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***Click on Newsletter below for better reading.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Special Delivery, Wounded Soldier & The Church with Walls
In an effort to recover from our last group and while
preparing for our next group which will be arriving on July 29th, we
had slowed down a bit for rest until we got somewhat of a 911 call from Mt.
Elgon. So needless to say when God’s people call
with a pressing need we will do what we can within our capability to
help. Our first trip would take us to
the base of Mt. Elgon to make a special delivery for two of the Churches on top
of Mt. Elgon who are currently meeting under tents. It is the
rainy season on Mt. Elgon and it seems that a storm had come through last week
and shredded both of the tents leaving God’s precious people exposed to the
heavy rain and winds that are the norm this time of year.
I hurriedly had two tops and six sides fabricated here in
Eldoret and got them up the mountain in time for Sunday service.
The second trip to the base of Mt. Elgon would be a solo
trip without my faithful help met and sidekick Terry. She has
been under the weather with a variety of ailments this week which left her
unable to travel a second time to the base of Mt. Elgon for Sunday service at
the Landmark Baptist Church at Mayanja. She is one of the
toughest servants of God I ever known and is willing to go where most men would
never go to share the love of God through the gospel. Please pray
for her speedy recovery as I am only half the man I can be without her.
Sunday service was God honoring and spirit filled as we
worshiped the Lord with one heart, one faith and one voice.
While working with fourteen Churches we are only afforded the opportunity
to visit them on a rotational basis every few months however this gives us a
good idea of the direction and growth of the Church as well as the
leadership. Their Pastor, Chester Moore is doing well in leading
this group and we have been blessed to invest much into his life and ministry
over the last several years.
Pastor Chester Moore
He is also rapidly progressing in his
education using the solar powered video tablet we gave him a few months
back. Our traveling seminary is bearing much
fruit. With each visit to Mayanja, we are also blessed to see
Fred and Moses, the two brothers we lead to Christ back in 2010 who were two of
the biggest village drunkards and reprobates but are now faithfully serving
Christ through this local New Testament Church. Band of Brothers Transformed by the Grace of God
Deacon Fred (left), Missionary & Associate Pastor Moses (right)
Deacon Fred Teaching
In fact their
lives have been so transformed that Fred is a teaching Deacon and Moses is the
Associate Pastor who is faithfully serving under Pastor Chester Moore.
In addition to Moses regular duties at the LBC Mayanja, he has started an
outreach at the neighboring village of Chenjeni where he walks two days per week
for evangelism and teaching. Pray for this village as Terry and I
will be visiting there next month with our evangelism team to encourage Moses in
his calling and to teach the new converts there. These are the
second and third generation works which bless our hearts. I
believe our great country of America needs to return to this Biblical pattern of
establishing preaching points and purposeful outreaches with the intention of
planting more fundamental Bible preaching Churches. I may be on a
bit of a soapbox here, but if people think we have enough solid Bible preaching
Churches in America than why are we in such a low moral and spiritual
condition? In any case, services in Africa are very prolonged but
give the Missionary the opportunity to pour a ton of teaching into the lives of
our converts. So Sunday, I taught on a variety of subjects which
included: The Excellency of Christ, the humility of Christ, Church
unity, tithing, missions and the role of the Missionary.
It may sound like a lot but you have to remember that my
opportunities are limited with the many Churches and besides, our Kenyan
brethren have a voracious appetite for God’s word which means they cannot get
enough. In closing, as you can see from the pictures, the walls
are almost complete and they are just about ready to install the windows.
Presented with New Bible
New Members
Progress is slow because we partner and challenge each church to make an
investment through special offerings and sweat equity in that which is their
sanctuary, not ours. Thanks for tuning into this journey of faith
and thank you for the prayers and encouraging emails. Drop us a
line as it does our hearts good to know that we are together in Christ.
God Speed,
Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry
Fernandez
Kenya/Uganda
Kenya/Uganda
Monday, July 14, 2014
Recovery & Landmark Baptist Christian Schools
After running and gunning for ten days with the Mac Trips
team this week, Terry and I needed to reduce the pace of ministry to recover
from the rigorous schedule. (Rest & Recovery) We simply cannot
maintain the kind of breakneck pace which we have come to accept as the norm
with these groups who are trying to maximize their ministry opportunities in a
short amount of time.
