The 'Joy' of the Lord IS our strength!

Fingerprints, Quality Control & The Test

There are many tasks involved in foreign mission work that could easily be overlooked and are not quit as exciting or rewarding as evangelism, discipleship and church planting. But nevertheless, items such as renewing our work permit/visa and alien registration are just as important.   For without a valid work permit you are an illegal alien in a foreign land.

Now I do not want to get political here, but speaking from the stand point of an alien resident in a foreign country, I get somewhat disturbed by the laxity of the USA with regard to enforcing the immigration laws of the land.   As good Christians should, we have complied with the letter of the law to be legal residents of Kenya.  But for some reason our great country has the tendency to reward illegal aliens which I believe only promotes lawlessness.  Ok, I am climbing down from the soap box but this week we were fingerprinted by the immigration office as the final step of our approved work permit/visa. 

What all this means is that as long as we obey the laws of the land and fulfill our job description we are welcome to remain in Kenya for the next three years as foreign Missionaries.

 This is great news as we just received this email from the US embassy with regard to work visa’s:  “U.S. citizens who are living, working, or visiting Kenya MUST have a valid visa or work permit to stay in Kenya.  If you do not have a valid visa or work permit, you risk serious consequences to include detention, deportation, fines, and possible imprisonment.  Kenyan immigration officials have been conducting random sweeps of businesses in Nairobi and detaining foreigners found to be in violation of their visa status”.

In addition to renewing our work permit, we were able to help the Landmark Baptist Church of Soysambu put the tin roof on the new sanctuary.

Pastor Japeth and the members of LBC Soysambu really struggled with lining up the tin roofing material due to poor quality control.  

The material was the same brand but did not line up at all.   Somehow they managed to make it work but not without significant effort on their part.

For a church that has been meeting under a tent for the last two years, this was a huge step.   You could see the joy on their faces and hear the excitement in their voices as they see God blessing them through answered prayers.  We look forward to worshiping with them next week under the new roof.   This Lord ’s Day we worshiped at the Landmark Baptist Church of Namarambi which is located at the base of Mt. Elgon.
                                    Pastor Daniel Preaching 

As we rotate among the twelve churches we have help plant and organize over the last five years there is a blessing in knowing that we are following a scriptural church planting method established by Jesus himself and continued by His Apostles.   The missionary handbook we are following is found within the inspired pages of the New Testament.  As we continue to plant and water seeds we are seeing God give the increase through the lives of each church member and the development of it’s leaders.   It has been said that test of all teaching is practice and the test of all organizations is naturalness and permanence.  Pastor Daniel and the members of the LBC at Namarambi are exhibiting huge steps of growth in all three of these areas. 

                                     Terry Listening

We have been taught that the Missionary is the least permanent part of the work and it does our hearts good to see this mature Church family in unity as they worship and serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord’s.    I am not saying our work with LBC Namarambi is complete but I am saying that the more mature the Church, it’s leaders and member are, the less the Missionary needs to be involved.   Thank you for your prayers with regard to Terry’s health and please continue to pray for her as she is still suffering a bit from something intestinal.  If she is not better in the next day or so she will be going to the Doctor.    We thank God that we have access to one of the finest West German trained Kenyan Doctors here in Eldoret as well as all necessary meds.  

God Speed,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
Kenya

Phil. 4:13

Running From God, Man Down part II & Mt. Elgon Express

Teaching & Students

Where did the week go?

 I am sure that many of you traveling this journey of faith together with us could echo those same sentiments.  

 In any case, the Word of God reaffirms what we already know in our hearts with regard to the brevity of life.

James_4:14  "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.

For what is your life?

 It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. "

This week we managed to install purlins atop the new sanctuary at Landmark Baptist Church of Soysambu. 

 The next step will be the tin roofing.  As we worked alongside Pastor Japheth, one of His members came up to me and said, “Our Pastor really loves to build God’s house.”
                                         Pastor Japheth and wife, Nancy 

What a compliment and what a contrast to the first time we met Pastor Japheth in His village near the River Nzoia.        Pastor Japheth

Truss Work Crew

Pastor Japheth’s testimony could best be described as a man running from God.

He had exposure to religion through Catholicism while traveling Kenya building bridges and buildings.  He was a professed Catholic of forty years but did not attend mass and was known as the village drunkard. 

