Building Pews, Measurable Milestones & Uganda Baptism

Terry & Carlitos

 

Mt. Elgon continues to loom large on our ministry radar as we have entered into the three to four month window of dry season that gives us the opportunity to spend more quality time with our brethren and Churches located there. It had not rained in almost two weeks prior to our climb this week to build pews and finish preparations for the Church dedication service at Cheptabrubru, however it poured the night before our trip leaving us slipping and sliding all over the rocky trails as we climbed the mountain.  

Every trip to Mt. Elgon is very physical, very stressful but very blessed.   

The assembly of the pews went well and gave us a great setting to spend some quality time with Pastor Alex as well as six other Pastors from Mt. Elgon and the surrounding areas. 

New Pews

  

Our team of Pastors and preachers continues to expand and the team is in great unity and firing on all eight cylinders as we serve the Lord together.

Of the many roles I fulfill as Missionary, I find that keeping our team in unity to promote fellowship and encouragement is one of my highest priorities. I am constantly praying for wisdom and discernment as I evaluate when and where we must focus our time and resources to promote growth and unity within our team.

With that said, our main priority is to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit at all times and in everything we do while keeping a very analytical approach as we evaluate each Pastor, Church and outreach.

This approach uses what I like to call “measurable milestones” in the lives of our people and churches. After nearly four years we have devolved a system to better enable us to evaluate how our people and Churches are developing which better enables us to identify what level and type of direction and effort we need to put into each.

We are constantly trying to balance developing these men and churches without hurting their faith by creating over dependence on us.

We know we have a great love for the Lord and our people, we believe we have seen God’s great power upon us and our ministry and we firmly believe that we need to continue to seek God’s wisdom in all that we do so that His will might be done.

We don’t claim to be successful in anything we do but we want to seek God’s will in everything. Please continue to pray for us as we make decisions that impact thousands of lives and souls for eternity.

Along the lines of “measurable milestones” and results, we had our first baptisms with the group of new believers we have been working with for over a year now in the Manafwa district of Uganda.

We praise the Lord for these nine new young converts who have come to the place in their faith where they understand the meaning of scriptural baptism and want to obey the commands of the Lord Jesus, follow His example as well as make a public profession of faith.

                               Uganda Converts Praying

It was no easy task baptizing these new believers as the water was just above ankle deep.

Pastor Peter and Pastor Nixon who have led this new outreach had to dam up the creek to get enough water for baptism.

Please pray for this new outreach and this district where public drinking and drunkenness is a very big part of their culture. I have attached a picture of a group of men drinking with large straws from the same pot of brew.

It is no coincidence that every one of the three regions God has led us to work in are located within a stone’s throw of Uganda.

Half of Mt. Elgon is in Uganda, the work at Lake Victoria is along the border of Uganda and the Pokot village of Cheposabei has a sister village in Uganda called Kokoron. 

Please keep us before the  Throne of Grace this coming week as we will be heading to Kokoron for a three day evangelism crusade.

This Lord’s Day we traveled to the LBC Mawe Tatu to check on the progress of the new baptistry and to make travel plans with Pastor Shadrach for the coming crusade to Kokoron.

                                Baptistry Almost Complete

Pastor Shadrach & Family

We had a powerful day of teaching, worship and fellowship with Pastor and the members of LBC Mawe Tatu whom we have had the privilege to teach for almost four years now.

This church is nearing the last stage of development by commending them to the Lord on whom they believe and we have been blessed to be able to invest much time and teachings into their lives.

 Thank you for allowing us to give you a glimpse into our lives and ministry here in Kenya and now Uganda as we labor for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

God Bless,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
Kenya

90% Perspiration, 10% Inspiration & Continuing In Fellowship

Charles Spurgeon has been credited with saying at some point in his life, “Ministry is 90% perspiration and 10% Inspiration”.  

