2018 Year End Report: Breaking Down Walls & Setting Captives Free

                                                                 Opening Up Parking Lot

2018 has been another year of building as we continued growing spiritually and numerically.  To facilitate the numerical growth we cleared the lot next to the building we are currently renting to increase our parking lot size.   The parking lot is the first impression and when first time visitors cannot find a place to park they don't feel very welcome.   We are thankful our Landlord allowed us to use the neighboring lot at no additional charge.   It has already been a blessing for special events. 

 

                                                                     BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS                  

While the parking lot expansion was timely, I can't say the same thing about the sanctuary expansion.    We have proven the well known Church growth principle to be true that states the following:  when you reach 85% capacity, you need to enlarge your building or you will return back to the 70%-75% level.    That is exactly what we experienced this year at The Florida Plant and I can sadly say that our recent renovations were about six month's too late.   Nevertheless, knocking out two walls, building a platform, adding 24 seats and adding a Baby Grand piano has been a welcome change to our faithful members as well as first time visitors.   Hey, nobody said we had it all together but we do learn some of our best lessons from experience.   As you can see from the (below) pic, the welcome expansion has also made our building feel more like a sanctuary.      

                                      (Above) Completed Platform with new Baby Grand Piano

SETTING CAPTIVES FREE!

My prayer is that you will become very familiar with the young man in the above pics.  His name is Ryan Smith and he is one of the men I have been discipling at Cross City Correctional Institute over the last few years.    It has been a real joy to watch this young man grow in his faith and answer the call of God on His life to preach God's Word.   He has been out of prison for four month's now and He is eagerly working through an intense Missionary Baptist training program.    Ryan believes God is calling Him to preach God's Word in and through our Prison Ministry.   Due to travel restrictions as a result of the conditions of His release, he is somewhat limited but we are traveling to him on a regular basis and he is attending two classes per week via Skype.   Last week he actually preached his first sermon since His release to the folks at our Church plant via Skype.  (Pictured Below).    My hope and confidence is in the Lord but it's a blessed privilege and honor to train up new Men of God.    I have seen a passion and love for Christ in Ryan that seems to be very rare in America but we have seen in the lives of the Men of God we have trained in Kenya and Uganda.   Please pray for Ryan as he fulfills his calling. 

(RYAN SMITH PREACHING HIS FIRST SERMON SINCE HIS RELEASE)

BEARING MUCH FRUIT

The Prison Ministry is not the only area of our ministry which is bearing much fruit.   Our youth ministry is also one of the most fruitful areas of ministry.   I often say, "if we cannot reach anyone else in America in 2018,  WE WILL REACH KIDS!"  Many say you cannot build a Church on youth but we believe God blesses those will love and bring children to Christ and consequently blesses the Church.   This is where having a Wife with a servants heart becomes a great blessing and asset to this Missionary.   Terry helps me run van routes, helps me schedule and train workers and is personally involved in discipling a handful of children at a time.    Don't worry, LOL, She's not a Youth Pastor, but she is one of the best youth workers I have ever known is better equipped than many Youth Pastors that have worked under my leadership over the years.    We have seen great growth and literal life changing transformation taking place in the lives of many of these youth.   Please pray for us as we need another van to start another route next year.  If your Church has one sitting and want to get rid of it, email me at missionaryfernandez@gmail.com.  

 

In order to facilitate continued growth in 2019 we are going to have to pray for God's provision and direction with regard to a larger facility for worship, education and fellowship.  (Note: Removing the wall took out two of only four classrooms we have).   We need your continued prayers and support as we press towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus.    We have seen twenty seven professions of faith during the course of 2018 through various ministries and outreaches.  Twelve of them have followed Christ in scriptural baptism and are we are continuing the discipleship process of many.   137 was our record high in attendance for a special promotional event we held in November.  We could not do all that we are doing without a group of faithful servants who come alongside Terry and I to fulfill the Great Commission.  God's grace has been great upon us and we thank Him for our ministry partners who are faithfully holding the rope.  Thank you for allowing us to share what God has done in 2018.  We pray you have a Happy and Blessed New Year.

 

 

 In His Service,

Bro. Chuck & Sis Terry Fernandez

Kenya/Uganda/Florida Plant

 

 

Witch Doctor Uprising, The Devil Tried to Kill Me & The Attacks Keep Coming

 WITCH DOCTORS UPRISING

We have encountered many Witch Doctors while working in Kenya over the years and actually seen some turn from their witchcraft and profess Jesus Christ. The first problems we encountered with Witch Doctors would be in the Pokot village of Cheposebei, which is located deep in the Kerio Valley.   After leading the majority of the village elders to Christ as well as the village Chief, the village Witch Doctor saw the control and bondage he had over Cheposebei beginning to slip away.   Consequently, he brought in five thugs to beat newly converted women who had been gathering together to listen to solar audio Bibles we had provided.   It was an effort to get them to renounce their new faith in Christ.   The Lord would intervene through the village Chief who would declare Chespabei a "Christian" village and would have the Witch Doctor and thugs arrested.    Little did we know that nearly eight years later the Pokot Witch Doctors, many who had been run out of their villages due to the introduction of the Christian faith would band together to force many to renounce their faith in Christ.  

