Malaria, Moving, URBC Attendees Migrate to New Location
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
October 26, 2019
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
I don’t know exactly how long this newsletter will be this month. It may be short because as I write this update, I am sick as a dog with malaria. I felt it coming on this morning after I woke up and within an hour all the symptoms were raging. No fun, this malaria.
So, a few quick updates. First, by the time some of you read this I will turning 50 years old. Half a century may not sound like a lot to some of you, but it sounds like a lot to me. The hair is graying, the beard is graying, and the body is aching (most of that today, however, is from the malaria). I hope I have gained some wisdom and experience in these 50 years, though. Honestly, I think most of any wisdom I may have gained has come in the last 12 years of being on the mission field. Believe me, being in a foreign country and a foreign culture for that long will definitely change a person. Maybe some for better and maybe some for the worse. But either way I am still in the hands of God and covered in the blood of Jesus. Thank you, God, for your sovereignty, wisdom and goodness.
Second, we have moved into a new house this past month. In the past 12 years prices in Kenya have gone way, way up and we decided we could no longer afford to live in our previous house and compound. We have moved to a shared compound and a smaller house. In case “shared compound” is an unfamiliar term to you, it means a yard enclosed by hedges with multiple residences on it. We hope the smaller place and the shared expenses will help our finances.
Third, Upper Room Baptist Chapel is doing well since we moved to the new venue. All of the regular attenders for our worship services have migrated to the new location with us and we have lost no one. Our main room where we now worship is considerably smaller than our old location and I’ve mentioned to our group that if we grow much more, we will have to go to two services. They all laugh at me and remind me that this is Kenya. They say we could easily fit two to three times more people in the room. That may be a stretch but I guess this being Kenya we probably could cram a lot more people into the room before it becomes too uncomfortable. One blessing of the new location is that it makes it a lot easier for Julie and Chloe to attend each week. Chloe did not do well in the other venue for various reasons. She does much better in the new location, for which Julie and I are very thankful.
I am currently preaching through the book of Galatians on Sunday mornings at the Chapel. What a wonderful and foundational book for Christianity and Christians today. My works and righteousness cannot add anything to the work of Jesus on my behalf. Faith in our beloved Savior is the only thing that can save me. Our people here in Kenya need to hear this age-old Biblical teaching and to learn to live by faith and in the Spirit.
Blessings to you all,
Roger, Julie, 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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URBC Driven Out of Its Location
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
September 27, 2019
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,
Upper Room Baptist Chapel has been driven out of its location. We have been meeting in a building in town for the past year. October 21st is our one-year anniversary, but we will not make until then before we will in a different location.
During the month I was in the States taking Amy to college the directors of our building invited another church to move in across the hall from our church (and doesn’t charge them rent either). The door of this other church is literally four feet away from the door to our room. When I returned to Kenya, I promptly experienced the problem firsthand. When we gathered to worship on Sunday the church across the hall was playing music on their speakers and it was so loud, we could not hear each other in our room, even when we were yelling at each other. I knew I would have to try and solve this problem as soon as possible. I met with the caretaker of the building and requested a meeting with the other pastor. The other pastor did not even show up to the meeting even when he promised to attend. When he finally did show up to one of our scheduled meetings the suggested solution from the caretaker and the other pastor was that we, the Chapel, change our meeting time from 10am to 8am. I was not happy with this suggestion. I felt like the other church should alter their times because we had already been meeting in our room for almost a year. The other church has refused to make any changes and the unbearable noise has continued without any change as well. The directors of the building do not seem to care that this conflict is ongoing, and they refuse to take up our cause. It is my opinion that the directors want to drive us out in order that the other church can take over our room (since I spent a lot of money making our room nice). I have taken the matter to the people of the Chapel. We have met together many times to try and find solutions to this problem. We are approaching any solutions to this problem with the following Biblical principles: 1) Do everything out of love, 2) Glorify God in everything you do, 3) Let the world see your good works and glorify the Father through you, 4) Don’t let desires cause wars among you, 5) Allow yourself to be defrauded before “going to court” and 6) Let each of you think of others before yourselves. The bottom line is that I am trying to teach my people that we do not want to let the world see us fighting with another church. We would much rather “be defrauded”, as Paul says it, than to harm the Kingdom of Christ by fighting with other Christians, even if we think those Christians are not acting very Christ-like.
