Striving to Preach Where Christ has not been Named &The Perfect Day

We have spent the last four days in the Kerio Valley in an effort to reach the Pokot Tribe.

This tribe lives towards the northwest corner of Kenya near the Ugandan border. They are pastoralist who live in a semi-arid region and have somewhat of a bad reputation for illegal guns and cattle raiding, however, after spending four days with them it is clear to me that they are just people who need Christ. My heart’s desire is to bring the gospel to areas that are void.

Rom 15:20 "Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:
Rom 15:21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand."

This outreach has been the culmination of three months of prayer for these particular people. We took our Mt. Elgon evangelism team of four as these men are the most committed and effective at preaching the gospel I have ever met. It is amazing how like minded and like hearted we all are when it comes to doing God’s work. I count it a great privilege and honor that God has placed us together in one accord for His honor and glory. Before I record what is our first Missionary journey among the Pokot, I think it is important to preface this by saying that our prayer for this Pokot outreach was very specific and was so specific that it include the following five criteria. We were not placing demands on God but rather simply believed,
"That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
#1. We prayed that God would allow us to reach an area of Pokot where Christ had not been named.
#2. We prayed that God would lead us to a people which were accessible in the same amount of travel time that it takes us to reach Mt. Elgon.
#3. Don’t laugh, but we prayed God would lead us to a village that had good roads, or as good as there could be while working deep in the interior.
#4. We prayed that He would lead us to a village with a large population that would welcome the Word of God.
#5. We prayed that God would give us a man of peace who would be able to translate from Swahili to the Pokot language.

Day One:
After assembling our team we arrived in Pokot around mid-day and headed for the Kerio Valley. Upon leaving the main road we came to a peak where you could overlook the valley from the surrounding mountain range. As I look down into this beautiful semi-arid valley I knew in my heart we were in the right area. We descended from the cool air of the hills to a somewhat desert region that was hot.
We spent our first day with a Pokot named Thomas who knew the area well and led us throughout many regions of Northern Pokot.
Since there are no maps of the area we had to draw our own and actually ended up in Uganda for a brief time. We were a little disappointed at the end of the first day as we had covered a large area of Northern Pokot without having any success, however, we did grow in knowledge of the region and we were able to eliminate some areas.

Day Two:

Started at 4:30 am with an hour of prayer and worship through songs. It was an awesome way to start the day even though I was weary from the previous day driving. Breakfast was MRE’s which our Kenyan brethren had never tasted but seemed to like. We were on the road by 6:30 am heading deep into what would be West Pokot this time led by a young Pokot man named Vincent.

It seems as though I am always complaining about the off road conditions here and just when I think I have experienced the roughest area of Kenya another trip into the interior takes the cake. This day would prove to be such a day. The area Vincent was leading us to without any churches or Christian influence turned out to be a four hour trip in which we would cross six flowing rivers, what seemed to be thirty gorges and countless ditches that was an extreme off road excursion.
Now there are times when I actually enjoy four wheel drive trips but about half way into this one I was so concerned that I almost decided to turn around.

Had I not been compelled by the preaching of the gospel to unreached people I definitely would not have gone any further.
During the course of the trip I was thinking of #2 and #3 on our prayer request knowing that to start a mission point in an area this rough would not be possible.
In any case we had made a long and hard trip to an area that so remote that nobody has ever worked there before.

Finally we arrived at what was a small border town in the middle of nowhere which was the border of the Pokot and the Marakwet tribe.    Selling Goat Milk


Upon arrival I told Pastor Pete that he was going to have to preach as my head was pounding and spinning from the trip.

We spent several hours sharing God’s Word and lead fifty-four individuals to Christ along with countless others in large groups. Only eternity will reveal the final number. So again after a fourteen hour day in which the Land Rover and the occupants were beaten to a pulp we knew that God was going to have to call someone else to reach that border region as it would break us to try to work there on a regular basis.