 

We have always known that attacks would come upon the Churches we help establish but never knew what form they would come in.   The reports we have received indicate that the Witch Doctors banded together and went village to village forcing people to drink the blood of a bull and renounce their faith.    Those who refused were beaten with rods and had their mouths forced open with a stick while they poured the blood down their throat.   (Sorry for the graphic details but how else will you know the persecution they have suffered?)  Many endured this fate and many others fled to the neighboring part of the Kerio Valley on the Ugandan side where they regularly travel to graze their animals.    I am happy to report that three quarters of our Landmark Baptist Churches stood against the Witch Doctors and drove them out.  Not only did they quote 1 Cor. 10:21 but they literally put into practice. "1 Corn. 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and the table of devils....As of today, things have settled down and life seems to be getting back to normal for our Pokut brethren. How would your faith fare under this type of persecution???

The Devil Tried to Kill Me

 

 During the Witch Doctor Uprising, Pastor Timothy Loquardo (pic above with Terry) was forced to evacuate his family to Western Kenya.  While doing so he was run off the road and seriously injured on His motorcycle. He would spend a week in an Eldoret hospital and then another month of recovery before he could return to His Church in the valley.   Loquardo is truly a great man of God who has planted ten Churches on the Kenyan and Ugandan side of the Kerio Valley and is currently working in over a dozen more villages doing evangelism and organizing Bible studies.   When I talked to Him via phone from the hospital he said, "Missionary, The Devil tried to kill me".     I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that statement but we do know that the Bibles teaches that the devil goes about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour and comes to kill, steal and destroy.   Since Loquardo's accident and subsequent recovery we have helped him purchase a new motorcycle and he is back on the road preaching the gospel.   Praise the Lord for helmets and healing.  

Attacks from Within and Without

The attacks just keep coming.  Not only have we experienced attacks on our Churches and brethen from without as aforementioned.  But let me remind you we have had three Churches burned down on Mt. Elgon along with five of our Pastors homes destroyed this year.  Additionally we have seen Church members murdered on Mt. Elgon.   

 

As tragic as those horrific events are, we have also had to withstand some of the most painful attacks which have come from within.   We always knew in our hearts that the Churches Terry and I helped establish and organize in Kenya and Uganda  would come under attack. We fully expected attacks and prepared our Churches that these attacks would come from other false religions who would follow our footsteps.  But we never imagined we would have to defend our works from Churches of like faith who have tried to take advantage of the hard work Terry and I did during our time in country.   Not only would they try to capitalize on some of the pioneering we had done in the Kerio Valley, but there has been outright efforts to steal away some of the Churches from our fellowship.   We thank God that with the exception of a couple, they have withstood the attacks and have remained firm in the doctrinal foundation and fellowship we helped establish.   And then there is the political hit jobs that seem to be sadly prevalent in every associated work.   While I won't go into the dirty details, I will say that Terry and I have been the target of personal slander and jealousy from within our own Missionary Baptist Ranks.   We personally have never paid much attention to the political wrangling and positioning that takes place because we have been busy about our Father's business.  However we have been forced to stand in opposition when the weak in faith attack our integrity and character.   It has not been a pleasant experience but want our ministry partners to better understand how to pray for us.   Please pray that God will use these times of tribulation to make us more like Jesus and to be glorified in all what we do and experience.  

Thank you for your prayerful support and thank you for allowing us to give you a glimpse into our journey of faith.

In His Service,

Bro. Chuck & Sis Terry Fernandez, Kenya/Uganda/Florida Plant

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93,000 J & R, Highways, Hedges & VBS

93,000 SWAHILI JOHN & ROMANS

93,000 is the number of Swahili John and Romans Eastern Ave. Baptist Church assembled last month for distribution in East Africa.   Pastor Jim Callen invited Terry and I to celebrate this monumental day and update them on the ministry work we are doing in Kenya and Uganda.  Additionally, they wanted someone who could read and speak Swahili to them so they would know what the verses within the pages sound like.   We were also able to give them firsthand accounts of using these scriptures in over fifty villages over the last ten years and seeing hundreds saved from this very important tool in the hands of our evangelists.    It does our hearts good to be able to visit Churches that partner with us to reach the lost in Kenya/Uganda & Florida and we are thankful they are willing to invest "sweat equity" into the lives of thousands.   We also look forward to getting a small portion of these very John & Romans into the hands of our Evangelists on Mt. Elgon, the Kerio Valley and Lake Victoria during our upcoming trip.   Rom. 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  