Taking these principles in mind, plus the fact that the directors of the building seem to be against us and we cannot get any change from them, the people of the Chapel have unanimously decided to find another place to worship. And, almost immediately upon making this decision, we were able to locate a place. Starting on the first Sunday in October we will be meeting at the school facilities of Milimani Christian Homeschooling Community, the school which Julie helped get started and now ministers as head-teacher. All of the directors of the school are our good friends and two of them are also weekly attendees at the Chapel. I believe the Lord has already blessed us by providing us with this new venue and I believe he will continue to bless us ongoing because we are trying to glorify Him above everything else. Beloved, the building where we have been driven from is not a big deal. The money invested in the other room is not a big deal. The opposition we are faced with is not a big deal. Meeting to worship under a Mango tree while trying to sort out the conflict is not a big deal. But, glorifying God IS a big deal. And this is what I want my people to do above anything else.
I know that not everybody will agree with our decision. Many might wish us to fight for what we consider our rights. I understand that. I get it. But please consider these things: 1) This is a very delicate situation, 2) The Chapel is a new mission work that we do not want to see Satan destroy, 3) I am a foreigner and alien in this country, 4) God does not want to see his people fighting, 5) God will bless those who follow his ways, and, 6) God is still in control of His Kingdom and this world. We will try and continue to trust in Him. Finally, rest assured in the fact that we have lost no attendees of the Chapel over this matter, nor over the decision we have made. The decisions were unanimous, and all are happy with them and are excited to see what God will do with us in the future.
Blessings to you all,
Roger, Julie, 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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Headed Back to Some Trouble in Kenya
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
August 27, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I am again sitting in Emily’s living room while I write this update. However, I am now at the end of my Stateside trip to take Amy to school. I fly back to Kenya tomorrow afternoon, beginning my long journey back to Julie and back to Kitale. I have been a month in the States now, getting done the things I came to do and enjoying time with my family and church.
Amy is now at Cedarville University. I am thankful to the University for the International / Missionary Kid orientation they provided for Amy. Amy and I were able to spend a few days on campus getting familiar with everything before the rest of the incoming freshman arrived. This helped Amy and the other third culture kids acclimate much easier and helped them start making friends earlier as well. I will be sad tomorrow when I leave as I will now be leaving both Emily and Amy on this side of the world.
I will be returning to some trouble on the Kenyan side of the world. In my absence some troubles have arisen at the Upper Room Baptist Chapel. The problem isn’t with any of my people. All my people have stayed and continued worshiping together in my absence. The problem comes from other Christians who are not acting too much like Jesus. The situation is thus: Another church moved into our building directly across the hall from the door to our Chapel. That means their door is no more than 4 feet away from our door. On top of this they have installed large speakers and amplifiers in their room and pointed them at the door and towards our chapel. When my people arrived at the Chapel on that first Sunday the music from the other church was already booming so loudly that the Chapel was vibrating. My people could not hear each other no matter how loudly they spoke or yelled at each other. They went to speak to the pastor of the other church and see if anything could be done about the noise. The other pastor and church refused to do anything about the music and continued to blast my people out of the building. My Chapel people did not want a confrontation with the other church and wanted to be Christ-like. They decided to take chairs outside and they met under a Mango tree for which I strongly commend them. We were hoping the problem would correct itself, but the problem has actually continued as is for the past three weeks. My landlord is aware of the problem but has not taken action yet to correct it. As a result, this will be one of the first items I will have to address as soon as I return. Since the first moment I heard that this was going on I truly believed it was an attack from Satan. I have not become discouraged about it at all yet and truly feel that it is a little test to see how we will handle the difficulty and whether we will trust God with the problem or not. We will be praying for a quick and amicable resolution and one in which God will receive all the glory.
Next newsletter will be from Kenya once again.
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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A Time of Transition
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
July 27, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I get the privilege of writing this update in much closer proximity to you than I normally do. As I write this, I am sitting at my daughter Emily’s dining room table in Detroit, Michigan. I am here for a short visit to bring Amy back to the States to commence her university career. Julie has had to stay back in Kenya with Josiah (who will be doing this same thing next year at this time) and Chloe.