On the way home we purchased a nice Pokot Goat to roast for dinner
and also had to make an emergency stop at a dentist for Pastor Shadrach to have a tooth pulled that had been hurting him all day.
So I guess the only casualties of the day were Satan, the goat and the Pastor’s tooth.

Day 3:

Up at 4:30 am, prayers and songs of praise before another day in the desert which has a particular beauty about it in the early morning and late evening. Today we would not use any guides other than the Holy Spirit. We headed back to Northern Pokot praying God would lead us to where he wanted us to work.

From our day one experience we knew that we were close but we were not quit in the right area.To make a long story short, after being blocked by two impassable rivers we found a very well maintained desert road and followed it about 40 Km’s. We stopped one time for the Pastors to buy charcoal as it is cheap and of good quality compared to what they buy in Western. As we stopped we shared the Gospel with a dozen folks.

Five made professions of Faith and while we were witnessing a truck of Kenyan Army soldiers pulled up to buy Charcoal.

We concluded that the reason the road was so smooth is that the Kenyan Army uses it to transport troops to the Ugandan border to keep peace and for training exercises. Now we knew that we were close and God had answered two of our prayers. We were definitely on the right road and heading in the right direction. We traveled deeper into the interior on what has to be one of the smoothest dirt roads in Kenya until there was nothing but bushes and camels. For some reason we stopped to look at camels crossing the road when we notice a young girl (13 years old) running from out the bush towards the truck. We asked her where she was coming from and she said a village about 1km from here. She said her name was Teresa and there was no Church anywhere near the village. We turned into the bush to find a village of 300-400 people and we were met by a 15 year old boy named James.

Prayer # 4 answered. James was a resident of the village called “Chepsebei” and was able to speak Swahili and Pokot. Not only did James gladly receive Christ but he became our guide and interpreter the entire day.
That is an answer to prayer #5. After meeting with the village Elders, not only did they give us permission to work in their village but eight of them received Christ.
None of them had ever heard of Jesus and that was our #1 prayer request from God.


They were also particularly happy to hear the spoken Word of God for the first time in their life through a solar powered Audio Bible in the Pokot dialect which we left with them.

After meeting with several more groups we saw a total of twenty-four people receive Christ and they were eager to be taught the Word of God.


Our promise to this God given village was to return on a monthly basis as simply a mission point to preach God’s Word.
Pokot Grandma
Depending on your level of faith or skepticism, I will let you draw your own conclusions on what turned out to be the perfect day for those of us trying to follow God’s will through His Spirit.
Feel free to question our methods but you must know that or motive is simply to fulfill the great commission so that our Father in heaven will be glorified through faith in His Son Jesus. We left Pokot knowing God’s goodness and faithfulness in answering our prayers.
Please continue to pray for this new area of outreach.

          God Bless You
          Terry & Chuck Fernandez 
          Kenya    Phil. 4:13

Answered Prayers, God's Clan & Blessings Beyond Measure

God has answered our prayers this week as Kenyans turned out to vote on the new constitution which was passed by a great majority. The vote on Wednesday took place in a peaceful and orderly manner. There seemed to be a great sigh of relief and a huge step forward for a country that was torn apart just two years ago through the post election tribal clashes. Thank you to all who prayed for the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Since there were no negative side effects from the vote we turned our attention back to the work God has called us to do. Saturday we returned to a village called Myanja or sometimes known as “Sand Land” for its abundant building sand which is sold all over Kenya .

It is located within ten kilometers of the Ugandan border and at the southern part of Mt. Elgon. For over a year now a young preacher named Nixon has been holding a weekly Bible study there and we have gone on many occasions to support his efforts through village evangelism.
However, during the course of our visits it seemed as if Nixon would run into one problem after another.
For some reason it was a real struggle for him:
 #1 To even find a solid meeting place,
 #2 To find people who were genuinely interested in knowing and walking with God
 #3. To build a work that would eventually turn into a new testament church.
Barriers, walls and hurdles seemed to be the norm for this new work until this month when God opened the windows of heaven and poured out a blessing. Throughout all the trials and struggles this young preacher kept seeking and searching for God’s perfect will until it was clearly revealed in a great way.

