Bible Study, Old Friends and Thanksgiving

                                                                                         

The new weekly Bible study with the W-elders, F-abricators and M-echanics grew from 6 to 17 in one week. In addition to seeing men that are hungering and thirsting after righteousness a young man named Nelson made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This venue gives me the opportunity to share God’s love through the gospel of Jesus Christ as well as disciple those that receive Him on a weekly basis.

In addition to sharing God’s plan for salvation each week I have been able to teach these men how to have integrity and how to be loyal to the Lord. Please pray for God’s will to be accomplished in each of these meetings and each of our lives. Today we traveled over 150Km to visit an old friend named Richard Wamacho.

During our survey trip to Kenya in 2006 we met Richard at Lake Turkana running the family fishing business.

He befriended our Son, Vinny, during that trip and has had a special place in our hearts.

Since then he is the only Kenyan we met to make an effort to keep in touch with us through mail. At the close of our first year in country we still had not be able to visit him until today. He invited us to his home in Kitale and to preach at his home church in a village called Namanjalala.

Before we journeyed to the Church from his house he had a surprise waiting for us. Little did we know that his wife had given birth to their fourth child nine days ago and he was waiting on us so I could name his son.

Now Terry and I both have had children named after us but this was new territory for me to name someone else’s son. I was given exactly five minutes to think about it and then ask to give them the name that they have been patiently waiting for. What if they did not like the name? It was a lot of pressure but in the end I played it safe and named the nine day old baby, “Paul”, after the apostle. We had a great day of teaching and preaching at his villlage church and a wonderful afternoon of fellowship with Richard and his family.

With Thanksgiving approaching this week I feel compelled to share a unique perspective of Thanksgiving from a third world country.

Thanksgiving is an American holiday and is not celebrated here in Kenya.
However, this week they will have a week of “harvest prayers” to ask God to bless their next crop. This point brings to mind the many things in America we have to be thankful for. When you sit down with your family or friends around a table full of food, take a moment to remember the people of Kenya. Their diet generally consists of one meal per day substituted with hot tea, bread and or a piece of fruit. That one main meal, usually dinner, consists of a corn meal type product called “ugali” and a collar green vegetable known as “sukuma”. Meat is only partaken of with special guests or special occasions. Keep in mind there is no variety with this staple diet and it is eaten most every day. I am thoroughly convinced that many of the health problems experienced here are from malnutrition and inadequate diet. While the people we are working with are not starving to death from a lack of food they are starving their body from a well balanced diet. Yet they are some of the happiest people you will ever met and able to praise God for every blessing of life. We are blessed to be from the land of plenty and the greatest country on the face of the earth. Thank God we don’t have to eat the same thing every day and that we can pick and choose what we want. Enjoy the blessings of God this week and remember to thank Him for His bountiful provision but most of all thank Him for the sacrifice of His Son.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez

Kenya, East Africa