Teaching through the Book of Colossians
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
March 28, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I mentioned in my previous newsletter that I wanted Julie to write the next report. Since writing that I have heard that Baptist Faith Missions wants to hear from the missionary wives for the May issue of the newsletters. Thus, I will be writing this one and Julie will be writing the next one.
Julie’s newsletter will probably be more exciting to read than mine because the best I could say right now is “things are going on”. That isn’t very exciting but it describes the ministry I am doing right now. I’m preparing for messages, practicing new songs, telling people about the Chapel, teaching, teaching, teaching and lots of stuff, stuff, stuff. I think most pastors would probably relate to me saying “I just keep on grinding”. I’m not just “going through the motions” and I’m not burned out or anything. I’m just in a weekly grind. But I do try and break out of this grind as much as possible. And Kenya allows this to happen too. Take today, for example. My car was at the mechanic and my motorcycle developed a flat tire. I pumped air into the tire and limped the motorcycle to town to get the tire fixed. While the mechanic was fixing it I saw three old guys sitting on a bench doing nothing. I walked over and sat next to them. The conversation went something like this. Me: Is this your guys’ job sitting here doing nothing but watch people walk by? Them: Yes, but at least it is interesting. Me: Have you been doing it long? Them: Pretty much. Them: What do you do here? Me: I’m trying to start a church here in town just over there in that building on the third floor. Them: Are you like the other pastors in town, do you teach what they teach? Me: I can’t say what they teach but as for me I teach what’s in the Bible. Them: Really? That’s not what the other pastors here teach. But you don’t teach the whole Bible do you? Me: If it’s in the Bible I teach it and if it isn’t in the Bible I don’t teach it. I want people to know what God has said so that they can follow Jesus. Them: Do you teach from the Old Testament too? Me: I try to show that the Old Testament points to Jesus, prepared God’s people for the coming of Jesus and in every way brings us to Jesus. Them: And now Jesus has come. Me: Exactly, Jesus has come just as the Old Testament teaches, and he has died on the cross for us so that we can live in his kingdom and have eternal life. Followers of Jesus live under a new covenant that Jesus started. That’s why I focus on the New Testament because it teaches us more about Jesus. Them: This is very interesting. How many people come to hear you teach this? Me: Not many, about 15 per week. Them: That’s not very many. Me: Not yet. Maybe you would like to come and hear the teaching. We meet right over there in that building on the third floor at 10am every Sunday. Them: Hem, Haw, Hem, Haw, well, we’ll see. But when you need your motorcycle fixed again, you know where to find us. Me: But you just sit here doing nothing but watch people walk by. Them: Yes, but at least it is interesting.
At this point in the conversation my tire was fixed so I paid the mechanic and left to finish my business in town. Pray for these three old guys. None of them made any commitment to come so I don’t expect to see them on Sunday (not that commitments to come to church make any difference in whether people come or not, do they?). If they come they will hear me as I preach and teach through the book of Colossians. As I preach through the book of Colossians I love this epistle more and more. In it we see the grandness and awesomeness of Jesus, we see the mystery of Christ is in us, we see that Jesus is sufficient for everything and that we are complete in him, and we see that Christ is all in all. Those 15 or so that come each week are also enjoying the teachings of Colossians. I’m pretty sure none of them have ever been taught through a book of the Bible in this way before. May God bless these 15 who come every week and if God wants to bless us with more who want to hear Biblical teaching, we will be ever more thankful for that too.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in Kenya,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
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Teaching in Three Places
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
January 26, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It has been a long, hard month and I cannot remember being this tired for this prolonged of a period. We have worked really hard this month and it has left me feeling ragged and worn out. But that is not to say that the work hasn’t been rewarding, nor has it been drudgery. But it has been exhausting. I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting older and my mind and body just can handle what it used to be able to handle. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining, because I’m not. I’m just telling you all where I’m at right now.
Work at the Upper Room Baptist Chapel has been going well. Our attendance for the month has kind of been all over the place but our “regulars” have continued to come each and every week. On one of the Sundays this month we did experience our highest attendance to date with 28 people! While I’m not getting caught up in any numbers games, I did think this was a great attendance and I was very excited that so many people heard the Biblical message that week. Of course, the next week our attendance was about half that amount. I was telling a local pastor friend of mine about our fluctuating attendance and he gave me this perspective. He said, “Roger, you are the only full-time member of the Chapel”. I thought that was an interesting perspective. Anyway, I have been teaching each week on the parables that Jesus taught from the book of Luke. Through these parables I want the people to see into the heart and mind of Jesus and the Father. I think Jesus’ parables are one of the best ways to see how God thinks about things and they reveal the heart of God in an extraordinary way. And I want the people of Kitale to know this heart of God.