Before I go any further it important to realize that large villages such as Myanja are made up of many different clans. Previously we have done evangelism with two other large clans within the village that were cold and indifferent at best. From the first time we visited Myanja, My wife Terry said, “there is something wrong in this place”. It is funny how a wife can have spiritual insight and discernment ahead of a husband from time to time and I am not ashamed to admit that Terry was absolutely right on this one. I hate to think what it would be like to try to do God’s work without a help met that compliments me in every way. However, through prayer and repeated efforts God led us to the right place and the right people at the right time. As ten of us met to do hut to hut evangelism it was as if we were in a different world because the hearts of the people were so open and eager to hear God’s Word. Keep in mind we were in the same village but just witnessing to a different clan.
We met at a village elders house named Joseph who said he had been praying for years that God would bring someone to his clan to teach them God’s Word. To hear someone say that we are part of an answered prayer they have been praying for years goes beyond the routine and into the realm of providential.
William Cary, the great missionary to India once said “To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.”

Looking back on this Sand Land experience we can see God’s leading from Clan to Clan without finding true peace until we arrived at the right area on the map. We pray above all things that God will lead us as our hearts desire is to give Him the glory for every soul saved and every life transformed. As we visited house to house the reception to the gospel and God’s people was overwhelming. When each one of the four evangelism groups returned for prayer the reports were all the same. People who did not know Christ gladly received his word and were so thrilled to know that they had a Bibles study they could attend to learn more.

We are not talking about people who were receiving food, medical aid or clothing but people who were happy to know that God loved them and now would have a weekly meeting place where they could come and grow spiritually through God’s word. The people were so enthusiastic about hearing God’s Word that they were practically begging us to come and share the Bible with them.

There were twenty five precious souls that trusted Christ from this clan and there are literally hundreds more waiting to hear the truth. Since this group has exploded overnight and outgrown their ability to met in a home I told Nixon that we would get a tent to him as soon as possible. I thank God he has called this young preacher to Myanja and we can expect great things now that we found God’s clan.

A prepared people for a prepared preacher with a prepared message about a prepared Savior.

It does not get any better than that.

Sunday we taught and worshiped at Mawe Tatu with Pastor Shadrach.
The Landmark Baptist Church at Three Stones, as we affectionately call it, is busting at the seams with their tent overflowing as God continues to bless this young Church. When I take the time to reflect on what God is doing on Mt.Elgon and in these surrounding areas where we are working I am completely and utterly amazed by God’s grace and I want to praise Him more and more. We ask you to pray and possibly fast if you are able as we will travel Tuesday through Thursday to bring God’s Word to the Pokot tribe.
Our survey team was granted permission last week from the appropriate Chief and DC’s to allow us to preach the Gospel to this often troubled tribe. God is able if we will be faithful and obedient.
May God Keep you and Bless you.

The 'Hands Picture' of  Friends is Nelson & I.....Both safe in the Hands of Jesus....

A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
Kenya, East Africa

Phil. 4:13

The Ted Williams Story, Pokot Survey, Praying for Peace and Preparing for Problems

                                 Building God's House for God's People...
                                         The Work Goes On!

In 2002, I was a Bi-vocational Pastor running a small custom contracting business that specialized in Golf Courses. It would be on a golf course called Sky View at Citrus Hills Golf and Country that I would encounter a man who was arguably the greatest hitter in the history of Major League Baseball. If you will give me some liberty here I will tell you what this has to do with mission work in Kenya, East Africa in 2010, shortly.
The golf course that had contracted me was under construction and required me to be there on a weekly basis in the late evenings for several months. Citrus Hills gave Ted Williams a home on the new golf course in exchange for his endorsement of the club.

