Feeling Like a True Missionary
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
June 29, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Some days I feel like a true missionary. I felt that way a few days ago when Julie and I went to visit Amy and Josiah at RVA, their boarding school located in the Great Rift Valley. To get to the school we need to go down a steep, winding road to half-way down the escarpment where the school is located. Usually we are able to take this “main” road down the escarpment. But the government is currently paving parts of the road and with the recent rains in that area the road had been closed. So, the only way Julie and I could get down the escarpment to see our kids was to take the alternative route. This alternative route was a narrow, mud-filled path that led down the escarpment. It is primitive enough that nobody bothered to close it even though it was in much worse shape that the “main” road that actually had been officially closed. I put the vehicle in 4-wheel drive, low gear and started down the mountain. I guess some men would think this an adventure. I, on the other hand, get nervous in those situations, knowing that at any time I could be slipping off the crown of the path and hopelessly stuck. Julie and I were able to slip and slide our way down the path to the school, white knuckling the steering wheel the whole way. But we had to make it down because it was Amy’s 16th birthday. And make it down we did. That day I felt like a true missionary.
But I guess true missionaries do other things too, that are a bit more mundane, if not more important. This past month I taught a week long class to 11 students on Biblical Financial Management. It is an important class because the whole idea of managing finances is somewhat foreign to many Kenyans. There is very little concept of the future in their culture. And their cultural ideas of money is quite often very contrary to the Scriptures. For example, if money comes into their church via offerings and the Pastor has a need (say, to pay school fees for his kids), then he oftentimes feels quite justified in taking the church’s money and using it for his own personal needs. This practice is widespread and nobody thinks anything of it. The younger generation of Kenyan church workers see the practice as immoral but usually don’t have the clout to confront the older generation of pastors. The goal of my teaching in this class was to try and reach this younger generation and to get them to follow Biblical principles in the way they use money in their families and churches. We have to think “generationally” as we try to grow the Kingdom of Christ in Kenya.
I will be heading to the States for the month of August for Emily’s wedding. Please pray for our ministries and those here who will be overseeing things while we are in the States.
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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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [May 2016]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
April 28, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As most of you know, our main ministry in Kenya is church planting/teaching the Bible and the Gospel/discipleship training. However, in the course of being here for 8 years, Julie and I have accepted other ministries as well; though I hate to even call them “ministries” because they’re not really “part of the job”. They’re just something God has opened our hearts to because we are followers of Jesus and followers of His ways. Since being in Kenya, God has opened our hearts to the plight of orphans in this world, and we want to do what we can in order to help them. Is this “ministry” or is it just the heart of God?
Orphans who were in the Tates’ home this past month: Chloe, Clinton, & Sasha
This past month we had three “orphans” living with us at various times and for a few days all at the same time. Let me introduce them to you. To the far left of the picture is our precious Chloe. Hopefully, she needs no introduction to you as I have written about her often and related her story in detail in previous newsletters. She has lived with us now for over a year and a half. In our hearts she is our daughter, and when the Kenyan government lifts the moratorium on adoptions in this country, we will make her our daughter officially and legally. In the middle of the picture is Clinton. His full name is Bill Clinton Muhkwana. Can you guess the US president he is named after? We love Clinton. He is ten years old and has lived at a children’s home since he was an infant. His extended family situation is very dangerous to him, and so on occasions when the children’s home is closed he comes and lives with us. He lived with us for two weeks this past month. In the picture you can see that I took him to play golf (yes, we have an old golf course here built by the British during the colonial days). What an experience! On the far right of the picture is Sasha. What a cutie! She came to stay with us over a weekend when the children’s home she lives in was moving from one location to another. I don’t necessarily enjoy middle of the night feedings, but what a joy to be able to care for one of God’s little ones. You might say, “Oh, what a blessing you are to these children”. But if you say that you would be wrong. They are a blessing to us!
When I was living in the States, I never much considered the plight of orphans. It’s just not something that is before our eyes on a daily basis. Not so in Kenya and much of the rest of the world. Kenya has a population of 44 million people and the number of orphans in the country is estimated to be around 3 million. That’s 7% of the total population of the country. In comparison, the US has 319 million people and only around 400,000 children in foster care. That’s only .1% of the population. If 7% of the US population was orphans, that would come out to over 22 million orphans in the US. Can you even imagine? Consider these additional Kenyan statistics: 13.5% of children aged 0-18 are orphaned; 15% of all Kenyan households are headed by an orphaned sibling; 700 children are orphaned every day. The main reasons for so many orphans are poverty and AIDS. It is estimated that Kenya has close to 1,000,000 orphans due to AIDS, the third highest rate per population in the world. And the problem is compounded when the society acts impervious to their plight. This sets the children up for easy exploitation, and makes them soft targets for child trafficking.
