to be a 4 hour job of rebuilding the entire tailgate. It was so painful for me to sit and watch because if I had my welder and grinder I could have done the job (better) in about an hour. I say that to say this: That while I was waiting a young man named Kennedy took a break from fabricating and struck up a conversation about why I was in Kenya. It opened the door for me to talk to him about his salvation for he was not saved.

The conversation was cut short by his boss and upon leaving I gave him a Bible and a gospel tract. He called me this week and said that he had read all four gospels as well as the tract and like Sarah he knelt down in his room and ask Jesus to save him. What an awesome testimony to the grace of God. People read the Word, the Holy Spirit Convicts them and they pray without anyone else leading them. That is exciting and we praise God!
Evangelistic Team

Every weekend that we do evangelism and visit the Churches in Western Kenya we know it is going to be long and labor intensive for several reasons.
#1 there is the journey itself which often starts at 6:30 am and ranges from one and half hours to two hours of travel time through great elevation changes on roads that absolutely batter the vehicle and occupants.
#2. When we do evangelism we do not set up a loud speaker in the middle of town and ask for show of hands of those that got saved but rather we prefer to go house to house and person to person so we can effectively communicate the Love of Christ through the gospel.
#3. On both Saturday and Sunday’s we generally don’t return home until 6pm-7pm, after work and fellowship and it is easy to put in two twelve hour days of ministry.
So this weekend when I was asked to preach a funeral on Saturday as well as our regular scheduled evangelism, teaching and preaching I knew it was going to be an exceptionally long weekend. While this weekend was very busy it was truly blessed by the Lord. God gave us traveling grace both days and not the first problem with the truck. On Saturday’s evangelism we had a total of 18 people that went out into the village countryside to share God’s love and there were seven professions of faith. During my Morning Prayer time the Lord reminded me that we will encounter many people that are hurting with broken hearts. I shared that thought with the visitation team and for sure it was a sobering reminder of the need for God’s people to have a genuine Godly love for others. My first visit was at the house of young Christian couple that was having marital problems and was on the verge of divorce. Over the years I have seen God intervene in the marriage of His people to bring repentance, restoration and reconciliation. We have a great God who gives hope to those that are in the middle of what looks like a hopeless situation. After counseling and prayer I feel in my heart that God did something in that marriage. The husband (Ben) who admitted to being backslidden followed us the rest of the day from house to house and said that God had truly blessed him. Terry and her team met more orphan kids from Mt. Elgon who lost both parents in the clashes and a Momma who lost her baby in a fire when she went down to the river to get some water. You see while primary purpose in evangelism is to fulfill the great commission and to see people receive Christ as personal Savior we also go to remind people that God loves, cares and comforts. What an incredible opportunity and responsibility: to share the Love of Christ with others. After visitation we hustled to the funeral of a man named Timothy Matefwe. I had no idea who he was until his nephew told me I had met him the road after a church service in Ndivisi. He died of a heart attack last week while walking in town. It was no mistake that I was able to meet him before he died because when I asked him if he was born again he gave me a great testimony of salvation and told me that he love Americans because he had trained with the American military and felt a great appreciation for our country as they were good to him in his words. Little did I know I would be preaching his funeral within 30 days of that meeting. Our trip would proved to be interesting as it had rained several inches and when traveling off road onto trails and paths we went through extremely muddy terrain. I have to admit that there was a time in my life where I spent good money to go mud boggin in a 4X4 while living in Florida but this time I had 15 people crammed into the Landcruiser and we were behind schedule for the funeral. So after 30 minutes of slipping, sliding and mudslinging we rolled into the site of the funeral covered with mud and to a crowd of several hundred people waiting. I thank God for the divine appointment on the trail that day when I met Timothy as God gave me great peace while I preached about remembering a man that Loved God, His Family and Americans. The gospel was preached to the crowd of over 300 through 1 Cor. 15, John 14 and 1Thess. 4. I have no idea how many were saved but God has given me peace about not knowing because it is His work to bring salvation to the soul and one day we may meet people in heaven that were at that funeral and received Christ by faith.

The burial was somewhat different as the entire crowd gathered around the graveside with the Pastors and myself in front. There was singing, then they placed a white net grave cloth over the coffin and prayed as each family member came by and placed a scoop of dirt onto the coffin. As the songs were sang and the soil was dropped onto the coffin in my mind I placed myself in that grave. My only thought and prayer was: God when my life’s journey here on earth is finished may I have given you my all, my best for your honor and glory. For I know in whom I believe and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.