Almost every evening while I was working alone I would see Ted Williams being wheeled around in a wheelchair by his caretakers. Now I am not a big baseball fan but almost everyone knew who he was and that his retirement home was at Citrus Hills where he also had the “Sluggers Hall of Fame “museum. I did not think much of this famous player other than the fact that he was an elderly celebrity in the last days of his life. However, all that changed one day when I was doing research for a sermon and discovered that Ted Williams was an atheist. It was at that point that God began to burden me with his spiritual condition for the Bible says that the fool hath said in his heart there is no God. As I would go about my business I would see him pass by in his wheelchair and I would pray for his salvation and wonder if he had ever heard the gospel. This went on day after day for months until one day while I was praying God spoke to my heart about bringing God’s word to him. One of the things I have learned over the years of walking with the Lord is that it is not up to me to question his desires for my life but to simple give my life to him through obedience and faithfulness. Given Ted Williams’s celebrity status and his deteriorating medical condition I knew I was not going to be able to walk up to him and start preaching.
I also knew that God through his infinite mercy was reaching out in love possibly one final time. The plan God put on my heart was to deliver the Gospel in writing through the youth of our church by sending get well cards which included God’s plan of salvation. Along with the many cards I wrote a personal letter from my heart explaining God’s love for him through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The entire packet was given to his manager who assured us he would read each letter to Ted.

While we have no idea where, how or if Ted Williams ever read those letters

or ever professed Christ we do know that we made the effort to reach him.

                                                                                                      

I was reminded of this story this week as we sent a survey team to try to reach a tribe called the “Pokot”.
                                                 Pokot Tribe Young Man

The Pokot are pastoralists who are known for illegal guns, cattle raiding and stealing from neighboring tribes. During our first trip to Kenya we were told while traveling through Pokot country to be aware that they were a dangerous tribe.

During numerous trips through Pokot land over the last year God began to burden me in a way that was reminicent of Ted Williams. The reason that they are such a mean and hostile people is that they do not know Christ!

I began to ask myself, “Who will reach them with the gospel”?

 

For months now we have been praying for this warring tribe and last week our prayers were put into action as we sent two preachers to Pokot to start the Pokot Outreach. Armed with solar powered audio Bibles in the Pokot Language, Bro. Timothy (Pastor Peters Brother) & Bro. Japheth (Pastor Shadrach’s right hand man) spent three days talking to Chiefs, DC’s and other officials. To make a long story short, they were welcomed by the Chief to bring the gospel to his area without any strings attached and he assured them that they will not have any problems.

There were also three who made professions of faith in Christ. We thank God for the good report and look forward to seeing what God is going to do through this Pokot Outreach Ministry.
                                            
  Pokot Tribe Old Lady

God through His great love, tender mercy and grace is still trying to reach the hardest of hearts.

                                          " Here am I Lord, send me."

 In closing, we ask you to please pray for peace during the August 4th vote on the new constitution here in Kenya. While 65% of Kenyans want the new constitution we live and work in three areas where the other 35% are opposed to it. This presents itself with the potential for a violent outcome in Eldoret, Mt. Elgon and Pokot. After talking with our people in each of these areas there is genuine concern that fighting could break out again like it did during the election of 2007.
On my way back home from Western last night I saw two villages where there was already fighting. We are praying for peace so that the gospel can continue to be preached throughout Kenya with liberty and power. But In preparation we have stocked up on food, cash, fuel as well as other items to be able to withstand a potential lockdown. We will lay low this week until we see the results of the voting. Thank you for allowing us to share our life’s experiences as well as our heart.

God Bless,
Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya, East Africa

A few years ago a Nobel Prize writer of poetry made these remarks,
"All my writing in the world cannot add more than a cricket’s chirp to the voice of life,
BUT no one can write as authentically about my life's experiences, my hearts feelings, my outlook on life, as I can. Therefore these same experiences of life find their way into my poetry, my communication and hopefully into the lives of others. That is why I write...."