The groups are a great blessing but they
jump back on a plane and literally leave us behind gasping for breath. As a
general rule of thumb, each day we spend out working in interior regions
requires two days of recovery. The group was here for ten days and
we visited all three regions of Kenya where we have planted Churches, so you can do
the math.
I’m sure the skeptics may have a hard time with that and
maybe there are people who are superhuman but the years, the miles, the villages
and the conditions from the difficult work of Church birthing in interior
regions of East Africa are taking its toll on these two grandparents.
Not to mention the amount of spiritual, emotional and
physical energy that is spent trying to bring people to Christ and properly
disciple them.
OK, enough of what might be perceived as whining
or tooting our own horn but I often tell Terry that I believe because we are
simple hard working servants who have a great desire to see the Lord Jesus
lifted up and because God has blessed our efforts in such a great way thru His
power and amazing grace that we make what we do almost look too easy.
But then again, I am reminded of what an old Kentucky preacher
use to tell me, he would say, “Bro. Chuck, if it was easy, everyone would be
doing it”.
Simple yet profound, got to love those
Kentucky folks!
We did manage to collect more building materials
this week and we also delivered the new school sign to the Landmark Baptist
Church at Mawe Tatu/Nzoia which has recently started a new primary school at the
Church.
Maria Education Center ~ New Sign
This is probably one of the least known facts about our ministry here in Kenya but nevertheless is noteworthy because we believe this is an indication of the level of growth and grace we have experienced.
Three of our fourteen Churches now have Christian primary schools which have been initiated of their own volition. Hidden Treasure School
Terry and I believe in Christian education and as a matter of fact we
were deeply involved in starting Inverness Christian Academy which is currently
a ministry of our sending Church.
So needless to say, it brings
us great joy to see the extension of our Churches ministries through Christian
education under the supervision of the local Church and her Pastor.
Ludiah Christian School
Thank you for allowing us to share our hearts
and ministry with you and thank you for every prayer and every dollar given for
this Great Commissioned centered work in East Africa.
God Bless,
Bro.Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
Kenya/Uganda
Kenya/Uganda
Pro_22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when
he is old, he will not depart from it.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Short Term Mac Team Storms Kenya
Macedonian Mission Team Lake Victoria
Macedonian Mission Team Soysabambu
Ten days can seem like an eternity or it can pass in the
blink of an eye.
Our short term Macedonia Mission team led by
Gary Weidenbach has taken Kenya by storm and is now in the process of heading
home.
Please pray for traveling mercy as these folks take the
dreaded eighteen hours plus of flying back to California.
We are thankful for the encouragement they
have been to us and our people.
Our Kenyan brethren are honored
that anyone would travel around the world once to visit, teach and encourage
them in the Lord but to come twice in two and a half years takes their love and
commitment for Missionaries and their work to a whole new level.
These short term teams are making a significant investment
in the lives of many all over the world.
During the course of
their visit they have shared the gospel with hundreds while teaching four
Vacation Bible Schools, going hut to hut doing village evangelism and preaching
the gospel during two worship services. We have
seen dozens make professions of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and we believe
the six Churches we were able to visit were greatly encouraged and strengthened
in their faith. They have seen the beauty of Kenya and her people
up close and personal thru our Churches at Lake Victoria, Western Kenya and the
Kerio Valley. Evangelism
We believe there are many benefits
that come from having teams like these visit our works but I think Terry and I
were truly moved by the joy we saw on the faces of the Children during the
Vacation Bible Schools.
Vacation Bible School
They learned so much and had so much fun
just being children which is somewhat rare in a land and culture that can be
somewhat harsh and unforgiving. While our ministry tends to focus
on gospel preaching, training leaders and developing Churches it is times like
these that refresh our hearts to see the children just being children. Hidden Treasures
Children of the Lord....all ages
We thank God for men like Bro. Gary who give sacrificially
of their time and finances for God’s Great Commission work in Thailand,
Philippines, Brazil, Ukraine, the South Pacific and here in Kenya, East
Africa. Men....Men of God at home 'anywhere'
Big Russ
Birthday Boy
Mama Loboduk
Bro.Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
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