After the grave was filled carefully and methodically there was more prayers and singing. Then there was something I have never experienced, a funeral march around the grave three times.

I did not know what to think but as I marched I did recall the time of victory in the Old Testament when Joshua lead the children of Israel to march around Jericho seven times and God gave them a miraculous one sided victory over the enemy. The family was so grateful for a good service to honor Timothy and to have God’s Word proclaimed to their neighbors, friends and family.

Sunday we attended the Ndivisi Landmark Baptist Church. Before the service we stopped at the house of a lady named Mary who is Terry’s translator and has been with her through all the evangelistic campaigns of Ndivisi, Namarambi, Mawe Tatu and Mt. Elgon. She leaves her husband and five children to do evangelism almost every Saturday. Her house was pitiful as it was leaning to one side and had a tarp for the roof but she dearly loves the Lord. Her husband (Simeon) is lost and had never been in church before. After tea, bread, boiled eggs Simeon followed us to church. Mary was so happy to have her husband come to church with her for the first time. I taught on “Knowing the will of God” and preached on “Making a difference”. It was one of the simplest messages I have ever preached but the Lord moved in the hearts of the people and we all ended up on our knees including Simeon. I heard Pastor Peter leading him in a prayer of Salvation. What a blessing for Mary who has been praying for him for many years. For all that was accomplished this weekend in service to our Lord and Savior our heart’s desire is that people would know Jesus above all things and that His name is exalted above all others. Thanks for taking this weekly journey with us. We hope that somehow the Lord will use it in your life to strengthen your faith in Almighty God.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya, East Africa

Wittness Dolls & New Bike

While we are continuing our daily language schooling we took a much needed break from preaching, teaching and evangelism this weekend. After three hard weeks of school and ministry including a trip to Turkana we rested and attended a Bible Baptist Church here in Eldoret for Sunday services. However on Friday we took a brief trip back to western to enjoy giving some gifts to needy people. The first gift we delivered was a new bike to Pastor Peter who is traveling weekly around six hours one way to Mt. Elgon to conduct a Bible study on Tuesday and Wednesday with new believers and those waiting for the new Church plant. He has had to borrow a bike to make this weekly trip.
We explained to him it is no different from God ‘ s people in the USA who have given towards the purchase of our Land cruiser so it may be used to spread the gospel.

He has never owned a new bike in his life and he could not thank us enough. I reminded him that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord and for us $60.00 was a small investment to make in His ministry with a huge return.

Afterward we visited a small orphanage and handed out “witness dolls” to the children. These were dolls that were hand made by the Mommas of Scrub Creek Baptist Church in Cross City, Florida. They were shipped on our container to Turkana and we finally had the opportunity to bring some back to Eldoret to distribute here in western. The orphan kids have never had a doll before so they were exceedingly happy to have something that was theirs to keep. Every doll has a witness bracelet which is used like the wordless book to share the gospel.

We explained that the dolls were made and given by Momma’s in the USA because they love them and the Lord. It was a priceless opportunity to see the joy on the faces of the little ones who have lost their parents at an early age and also to be reminded of God’s giving people who care about others that are less fortunate and located thousands of miles from Cross City, Florida.

Baby Grace gets first doll....

Thank you, Pastor Archie Knowles and your precious caring, loving and giving ladies. This Saturday we will be traveling back to western to start a new evangelistic campaign in a village named Namarambi. I have also been asked to preach a funeral for a man that was recently saved. We appreciate your prayerful support.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya, East Africa