During our first evangelistic crusades into His village in 2009 he would spot us coming from afar and literally run out the back door of His home.   It would take two more visits to His house in order to catch him and it would be during one of those visits he would stop running from God and accepted Christ as His personal Lord and Savior. 

He then followed Jesus in scriptural baptism and became a faithful member at the Landmark Baptist Church of Mawe Tatu where he would serve under Pastor Shadrach and ultimately surrender to God’s call on His life. 

 Pastor Japheth is somewhere in his early sixties but is one of the best students we have seen God call to preach in our work.  He speaks six or seven languages but most importantly he is a great Bible student and Teacher. 

Pastor Japheth is also a man that brings a diverse background in construction and is the one we depend on for a significant part of our construction planning.  He and wife, Nancy, are working diligently to reach the people of Soysambu with the good news of the gospel and make solid disciples of their converts.

Please pray for them as we labor together. 

Sometime during construction, Terry injured her leg by pulling a muscle and has been in much pain this week.

What we do has become such common place that there are times when I believe we, or maybe I should say, “I”, take the hazards of it all too lightly.   Our working conditions are often on steep, rocky terrain and injuries like this one brings one back to the reality that this work is tough and not for sissies or maybe I should say, not for old people. 

Good thing we are young and only have four grandchildren with one on the way. LOL.  

In addition to the injury, Terry suffered from intestinal issues but yet somehow manage the fortitude to travel up Mt.Elgon for Sunday service.                                           Mt. Elgon

Terry & Mama

It is dry season now on Mt. Elgon, at least until next month, but that did not make the trip up the steep rocky trail of a road any easier.   

 This trip afforded us the opportunity to visit with seven of the thirteen Pastors in our work, all at one time.    Pastors

We enjoyed a full day of worship with our Mountain Maasi brethren at the Landmark Baptist Church of Kipsigon.   Each time we visit these mountain churches our hearts and minds are drawn back to our initial visits in 2009 after tribal clashes that left over twelve hundred dead in this area of Mt. Elgon.   

We made so many evangelistic journeys up the mountain during those early years that our truck became known as the “Mt. Elgon Express”. 

The Spirit was sweet during the worship service but possibly the most moving moment came at the end of the service when the entire Church family prayed over a mentally ill man. 

The prayer was so powerful and you could see the love and burden they have for this man.  

Thank you for your love, prayers and support .  

In His Service,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
Mt. Elgon, Kenya

Roofing, Hippos & Abiding Fruit

  
They say, “Time flies when you are having fun”, I will add to that old adage and say that “Time flies when you busy, busy, busy serving the Lord”.   As I look back at the week and all that was accomplished I can only thank and praise the Lord more for His grace is great upon us enabling us to do His work.     He continues to provide us with strength through His power and presence as well as clear direction and vision for our ministry.  We desperately want to please the Lord and we want with all of hearts to see Him glorified in our lives as well as in the lives of the precious people that we work with. Another construction milestone was reached this week at the Landmark Baptist Church of Ndivisi, which is located at the base of Mt. Elgon where we installed the tin roof. 

One Side

Work Crew

This step is always so exciting because the church family can start meeting in the unfinished sanctuary as they continue to work.   It may take some time to bring the sanctuary to final completion but this is a major step forward.  

In addition to roofing, there is much fabrication that is taking place behind the scenes. 

We were able to travel to Lake Victoria this week and reconnect with our two Lakeside church plants at the fishing town called Wichlum and the village of GOT which means mountain in the Lou tribal language.                                                        Hippo

The first day we spent in fellowship with Pastor Jackson and a handful of members of the Landmark Baptist Church of GOT.

Preaching

Pastor Jackson & Wife

New Bibles

Bibles

Pastor Jackson is the fisherman we led to Christ a little over three years ago who immediately started a Bible study in His house with around nine of His neighbors we also brought to Christ.   God subsequently called him to preach and ultimately he returned to His village to start a Church.  He is one of the least educated men we are working with but may have one of the biggest hearts for God.   We are helping Jackson advance in His studies with each passing year and he is maturing in His ability to rightly divide the word.   It is such a blessing for us to watch God working in His life as he stays faithful to His calling and has developed into a very strong leader who loves the Lord and His people.   Jackson represents what I believe every Pastor, Missionary and Mature Christian longs in their heart to leave behind, fruit that remains and abides in Christ.   A day of fellowship here in Kenya is generally a day of worship as we sang praises, lifted prayers and had several teaching sessions for the small group that attended.   Pastor Jackson and His people were excited to hear that we intend to start the building process at both Churches in the coming month.  