DEPUTATIONS & MEETINGS

 The perpetual cycle of deputation, revivals, mission conferences as well as state and national meetings which started in 2006 is alive and well in 2018.    The Lord continues to bless our efforts as we maintain ministries in three countries on two different continents.  We have always believed that God has individuals and local Churches he has prepared and ordained to partner with us to fulfill His Great Commission work to the uttermost parts of the earth.    These relationships go well beyond the support check, and after many years have developed into friendships and bonds in Christ that run deep.     We know they are also "holding the rope" of prayer and encouragement while Terry and I are in the well digging and we have confidence that we can depend on them in time of need.   We have never played political games for favor and while we gladly associate with American Baptist Association, we trust in the Lord to provide.  He has never let us down and we thank and praise Him for the ability and opportunity to go in His name.  Hudson Taylor once said, "God's work done God's way will never lack God's supply".    With that said, we like all Missionaries have to replace and renew supporters who come and go through the process of normal attrition.     Would you consider partnering with us as we labor in Kenya/Uganda and Florida for the glory of God?    We pray as if it all depends on God and work as if it all depends on us.   We will connect you to people and places that you can only imagine or have seen on National Geographic as we obey God's will in soul winning, discipleship and Church planting.   Please pray for us brethren and consider us when looking for hardworking missionaries to support.

This Picture above is the Thompson family which is part of our ministry team and part of the key to our success.  We love them in Christ and as you can see from the picture we always look forward to seeing them in person.

They are such a blessing and encouragement to us. 

 Van # 3 Arrives  "Bring Them In!"

We purchased van #3 last month with the help of our ministry partners who see the need and carry the burden we carry to bring them in from the fields of sin.    Our ministry philosophy is simple; reach anybody and everybody, everywhere but we particularly have a burden to reach the children while their hearts are tender and open to the Lord. Remember that 85% of all who trust Christ generally do so before the age of 18.   The critics and doubters say there is nobody who wants to come to Church anymore in this Laodecian age we live in but we have found that God blesses those who will invest their time and efforts into bringing Children to Christ.   While there is also no magic formula for Church growth, God gives the increase in ways and avenues that we could not see or predict when we are faithful to bring the children in from the fields of sin.  The addition of a third van route will push our Florida Plant building capacity, however we know God will make a way

for a larger building in His time.   

 Some would gather roses across this path of life

And some would gather money and rest from worldly strife
But I would gather children from across the field of Sin
For I would seek a golden curl or a freckled toothless grin
For Money cannot enter in that land of endless day
And roses that are gathered soon will wilt away
For oh the laughing children as i  cross the sunset sea
and  the  gates of heaven swing open wide I can take them in with me.

  HIGHWAYS AND HEDGES MINISTRY

As you can see from the below pictures, Terry and I continue to take the Great Commission literally and we particularly love the story Jesus tells in Luke 14 when the Lord tells the servant to go out into the highways and hedges and compel to come to the great supper that His house might be filled.   Getting out into the community on a regular basis creates many opportunities for us to share the gospel and build relationships that cannot be built otherwise.   It does not matter if it is a village on Mt. Elgon or in the Kerio Valley, it does not matter if it is the Pokot tribe or a neighborhood on the West Coast of Florida, people need the Lord and we intend to tell them of the hope of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ.    

 VBS 2018

Last month we held our second annual Vacation Bible School at the Florida Church plant.  We certainly missed our brethren from Oakland MBC, Rusk, Texas who came down last year to help us with our first VBS, but the training wheels came off and our people pulled together to do a great job.    We had a dozen visitors but most of the children are regular attendees and have made professions of faith over the last couple of years.  So while VBS is often a great outreach for the church, this year seemed to be more of a continued discipleship program.  

 As you can see from the below picture,  we make every effort to ground these children in the Word of God by giving them their own KJV Bible.  We thank our ministry partners at Rose Lawn MBC for providing us with these Bibles to give out freely.   What greater gift can you give a child?   Rom.10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 Last but not least, the Florida Plant baptismal pool waters continue to be stirred on a regular basis as we bring folks to the saving knowledge of Christ and start the discipleship process.   Our baptismal pool is not as nice as the average MBC, but its a far cry better than the mud holes we have baptized converts in Kenya and Uganda.   We praise the Lord for those saved and following Jesus in scriptural baptism.  

Thank you for your prayerful support and thank you for allowing us to give you a glimpse

into our journey of faith.

