December 29, 2010 Home for the Holidays

It has been a long journey but we are back in Florida for the holidays.  It is always fun to be met at the airport by our children and grandchildren. We are blessed. Thank you for all your prayers as we narrowly escaped London's snow. As always God is good to us and we were one of the few flights that made it in and out before the snow came again. 

Have A Blessed New Year,

Chuck & Terry Fernandez

Currently In Florida on Furlough

2010 Year End Review

As 2010 comes to an end we are able to look back and see what God has done in our lives as well as in the lives of others. Our hearts desire is to see people come to know Christ as Lord and Savior by the way of salvation. Through numerous evangelistic campaigns and many outreach efforts we have seen over five hundred people make professions of faith in Christ during 2010. This has been accomplished through the power of God one person at a time and house to house. While we praise God for these new converts we also praise him that most of these precious souls are connected with one of the five Churches we have planted while in country. There is not enough room in this report to share with you the testimonies of those newly saved but we have seen hundreds of transformed lives that are now disciples of the Lord Jesus. Numbers are somewhat impersonal but this number represents people that we know, people that we love and people that we are continuing to teach the Word of God.
These are people Terry and I have personally witnessed to and have names like: Ben, Mganda, Rafael, Ouma and Teresa. To God be the glory, great things he hath done!
With new churches planted we prefer our national Pastors to baptize their new converts, however, from time to time they do ask me to baptize which I am honored to do. While there were hundreds baptized through the local churches I personally baptized one hundred and five. We praise God that these new converts have followed the Lord in scriptural baptism as they start their new walk with the Lord Jesus.
Matt. 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”.

We have organized two new testament churches on Mt. Elgon this year with new converts that have coveted together to keep the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ. One is located on top of the mountain and one is located at the base. It has been exciting to see these New Testament churches follow the pattern established in the book of Acts as they come to life with people that we have led to Christ and have a desire to follow Jesus.

1. They gladly received the word,

2. They were baptized,

3. They continued in the apostles doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread & prayers.

These two new mission points which are located in North Pokot at a village called Chepsabei and Lake Victoria at a village called Wichlum, are some of the most exciting new works we started in 2010. After multiple evangelism campaigns into these villages there are now large groups of believers that are meeting on a weekly basis to study the word of God. We are in the process of teaching and training leaders to continue the growth of these new believers.

2010 brought us into the building phase as we have built two permanent sanctuaries with a third currently under construction. In addition to preaching the gospel and discipling new converts, we have provided humanitarian aid to the people of Kenya in various forms. While this is an area that we do not report a lot on, it is an area of ministry that we feel is very necessary. The type of aid we rendered in 2010 included: clothing, pillow case dresses, reading glasses, safety glasses, food, water and witness dolls for children. Medical aide includes: treatment for malaria, skin diseases, broken bones and burns. Throughout Jesus ministry he would look on the multitudes with compassion and would often met their physical needs as well as their spiritual needs. Thank you to all who have partnered with us during 2010 in prayer and finances to preach the good news in Kenya. Through your faithful support we have also distributed hundreds of hardback & solar powered audio Bibles.

Final Approach....December 2010

This week we traveled to Turkana to drop off the Land Rover for a group to use during our absence and then flew back to Eldoret to finalize our departure.   This was our first trip back to Turkana  since that door was closed last year.   We thank God he has called us to Mt. Elgon and the Kerio Valley to work as we have not missed the 8 hour drive. 

We spent the night with my hunting buddy Chad Harris and his family and then caught a 45 minute flight back down country.           Chad, Kera and The Harris Family

Two more flights and we will be reunited with our children and grandchildren.   We can’t wait!  We also had the opportunity to visit Pastor Shadrach and his wife Mama Mary who just delivered their new baby boy, named Carlos. 

Terry and I now have 7 baby Teresa’s and 7 Baby Carlos’s scattered throughout Western Kenya and Mt. Elgon.   This is a great honor that we are truly humbled by.  
                             Terry & Baby Carlos

Please keep us in your prayers as we still have a bus ride to Nairobi and two more flights to get us home before Christmas.  

May God Keep You and Bless You,

Chuck & Terry Fernandez

Kenya

Phil. 4:13

The Close of a Season & A Man Without a Country

As this season of ministry concludes we are saying goodbye in preparation for furlough.   This week we visited our last two mission points which happened to be our newest works.   We had a great day of teaching and fellowship in the Kerio Valley with the new believers at Chepsabei. 

I finally remembered to mark Chepsabei on my GPS for future reference, the coordinates are  N01’30.623’-E034’59.110. These wonderful people continue to grow in their new walk with the Lord and they have such a hunger for God’s Word that they are willing to sit for hours in the 100 degree heat and listen intently to the teachings.    To facilitate the growing numbers we took time to construct some benches for the people to use during the services while Terry gave out water, oranges and mango’s. 

 Being a semi-arid region they are unable to grow fruits or vegetables and they have to walk over four kilometers to the nearest river for water.  

 God is truly moving and blessing the work at Chepsabei as not only are we seeing many new converts but God is also raising the future leaders to sustain this work for many years to come. 

                           Children of Chepsabei

For example: we are finding men who have a heart for God, who are not ashamed of their faith and who have the ability to teach are stepping forward to take on small leadership roles.   We are also finding women who are willing to lead singing as well as organize and teach the youth. 

It is awesome to see the power of God manifested in the lives of these new believers at Chepsabei.    Keep in mind that this work is less than six month’s old.  However, during that time not only have we been teaching and training the people of Chepsabei but we have also introduced six young preachers to the work there who will sustain it while we are on furlough.    The people have grown to love these men of God and the men have grown to love them.  With both the preachers and the people eager to go further and deeper in their faith it was mutually agreed upon that starting in January we would send a team of two preachers to Pokot on a weekly basis.    There were cheers of joy when we made this announcement to the people. 

                                   Congregation of Chepsabei

While this will take some transportation scheduling the blessing far outweighs any logistical trials that will be part and parcel to this outreach.    One of the young Pokot men who we have watched absolutely explode in his faith is Peter.     

He is the one who was able to travel to Western Kenya for two weeks of schooling and is the only one that has been baptized at this point.   He is standing before his people with a growing confidence as he translates the teachings into their mother tongue and his testimony of a transformed life through Christ will bring tears to your eyes.   In any case we ask you to remember these new young Christians as well as the preachers who will be traveling to Chepsabei each week.

Yesterday we had great services at the Landmark Baptist Church of Mayanja which is located at the base of Mt. Elgon. 

I always enjoy worshipping under the tent in the shadow of Mt. Elgon because as I look upward my heart and mind is on our Churches who are worshipping on top of the Mountain at the same time.  

                               Parting Gift of Love

The spirit at Mayanja was sweet and we had the privilege to worship with Pastor Peter’s brother John who is a missionary to southern Sudan.   John pioneered the work in Turkana and is now doing the same thing in Sudan.   The tent was full of people and passion for Christ and it was a blessed day.   It has been said that foreign missionaries are men without a country.    As we say goodbye and as the time of our departure draws near I can really see how true this is. 

Over the last two years our hearts have had a continual yearning for home and our family.   But now that which we have longed for is becoming a reality we are already thinking of our brethren here that we will miss as well.    While we are torn between two countries we trust God with both.   We covet your continued prayers for us and the work during this transition.

May God Keep You and Bless,

Chuck & Terry Fernandez

Kenya

Phil. 4:13

Blog: missionarieschuckterryfernandez.blogspot.com