Missionaries Fernandez: Construction Update & From Pastors Desk

Monday, February 16, 2015

Construction Update & From Pastors Desk

As Terry and I are in Florida praying and planning the next chapter of our lives and ministry, our Kenyan brethren continue to move forward with the building process on Mt. Elgon. With the support of our many faithful ministry partners we are able to continue to encourage them in their faith while we are in the USA by providing building funds. This is the thirteenth sanctuary we have been able to help construct and we have two more on our schedule to construct this year. Your continued support is needed and it is important to remember that this is very much a partnership in which our Kenyan brethren give special offerings as well as providing the labor to build. The pictures below are from the village of Cheptkurukuru where Pastor Alex Cheriembe and the members are glad to see a permanent roof going up as they have been meeting under a tent in heavy winds and rain over the last three years. Please continue to pray for this this young Pastor and believers as they worship and serve our Lord and Savior. Thank you for allowing us to share this journey of faith as we press towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus.

In His Service,

Bro.Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez

Continued Building....in 2015

From The Desk of Pastor Tim Johnson,
Dean Springs Missionary Baptist Church, Alma Arkansas

My three week experience with Missionary Chuck Fernandez in Kenya. We visited each of the three regions of their ministry here, worshiped with several of the churches that have been established, and hosted a seminar for the sixteen pastors and several other preachers. Given so much that has happened, I decided to share some of the general observations I've noticed rather than taking volumes to share all the details.

As I enjoyed attending the building dedication service at Ndivisi I noticed how smoothly everything went even with hundreds of visitors attending the service. Everyone was greeted with refreshments and the services went very smoothly with Pastor Peter and the deacons of the church handling all the details in a way that only someone paying attention to those things would ever notice. This speaks not only of their attention to details in the Lord's work but the training they have received from Missionary Chuck because you don't have to be in Kenya long to recognize that is not the way most things work.

Another thing I noticed as I had the privilege of teaching at the seminar was the desire the men of God here have to learn from God's Word. They paid close attention through many hours of teaching. They asked questions that showed a great depth of understanding even though some had only been saved a few years. They have a great burden to see souls saved and to lead their churches in the right way and they are willing to sacrifice to do it.

The last bit I'll share deals with the relationships I've seen here. First, there is a great spirit among the pastors. During the breaks at the seminar I saw that as different groups gathered and fellowshipped, it wasn't always the same people in each group. Because they have all been involved in outreaches at each others' churches, they are all invested in each other and it shows. The other relationships that are very apparent are the ones that Bro. Chuck and Sis. Terry have with the people here in Kenya. It's not surprising that the pastors and churches they work with love them greatly. Each one expressed their thankfulness for this couple who had come to share the Gospel with them. What was a little more surprising to me were the relationships they had with basically everyone else. Ben (the taxi driver), a worker at the bank, Sebastian (the man who builds the trusses for the churches), and just about every shopkeeper we met wanted to know how Mamma Teresa was doing. The impact they've had and their testimony for the Lord is extraordinary and I'm confident that it will continue through the work of those churches until the Lord returns.

I was asked by many of the pastors to share their thanks with the churches and individuals who have helped with the work of the Lord in Kenya. I'll echo their sentiment and thank you for your continued support of this work and the Fernandez's continuing ministry for Christ.

In Christ,
Timothy Johnson
Pastor, Dean Springs Missionary Baptist Church
Alma, AR