In addition to this Julie has been working extra, extra hard with the directors (and our dear friends) of the school Chloe goes to in order to help them start a new international branch of the school called Milimani Christian Homeschooling Community. She has been working very hard with them for over a year to help them get this started and my plan is to let her write the newsletter update for next month and explain, in her own words, this ministry that she has become heavily involved with. I am mentioning it this month because I have been asked to teach a math class at the new school. I accepted this ministry and now get to daily invest into the lives of some lovely young students at the school, as well as doing the morning devotions. But, again, I hope that Julie’s voice can be heard on this ministry next month.
Roger at the Bible College
And, now, throw into the mix that I taught a week-long class at the local Bible college on Biblical Financial Management and I can honestly say, I’m tired. But I always enjoy investing into the lives of the future pastors and church leaders that attend the college. Three of my students from this week were from South Sudan and plan, upon graduation, on returning to the war-torn region of their country and spreading the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
We pray that God would continue to bless our feeble efforts, expand His Kingdom in this part of the Earth and glorify His name.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in Kenya,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
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God is Blessing the Work in Kitale
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
January 1, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It is the New Year. As hard as it is for me to believe that statement, 2019 is now here and ready for us. I write this on January 1st so today is page 1 of 365 for the year. My new year has actually started with a little adventure. I was driving to town today to get some dog food and as I was driving down the road my car broke an axle and my front right tire broke completely off from my vehicle. Next thing I knew I was skidding down the road with metal on concrete. Metal on concrete is not a lovely sound or a lovely feeling. But I am completely unhurt, for which I thank the Lord. While I was waiting for a tow-truck (which arrived in just 10 minutes), three different Kenyan friends who were driving by stopped and sat with me to make sure I was OK. It was comforting to know there were people who cared and would assist me if they could.
We have closed out the old year at Upper Room Baptist Chapel on a positive note. Attendance at the Chapel has slowly gone up a bit and we averaged 17-18 people throughout the month of December. On the Sunday before Christmas we had 20 people in attendance, which matched the high attendance of our Inaugural attendance on October 21st. The work of Christ here in Kenya is not a numbers game but we are very glad to see that some people are interested in what we are doing here in Kitale. God really has been blessing the work so far in spite of my weaknesses. We have had other first-time visitors to the Chapel which has been encouraging to me as the minister of the work. In fact, one of the three friends who stopped by while I was waiting for the tow-truck was a man who has attended the services a number of times. He was talking with the tow-truck workers when they arrived and introduced me to them as “his pastor”.
A few short stories from the Chapel. First, I noticed that the room across the hall from our room was being used by a school that meets in our building. Each week I noticed that the room was unlocked and unused on Sundays. I decided to approach the administrators of the school to see if it were possible to use the room on Sunday mornings. Without reservation they agreed to let us use the room since they had no use for the room during that time period. They even agreed to let me use the room for no charge. So, we are now using that room each week as a Sunday School room for some of the young children who attend. This was a blessing from God. Second, we had a teenage girl attend one of our services. She has a Catholic background and regularly attends a Catholic church with her family. After the service she mentioned to Julie how different our worship and services are than they are at her church. Specifically, she said “You all actually teach from the Bible. At my church we are there for three and a half hours and the only thing that happens is one politician after another stands up and talks about their own political agendas. Nobody ever talks about the Bible at all”. She said she really liked what she heard at the Chapel that week. We pray that she is able to come again and hear the gospel message proclaimed again in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. Third, it was exciting to see my son Josiah and another teenager, Jesse, ministering in our services. Josiah and Jesse took over much of the music duties during the month of December while Josiah and Amy were home from school. What a thrill to see these young men ministering unashamedly in the Lord’s Kingdom. The other benefit is that they are both better guitar players than me. I would be glad to completely hand the music responsibilities over to them. Unfortunately, Josiah and Amy return to school on Saturday.
Happy New Year to all of you reading this update. May God’s grace and presence bless each of you all through this year.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in Kenya,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
Read more
Faithful Attendees and Newcomers at URBC
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
November 27, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Wow, it seems so much has happened since I wrote last month about our inaugural service at the Upper Room Baptist Chapel. I was excited when I wrote to you all last month describing our first service. But I didn’t know who might return and who wouldn’t. Now I have more that I can report.
Since our inaugural service, we have been averaging right around 12 in our attendance each week. I am very happy that we have had that many in our weekly services. Especially since those who are attending seem to be truly interested in receiving teaching from the Bible and in knowing and following Jesus. The next four weeks after our first service saw pretty much the same 12 people attending the services. I think that they are definitely getting something they do not experience at other churches here in Kitale. Here’s a couple reasons why I think that.