This Lord ’s Day we traveled to the Landmark Baptist Church of Wichlum which is located on the water’s edge of Lake Victoria.   Wichlum is a very rough fishing town that is plagued with alcoholism, drug use and prostitution.           Neighbors

 However, Pastor George and the members of the LBC Wichlum have stood strong as a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ and God has blessed the Church with what might be the best plot in the entire town.

God has so burdened me for this town as we started our evangelistic efforts back in 2010.    My prayer was that He would help us plant a lighthouse in the middle of the town and strategically place the sanctuary in the center of everything to raise up a standard and to give people hope through the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior.    While on deputation we help the Church purchase the plot sight unseen by us until Sunday.    When I saw the plot God provided through the sacrificial love offerings of our brethren in the USA I almost cried as it was exactly what I wanted and had envisioned as the perfect location. 

Minnows

                   

You cannot tell from the pictures but it is located on the Lakeside in the middle of town and all fishing activity.   That means that every boat and every fisherman along with his family will have the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus lifted up in prayer, praise and preaching.   God does hear our hearts prayer and He does answer according to His perfect will.   Oh, how I wish everyone could experience worship on the lakeside as the pages of the New Testament spring to life watching these folks make a living fishing, mending nets and sailing handmade wooden boats.

The number of members was down from when we left last year and it is sad to say but many are waiting for a permanent building to be constructed.  While we know and teach that the Church is the people, meeting under a tent for a prolonged period of time here in Kenya has a negative connotation associated with poor people. 

In any case, they have been faithful for several years now and we are so excited about coming along side of them to build a permanent sanctuary with the perfect location.   Please remember us and our Churches in your prayers as we trust God for His provision and protection.

God Speed,

 Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez

Kenya

Build Ye the Sanctuary of the Lord and the Beauty of It All

Build ye the sanctuary of the Lord could easily be the theme of this season of ministry as we  strive to accomplish that which God put in our hearts.    This week we were able to hang the trusses at Landmark Baptist Church at Soysambu which brings us one step closer to a permanent sanctuary for God precious people to meet in.   The men of the church were amazed how everything went together like a giant erector set.  With the exception of Pastor Japheth and Pastor Shadrach most of the men had never worked with steel.

Pastor Japheth

There was a short Bible lesson in all of this construction with regard to counting the cost and preparation which Jesus taught his disciples.

Luke_14:28  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 

I explained to them that behind the scenes there is a lot of planning, purchasing, fabricating and a lot of prayer and giving to get to this point.    With that said, we had a great day of fellowship as we labored together for our Lord and Savior.   We enjoy worship services with our Churches but working side by side affords us a unique opportunity to see and know the hearts of our people on a very intimate level.   

This Lord ’s Day we worshiped with the Landmark Baptist Church of Mayanja which is located at the base of Mt. Elgon.   The spirit was sweet and it was great to reconnect with the Church family that has such a special place in our hearts.    We left the worship service with our cups running over as we experience the beauty of it all.

                                             The Beauty of It All

It is easy to get caught up in the task at hand of the ministry as Martha experienced in Luke 10:40 which says that she was cumbered about with much serving.  However, there are times when God’s presence overcomes the tasks involved in service to reveal His great love and grace.    As we worshiped together on Sunday with this group of scripturally baptized believers we could clearly see the beauty of it all.

There was the beauty of God’s people singing praises unto the Lord.  There was the beauty of God’s people hungry for God’s word and the love for Jesus as well as each other.    There was also the beauty of this Church governing it own affairs as they baptize, received members and actually elected a new Pastor from within the men we have trained up. Their former Pastor resigned to start another Church while we were in the USA.

It all indicates a healthy Church family that is obedient to the commands of our Savior and recognizes that all authority of the Church is in Him alone.   In closing, there was the beauty of them showering Terry with gifts at the end of the service.   This is not customary with every Church but for some reason LBC Mayanja has such a special place in their hearts for my dear wife that they want to express that great love for her.   She received a nice laying hen, eggs, bananas and matches.

It seems they have remembered the words of the Lord Jesus who taught His disciples that it is better to give than receive.   Please keep us in your prayers as we press towards the mark of the high calling.    Thank you for the privilege of allowing us to share this journey of faith with you as we try to follow the church planting formula clearly found within the pages of the New Testament. 

God Bless,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez

Kenya

Romans 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing,
                                          and hearing by the Word of God.