So, yes, Amy has graduated from high school at Rift Valley Academy where she has attended and boarded for the last five years. This is a very traumatic time for all of us, especially Amy. It is traumatic for the rest of us because Amy will be leaving us for who knows how long. Her Mama has already hugged her neck and kissed her cheek for the last time in a long time and in a couple of weeks I will do the same before I board a plane to return to Kenya. This is harder than you might think for us. In fact, I think it might be the hardest part of being a missionary—leaving your kids in a place on their own 10,000 miles away. We don’t like it and we mourn and lament having to do it. But it is even more traumatic for Amy. She says goodbye to everything that is now familiar—Goodbye to RVA, goodbye to friends, goodbye to her (almost twin) brother, goodbye to her house, goodbye to Kenya, goodbye to her pets, goodbye to her mama and in a couple of weeks goodbye to her daddy. She returns to a country that is foreign to her. Amy has lived in Kenya since she was 7 years old. She knows Kenya. America, she doesn’t. When she starts school at Cedarville University in Ohio everything will be foreign and unfamiliar. Everything will be strange and uncomfortable. And everything she has left behind will be far, far away. In the last six years Amy has spent less than a month in the States. Please pray for all of us but especially Amy as she makes this transition. We know she is in God’s hands but it hurts us so much that first our precious Emily has left Kenya and now our precious Amy is also leaving. Lord, may you bless my dear children with your presence in their lives. Bless them with your love, your grace, your protection. Draw them close to you and close to your heart. Be the Father to them that I cannot be and may they always know that you are near.
Having left Kenya for a month I have, out of necessity, left the Upper Room Baptist Chapel on its own as well. This brings a bit of anxiety and trepidation into my heart as well. I don’t know what the state of the Chapel will be when I return. I’m sure every minister, pastor and missionary deals with this same anxiety when they are away. Will the ministry survive while I am away? Will there be anybody left at the chapel when I return? Will I be starting all over again? Will the dear people coming to the Chapel stick it out in my absence? Is the ministry there strong enough to endure my absence? These are all questions that obviously concern me. I have worked hard to start the Chapel and the Chapel people are precious to me. I want to continue to watch them grow in Jesus Christ and I want them around when I return to Kenya. I have to entrust them to the Lord’s care, believing the Lord will care for them. But I also know that they are good and strong Christian people and I DO trust that they will be around when I get back. In my absence they will continue to meet together at the Chapel, to worship the Lord together and to study the Bible together. I trust that when I return, they will be an even stronger knit together group of Christian believers than when I left. Because, after all, it is not my ministry, but it belongs to Jesus. They are not “my people” but they belong to Jesus. It is not my work it is Jesus’. He cares for the work and the people even more than I do. Into his hands I commit them. They are in safe hands.
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
Hesitating to Collect Offerings
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
June 27, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
So, I started the Upper Room Baptist Chapel almost nine months ago. A number of people have attended and gone but I have been blessed with a few families and individuals who have faithfully attended and been an integral part of the Chapel. Since I started the Chapel almost nine months ago, I have not collected an offering or “passed the hat” in any way. I have been very hesitant to do so for various valid reasons, these reasons being especially relevant for here in Kenya. However, over the last few months at various intervals almost all of the faithful attendees to the Chapel have asked me why I haven’t taken up any offerings. They have respectfully and lovingly questioned some of my reasoning with some good, logical reasoning of their own. One thing that I have heard from most of them is that they want the Chapel to continue long term and they know I cannot possibly be around forever. They want to help support the ministry and ultimately see it become self-reliant. This is obviously a good, reasonable and Biblical goal (and quite lofty) which I whole-heartedly approve. Seeing as most of the faithful attendees have approached me on this matter at one time or another, I feel it necessary to discuss the reasons why I have hesitated such a long time to inaugurate the collection of offerings.