Now I am not sure what kind of perspiration Charles Spurgeon experienced in his personal ministry but I am confident that we experience this ministry formula on a regular basis as we labor here in Kenya.

None more so than when we helped Pastor Shadrach and Pastor Japheth dig and build a baptistery at the Landmark Baptist Church of Mawe Tatu this week.

For almost four years now when Pastor Shadrach wanted to baptize new converts we had to trek five or six kilometers to the river Nzoia or make multiple trips in the truck overloaded with people.

One of the benefits of working closely with our people is gaining access to their personal lives and home. Another benefit of having these close personal relationships with our folks is the ability to suggest ideas while mentoring these special men of God.

Armed with the knowledge of Pastor Shadrach’s farm and especially knowing that he has a fresh water creek running through his property year around, I suggested that we build a baptistry next to his creek so we can fill it up from the creek and then drain it after the service.

He thought it was a great idea and since it was my suggestion he let me take the lead in the construction.

Unfortunately, the lead involved digging a 10’x10’X 5’ deep hole next to a creek where the soil was pure clay and mud.

It took Japheth and I the better part of three hours to dig the hole by hand, probably a fifteen minute job with a backhoe.

I can’t remember the last time I have spent so much time on the end of a shovel but it did bring back lots of memories of the many days I spent constructing golf courses and installing irrigation in Florida.  

Many of you do not know that I was a bi-vocational Pastor who designed, constructed and managed golf courses for over twenty years. God has graciously allowed me to use many of the skills I learned in the secular/corporate golf world in our ministry here in East Africa.

And in this case it was the most rudimentary tools in my arsenal, a shovel.

                                                Foundation

Nevertheless we had a great day of constructing the new baptistry.   

I kept on telling Japheth as we were doing the dirty difficult part of digging that I felt like we were working a county job. 

He and I were doing the hard work while many others where conveniently busy doing other things. Oh well, we had a great time “breaking a sweat for Jesus” together and I can’t wait to see new converts lined up to use the new baptistry.

As people in the village would curiously come by one by one to inspect a project that they had never seen before they would say, "that is the work of an African, not a white man."

Then Japheth would bless my heart when he would politely reply that "Carlos is a resident of the village and not a visitor."

I can’t tell you how much it means to be considered a resident of the village.

It reveals something very special about the relationship with these folks which we have worked so hard to build.                     Little Helper

Along those lines, Terry continues to teach the women of the churches through monthly small group meetings. This week she taught both the women of LBC Mawe Tatu and the women of the outreach at Soysambu. It is important for the women in these Churches to be taught and mentored by faithful women so they too will one day be able to teach the younger women in the Churches for years to come.

In addition to these valuable Bible lessons they are experiencing what the Bible refers to as 'continuing in fellowship.'

It is a beautiful thing to observe the love, joy and unity that these folks find in Christ through their local New Testament Church.

Hey! It is fun being a Christian and this group of women had a blast as Terry taught them how to make tostones as well, which are becoming legendary among the Luhya tribe.

Terry and I were able to laugh as we continually hear the comments that it is a lot of work to cook tostones.                                  Cooking Class

This mentality reveals that they have never had to think about preparing anything other than the staple food they eat each and every day of their life.

Tostones are so easy to make that I can make them, peel, slice, fry, smash, fry again and add salt.

 Oh well, they are enjoying something new and I know their husbands and children are enjoying them as well.

 

In closing, we received word this week that the seeds we planted in August, 2010 during our initial survey trip to Pokot have began to grow and God has given an increase.

During that trip, which ended up being one of the hardest we have ever undertaken, we ended up in Marakwet where we saw fifty-six people profess Christ.

It was apparent that we would not be able to work in that region on a regular basis due to the difficulty of getting there, so that day we began to pray that God would use our guide Vincent to reach that area and follow up with those saved.

God has graciously answered our prayers for the Marakwet tribe as Vincent has recently baptized those whom we led to Christ and organized them into a New Testament Baptist Church.

