North Pokot Evangelism & The Landmark Baptist of Mayanja is Organized

As mission work goes, this week has been one that we will not soon forget and one that we want to give our Lord and Savior all the praise, all the honor and all the glory for what he has accomplished. We truly feel privileged and humbled by the fact that almighty God would call us and allow us to do His work here in Kenya. This week the work included our second trip to a village called “Chepsibei” which is located in the Kerio Valley of Northern Pokot. The Pokot tribe has been on my heart since the first time we passed through their land on our first mission trip to Kenya in 2006. After months of prayer, God led us to this specific village where the people had never heard the gospel before. Our first visit was a short one as we had spent three days seeking where God would have us work and it was also surrounded with a tone of suspicion and reluctance on the part of many of the villagers. From what we have been told they have never had a preacher or missionary ever bring God’s Word to their village. However this second visit we were greeted with much more enthusiasum as they were anxiously anticipating our return.

They reported the solar powered audio Bible we left with the Village on our last trip was listened to by different groups each day.

Needless to say, they were very happy to see us and very happy when they found out that we had brought more audio Bibles for them to listen to in between our visits. One of the several things I observed during this visit is that the Mama’s seemed to be much more open and free to express their selves when they saw that we brought Terry, Mary and Lynette to share God’s Word.
                                          TERRY'S TEAM

I am sure it is very much a cultural thing as men and women rarely mix but you could sense a change in their countenance when they saw that we brought women to minister to them. The second thing that was evident is that older men are very rare to find in the village. It is not that they were away but because their average life expectancy is very low they are few.
So we found ourselves surrounded with many young men who look like they were in their twenties and thirties that make up the leadership of the village.

They are so young that it is hard for me to call them village elders but in reality that is who they are.

STORAGE

The last observation I want to share about Chepsibei is the sheer size of the village. From our first visit we could not see it from the road we were on. If it had not been for a young girl named Teresa whom we met tending camels we would have driven right past it. Now that we have started working in the interior of the village it has become apparent that it is a huge. It covers an area of over four square kilometers with hundreds of people and thousands of camels, goats and sheep.

 We spent the day learning our way around, doing evangelism and had a good group that attended the afternoon Bible study.

This Pokot outreach ministry is in its infantile stage but we are all excited to be able to build relationships with people who have never heard about Jesus and want to know Him as Lord and Savior. We need your continued prayers for the work at Chepsibei because we are not only ministering to people who have never heard the gospel but also to people who have been involved in witchcraft and various forms of idolatry for many generations.
By faith and through the preaching of the His word we believe that God is able to break down any stronghold that Satan has had on this village.
Jesus explained this as He called the Apostle Paul to preach the good news.
Act 26:18 "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."

Sunday we travelled to a village located at the base of Mt. Elgon called Mayanja to baptize and organize this work.

It had rained all night and it was so muddy we could barely make it to the sight of the tent. What a stark contrast between the fertile muddy soils of Western Kenya and the semi~arid desert region of North Pokot. Regardless of the terrain, one thing is sure, people need the Lord.

After spending several hours teaching on Church history, Church structure and Church administration we proceeded to a lake to baptize the first twenty seven new members into the Landmark Baptist Church of Mayanja.
There was perfect unity among the new members as they called Nixon to be their Pastor and also voted on the church secretary and treasurer.                      CHURCH VOTE

We thank God for this new church where

 God’s Word will be preached each week. 

      

My heart is truly touched by the love that this young God called Pastor has for these people as well as the love that the people have for him. I know there will be many trials ahead of them over the years but for now they are thankful God has sent Nixon to be their Pastor and they love him dearly.

FRESH TERMITES

God Keep You and Bless You,

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya, East Africa









Phil. 4:13
Blog: missionarieschuckterryfernandez.blogspot.com
                          TERRY  LEAVING MAYANJA