 

In His Service,

Bro. Chuck & Sis Terry Fernandez

Kenya/Uganda/Florida Plant

 





87 Profess Christ, Buildings and Bibles Going Up and Getting Out

81 Profess Christ at theVillages of Chemtias and Chelekei on Mt. Elgan

 

Our Kenyan Pastors on Mt. Elgon continue to reach out to the neighboring villages of Chemtais and Chelekei by delivering the good news of the gospel house to house.  Over the last month, they have seen thirty one villagers receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior in these villages.  We praise the Lord for every new convert on Mt. Elgon but cannot overemphasis the difficulty of reaching these villages on the steep, muddy and rocky slopes of Mt. Elgon at over ten thousand feet above sea level.  Its also important to  mention the countless people who have heard the gospel and had seeds planted and watered in their hearts for future growth.     

1Cor. 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.



56 Received Christ in the Ugandan Side of the Kerio Valley

While our Mt. Elgon Pastors are reaching the lost on the mountain, our Pastors, Preachers and Evangelists in the Kerio Valley are pushing deeper and deeper into Uganda with the good news of the gospel.   Fifty six received Christ over the last two weeks in the villages of Kakoron, Iwakai, Kaptarini, Swam, Iwakai and Kaptarini, Uganda.   Among them were three Muslims named Shaban, Musa and Nafula. 

Rom. 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The Picture above is a young man in the Ugandan Army who received Christ and a new solar powered audio  Bible in the Pokot language.



Also, saved during these recent evangelism efforts in Karamojo was a man named Abraham (Above) who was about to commit suicide.  When our Evangelists arrived he had sold his sheep and stayed away from his home while taking alcohol for two days.  We thank God for saving him and giving peace for His troubled soul.  During these evangelistic campaigns, dozens have followed Christ in scriptural baptism.  (Below)





If your counting, that is eight villages reached within a two week period in Kenya and Uganda through intense evangelism efforts to reach the lost.   My Pastor, Dr. Tim Myers regularly says that he knows of no other place in the world at this time where these kinds of efforts are being made to reach the lost as well as seeing God giving the increase with people being saved.   If you want to see the book of Acts being replicated in many ways, just look at what God is doing through our Landmark Baptist Churches on Mt. Elgon, Lake Victoria and the Kerio Valley.   Their obedience, dedication and passion for Christ is amazing, inspiring and challenging.  To God be the glory!

The picture above is a blind Mama who is receiving her solar audio Bible from Pastors wife Sarah.  We think of the many who are blessed by these audio Bibles because they cannot read but there are also many old blind men and women in the Kerio Valley who have had their eyes scorched by the hot sun and cannot see.  These audio Bibles are especially important to them as well.   

Testimony:

Through the audio Bible, Teresa is changed, we see her witnessing the gospel to others about Christ. She has been an example like the Samaritan women who meet with Jesus at the well.

 

Landmark Baptist Church Chesokwo

 

Last Month I posted Pictures (Below) are of the survey and plot purchase for the new sanctuary of the Landmark Baptist Church at Chesokwo in the foggy freezing fog at over ten thousand feet above sea level.

Since then, our faithful ministry partners at 1st Baptist Church of Kingstowne, led by Pastor John Mix have provided the necessary building materials needed to build a permanent sanctuary for the Landmark Baptist Church at Chesokwo.   The below pictures are of the poles and trusses delivered and installed as well as the wood and tin for the purlins and roofing.   This is also the third sanctuary that FBC Kingstowne has partnered with us to build in Kenya.   We have a dozen more in need, would you consider this great blessing to them and your people???  Phip. 4:17  Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

 

 

 

5 Pastors Houses Rebuilt

Also, since our last report,  all five Pastors whose home were destroyed in the recent violence have completed the rebuilding of their houses.   (Below) Pastor Alex Cheriembe and His family from the Landmark Baptist Church at Cheptkurukuru on Mt. Elgon.  Thank you to all those who help these Men of God rebuild their homes.  Hope to get pictures of the other three Pastors and Houses but they are located in very remote regions of the mountain.  

 

Two Sanctuaries Rebuilt after Violence

The Pictures below are the rebuilt Landmark Baptist Church located at the village of Cheptkurukuru.  By God's grace and through our faithful ministry partners  we have also rebuilt the sanctuary at the Landmark Baptist Church at Cheptandan.  The last Church which will need to be rebuilt is the Landmark Baptist Church at Chemta.  Everything was stolen at Chemta including the steel poles and trusses, wood and tin sheeting.   The approximate cost to replace all of this is $4000.00.   Please contact me if your Church is interested in adopting this sanctuary to help our Mt. Elgon brethren rebuild their sanctuary.  

 

 

Terry and I thank God for each and every ministry partner who faithfully pray for us and financially support the work of the Lord in Kenya, Uganda and Florida.   We cannot do all that we do for the glory of God without you!

 

 

In His Service,

Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez
Kenya/Uganda/Florida Plant