 

We praise the Lord that He is able to take our feeble efforts and make something great out of them for His honor and glory.

We covet your continued prayers.

Generally, I put our special needs in our monthly newsletter; however I feel led to ask those who are not already supporting us to prayerfully consider partnering with us financially on a regular monthly basis to help us keep up with the significant growth we have experienced over the last few years.

It would be a great investment into the kingdom of God where you know that every dollar is going towards people coming to know Christ as  their personal Savior and New Testament Churches planted.

Fifty or hundred dollars per month goes a long way to bring the Gospel to those who have never heard.  

May God keep you and bless you.

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Kenya

 

Familiar Territory,Family of Faith & Following Christ

                      Rebecka Professed Christ

Gospel Preaching

                     

This week brought us back to the Kerio Valley to work with the Pokot tribe, Pastor Loquardo and the members of the Landmark Baptist Church of Cheposabei.

Terry and I find great peace while working in the valley and in all honesty, if we did not have so much going on at Mt. Elgon and Lake Victoria we would probably be working with the Pokot tribe each and every week. I’m not sure I have the words which can adequately describe our love for these people.

Our ministry with the Pokot started in 2010 at the village of Cheposabei.

Since that time we have organized the work at Cheposabei into a New Testament Church and it has become the center of our ministry there.

We have also reached the joining villages of: Kalas, Katuperot and Asilong with the gospel and now have many folks who are walking around five kilometers from these neighboring villages for Sunday service and a midweek Bible Study.

It is very humbling to see what God is doing in the hearts of so many in these villages.

While our love for each of these folks, whom we can refer to as our children in the faith,

 runs deep there are some that God puts on your heart in a way that you feel a little closer bond to. One of these dear men who has such a special place in our hearts is an old Pokot man named “Loboduk” from the village of Kalas.

We led Loboduk and his brother to Christ in 2010 and he has been one of the most faithful Church members in this entire area.

His Brother died within two weeks of his baptism, but we thank God for sending us to bring the gospel to him during the final days of his life.  

We are looking forward to seeing him in heaven some glad day.

With this as the back ground, Loboduk has been asking us to visit his home, his family and village for nearly two years now.  

Terry and Mama Loboduk

As we entered into the village of Kalas to visit the home of Loboduk, it was like going back in time to our early visits to Chepsobei as the breweries were running at full throttle.

Moon shine or brew has plagued these villages for generations and at least fifty percent of those whom we greeted and visited with were falling down drunk.

It is all too familiar territory.

There were many church members who came from Cheposabei to visit with us at Kalas who were able to look at the lives of these drunks in Kalas and remember where God has brought them from and delivered them from the sin of alcohol. Me too!

Our visit with Loboduk’s family went well and two of his adult sons who he has been praying for received Christ during visitation.                    Loboduk Family

 

There were also three other women who received Christ during visitation and here is the best part of all, they all came to Church the next day!            Monica New Convert

Preaching God's Word

 

Many will profess Christ and you will never see them again, but these folks are in the small minority that actually starts bearing fruit of salvation the next day.

On Sunday, we also had a Muslim named John attend service at the LBC Chepsobei who Pastor Loquardo had led to Christ on Wednesday.

                                     John Audio Bible

John gave a testimony of having true peace for the first time in his entire adult life.

Pastor said that when he led him to Christ he cried with Godly sorrow and repentance.

God gave me great liberty to preach on the light of the world on Sunday and to teach these young Christians how we should let our light so shine before men that we will glorify our Father in heaven.

Under Bushel

In closing, we had one more special visitor in Sunday service who had also walked nearly five kilometers from Kalas. She was an old blind Pokot Mama who had her four year old grandson lead her by her cane to the house of God.

What great faith, what great love and what a great privilege to work with some of the most precious Christians we have ever met.                Terry and Pokot Mama's

Terry's Gift

Terry's Clan

Please keep us in your prayers and pray that God will continue to provide for this great work that He is doing in the lives of thousands here in Kenya.  

