The Virtuous Woman, Roofing & Leaches

 Women from the five new churches we are currently working with met this week for the last ladies seminar of the year.    As the women gathered together, there was such a sense of pride and happiness in the fact that we have organized something which is specially designed to help them reach their fullest potential as a Godly woman.  In a society and culture where women are placed much lower on the social scale it has been so good for them to have Terry encourage them in the Lord.    I was reminded of this by one of the elder men who told me as we were waiting outside that if a person saw two men and a women walking down the road, the woman could only follow and would not even be referred to as a person walking with the men but rather a possession.   Using teaching from Proverbs thirty one, Terry was able to encourage the Mama’s in their faith by showing them their value to God, their Husband, their children and their community.
                               Mamma's Ministry

The virtuous woman referred to in Proverb 31

 comes very much alive in a culture where women still mend and sew clothes,

 Prov. 31:13  "She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands, and are deeply involved in the care and management of the farm."

Prov. 31:16 " She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. " 

The men did their part for the seminar as they actually cooked (which is unheard of) for the women so all would be able to attend the seminar and for my part, using the generator and a projector I put together a lengthy video presentation dedicated to the Mama’s of the churches. 

                             Woman's Seminar

After the seminar I heard one Mama tell her husband she saw her face on the wall.    There is a great value in creating a strong fellowship among these five young churches as they learn to depend on the Lord and each other as well.   We believe the best friends anyone can ever have is that of brothers and sisters in Christ united for God’s honor and glory.   While all five Churches are located in the Mt. Elgon vicinity they are not necessarily next to one  another.  We have worked hard to keep them connected so they know each other and will have strong ties that will continue long after Terry and I are gone. Construction of our second sanctuary continues to move forward as the roof was completed this week and the mud walls started to go up.                       Mud Walls

With a dedication service weeks away at least the people have a real roof over their heads now.

                                                Mixing Mud

I believe they will put the tent away and start meeting in the sanctuary next week while it is still under construction.        
                                                Completed Roof

Yesterdays services at Myanja were a real blessing.
                                             Happy Pastor

There were six people who made professions of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and we baptized them the same day along with eight others giving us a total of fourteen baptized.

It is rare to see people saved and baptized the same day as in the book of Acts but that is what we did yesterday and it was awesome.     Baptism is such a joyous occasion as new converts make their faith in Christ known publicly and unite with the church. 
                                                   Baptism 

We tend to always have to hike several kilometers to get the water hole and the walk is more of march with singing and praising the entire way.    There was moment in time yesterday that brought shear joy to my heart as we returned from baptizing these fourteen new believers.

                                    Baptism Hike

As we hiked back to the village we were met by a woman who seemed overly happy and was clearly praising God for these new believers.    I could not understand what she was saying to each new convert as they walked by her house because she was speaking in her mother tongue but I could see her addressing each one while praising the Lord.    Pastor Peter said she was praising the Lord for these new converts whom she had many conflicts with over the years as neighbors. He said she was saying, “Praise the Lord you are now a Christian!”, and you, and you and you as she pointed them out.    What a blessing to see a community and village transformed through the salvation of souls one person at a time.   These small exchanges seen along this journey of faith from time to time make every effort and sacrifice worth it even more.    In closing, while changing from my wet baptism clothes I noticed blood running down my leg from leaches that had attended the baptism as well.  Are leaches harmful?  Oh well, that is another first for me but yet just another day in the life a missionary here in Kenya.   May God keep you and bless you.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya East Africa

Phil. 4:13

Blog: missionarieschuckterryfernandez.blogspot.com