Namarambi Evangelism, Funeral & Sunday Services

This past week the Lord gave us great week of school and evangelism here in El Doret. Terry has been praying for and mentoring a young housekeeper, Sarah, here that works for Noah Ngeny, the Olympic Gold medalist who lives next door to us and who is our landlord. They have been doing a Bible study together and after sharing the gospel with her Terry gave Sarah her a Bible and a gospel tract to read and to study. Sarah said after much reading and studying she prayed alone in her room to receive Christ.

Recently I had a problem with the tailgate on the “Green Camel” as it had sharp metal that had become fatigued and was protruding in areas.
I was worried as much we carry so many people in the back that someone was going to cut themselves while getting in. So I took the truck to a fabricator to buy a piece of aluminum diamond plate to cover it. Like many things here in Kenya it was not available so I had to settle for a piece of diamond plate steel. The fabricator talked me into letting him cover the inside of the tailgate which was my first mistake. What started as something simple that I should have done turned out to be a 4 hour job of rebuilding the entire tailgate. It was so painful for me to sit and watch because if I had my welder and grinder I could have done the job (better) in about an hour. I say that to say this: That while I was waiting a young man named Kennedy took a break from fabricating and struck up a conversation about why I was in Kenya. It opened the door for me to talk to him about his salvation for he was not saved.

The conversation was cut short by his boss and upon leaving I gave him a Bible and a gospel tract. He called me this week and said that he had read all four gospels as well as the tract and like Sarah he knelt down in his room and ask Jesus to save him. What an awesome testimony to the grace of God. People read the Word, the Holy Spirit Convicts them and they pray without anyone else leading them. That is exciting and we praise God!
Evangelistic Team

Every weekend that we do evangelism and visit the Churches in Western Kenya we know it is going to be long and labor intensive for several reasons.
#1 there is the journey itself which often starts at 6:30 am and ranges from one and half hours to two hours of travel time through great elevation changes on roads that absolutely batter the vehicle and occupants.
#2. When we do evangelism we do not set up a loud speaker in the middle of town and ask for show of hands of those that got saved but rather we prefer to go house to house and person to person so we can effectively communicate the Love of Christ through the gospel.
#3. On both Saturday and Sunday’s we generally don’t return home until 6pm-7pm, after work and fellowship and it is easy to put in two twelve hour days of ministry.
So this weekend when I was asked to preach a funeral on Saturday as well as our regular scheduled evangelism, teaching and preaching I knew it was going to be an exceptionally long weekend. While this weekend was very busy it was truly blessed by the Lord. God gave us traveling grace both days and not the first problem with the truck. On Saturday’s evangelism we had a total of 18 people that went out into the village countryside to share God’s love and there were seven professions of faith. During my Morning Prayer time the Lord reminded me that we will encounter many people that are hurting with broken hearts. I shared that thought with the visitation team and for sure it was a sobering reminder of the need for God’s people to have a genuine Godly love for others. My first visit was at the house of young Christian couple that was having marital problems and was on the verge of divorce. Over the years I have seen God intervene in the marriage of His people to bring repentance, restoration and reconciliation. We have a great God who gives hope to those that are in the middle of what looks like a hopeless situation. After counseling and prayer I feel in my heart that God did something in that marriage. The husband (Ben) who admitted to being backslidden followed us the rest of the day from house to house and said that God had truly blessed him. Terry and her team met more orphan kids from Mt. Elgon who lost both parents in the clashes and a Momma who lost her baby in a fire when she went down to the river to get some water. You see while primary purpose in evangelism is to fulfill the great commission and to see people receive Christ as personal Savior we also go to remind people that God loves, cares and comforts. What an incredible opportunity and responsibility: to share the Love of Christ with others. After visitation we hustled to the funeral of a man named Timothy Matefwe. I had no idea who he was until his nephew told me I had met him the road after a church service in Ndivisi. He died of a heart attack last week while walking in town. It was no mistake that I was able to meet him before he died because when I asked him if he was born again he gave me a great testimony of salvation and told me that he love Americans because he had trained with the American military and felt a great appreciation for our country as they were good to him in his words. Little did I know I would be preaching his funeral within 30 days of that meeting. Our trip would proved to be interesting as it had rained several inches and when traveling off road onto trails and paths we went through extremely muddy terrain. I have to admit that there was a time in my life where I spent good money to go mud boggin in a 4X4 while living in Florida but this time I had 15 people crammed into the Landcruiser and we were behind schedule for the funeral. So after 30 minutes of slipping, sliding and mudslinging we rolled into the site of the funeral covered with mud and to a crowd of several hundred people waiting. I thank God for the divine appointment on the trail that day when I met Timothy as God gave me great peace while I preached about remembering a man that Loved God, His Family and Americans. The gospel was preached to the crowd of over 300 through 1 Cor. 15, John 14 and 1Thess. 4. I have no idea how many were saved but God has given me peace about not knowing because it is His work to bring salvation to the soul and one day we may meet people in heaven that were at that funeral and received Christ by faith.

The burial was somewhat different as the entire crowd gathered around the graveside with the Pastors and myself in front. There was singing, then they placed a white net grave cloth over the coffin and prayed as each family member came by and placed a scoop of dirt onto the coffin. As the songs were sang and the soil was dropped onto the coffin in my mind I placed myself in that grave. My only thought and prayer was: God when my life’s journey here on earth is finished may I have given you my all, my best for your honor and glory. For I know in whom I believe and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.

After the grave was filled carefully and methodically there was more prayers and singing. Then there was something I have never experienced, a funeral march around the grave three times.

I did not know what to think but as I marched I did recall the time of victory in the Old Testament when Joshua lead the children of Israel to march around Jericho seven times and God gave them a miraculous one sided victory over the enemy. The family was so grateful for a good service to honor Timothy and to have God’s Word proclaimed to their neighbors, friends and family.

Sunday we attended the Ndivisi Landmark Baptist Church. Before the service we stopped at the house of a lady named Mary who is Terry’s translator and has been with her through all the evangelistic campaigns of Ndivisi, Namarambi, Mawe Tatu and Mt. Elgon. She leaves her husband and five children to do evangelism almost every Saturday. Her house was pitiful as it was leaning to one side and had a tarp for the roof but she dearly loves the Lord. Her husband (Simeon) is lost and had never been in church before. After tea, bread, boiled eggs Simeon followed us to church. Mary was so happy to have her husband come to church with her for the first time. I taught on “Knowing the will of God” and preached on “Making a difference”. It was one of the simplest messages I have ever preached but the Lord moved in the hearts of the people and we all ended up on our knees including Simeon. I heard Pastor Peter leading him in a prayer of Salvation. What a blessing for Mary who has been praying for him for many years. For all that was accomplished this weekend in service to our Lord and Savior our heart’s desire is that people would know Jesus above all things and that His name is exalted above all others. Thanks for taking this weekly journey with us. We hope that somehow the Lord will use it in your life to strengthen your faith in Almighty God.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya, East Africa