Please forgive me if this journal is somewhat lengthy
however, this week was both exceptionally busy and exciting. The
week started with us traveling to the Kerio Valley with our Arkansas guests,
Pastor Clayton Hall and his son Carson to assemble new pews at the Landmark
Baptist Church at Cheposabei and village evangelism in the village of
Morweisi. The pews are one of final steps in the building process
and whatever the Pastor and Church family want to accomplish from this point on
will be done without any financial assistance from the Missionary. Benches
New Benches
Windows
We have come along side this church family to give them a solid Bible
education as well as a permanent meeting place to worship the Lord for many
years to come. Terry and I have great joy in seeing the labor of
our hearts and lives reach this place of maturity and while we glory not in our
own ability we do glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The next day we would travel deeper into the
interior to the village of Morweisi for village evangelism.
We
arrived very early and I have to believe it was God’s timing because we actually
caught several men still at home preparing to travel. You see,
most of the time when we visit these Pokot villages we only find the women at
home as the men always seem to be away with their herds or looking for food.
We saw several men receive Christ as their personal
Lord and Savior and one of them was a known killer named Asalise.
Asalise (left) Wilson (in blue) & Pastor Loquardo
New Audio Bible in Pokot Mother Tongue
One of the young evangelist from the LBC Cheposabei named Wilson Moses
who traveled with us to help us translate told us of a time when he had to lead
two Army soldiers to Morweisi to capture Asalise for killing another man.
Can I get an AMEN!
After our travels to the Kerio Valley we said goodbye and put Pastor
Clayton and Carson on a shuttle to return to the land of the free and the home of
the brave.
Tent Making
It would be back to the salt mines for
Terry and I as we fabricated, painted and prepared the new tent to be delivered
this week for the organization service at our newest Church plant at the base of
Mt. Elgon in a village named Chemondi.
Mt. Elgon
We baptized
twenty new converts and help organize this third generation Church
plant.
Baptism
Baptism Joyful Church Family
This “ekklesia” or called out assembly voted on their new
Pastor, Victor who has been trekking down from the top of Mt. Elgon for the last
three years to reach this area with the gospel.
Church Vote
These folks are
His converts and we were excited to do our part to confirm our doctrine and give
them a solid discipleship program to help move them forward in their
faith.
Prayer for new Pastor, Secretary & Treasurer
Just like in the book of Acts 2:41-47, they gladly
received the word, they were baptized and added to the Church. Our
job is to help them continue in the doctrine handed down from generation to
generation by Jesus and His apostles and to continue in fellowship and praising
God.
Chicken gifts given to Terry and Pastor Peter's wife, Sporta
Please pray for this newly organized Church
family as they covet together to keep the commands of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thank you for allowing us the privilege to share what God
in doing in this amazing Church planting movement.
My Kenya Experience, by Clayton Hall, Temple Baptist Church
My son, Carson, and I left for Kenya on July 28th. Before the trip,
I had prayed for two things: First, that God would use the experience to change
us. And second, that we would be a genuine blessing to Chuck and Terry and the
churches in Kenya. I can confidently assert that what I've witnessed and
experienced in Kenya has been a growth experience for me, and my son too, I
think. And I feel like we were a real help and encouragement to the missionaries
and the churches we visited.
I grew in my understanding of this culture and people. I suppose I
always viewed Africa as a sort of God-forsaken place. Unbearable heat, flies,
disease, and risk of ferocious animal attack. And I viewed the people as
unfortunate. This isn't true. The country is beautiful and in many ways
bountiful. The weather was splendid. And the people were some of the most
industrious, noble, and kind that I have every met. As the sun rose over the
Kenyan horizon, the streets bustled with the activity of men and women fueled
only with a cup of chai and slice of bread in their bellies to provide a meal
for their families that evening. The believers I met carried this industry into
the church. I met pastors who would walk miles and miles (or kilometers and
kilometers) to share the Gospel with neighboring villages. Who traveled a day's
journey, stayed overnight, just to meet me and my son. I heard accounts of the
villages we visited of drunkenness and violent relationships that had been
eradicated by the power of the Gospel, with those who formerly strove against
one another, now striving together in the Lord's work as members of the local
church.
And I genuinely felt like we did a good work while we were there. Or
more correctly, that we participated for 10 days in the same good work that
Chuck and Terry have been doing for 6 years. We dug, and hammered, and nailed to
get the church building up. We saw the challenges in logistics of getting
materials to these remote places. We saw the challenges of finance in the
expense to erect a church house. We saw the young children gathered in the
shadow of that new church house, and I couldn't help but hope they would find
themselves as part of that assembly someday due to the effort being made. We
experienced the physical pain of bouncing around on the very bad roads. When my
son complained about his shoulder slamming against the inside of the truck, I
thought of how Chuck and Terry have done a lot more bouncing around, and have a
lot more aches and pains to show for it.
But the greatest encouragement was the churches that have been
established. They are alive and vital. They are Scriptural. And they are on
fire. They meet with enthusiasm. They worship with fervor. They love one another
and love their brothers and sisters in Christ from the US. And they love the
lost, going out to share the Gospel with neighboring tribes, meeting under trees
to teach until the assembly grows to need a tent, and then a metal roof, and
then a complete building. They have zeal for Christ and the Great
Commission.
The seeds that Chuck and Terry have planted have taken root. They are
growing. They are spreading. And they are bearing fruit themselves. I'm blessed
to have had the opportunity to see and lend a hand to this work. My church is
blessed to support this work. And the people of Kenya have been blessed to have
been on the receiving end of this work, and will be blessed for generations to
come.
PS - Chuck and Terry were the most gracious hosts. They welcomed us into
our home. Fed us. Clothed us. And protected us. My son is still raving over Mama
Terry's lasagna (It was really good). They really set the bar for
hospitality.
Thanks,
Clayton Hall
Temple Baptist Church
Bald Knob, AR
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