Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [March 2016]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
February 27, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings from beautiful Kitale, Kenya (even though the grass has turned brown and dust covers everything). We praise God for the blessings of His mercy, grace, forgiveness and love.
All of our older children are now out of the house for most of the year. Emily is living in Michigan, Amy is in her second year of boarding school at Rift Valley Academy and Josiah has begun his first term there too. He was not able to get in for the first term (which began in September 2015) because there was no space in the dorms and we thought he would not be attending until next year. So we started Josiah on online school and we were all satisfied with that option but when one of the RVA 8th grade boys could not return for the rest of the year, it opened up a spot for Josiah and, well, off he went. If it were not for Chloe then Julie and I would be empty-nesters for nine months out of the year.
This has been a different, yet good, month of ministry for me here in Kitale. I was asked to teach a class in Old Testament History at a local Bible college. I wasn’t too excited about teaching the class at first but became much more excited about it as I prepared to teach it. The format of each class at this college is a week-long, intensive “crash course” on the subject. Instruction goes from 8am-4pm each day. Whew, I’m just not used to talking that much each day. I had to drink hot tea throughout the day to keep my voice working.
I spent a great deal of time preparing for teaching OT History – From Joshua through Esther. That’s about 1000 years of history and about 450 pages of text in my Bible. It was a challenging task and I finished the course just yesterday. I had 16 bright and exuberant Kenyan students who were all eager to learn about this subject. Some of them are already pastors and some want to be pastors when they graduate from the school. They came from all over Kenya. We had a lot of fun learning about OT history. I find this teaching very satisfying as I get an opportunity to shape and mold some of the leaders of the Kenyan churches. I was pleased to try and show them who God was through these OT history books and to give them a greater appreciation for God’s Word and how it can shape each of us. And, as some have said many times, there is no better way to learn a subject than to have to teach it. So, I learned a lot through the teaching of this class too. Bear with me as I share what was reinforced to ME by teaching these books:
- God is sovereign over history
- God is faithful to his people in spite of their sin and failure
- God has an overall plan of redemption that cannot and will not be thwarted
- History is moving ever forward to bring us to the coming of the Son of God
- God will put His King on the throne and redeem His people
- God works in His people’s lives and works through them to bring about His plans
- God loves His people and desires their good
- God is worthy of worship and adoration
I trust you see and believe all these things as well. God truly is good to His people.
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 Emily, Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
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