15 Valid Reasons Why I Have Hesitated to Collect Offerings at the URBC: 1. I don’t want anyone thinking I (or the Chapel) just want their money; 2. In Kenya, too many pastors (and churches) are in it just for the money. To them it is a job, a lucrative job, and people are easily fleeced; 3. Too many Kenyan pastors and churches completely misuse donated money, stealing money from the offerings for their own personal use; 4. Misuse of money causes Kenyan people to not trust the pastor; 5. I want the focus to be on the gospel ONLY and not on money (in some churches it’s just money, money, money all the time); 6. I don’t want anyone to think they cannot come to the Chapel to hear the gospel because they cannot contribute; 7. I don’t want anyone feeling pressured to give money they don’t have or to take food off of someone’s table (a reality here in Kenya); 8. I don’t want any unbeliever to think we are here just to collect their money. I don’t want them to even come close to thinking that; 9. Money can be a cause of division and fighting among God’s people. I have seen it cause countless troubles in Kitale churches as when there is money in the coffers people viciously fight over it; 10. People with the money tend to run a church with their money and have a greater influence within a church; 11. Pastors focus more on people with money than people without money (James 2:1-4); 12. Ministry becomes one of numbers and money; 13. Pastors become afraid of preaching truth out of fear of losing tithing members. Pastors become puppets of tithing members; 14. People will come to our Chapel only for the expectation of getting some of the money in the coffers; 15. I don’t want people to give money just so they will in turn receive material blessings, a typical and universal teaching here.
Do these sound like valid reasons to hesitate to you all? But my attendees have valid arguments too and I know that giving to the Lord’s work is Biblical and vital to the health of the ministry. We will be discussing these matters at the Chapel. Please pray with us as we want to follow the instruction of the Bible and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
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
Foundational Teaching from Colossians; Battling the Flu
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
May 30, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Thank you, Lord, for Your mercy and grace, especially (this month, at least) for mercy and grace towards your missionaries doing your Kingdom work. This missionary, for one, desperately needs it.
I need God’s mercy and grace to do the work He has called me to do here. I can’t help thinking “Maybe I shouldn’t be trying to be a pastor of a church here”. The culture is against me. My inability is against me. Satan is against me. Kitale, in general, is against me. Even nature is against me (yea, I got really sick this past month). But God is for me and I don’t yet feel like He has changed what He wants me to be doing. Thus, I need to trust Him and obey Him and keep doing what He wants.
Things at the Upper Room Baptist Chapel are progressing. I’ve been wondering if a Sunday would come when nobody would show up. I thought that Sunday had come a couple of weeks ago. When 10am rolled around nobody else was there. When 10:07 rolled around there was still no one else there. But at 10:08 someone showed up and a few more trickled in after that. But our attendance that day was only 6. I worried that the low attendance would stay low but the next week we were back up to 16. Again, it is not about numbers. URBC is about proclaiming and living the Word of God and we will continue to be faithful to do just that.
I have finished preaching through the book of Colossians at URBC. The great foundational teachings of this book are vital to the people here in Kitale. Through this book, we at the Chapel learned who Jesus really is, who we are in Jesus, and what Jesus has done for those who trust and follow Him. If we could just learn and master this one book of the Bible, we would go a long way in our walk and relationship with God and in the Kingdom of Jesus. Last week I began a new short series preaching through some of the Psalms. It will be short because I obviously will not be preaching through every Psalm. I will probably only preach through 4 or 5 of them before moving on to something else, maybe to return to Psalms again at some future date. Last Sunday I preached through Psalm 1. It would be difficult for me to say whether the message was good or not (although I pray that it was). You see, I got really sick with the flu. I prepared my message while sick with the flu. I preached my message while sick with the flu. Then I came home and collapsed on the couch. Even for the next two days I was pretty much incoherent on the couch while sick with the flu. I am even late writing this update because I have been sick with the flu. It was a pretty nasty bug that Chloe and I shared but hopefully Julie will avoid. I will have to ask my Chapel members whether the message last Sunday was coherent or not. I am very glad to be feeling better now.
In family news, we have more transitions facing us in the near future. Amy turns 19 in June and then in July she will be graduating from Rift Valley Academy where she has boarded and gone to school for the last five years. Following graduation, she will be leaving Kenya and returning to the States to go to college. I’m sure I will be providing more on this transition in the months to come but I want you all to be praying for Amy (and us) even now as she prepares to make this huge transition in her life. [Read Amy’s testimony here.]
