Monday, November 12, 2018

Witch Doctor Uprising, The Devil Tried to Kill Me & The Attacks Keep Coming


 WITCH DOCTORS UPRISING
We have encountered many Witch Doctors while working in Kenya over the years and actually seen some turn from their witchcraft and profess Jesus Christ. The first problems we encountered with Witch Doctors would be in the Pokot village of Cheposebei, which is located deep in the Kerio Valley.   After leading the majority of the village elders to Christ as well as the village Chief, the village Witch Doctor saw the control and bondage he had over Cheposebei beginning to slip away.   Consequently, he brought in five thugs to beat newly converted women who had been gathering together to listen to solar audio Bibles we had provided.   It was an effort to get them to renounce their new faith in Christ.   The Lord would intervene through the village Chief who would declare Chespabei a "Christian" village and would have the Witch Doctor and thugs arrested.    Little did we know that nearly eight years later the Pokot Witch Doctors, many who had been run out of their villages due to the introduction of the Christian faith would band together to force many to renounce their faith in Christ.  
 
We have always known that attacks would come upon the Churches we help establish but never knew what form they would come in.   The reports we have received indicate that the Witch Doctors banded together and went village to village forcing people to drink the blood of a bull and renounce their faith.    Those who refused were beaten with rods and had their mouths forced open with a stick while they poured the blood down their throat.   (Sorry for the graphic details but how else will you know the persecution they have suffered?)  Many endured this fate and many others fled to the neighboring part of the Kerio Valley on the Ugandan side where they regularly travel to graze their animals.    I am happy to report that three quarters of our Landmark Baptist Churches stood against the Witch Doctors and drove them out.  Not only did they quote 1 Cor. 10:21 but they literally put into practice. "1 Corn. 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and the table of devils....As of today, things have settled down and life seems to be getting back to normal for our Pokut brethren. How would your faith fare under this type of persecution???
The Devil Tried to Kill Me

 
 During the Witch Doctor Uprising, Pastor Timothy Loquardo (pic above with Terry) was forced to evacuate his family to Western Kenya.  While doing so he was run off the road and seriously injured on His motorcycle. He would spend a week in an Eldoret hospital and then another month of recovery before he could return to His Church in the valley.   Loquardo is truly a great man of God who has planted ten Churches on the Kenyan and Ugandan side of the Kerio Valley and is currently working in over a dozen more villages doing evangelism and organizing Bible studies.   When I talked to Him via phone from the hospital he said, "Missionary, The Devil tried to kill me".     I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that statement but we do know that the Bibles teaches that the devil goes about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour and comes to kill, steal and destroy.   Since Loquardo's accident and subsequent recovery we have helped him purchase a new motorcycle and he is back on the road preaching the gospel.   Praise the Lord for helmets and healing.  
Attacks from Within and Without
The attacks just keep coming.  Not only have we experienced attacks on our Churches and brethen from without as aforementioned.  But let me remind you we have had three Churches burned down on Mt. Elgon along with five of our Pastors homes destroyed this year.  Additionally we have seen Church members murdered on Mt. Elgon.   
 

As tragic as those horrific events are, we have also had to withstand some of the most painful attacks which have come from within.   We always knew in our hearts that the Churches Terry and I helped establish and organize in Kenya and Uganda  would come under attack. We fully expected attacks and prepared our Churches that these attacks would come from other false religions who would follow our footsteps.  But we never imagined we would have to defend our works from Churches of like faith who have tried to take advantage of the hard work Terry and I did during our time in country.   Not only would they try to capitalize on some of the pioneering we had done in the Kerio Valley, but there has been outright efforts to steal away some of the Churches from our fellowship.   We thank God that with the exception of a couple, they have withstood the attacks and have remained firm in the doctrinal foundation and fellowship we helped establish.   And then there is the political hit jobs that seem to be sadly prevalent in every associated work.   While I won't go into the dirty details, I will say that Terry and I have been the target of personal slander and jealousy from within our own Missionary Baptist Ranks.   We personally have never paid much attention to the political wrangling and positioning that takes place because we have been busy about our Father's business.  However we have been forced to stand in opposition when the weak in faith attack our integrity and character.   It has not been a pleasant experience but want our ministry partners to better understand how to pray for us.   Please pray that God will use these times of tribulation to make us more like Jesus and to be glorified in all what we do and experience.  
Thank you for your prayerful support and thank you for allowing us to give you a glimpse into our journey of faith.
In His Service,
Bro. Chuck & Sis Terry Fernandez, Kenya/Uganda/Florida Plant
…….Click on Newsletter to Enlarge for better reading.
 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



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