First, I set up a time to visit one of the families in their home. Elphas, Ann and their daughter Esther haven’t missed a service since we started. I meet with Elphas every week to disciple him but I wanted to visit him at his home. While I was in his home (a small, one-room apartment), he told me that he has gone to church for a long time but has never had a pastor visit him in his home. He didn’t know that was a thing pastors did. This week Elphas and I will visit a man named Joseph in Joseph’s home. Joseph was a first-time visitor last week.
Second, I’ve been told by others who have been coming that the teaching is simple, easy to understand and straight from the Bible. I say, “Praise God,” because that is exactly what I am striving for! This is definitely a rare element in Kitale churches.
Last week I was really excited because we had four first-time visitors to the Chapel. Each of these four-first time visitors came as a result of being invited by other regular attendees of our services. Two of these four I know to be very new believers. After the service and the “informal pastor” time and fellowship they stayed around and talked with me for nearly an hour. They told me that what they heard and experience at the Chapel that day was not like anything else they’ve experienced elsewhere. They said the teaching was Biblical as opposed to, in their own words, “Motivational speeches about succeeding in business” or “sermons about making money and getting ahead in life”. They also said that when I confessed I was not a good guitar player and that they should expect to hear mistakes, that they knew then and there that the Chapel would be different. This is because they said a Kenyan pastor will never admit to doing anything wrong. Finally, they appreciated hearing what the Bible actually says instead of hearing a list of rules and man-made laws about how they can be acceptable to God.
Dear Lord, Oh, how we would like to make a difference in the lives of these new believers and in the lives of the others who are attending and in the lives of many other Kitale residents.
Please make this your prayer for us as well.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in Kenya,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
Read more
Inaugural Service of Upper Room Baptist Chapel
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
October 27, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The Upper Room Baptist Chapel has begun (see last month’s newsletter for an explanation of the name). What is the end goal? The end goal is an organized and fully functional church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we there yet? No, not by a long shot. But we have begun the journey and we will see where God will lead and take us in the future.
I have begun the Upper Room Baptist Chapel with Sunday services and worship. These services include, of course: Singing and worshipping, prayer, teaching and preaching the Word of God and fellowship. Our first service was Sunday, October 21st. We still have a few things to iron out but in all I think things went well, despite my anxiety. I am trying to specifically NOT “look and feel” like a typical Kitale church. The worship, the teaching that actually comes from the Bible, and the focus on following Jesus are all very different than what most Kitaleans generally experience. Julie said afterward, “I doubt any of them have ever heard anything like you before”. I think she meant it as a compliment, but we shall see how the people who hear me take to it. For now, I just want them to hear the Word of God so the Spirit of God can work in their hearts and in their lives. The Word of God is so lacking in the churches of Kitale and thus in the lives of most of those who call themselves Christians.
A picture of our inaugural service at Upper Room Baptist Chapel.
Including Julie, Chloe and myself, we had a total of twenty people (adults and children) in attendance at our inaugural service. Although I am trying not to focus at all on numbers, I am pretty pleased with that number of twenty. I wasn’t sure if anyone at all would actually come to our inaugural service. I invited a lot of people and I never asked for promises from those I invited, but probably 90-100 people freely offered their promise to come anyway (that actually would have been problematic for me as I only have seats for about 45 people). I didn’t know whether to expect zero people or a hundred. I praise God for the twenty that came.
We began by singing and praising God for about 30 minutes using some traditional hymns and other choruses I hoped some people would know. I led the worship on my guitar. This leading of music on the guitar caused me as much anxiety as anything. I am NOT musically inclined, I am NOT good at playing the guitar, I am NOT talented at leading music, and I CAN’T sing worth a hoot. But since there was no one else to do it, the lot fell to me and we all got through it with a little stumbling and a lot of glorifying God. Next came my message. I am trying to keep my messages simple, straightforward, and Biblical, Biblical, Biblical. Do you see the focus on Biblical there? That is what we need here. My inaugural message came from Mark 4:35-41 and was entitled “Jesus is in the Boat”. This is the passage where the Disciples are afraid of drowning in their storm-tossed boat and Jesus is asleep in the stern. The main point of my message was that Jesus is the Son of God, that he cares about what we face in this life and that He is in the boat with us. Since God is in the boat with us, he is able and willing to dispel our fears and lack of faith in the midst of the storms that rage around us. I preached this message because I, more than anyone else, needed it. My message for this coming Sunday will be “How to Identify a Follower of Jesus” from John 13:31-38.
