Women’s Seminar & Collard Greens 101

Winston Churchill once said,

                       “My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.” 

     There are many days when I could echo the sentiments of Churchill about my wife, Terry, and none more so than this week as she held a two~day women’s seminar

     for the ladies of our churches near Mt. Elgon.  

     There were over seventy women present from six different churches and four different tribes, many of whom traveled as far as seventy kilometers to attend and many with babies on their backs. 

     These types of major contributions to my ministry not only compliment everything I do as a missionary but also serve as a great reminder that we are a team. It is a blessing to not only have Terry by my side but to have her taking the time and initiative to teach the Momma’s in our work.   

                                       Old Mamam

     Terry has taken what she has been taught over the last twenty plus years while being faithful to the house of God and given it to the Momma’s that she loves so much.

     What an unbelievable asset she is to my ministry! 

                            Mama Violet & Terry

     With a wide range of ladies present, representing a wide range of Christians in their walk with God, she started the seminar by reviewing a basic discipleship course.

      She then taught the ladies how to do one-on-one evangelism, which the more mature Christians have been asking her to teach since the last seminar. 

Student Group

         The second day she taught them the

 fruits of the Holy Spirit.

     Words cannot describe how much the women love Terry and how thankful

 they are that she would take time to teach them how to become Godly women.  

      While Terry is honored to teach the ladies they seem to be so honored to have someone to teach them in a seminar designed specifically for them. It was heavenly for us (men) to sit outside and listen to the praise radiating from God’s women as they sang in unison.   

For Terry it was simply doing God’s will for her life as a missionary wife and being obedient to scripture.

 

  Tit 2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

  Tit 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

  Tit 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

  This is what I like to call 'collard greens 101'.

     One of the many talents that Terry excels at, is cooking. She is particularly known for her collard greens which she learned how to cook from her grandmother, Mamie Moore ,and my grandmother, Lula Baxter, both southern girls.

     She is still giving God her best by continuing to pass on the Biblical lessons she has learned over the years and what a difference she is making in their lives. I know all of these women are very special to Terry but she was especially blessed that a young Pokot Lady named Elizabeth whom she led to Christ last year traveled all the way from the Kerio Valley to be taught by her mentor.

Pokot Convert, Elizabeth, and baby......

     Elizabeth gave a beautiful testimony of being led to Christ by Terry on a dusty Pokot trail last year while she was gathering fire wood and how her life has been forever changed by the Lord.  

     Needless to say, there were few dry eyes.

     Terry’s women's ministry is a beautiful picture of what Jesus did with His disciples as He developed them into the future leaders. He spent time with them, He nurtured them, He confronted them and He inspired them. The legacy that we leave behind will not necessarily only be the number of Churches planted but rather in the number of lives changed by the power of God who will in turn continue the work that we have started through their local church.

     We are still a little weary from our travels this week as we slept in the village which of course gives one a perspective of village life. Outdoor showers and facilities with no electricity or running water are a reminder of how blessed we are, but there is also something special about waking up in a remote village with the solitude of a beautiful sunrise accompanied with the sounds of the roosters crowing and children laughing.

Little Carlos

  

     We are incredibly privileged to have men and women that have a longing in their hearts to walk with God and are willing to let us teach them the things that we have been taught by our Pastors and mentors over the years.

     What calling could possibly be higher?

     Please continue to pray that God’s Spirit will teach us and lead us as we teach others His Holy Word.

In His Service,

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya

Phil. 4:13