To God be the glory, great things he hath done!

 God Bless,

 Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez

Kenya, East Africa

Pews, Let’s Go Soul Winning & Mt. Elgon Express

 Writing this journal as an overview of the past week really helps us evaluate where we are and what God is doing in our midst.  

His loving kindness, grace and mercy has blessed us each day.

Even projects that may seem insignificant as building pews to be used at the Landmark Baptist Church of Cheptandan draw us closer to our Lord and help keep us focused on why we are here and the purpose of our mission.

For me, these small building projects are something that I thoroughly enjoy because I love working with my hands, welding, drilling and assembling.

Pews Project

As I cut the wood and assembled the small pews to used under the tent, I could not help but to think of God’s precious people sitting on them, singing, praying and meeting with God.

That is a very powerful motivator.

Pews Ready

In addition to what I will classify as light construction projects, Terry was busy printing and assembling tracts and song books.

This week we visited the village of Soysambu with Pastor Japheth for evangelism.

It seems like no matter what we are going through in life and what struggles or trials we are facing, when it is time to do what God has called us and commissioned us to do, everything is reset. Using computer terminology, everything is rebooted and we are reminded of what is really important.

 It is important for us to keep first things first or as my Pastor says, “keep the main thing, the main thing”. The work at Soysambu is still in its infantile stage or what I like to refer to as stage one of Church planting.    

We were five teams of two and three people that fanned out into the village to share the love of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

At the end of the day, there were fourteen new converts who gladly received the word by trusting Christ.

Terry received a heartbreaking blessing when she visited the house of John Esaumu who was home alone with his five children, three of which were special needs. The special needs children were clinging to her and drooling on her as she shared God’s word with their father who professed Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. Terry’s visit with this precious family was a reminder that we cannot change every ones circumstances in this life but that we can lead them to the God of the universe who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

Our heart goes out to John, however we rejoice that he now has peace with God and as a child of God has direct access to His throne of grace through His son, Jesus.  

God  bless her heart and life...

What can be more important than that?

 Evangelism puts life into perspective as we are literally and spiritually standing between heaven and hell.

For me, the highlight of evangelism is definitely seeing people like Mary Juma receive Christ although there is also an ulterior motive as I have the blessed privilege of teaching other men how to do one on one evangelism.   

When invited inside someone’s home, we stay for up to an hour and teach them what the Bible says about salvation.

It is really about building a lasting relationship with that person while teaching them in the most intimate of settings, their home.

Mary Juma was so thankful for us taking time to share God’s love with her by bringing her to the saving knowledge of Jesus and she said that she has been waiting for the opportunity to come visit the new bible study and outreach she has heard so many good things about.

                                  Terry & Mama Margaret

As we visited house to house, hut to hut, I could see the men in my group gaining confidence in sharing the plan of salvation and I was especially happy to hear the verses and words they choose very carefully while sharing God’s plan. The larger picture is that while we are here to see people saved we are also here to make fishers of men that will continue the work in these villages long after Terry and I are gone.             Reading God's Word

It took three hours of the Lord’s day just getting up Mt. Elgon as the roads have been destroyed during the latest rainy season which lasts about nine months.

When we first started going up Mt. Elgon our Kenyan brethren would refer to our truck as the “Mt. Elgon Express” because they could take all day climbing the mountain by foot.

We were anything but express on Sunday but we are once again reminded of God’s grace and provision by even having a vehicle to do His bidding.

The LBC of Kipsigon is nearing the end of stage two, which means the Pastor and the members are growing in ways that clearly demonstrate maturation.

This assessment does not always revolve around the number of members present on any given day but rather on their spiritual growth through their knowledge and application of the word of God.   