How many people should I expect for our next service? I really have no idea. Some of those who came last Sunday are Kenyan friends of ours and I know they attend other churches. They came to our inaugural service to support and show love to me, their friend, as I start a new ministry. They probably will be returning to their churches this week. What about the others that came and the ones I invited this week who have promised to come? I really have no idea. We might be starting back with zero again. But God knows and it is up to God to do what only He can do and to bless this work as it honors and glorifies Him. I met personally this morning with one of last Sunday’s attendees and he said, “Roger, I’m with you forever”. I’ll continue to point him away from me and towards Jesus, but, I still hope he returns.
May I be faithful and may God be glorified.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in Kenya,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
Read more
Starting Worship Services in New Ministry!
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
September 28, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I’m finally at the place where I can report I’m ready to begin a new ministry. I’ve informed you that I have had the desire and leading of the Lord to try and start a new church in Kitale and to pastor that church myself until it is ready to be on its own. “Does Kitale really need another church”, I’ve asked a thousand times? Yes, it needs a church that teaches the Word of God and worships God in Spirit and in truth. So, I’ve been planning and preparing for a long time. I rented a place to start in, worked on and prepared the room, and have been spreading the word about it for months. And now as we are about to close out September, I am able to say that we will be starting worship services in October, ready or not.
The name of the ministry for now will be called Upper Room Baptist Chapel. I would like to explain exactly why I am giving the ministry this name, so please bear with me as I give you the reasons for each part. First, Upper Room. Julie and I sat down and brain-stormed about the first part of this name. I wanted a simple name that kind of represented a significant meaning for the ministry. Nothing was sounding good until the Upper Room popped into my head. The reason this popped into my head is because the room I’ve rented is on the top floor of a four-story building in town. Get it? We’ll be meeting in the upper room of the building. But as I thought about it the name Upper Room seemed significant. I want to focus on the resurrection of Jesus, on following Jesus, and on knowing and having a relationship with God through Jesus – on fellowship with God. The Upper Room was a place where all of these things became a reality for the disciples of Jesus. So, the name seemed fitting for more than one reason. And, I thought we had come up with a unique name, that is until I started doing a few searches on the internet and found that there seem to be a number of churches with that name (In America, at least. There are none here with that name). Anyway, Julie and I still think it is a good and fitting name.
Second, Baptist. Is it old-fashioned and out-dated to call a church Baptist? Maybe to many it is, but not to me. Why? Let me tell you: Because I am a Baptist; Because I am sent out by a Baptist church and a Baptist organization; Because I believe in the Biblical doctrines of Baptist churches; Because I believe the history of Baptist churches is special and unique; Because the Baptist name represents who we are and what we will do and teach. For these reasons and more I will call the ministry Baptist.
Third, Chapel. I struggled a lot with this name too. It seemed like this part of the name should be easy, but it wasn’t. The word church made sense but the ministry won’t be a church yet. I hope and pray that someday, as God brings people into the ministry, as people are saved and baptized, that we will organize into a church. But at first, we will not yet be a church. So I ruled out that word. The word mission could also be used. However, in Kitale the word mission means a place where people can come and get things that they want, i.e., money and other material stuff. So I ruled out that word. I also, just personally, don’t care for Tabernacle or Temple because those words indicate Old Testament physical places where the Lord would meet with His people and I just don’t care for those terms for New Testament people. Worship Center sounds clunky. Training Center wasn’t fitting either. So, until a church is organized, I decided on Chapel – “a small building or room used for Christian worship in a school, prison, hospital or large private house”. That word seemed fitting and appropriate.
End result – Upper Room Baptist Chapel.
I am both excited and nervous about the start of this new ministry. I’m excited because I want to minister the Word of God and see the Spirit of God reaching into the lives of people, bringing them to salvation and fellowship with God. I’m nervous because I don’t know how things will go. If everyone attends who have said they will attend we will fill that upper room about five times over when our worship services start in October. Then again, maybe nobody will come. I just don’t know how God will initially work. So, how can you pray? Pray that God’s will be done and that He will bless this new work with fruit that will be pleasing to Him.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in Kenya,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
Read more
Changes with Kenyan Authorities Bringing Challenges
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
August 28, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Over the last couple of months I have noticed some slight, yet disconcerting, changes in the way the Kenyan authorities are viewing and treating the expatriates that live and work in this country. I have lived in Kenya for ten years but it is only recently that I’ve noted some vexing changes that cause me concern. (In case you are unfamiliar with the term “expatriate” I am using it to refer to any person who lives outside their native country – missionary, military, immigrant, foreign worker, etc. I am using it in place of the more disparaging word, “foreigner”). For example:
- For most of the years we have lived here we would get pulled over by traffic police just like any other driver. When our documents would be verified we would go on our way. Now it seems that police officers pull us over simply because we are expatriates, harassing us, threatening arrests when there is no fault, and demanding illegal bribes.