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
H. H. OVERBEY SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT
Amy Tate is our latest recipient of the H. H. Overbey Scholarship for the upcoming 2019-20 academic year. Amy is the daughter of our missionaries, Roger and Julie Tate. She has served with her family in Kenya since her childhood and will be entering Cedarville University in August.
The HHO Scholarship awards each recipient $1000 per academic year to continue their post-secondary education in a field that will further train and develop them for Christian service.
The H. H. Overbey Scholarship is named in the memory and honor of H. H. Overbey. Brother Overbey loved the children of our missionaries and contributed personally and generously to many of them for their Christian education and training – as well as others who are still today faithfully serving Jesus Christ. This is just one more way we can carry on his legacy of generosity.
Amy Tate with her parents, Roger & Julie
Amy Tate
We encourage you to pray for Amy and also for her parents and family as they are separated from one another.
And, if you wish to contribute to the H. H. Overbey Scholarship Fund to assist Amy and others of our missionaries’ children in future academic years, designate your contributions for “H. H. Overbey Scholarship Fund.” These funds are supplied only through your designated offerings.
You may read Amy’s personal salvation and service testimony here:
In a world so full of hate, is there room for love? In a world lost in darkness, is there a place for light? In a world consumed with affliction, are there moments of peace? In a world shattered by sorrow, is there hope?
I’ve been a pastor’s kid and a missionary my entire life, and yet I’ve been asking these questions for as long as I can remember. It’s too easy to look at the world and wonder where the beauty of life is. I didn’t have an easy life growing up, and I remember looking at my life and thinking, “There is no purpose.” Why was I still living through each and every day without reason, and why was I going through all of those hardships alone?
It wasn’t until God helped me really understand the joy and the hope that comes only from Him, that I was able to understand the light and the truth and the love and the joy in this world. The most spectacular thing, however, was when I finally understood the hope that was given to me, even in the darkness that I was enduring and living through at that time. I still lose sight of it sometimes, but that hope has, time and again, been a steady assurance to me, as I remember that things will not always be as they were, or even as they still are.
After that, I realized that as a follower of God, my calling- what God asks me to do- is to reach out to the people of this world and to serve them and love them. I want to show them, as God showed me, that there is more to life than just living through it, and there is more to life than the darkness that presents itself. There is more to life than the despair and the hopelessness that we daily feel when we don’t have anything better to look to. I realized that I didn’t want to hide that and keep it to myself, but I wanted to share it. I wanted to proclaim it, show it, and be an example of it. And that is still to this day what I want.
I will be entering and attending Cedarville University in Cedarville OH this fall of 2019. It is close to my home church, Emmanuel Baptist Church of Bellbrook, OH where Darrell Messer is my pastor.
I have no idea what my future will look like. I don’t quite know yet what I will major in, what kind of career I will have, or even where I will live. But what I do know is that it doesn’t matter, because wherever I am and whatever I’m doing,
I can always trust God with my life. What I believe He asks me to do stays the same, and that is to dedicate my life to bring glory to Him and to serve His people; the people that He loves, and the people that are still lost in darkness.
I want to serve. I want His light to be seen shining through me. And in this world of hate and darkness and affliction and sorrow, I want to bring God’s hope to the people of this world, by showing them His love. ~Amy Tate
Click here to make a donation to the HHO Scholarship Fund now.
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Sharing the Gospel Every Day at MCHC
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
Hello Everyone!
Let me just start by saying how excited I am to share with you how God has been working in me and through me recently! But before I get started, may I ask you to pray for our family? As you know, Emily has been back in the US for several years now, but Amy is also leaving us this July to return to the US for college. Then, in only one year’s time, Josiah will also be leaving Kenya to return to the US. This may be the most difficult part of being a missionary; when your kids grow up and leave the nest, they go 8,000 miles away (at least in our case). That’s over 48 hours of travel just to get to them if there’s an emergency. It’s daunting and heart-breaking, but I’m proud of all my children. They are amazing people, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for them in their new chapters of life.
Ten years ago, Roger and I were taking a walk in our small neighborhood here in Kitale. It was the middle of the day; the sun was hot and the road was dusty, but it was peaceful. I remember saying to him, “This is going to sound really strange, but I feel like God is telling me that He wants me to start a school. I’m not saying He wants me to do it right now, I just feel like sometime in the future this is something He wants me to do.” Yes, I know that sounds strange, but God does that with me sometimes. I knew I didn’t have the ability or resources to pull off something like that, and I didn’t know exactly what it would look like, but it was something I felt very strongly.