We arrived unannounced only to find that Pastor David was not present, but we were thrilled when we found out that he and several men had traveled by foot around twenty kilometers to teach at a new Bible study at the village of Chemondi located at the base of Mt. Elgon.

It is my understanding that the five Churches on Mt. Elgon will rotate the teaching responsibilities each week at Chemondi.

While we were deeply involved in every phase of the Church plant at Kipsigon, this new work has been started through their own burden for yet another neighboring village.

God is good, God is real and God is moving in the hearts of our people and Churches.

Please remember to pray for this ministry and thank you for allowing us the privilege of sharing our lives with you.                         Teaching

In His Service,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
Kenya

Phil. 4:13

31st Anniversary, Hunting Hippo’s & Lake Victoria Stage 2

                                 Lake Victoria

This week we celebrated thirty one years of marriage. We thank God for bringing us together and sustaining us through the normal trials of life and faith. It has been said that marriage is a like a three ring circus, the husband has a ring, the wife has a ring but it the Lord’s ring that binds everything together. We know that with the divorce rate at over 50%, sadly even among Christians, in this day and age we are the exception to the rule to be able to love each other with a love that requires commitment and sacrifice by both parties until death do us part. There are so many great blessings that come from having one true love for one lifetime and as High School sweethearts I always seem to feel younger than I am. Growing old together and dying in each other’s arms is not just a cliché, it is God’s plan for Husband and Wife.

To celebrate, we planned a trip to a resort in Kisumu, called Kiboko Bay (Hippo Bay).

Beautiful View

For almost four years now we have been tenting and sleeping in mud huts with an occasional trip to Nairobi while doing God’s work, but for our Anniversary we figured it was time to stay in a resort for the first time. Part of our celebration included visiting our two Churches at Lake Victoria but also included hunting for Hippopotamus. During our time here we have been able to see most of the wild game Kenya has to offer, however the Hippo has eluded us even though we have made several attempts to find them during our work at Lake Victoria. Needless to say, the first thing we did was hire a guide with a boat to take us to the Hippo’s.

After about an hour of riding around the second largest lake in the world, in a boat that required constant bailing we did not believe we were going to see them. Just as I thought to myself, there is no way we were going to see the Hippo’s in the wild, a huge head surfaced from the water and there they were. It was a Mama and a baby, they were extremely hard to get close to and extremely hard to photograph because they only popped up for a second, but we had quite an adventure “hunting Hippo’s”.

Our special day ended on a high note, for as we were eating dinner the resort manager came to our table and said “you have an adult Hippo feeding just outside of your room”.

" Oh me of little faith, I am saying, sure we do," but he was right and we were able to take pictures of a wild Hippo eating grass within fifteen feet of our room. Maybe they are not so elusive after all, you just have to know where to go, lol.   

Sunday, we visited Pastor Jackson and Landmark Baptist Church of Got located at Lake Victoria.   

Mobile Church

Tent Church

Teaching

The Church is still very young and is still meeting under the tent which we provided, however the Church and the Church family has all the signs of a healthy Church. It is growing in numbers one by one as their young Pastor grows and it is clearly apparent that there is a strong fellowship within the Church based on a strong love for the Lord and for each other. Pastor Jackson is the type of man that every missionary would love to work with.  

   Pastor Jackson, Kennedy and Missionary 

Pastor's Wife & Terry

Candy Time

The day of His salvation is a day that we will never forget because we met him on a trail coming from the lake with three small fish on a stringer. After the conversion of this fisherman he started a Bible study in his home for his family and his neighbors until God called him to preach and become a fisher of men. Sound familiar? 

His growth and faithfulness inspires us as God allows us the privilege to work together with this amazing young man of God and His people (35 adults & 50 children) whom love him dearly as well.

Please pray for this precious group of God’s people who love, worship and serve their Lord and Savior faithfully. Thank you for allowing us to share our ministry and for your prayerful support.

 God Bless,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
Kenya

Phil. 4:13