Mt. Elgon, In The Shadow of the Almighty

Evangelistic Team at Mt. Elgon...Refugee Tents in Back

After a short break from language school to visit Turkana we returned back to the Western providence to start a new evangelism campaign at Mt. Elgon and help encourage a new Church plant at a village called Namarambi. Before I get into the details of the evangelism efforts on Saturday I feel the need to give some you insight into the history of Mt. Elgon so you can better understand how the Lord is moving there and so you can better understand the range of emotions we went through before, during and after our visit. In brief, Mt. Elgon has a horrifying past over the last two years with some of the worst tribal clashes that have taken place in Kenya. There were over 600 killed there as well as many other atrocities that I don’t want to mention. These clashes occurred at the same time as the post-election violence here in Kenya but were not a direct result of the election. It was a time of opportunity for two clans within the Mosai tribe to fight for land. To make the matter worse a corrupt Army Colonel was sent in with a battalion of men to stop the fighting and ended up committing as bad or worse atrocities than the clans themselves. In addition the clans and the Army was a gang from bordering Uganda that came across to take advantage of the weakened tribe. There were four principle groups involved in some of the bloodiest and ruthless fighting that took place over the last two years. With that as the backdrop and news of a Canadian missionary couple being beaten and left for dead as well as a Belgium lady shot and killed there last year I had serious concerns. However much pray and after Pastor Peter Wanyonyi visited the Chiefs and District Commissioners we were given assurance that it was safe to return again with an evangelism team. So this is the bloody history of Mt. Elgon. You also need to understand that yesterday’s evangelism efforts was God’s answer to a young man’s prayer from over five years ago. God gave Pastor Peter Wanyonyi a burden for Mt. Elgon over five years ago at a Pastors conference. He has been praying during that time that God would allow him to reach the Mosai tribe there and to plant a church. Little did he know all that would take place before God would answer that prayer. So with that as the backdrop Terry and I left El Doret at 6:30 am on Saturday to travel to Western.
We meet Pastor Peter and seven others from various areas to start our journey to Mt. Elgon. The Lord gave us traveling grace to Mt. Elgon and we started to climb the Mountain. Now keep in mind we are a group of 10 piled into the green camel (Landcruiser). The road up the Mountain was at least 33 degrees and maybe more in certain places. Mt. Elgon at its peak is around 13,000 ft. The dirt road/path without any guardrails closely resembled a trail with rocks and what we call Georgia clay. It was for sure a 4x4 low range climb that took around 45 minutes to make. When we arrived at the top Pastor Peter tells me that we were only about the 3rd vehicle that he has ever seen make it that high. He said most never make it up the mountain, I am thinking to myself and we did it with 10 people on board? So just getting up the Mountain was a major accomplishment and getting down would be just as interesting. As we made it to the top we arrived at an area that could only be described as a refugee camp with an Army garrison located at the top of the mountain to separate the clans. The typical Kenyan housing of mud with thatch or tins roofs were very limited and the predominant housing was tents given by the Red Cross. Many people are scared to rebuild their homes until they feel it is safe again. You see the first thing that the rival clan did was burn the houses down, then they burned the storehouse and then proceeded to kill the men. After they killed the men, the Army arrived and did more of the same and actually hauled off all the sheet metal to be sold. We found many homes with widows and many women in the field working without a husband.

We divided up into five visitation teams and we started out into the village that is a farming community on the side of the mountain. Terry went with her translator Mary and I went with Pastor Peter. As we shared the love of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ I was constantly reminded of Psalm 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. We met people that lost loved ones who were put to death in unspeakable ways, people that were in need of a touch from God. People living in land that needed healing. We met men who were struggling with life, hope and love. We met mommas that were still traumatized by the past. The message of the gospel is what is needed in the life’s of the lost not only to give them eternal life but to give them hope and a reason to live. We assured them that God had not forgotten them and Jesus is also the source of comfort and strength. There is a place in the shadow of the Almighty that we can dwell knowing the fullness of God here on earth. It is in that place that we encouraged those affected by the recent violence to dwell and know that He is God and that He never leaves nor forsakes us. He loves us with an everlasting love and His grace is sufficient for us no matter what life brings our way. Not only did we see 27 professions of faith on Saturday but we also had a chance to minster to many hurting people. We lead entire families to Christ, many taking a break from weeding in rows of corn, digging up potatoes and picking green beans. The word of God was planted, watered and for some God gave the increase. We were also able to give medical aid to several very sick babies. The day with filled with sadness from the losses and joy from the additions to the kingdom of God but in the end we believe the name of Jesus was exalted and God was glorified. The people were definitely ready and in need of the Love of God.

Please continue to pray for Mt. Elgon as we will return again next weekend to continue the evangelism. On Sunday we visited a small group of believers that meet in a home in a village called Namarambi. We had a great time of worshiping and preaching with these folks.

We have organized an evangelism campaign there as well in three weeks. As we close our weekend our hearts are full of joy and our cups runneth over from the grace God gives us to be privileged enough to do His work. Nothing is more humbling than to be used by God almighty.
Terry with children of Mt. Elgon

Thank you for your prayers and allowing us to be a part of your life.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya, East Africa.