December 10, 2023

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,

Julie and I are both currently on break from teaching duties as our students have all returned home for the Christmas break. This makes me say “boo” and “yea” at the same time. “Boo,” because I enjoy teaching and helping students to know the Bible better and to become better ministers for the Kingdom. “Yea,” because with the students all gone on break it makes my duties a little bit lighter for the month. I say a little bit lighter because now that the students are gone, I still have to spend the month preparing for my two classes next term. Next term I will be teaching Basic Theology 1 to our first-year students and Biblical Financial Management to our students who will be graduating in July. I have taught the Basic Theology course before so it will not take much time to prepare, and also, I know how much I enjoy the class. What a pleasure to teach and talk about Bible Theology with our new students, all of whom are so eager to learn and grow in the grace of God. I have not taught Biblical Financial Management at Moffat before so this is the class that will take up my free time in the month of December. It would probably be stretching the truth a little to tell my students that Biblical Financial Management is the most important course they will take at Moffat, but I will probably say it to them on their first day of class anyway (I have also said it to my Hermeneutics class, my Basic Theology class, my New Testament Survey class, and my Church Planting class). Yeah, it may not be their most important class, but for these students it is a very important class. These students need to know what the Bible says about money and the Biblical principles for handling money. They need to know that the way they use their money reflects the status of their hearts and their relationship with God. They need to know how to Biblically manage the financial resources of their churches in order to better fulfill their mission and to bring glory to God. Money is a really big issue in Kenyan churches. Church members fight over it, and most pastors are not trusted by their church members. Transparency is unheard of, but what is often heard of is the pastor taking money out of the offering plate and putting it into his pocket when he thinks he needs it more than the church does. And with the Prosperity gospel and the Health and Wealth gospel being so ubiquitous in Kenya, these students really need this class. All around them and on TV they see “pastors” fleecing the members of the church and getting rich. They need to know that these are not true ministers of Jesus, and they need to stand strong when the same temptation comes their way. There is even a book by an African author I may have them read called “Pastor, Stop Fleecing your Flock”. It really is that common of an occurrence. So, yes, we will be looking at budgets and income/expense worksheets, and bank reconciliations, and all that stuff. But the real purpose is not for them to get rich but for them to honor and glorify God in the way they conduct their personal finances and the financial management of their church resources. It is a good class. I am looking forward to it.

I am also looking forward to the Christmas season. I cannot believe it, but all my adult children and their spouses will be here with us for Christmas this year, the first two arriving in just two days from the writing of this letter. All my children (including Chloe) being together with us for Christmas has not happened in a very long time, so this event is very unique. Those of you who have been following my newsletters know that our first Christmas in Kenya was fifteen years ago: Emily was thirteen, Amy was eight, and Josiah was seven that year. Now Emily is twenty-eight and has been married for seven years, Amy is twenty-three and has been married for almost two years, and Josiah is twenty-two. In just a few days they will all be here, sitting on the porch, drinking my coffee, and looking out over the Rift Valley. How time flies.

I will make a missionary confession here: the sacrifice of time with my children is NOT a sacrifice I like making. I know I am supposed to be strong and to be able to say, like other missionaries of old, “I never made a sacrifice, and it was all worth it.” But being so far away from my kids is hard, and I don’t even have grandkids yet. You all can pray for me in this area. You can also pray for Chloe for the next two weeks. She is going to be overwhelmed, over-sensitized, out of sorts, and out of her routine. Pray that she might somehow not be anxious and that she somehow would be able to go with the flow and enjoy the season.

Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe

CONTACT INFO

Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com

For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.