A couple years later (unknown to me) two Kenyan families who didn’t even know each other moved from Nairobi to Kitale and couldn’t find acceptable schools for their children. Long story short, these two couples are now the directors of Rayzon Schools. Fast forward again several years and Chloe came along – a Kenyan child who needed contact with her culture. As a homeschooling parent at heart, it was difficult for me to make the decision to put her in school – especially around here. God, however, had that taken care of. By what may have looked like random chance to an unbeliever, Roger met two of the directors of Rayzon Schools and talked with them. I was cooking dinner when he came home and began sharing about the experience with me. I stopped stirring the pot, laid down my spoon, looked at Roger and said, “This is going to sound strange, but I feel like God is telling me Chloe needs to go to school there.” I know, I know…I’m freaking some of you out with my “God is telling me” comments, aren’t I? There’s really no other way to say it, though.
After Chloe settled into Rayzon Schools (okay, settled is a strong word…) we became good friends with the directors. This was about a year and a half ago now. This soon led to them asking me to fill in some Grammar and English gaps for their students, and I began teaching for two hours twice a week. I loved it. The kids loved it. The directors loved it. The teachers…they didn’t love it so much. Neither did the head teacher who took a serious dis-liking (read, “hatred”) to me.
Toward the end of 2018, the directors began planning to open a new branch of Rayzon Schools using an international curriculum (something they had wanted to do at Rayzon from the very beginning). They called on me and Carrie Radford to give them advice on curriculum. When all was said and done, they decided to use much of our homeschooling curriculum and another widely known Christian curriculum from the US. Carrie and I both volunteered to help with running the school and teaching, and thus, Milimani Christian Homeschooling Community was born.
It’s been quite a spiritual battle – different than anything I’ve ever experienced. The school is running, but Satan attacks from every side. We have 10 students (now including the 17-year-old son of one set of the directors. I oversee his studies). Of these students, one is Hindu. He’s a beautiful young boy in 4th grade, and his father is so happy with what he is learning here! What’s exciting is that he hears the Gospel every single day, and he soaks it in. Kitale is a spiritually dark place, and MCHC is a light – a small light – that shines like a candle in that darkness. Satan doesn’t give up his territory easily or nicely. No, he gets quite ugly about it, and he doesn’t let up.
We’ve seen such a huge change in our kids at MCHC. Most of them were shy, unable to do math without using tic-marks or fingers, and afraid of answering questions and participating in class because they came from a system that crammed information into them for hours upon end and severely punished them (literally beat them with rods) if they didn’t regurgitate answers verbatim. At MCHC, however, they are being shown the love of Christ on a daily basis as we encourage them to participate, use critical thinking skills, and care for one another. The changes are amazing. Each and every one of the children love coming to school! Even their parents have commented on that. They love each subject and participate freely without fear. We’ve watched sullen children become leaders, children with learning differences begin to make connections and grasp concepts, and all of them grow daily in their understanding of the Gospel and what it means to them personally.
Please pray for MCHC. As I said, Satan is attacking from every side…even from sides we didn’t know existed! Pray for godly, born-again, caring teachers who will embrace a new way of thinking and doing things. Pray for the directors as they make decisions and deal with the inevitable financial struggles of running a school. Please also pray for me as I am officially what they call the head teacher. Specifically pray for wisdom, and mental and emotional stamina. I started with a commitment to be at the school 3 days a week for half days, but on those 3 days, I’m actually there from 7:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. and occasionally a bit later. By Wednesday evening I am totally exhausted and need to turn off my phone and hibernate all of Thursday…but I love it. Outside of my family, it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever been privileged to participate in.
Ten years ago, God gave me a little bit of a glimpse into the future. I had no idea how in the world He was going to facilitate it; I just knew when He was ready, He would. And now, here I am. I couldn’t have done it alone, but He was putting pieces of a puzzle into place even back then – including my Kenyan friends who are the MCHC directors. Without these two precious families, this would not be possible, and I thank God for their vision and their amazing faith.
Julie Tate
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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