Foreign but Familiar...Hitting the Ground Running

  Landmark Baptist Church of Namarambi

located at the base of Mt. Elgon.

International travel always leaves something to be desired unless you enjoy being crammed into a plane with a couple hundred people and basically unable to get comfortable for sixteen hours of flying. However as bad as it is, our flights from Orlando to London and then from London to Nairobi went smoother than ever. Even with having to switch airports in London, from Gatwick to Hethrow with ten pieces of luggage worked out better than planned. I say all that to say that God really blessed our travels as we returned to Kenya this week.

There is a strange feeling after leaving family

                               Grandson Chuckie

and country to do God’s work on the foreign field for without a doubt you know you are on foreign soil but you also have great peace in your heart that you are at home in the perfect will of God. It is also comforting to have familiarity with the place God has called us to. While we do not consider ourselves veterans we are also not new to Kenya. The sights, the sounds and the smells had become so common place to us that we hardly notice that we are foreigners in a familiar land.                         Namarambi Youth Choir

Getting settled back in Eldoret has had its challenges but nothing that is unusual with the re-entry process. With jet lag trying to hold us back and with a heart of desire to see our brethren pushing us forward we hit the road to two village Churches in the interior on the Lord’s Day. One thing I learned while in the USA from feedback given by our American brethren was that people who read our reports really have a hard time getting a handle on what villages and churches we are working in. That is perfectly understandable because who could possibly place the village churches in the interior of Kenya on a continent as large as Africa. With that said, I will attempt to be a little more descriptive so people can follow our work when writing my journal blog. Probably more important than the location are the beautiful people God has called us to minister to. We visited the Landmark Baptist Church of Namarambi and the Landmark Baptist Church of Ndivisi both located at the base of Mt. Elgon.

             Ndivisi Baptist Church located at the base of Mt. Elgon.

It was exciting for us to see their continued growth of both churches spiritually and physically in our absence. There were many new faces of people who have been saved and baptized while we were in the states as well as those faithful members whom we led to Christ during our first term which is a solid indication of Churches built on God rather than man. When our life’s work is over we want to leave something behind that God continues to get glory from. During Sunday services we were also reminded how much we love worshipping with our brethren in Kenya.

God’s presence was felt as He was worshipped

from the heart.

After services I was able to spend time with Pastor Peter who I consider my right hand and the best soul-winner I have ever known to make ministry plans for the remainder of this year. Those plans include upcoming evangelism crusades, training seminars, buildings and outreaches. Working with six Churches, training twenty-one preachers with three new preaching points while pushing the gospel into unreached areas provides more ministry opportunities and challenges than we could have ever dreamed or expected. We believe and know that God is with us as He has shown Himself faithful by providing the necessary partners and workers to fulfill His calling on our lives.

Thank you to all who regularly pray and financially support our ministry as it would not be possible without either.

In His Service,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez

Kenya, East Africa            Terry & Beatrice

Phil. 4:13