Fishers of Men, Rhino's, Giraffe's & Goodbyes

 
While we have enjoyed the company of our guests from American over the last week, we know that all good things come to an end. Well, at least earthly things. The first five days of their trip we lived on the road with Bro. Dan Riley and his father Don doing seminars, building, village evangelism, preaching and baptisms. We finally gave them a day of rest before returning back to the real reason why they came. Now it goes without saying they will be able to give a firsthand account and report as to the work we are doing on Mt. Elgon and Western Kenya to our Pastor and sending Church but the main purpose for their visit was to do the work of God. Both of these men have compassion for the lost and participate in evangelism through our Church. They were a great blessing to work with during our day of Eldoret street evangelism because they are both well trained and well seasoned soul winners. What great fishers of men!

All we had to do was equip them with Swahili Bibles, Gospel tracts, translators and turn them loose. We had three groups of men who concentrated on reaching the group that God continues to put on my heart, that being the welders, fabricators and mechanics of Eldoret. There are thousands of these men who line the roads and backstreets of Eldoret doing work on a daily basis that need the Lord. In fact, Bro. Dan said there are so many of these men that it could be a fulltime ministry.

I am thankful that the Lord has sent me to such a great field to bring in the harvest and I am also thankful that he has sent forth laborers who are willing to partner in the Great Commission. It was such an honor to watch Bro. Don Riley who is seventy nine years young share his testimony along with the gospel to people who he had never met before and perhaps will never see again on this side of eternity.

I sat back and listened with delight as he preached all over the Bible to large groups of rough neck men who work with their hands. Note: (Bro. Don worked some thirty five years as a fabricator/mechanic for Eastern Airlines and could really relate to these men). They listened intently as this wise man shared his faith in a clear and concise manner. In the end it was apparent that he was endued with the power from on high as we saw many men who were sincerely concerned about their spiritual condition come to Christ by faith. One of the young preachers who we work with said something about Bro. Don that really made sense to me as I watched him work throughout the week. He said, “Even if Bro. Don did not say a word while here in Kenya, he had inspired us all just by coming”. I personally agree one hundred percent.

We saw fourteen men from various tribes accept Christ that afternoon.

After street evangelism we made our way to the two Bibles studies where Bro. Dan taught on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as well as Daniel while Bro. Don taught on Jesus, Who is the image of the invisible God. The lessons were passionate and powerful. As we closed the Bible studies we received a phone call from a man we met on the streets who took a Swahili Bible and a Gospel tract, he said he had read the material and had made a decision to receive Christ and turn his life over to the Lord. We praised the Lord at the end of the day as we witnessed yet another great example of how the Spirit of God moves independent of our efforts in the redemption of the lost. AMEN!

The last item and last priority for our honored guests was to give them the opportunity to see some of the wildlife here in Kenya at the Lake Nakuru Game Park.

It is always fun to end a short term mission trip with an animal safari.

We know it is a great sacrifice for people to travel thousands of miles to visit us in Kenya but we also know from the testimonies and personal experience that their lives will never be the same.

We hate to say goodbye but they leave with great memories and they leave having strengthened and encouraged us to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In closing, we thank God for these two men and we ask you to please pray for Bro. Dan and Bro. Don as they have had numerous delays on their return trip by runway problems in Kenya, overbooking in London, etc, etc…

God Bless You and Keep You,

Chuck & Terry Fernandez

Mt. Elgon and Western Kenya
Phil. 4:13

Father and Son Team visit Kenya, Nineteen Saved & Twenty Baptized

Bro. Dan Riley, who is an Associate Pastor at our sending Church and the Administrator of our Christian School arrived in Kenya on Wednesday with his father Don. Thank you for all who prayed for their safe arrival as God answered those prayers in a big way. Not only did they make all of their flights while flying standby but they also were upgraded to first class from Miami to London. God is good all the time!

