I’m pressing on the upward way, New heights I’m gaining every day; Still
praying as I’m onward bound, “Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”Lord, lift
me up and let me stand,
By faith, on Heaven’s tableland, A higher plane than
I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."This great hymn could easily be a motivating anthem for the Christian life and it lends itself to bringing to mind the work that continues to take place on Mt. Elgon. Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ are pressing forward on literal higher ground at the Church we help plant in the village of Chemta. Pastor Robin and the members of the Landmark Baptist Church at Chemta have been faithfully meeting under a tent on a borrowed plot for the last three years. This is one of the many milestones they have meet that compels us to continue to partner with them to encourage them to grow as a Church family in their faith. To that end, this week we sent an offering of a thousand dollars for them to purchase a plot and to start the building process.
Struggling to Arrive at Chemta for Survey and Plot Purchase...Alex Pushing!
Church Family
Pastor Robin Pointing at Newly Purchased Plot on Mt. Elgon
We continue to live and build by
faith and trust God for the necessary provision to see a permanent building over
the heads of this precious group of believers who live on one of the coldest and
wettest mountains in Kenya. In addition to the plot purchase on
Mt. Elgon we also purchased steel for the welders and fabricators to start
building trusses at the Landmark Baptist Church at Namarambi.
This brings our goal of constructing three new sanctuaries this year into
reach with the continued help of our faithful ministry partners.
Last year our goal was to build five and we had many
ministry partners adopt a Kenyan Church to construct and all five have been
completed by the grace of God. We will continue to promote and
support this worthy work that God is doing as they are pressing on the upward
way. On the Florida Church planting side, we
continue to move forward with the team God has prepared for such a time as
this. We have our first big outreach on April 26th as
we are inviting anyone and everyone to come and help us celebrate our official
“Launch Out” day. Until then we are developing and nurturing a
spirit of unity and harmony within our team so that we are all in one accord as
we move forward for the glory of God. God has taught me over the
years that having a team motivated by their love for Christ all working together
towards one goal can be a powerful instrument in the hands of our God.
Additionally, this start up time is vital to making sure we are all on
the same page doctrinally. During our Sunday bible study
entitled, “What we believe and Why we believe it”, we have taught
Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Soteriology, Bibliology and Theology which means we
are covering the main doctrines of the bible. If this sounds like a
lot it is important to keep in mind that this is the same educational pattern we
have used to teach our Kenyan and Ugandan converts. If history
repeats itself, these in depth studies generally produce solid Christians in
both faith and practice who will glorify our father in heaven until Christ
returns. Our average attendance during the month of March was
twenty seven and first time visitors are starting to trickle in. Palm Sunday
Easter Sunday
Destruction Work
I
keep reminding our folks that this is a long term work and while we will monitor
our progress by reaching measurable milestones set along the way it is a work
that will best be measured over the years and generations to come.
So we continue to plod and plow both here in American and East
Africa. In closing, on the more
practical side, we tore out two offices to make more room for what we hope will
be a big day on our “Launch Out” day and for future growth. I read
somewhere that Churches do not grow because they do not make plans for
growth.
We are making plans and room. Sometime
during the week we also had pipe burst and flood much of the building.
It was a mess to clean up but it is an old building and before I start
complaining I am reminded that none of our Churches in Kenya or Uganda have
running water, helps keep things in perspective. Thank You for
allowing us to share this continued journey of faith.
Kenya/Uganda/Florida Plant
