Back to the Desert #3....Hurting Home...Revival

Before I enter my journal comments I ask you to pray for the family of my Aunt Liz Fernandez who went home to be with the Lord this week. We thank our Lord and Savior she was saved over the last couple of years and was very special to Terry and I. One of the hardest thing about being a foreign missionary is there are times when you cannot be with the ones you love to laugh, to cry and to mourn with.

We left Eldoret at 5am on Tuesday morning for the long hard journey to Turkana. We were making excellent time until we were around 80KM (48 mi.) from Lodwar when I noticed the battery light came on and the engine starting to get hot. When I pulled over and I found that we had broke the fan belt and the radiator was leaking. So as any good boy scout would do, I had prepared for such a time as this. Within 15 minutes I had the new belt on and a can of stop leak in the radiator. After driving about 20 Kms(12 mi.) we saw a young white man and girl with two Kenyans broke down in the middle of nowhere. So being good Samaritans we stopped to help them fix a broken tie rod with some spare rods I carried. They were tourists from New York and Switzerland. While our journey was not without incident we arrived safely in Lodwar only one hour behind schedule. We spent the next 2 days putting up 400 ft of fence and preparing the house for our household goods. The house has never had electricity so you can imagine how happy we were when our neighbor, who is from the Netherlands and goes by the name of Mama Mzungu, had her guards run electricity to the house for us. We have been praying about the electricity situation since we came into country and rented the house knowing God was going to provide somehow. So needless to say, we have gone from the 18th century to the 21st century in one day and a prayer.
Yesterday we attended an evangelism/revival campaign in a fishing village called Kalakol on Lake Turkana. There were five Pastors from Bro. Eddies work here present with their Church members to support the efforts and a total of 14 who went out on Saturday’s evangelism.
Now keep in mind that this is a rough fishing village made up of many different tribes and backgrounds who have come to the Lake Turkana to make a living. It reminds Terry and me of our bus ministry days of working the fishing camps in Hernando and Floral City only these are Kenyans.
But fishermen make great disciples eventually.
My first visit was one that was a divine appointment from the Lord as it was a walled compound 200yds from the Church. As we entered the compound there was 3 men, 2 women and 8 children sitting under a small shade tree. After introductions the man (Peter Juma Ekot) immediately started pouring his heart out to us about how his family: (2) wives and children were having a terrible time with life because of all the strife, fighting and conflict that has consumed his family. He said that things were so bad that he had travel 100kms the day before to have a friend pray for him and his family. This is how God works! Here we are the next day visiting his home trying to be a blessing to him. After 30 minutes of listening and talking with Peter it was revealed that he was a saved man who was backslidden and living with two lost wives. He described the younger of his two wives as a devil and I am not exaggerating when I say she looked like a wild-eyed wild woman. That is surely formula for conflict and strife. He said for years he has wanted to go the Church where he could see God’ s people assemble and could hear the singing but he felt something had blocked him from going. He was ashamed to say he had not been in Church in years. So I spent the next 30 minutes teaching them on having a Christ centered home using the top from a opened can I found laying on the ground to illustrate how Jesus should be the center of the home and how everything should revolve around him.
Matt. 6:33. After sharing the plan of salvation Pastor Steven lead both of Peters wives to the Lord.
I taught them for another 30 minutes on baptism, Christian growth and the Christian home.
Peter was so happy that before we left he nailed that top from the can I used to illustrate a Christ Centered home to his door to remind his family that they are now a Christian Home.
I will send the picture next week as I did not bring the cable to the camera to download it.
It is priceless.
The only way this could be any better was to see that family come to Church this morning and that is exactly what happened. Now I was not exaggerating about his younger wife looking like a wild woman but today in Church she was truly a woman that looked like she had been set free and at great peace.
I know they will have many trials ahead of them but I also know that if they will keep Christ in the center of that home they can have peace.
Many of our other visits were not an easy but as important.
We met with a tough crowd of market women under a small shade tree and shared the love of God with them as they scoffed and were disrespectful. But as with other visits we have made, many of those same ones who mock Jesus and laugh at Christians may be the same ones running to be saved at a later time.
So in the end we were planting and watering. Over all there were 14 professions of faith and 4 were baptized today at the Lake. When we get back to Eldoret I will send pics from this week’s activities.
We will be finishing house repairs this week, moving our household goods and returning to Eldoret next week for our last month of language school.
We praise are praising the Lord for His continued blessings and we thank you for keeping us before His throne in prayer.
Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya, East Africa