The Heritage of the Lord & A Heart Like a Burning Fire

Terry & Mama's Ministry

We are ever mindful that life is but a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. But from time to time God shows us just how fragile the silver cord of life is through the experience of death. It seems all too often, here in Kenya, we are attending funerals and burying precious little children as was the case this week. I was asked to preach the message of a little three year girl named Michelle who lived near Mt. Elgon. It is heart wrenching to watch the mother and father grieve over the loss of their child and had it not been for the Lord Jesus and the Word of God it could have been unbearable. We do mourn, but not as those who have no hope. There was great strength and comfort knowing that the Word of God teaches us that Children are the Heritage of the Lord. It is this thought that I shared with the family as well as hundreds of village residents who attended the funeral. While the burial methods and procedures are very different from our country, the faith in our risen Savior brings us back to common ground in which we find comfort. The attachment Terry and I have to these villages are growing well beyond the visitor realm and our relationship to them is becoming more like residents after laboring in them for what is turning into years instead of a day, a week or month. Sharing these types of experiences with the people God has called us to minister to opens so many doors of opportunity to share the love of God through the gospel. Please pray for this young family during the weeks and months to come as there is a huge hole in their heart from a little empty chair at the dinner table. Most of the time we share and document our work through pictures but we just did not have peace to take pictures during the funeral service out of respect for these two young mourning parents.

Our travels also took us to the village of Mawe Tatu/Nzoia to deliver the new sign to Pastor Shadrach and the members of the Landmark Baptist Church (LBC) in preparation for building.  New Sign for Landmark Baptist Church

It had rained all night so the interior roads were nearly impassable but we thank God for four wheel drive as I do not believe it is possible or wise to travel anywhere into the interior of Africa without it. This church was our first Church plant and it is going exceptionally well.

The members and their young Pastor have really grown in the Lord and it was a blessing to be reunited for the cause of Christ with both old and new members alike. It seems as if they are not sure if missionaries will ever return when they go home for furlough so needless to say, the people were so happy to see us again.
                    Terry and Women Ministry

We brought two young men with us who have been attending our Eldoret men’s bible study. Since LBC Mawe Tatu is our closest church to Eldoret it is here that we baptized those who are saved through the Bible Study and it is here that we take these young men for additional training under the leadership of one of our finest National Pastors (Shadrach).
One of the young men whom I led to Christ over two years ago has surrendered his life to the ministry and is asking the LBC at Mawe Tatu to send him to his home region near Lake Victoria to reach his tribe with gospel of Jesus Christ.
While I taught on the early church, Kennedy preached a very powerful and personal message from Exodus 4 where God called Moses to bring forth the Children of Israel out of bondage.    Kennedy Preaching 

I have seen and experienced this type of very personal call by God Himself to go and preach the gospel. It was clearly apparent through the preaching of God’s word that Kennedy has within him what Jeremiah described as a burning fire; Jer. 20:9 But His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones.

Please pray for this brother as he will be traveling to Lake Victoria the first week of August to continue a work that we started in a fishing village called Wichlum back in 2009. There are a group of fishermen there whom we led to Christ and are now assembling themselves on a weekly basis for Bibles studies. They have grown in numbers and now are in real need of some leadership. We have taught, discipled and mentored Brother Kennedy and now God has called him to reach his people. Terry and I are truly blessed to see what is described in the book of Acts as
 "God’s hand with us, many believing and being turned to the Lord." While on furlough I was somewhat challenged at a mission conference that we should be working in large cities rather than villages, however, after seeing what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of many others I am certain we are exactly where God wants us. For it could be out of one of these villages that God can call the next apostle Paul.

In His Service,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
                 Bike Tow Kenya Style

Kenya

Phil. 4:13