In five days we have held a seminar at the Landmark Baptist of Kipsigon on Mt. Elgon where both Bro. Dan and Bro. Don taught, Thursday.

 We built pews for the Churches located at Mt. Elgon on Friday.

We did evangelism at Mawe Tatu on Saturday and today Brothers Dan and Don taught, preached and baptized twenty folks in Western.
We have seen nineteen people make professions of faith in our Lord and Savior.

Our Kenyan Brothers and Sisters in Christ were so thankful for the great teaching and preaching but they were absolutely amazed by Bro. Dan’s singing and were truly honored with Bro. Don’s presence as a Senior Saint who would travel around the world to teach them God’s Word.

Before you say you could never make it to Kenya you need to know that Bro. Don Riley is seventy nine years young. Not only were they a great encouragement to the people God has joined us together with in the ministry but they have been a great source of encouragement to Terry and I.

 I asked Bro. Dan to share a few thoughts about the trip; the following comments are Bro. Dan Riley’s regarding his experience thus far:

“ ‘…Of some have compassion, making a difference’

" …Brothers and sisters in Christ, the first thing I would like to say is thank you…thank you for supporting the work of Chuck and Terry Fernandez.

After only five days of seeing first-hand what this amazing couple does and how hard they work at doing it, my life has been changed.
The support you give to the Fernandez Family both in prayers and finances is greatly needed, appreciated, and being used greatly for winning souls…souls that live in areas of the country that are otherwise untouched by missionaries. Each and every day is an adventure and, although Bro. Chuck does not make a big deal of this, they come within inches of accidents every day because of the horrible traffic, very bad roads, and very slippery, muddy roads coming down from the interior. I experienced this first hand. Simply getting home from church is another great adventure.
As far as my experience goes, words can hardly express what I have witnessed. The Christians in Kenya are so faithful to God, and He definitely has preeminence in their lives. American Christians, including myself, can learn a lot from the Christians here in Kenya. Today, for instance, the Sunday service started around 10 a.m.
Five hours later we were finally making our way down to the river for baptism service.

Then after baptizing twenty people (and me experiencing my first ever opportunity to baptize), we headed back to the church for about 30 minutes more of services, and then lunch was served at about 5:00pm.

By the time we had dropped one of the national pastors off at his village, it was past dark. We arrived back in Eldoret at about 8:20pm, twelve hours after we left the house. In America, we have forgotten what having genuine church is like because of our fast-paced lives, including fast-paced ministry.

We want to get our hour in on Sunday morning, hour in on Sunday evening, and perhaps to show up on Wednesday night if we are feeling ok. And if the pastor preaches too long and our restaurant plans are ruined, we start criticizing the pastor. Let us learn a lesson from these Christians who do not have the fast-pace of the world to distract them. They were honored to have us visiting from America, but I was the one who was honored…honored to be around such wonderful Christian people.

Please pray for Pastor Peter, Pastor Shadrach, Pastor Daniel, and Pastor Alex as they pastor their wonderful congregations. I love them all dearly, and wish I could be here in person like Bro.Chuck is, to see their works continue to flourish. If you, as a supporting church or individual, could possibly ever get to Kenya to visit, please do so. It will change your life. It surely did mine. My Fort Cooper friends will get a very complete presentation from me and dad when we return to the U.S. Please pray for safe travels for us back to the states this coming Thursday and Friday.”

It has been such a pleasure for Terry and I to have a father and son team as our first visitors from Ft. Cooper BC and it has been a week that none of us will forget. We have worked them hard and still have a couple of days left to do Eldoret Street Evangelism and Bible Studies as well let them visit one of the game parks on their way home.
Thank you for allowing us to share what God is doing on Mt. Elgon and Western Kenya.
God Keep You and Bless You,

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Mt. Elgon and Western Kenya