- Soldiers in Nairobi have stopped us and asked why we have Chloe, asking questions about her, doubting that she was abandoned and basically questioning the validity of our guardianship of her
- Expatriates who have adopted or have legal guardianship of Kenyan children have been disparaged and vilified in the news and media. The news and media have been accusing such people (and their legitimate adoption agencies) of child trafficking and illegally obtaining these children and attempting to whisk them away to foreign countries. They paint these law abiding people in a very bad light and make the general public to think of any non-Kenyan as unfit to care for Kenyan children.
- All expatriates were recently required to make a personal appearance in Nairobi to have all of their legitimate paperwork and documents re-verified.
- Expatriates are being rounded up at local malls and detained until their documents are “verified” by authorities. Some are being incarcerated and not being brought before magistrates in a timely manner while local authorities threaten and harass them in order to receive bribes.
- Work permits are being denied. Also, I just read in the news today that work permit renewals could not be submitted for renewal while the expatriate was actually still residing in the country. The renewals can only be submitted from the worker from outside the country.
These changes are troubling to me. A country that doesn’t treat its expatriates well is not heading in the right direction. I love the country of Kenya and don’t want to see it change for the worse.
As a result of these changes and in order to obtain a more secure standing in the country I will be pursuing what is called a Permanent Residency. This is not a dual citizenship but is basically what it sounds like. It will allow me to become a permanent resident of Kenya without having to rely on the unstable and undependable work permit renewal process. This program is open to expatriates who have lived in Kenya for 7-plus years. This doesn’t solve every problem but it would give me a more secure position as a resident of Kenya. It is a costly (upwards of $5,000), lengthy (it has taken others 1-2 years), difficult process to accomplish so I do ask that you all be in prayer for me as I initiate this program.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
Read more
Room Rented for Start of Church Plant!
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
July 28, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are able to thank God for an answered prayer. I have reported in past newsletters that I was looking for a room in town that I could rent and use in order to start up a new church here in Kitale. If you were following my former reports you would know the following: First, before leaving for the States for a month, I had located a room and agreed on a price with the owner, only to have the rate doubled when I went to sign the lease. Second, while I was in the States I had a couple of Kenyan friends who agreed to look for a place for me while I was away. And, now, one of those places my friends found has finally come to fruition and I can finally say we have a room and have signed the lease and everything is official. The room is on the third floor of a building in town, is located in a relatively quiet area, has plenty of natural lighting, good security, and even access to toilets. This may not sound like much to be excited about but finding all these things in one location is quite challenging here in Kitale. The portion of the room which I rented is about 20′ by 25′ and can probably comfortably fit 30 people (and even more uncomfortably). If we are somehow blessed with more people than can fit in the room, then we will be glad to come up with alternative solutions to that problem in the future. Since the time I rented the room I have been preparing it for use. The tile floor needed fixing, the doors and handles needed replacing, and the broken windows needed repairing. Also, the original room was quite large, and I could not afford to rent the entire space but only a section of it. Thus, I had to build a partition wall across the room to block off my section. Other preparatory activities are also ongoing in order to get the room ready for use. Please continue to pray for this ongoing work.
Again, I believe Kitale needs a church that:
- Teaches the truth of God’s Word in a simple, clear, understandable manner
- Worships God in Spirit and truth and simplicity
- Loves, follows and obeys Jesus
- Desires to spread the Kingdom of God
These are such rare qualities in churches here that I felt compelled to start one and pastor it myself.
One example of the reason why a church like this is necessary is a young man named Elphas that I have been meeting with. Elphas and I meet in a dungy, musty, smelly basement of a hotel in town. We get together there to drink tea and talk about the many questions he has about the Bible and about Jesus. This week we spent two hours just talking about what happens to people when they die, what and where is heaven, where do the spirits of believers and unbelievers go after death, and how a person can know he will go to heaven. After every question he asks me I say, “Elphas, I can only tell you what the Bible says about this” and then we go to the Scriptures and investigate what God has said in His Word. I am trying to show Elphas that it matters not what any man might say but only what God’s Word says. This week Elphas told me, “After talking with you I realize all my pastors are lying to me”. I don’t know exactly what he meant by this statement and I didn’t feel like I should follow up on it. However, it did reinforce to me that there are many Kenyans who are starving for the Word of God and wanting to know what it really means to follow Jesus and to know God.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
Read more