Why do I bring this up in this newsletter? Mainly for awareness. As I said earlier, when I lived in the States this problem seemed a million miles away. Now it is very close. But also because God loves these children and wants to show them his love through you and me. They are very near and dear to the heart of God. What does this mean to you? Maybe you adopt one. Maybe you foster one. Maybe you protect or care for one. Maybe you find out what you can do to help. And if you’ve made it this far into my newsletter please, please do not say, “That’s just not our ministry”. Remember what James said: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble” (James 1:27). And remember this also: To do so is a joy and blessing!
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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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [April 2016]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
March 30, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Julie and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary this month. It is hard to imagine that now over 1/3 of those 24 years has been spent ministering and living in Africa. I never would have thought that we would spend our lives living and ministering here but God directs our paths in the ways He wants us to go. There have been hundreds of times I thought I couldn’t make it living here, that I couldn’t continue any longer, that it was time to return to the States, that I’d had enough. I am so thankful for the loving, Godly, beautiful wife of 24 years that God has given to me. I definitely couldn’t have made it here without her. In fact, I don’t think I could have made it through life at all without her. But, of course, God knew all of that too and that must have been why He put us together. I know that our marriage doesn’t always exemplify the relationship between Jesus and his churches as Paul explains in Ephesians 5 but that fault probably lies with me and we do pray that our marriage would bring Him glory. Thanks for sticking with this lousy missionary man for 24 years, Julie. I sure do love you!
And it’s a good thing she loves me too because our anniversary day wasn’t the most romantic of days. We spent the entire day in the immigration department in Nairobi working on travel documents for Chloe. It was stifling hot. We got shuffled around from window to window. We dealt with a lot of unhelpful and antagonistic people. We were stymied in almost every way. We had paperwork stolen from us from workers in the department. We had nothing to eat or drink. But we did see God change the hearts of resistant people and did see Him change things in ways that only He can change them. Chloe was a trooper throughout the entire day. She didn’t cry or “lose it” until we got back to the guest house. We eventually left the immigration department at the end of the day without the documents we went for but we are still in hopes of receiving them soon. Please be in prayer about this with us. (After we calmed down from the horrendous day we were at least able to go to a nice restaurant in Nairobi to celebrate our anniversary).
I am praying hard about getting back up to Pokot region and ministering again to the Pokot people who live out in “the bush”. God has put these people on my heart but He has also seemed to close all doors to me into this region. I have been waiting for doors to open back up. I have been asking God if I should be trying to open some of these closed doors myself in order to get this ministry going again. I don’t want to get ahead of where God wants me and I certainly can’t minister up there without His power, His Spirit and His blessing but I’m wondering how much He wants me to step out on faith and do some things before He begins to open some of those doors again. It can be difficult knowing God’s will and how to follow it. So, yes, you can pray about this with me as well.
Working with Kefa and Matilda and the group that meets in their house has continued to be a joy even if we have not seen the growth in the group that we wish. One of the things that I enjoy the most is the discussions we always get to have before the Bible study begins (The group always starts late. That’s Kenyan culture. No hurry in Africa). We get to talk about various life issues that have nothing to do with the Bible lesson we have prepared but are relevant to the lives of the people. I enjoy it because we get to apply the Bible and the life and teachings of Jesus directly to their lives where they live each day. I get to say over and over again, “Hmm, what does the Bible say about that”? or “Hmm, what does Jesus say about that”? or “Hmm, what does God think about that”? Yes, I enjoy that!
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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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
Visit their blog!
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [February 2016]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
January 28, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Sometimes you encounter things that really make you sit back and think. And some of those things hit you really hard. I had one of those encounters this month while just going around doing “business as usual”.
I’ve lived in Africa for eight years as of this month. So, needless to say I’ve come across poverty and seen sickness. It’s never easy to see these things and there is always a desire that I could help the people I see in these situations. But this time hit me differently for some reason. Nathan and I have been working with Kefa and Matilda in a village called Robinson trying to ultimately get a church started there in their house. Kefa and Matilda are not wealthy (if you saw their house you would probably think they are very poor), but they are doing well compared to some who live around them who really do live in utter poverty. They are good Christian people who desire to start up a church in their home and to minister to the people around them. So, in trying to start up a church here, Nathan, Kefa and I make visits to the neighbors and surrounding areas to meet the people, share the gospel with them, pray for their needs and invite them to our worship/Bible study meetings in Kefa’s house.
The door to the old man’s room.
On one of these visits this month Kefa took us to a line of “apartments” to visit the people who live there. These apartments are just a string of one room, mud wall, dirt floor houses. The people who live there live in poverty. We walked into one of these rooms and even after eight years here I was still amazed. The room was dark—nighttime dark. The window was boarded up and the only light came through the now opened door. The smell was terrible, the air hardly breathable. The dimensions of the room were about 8 feet by 8 feet. The walls were mud and stick and the floor was packed dirt. Trash was piled up in one corner. Besides the trash the only other thing in the room was an old man lying on a filthy, disintegrating mattress which was on top of a wood slated bed. He was not able to get up to leave the bed. When he had to spit (which was often) he would simply spit on the floor or on the wall. He could not get up to use the communal pit latrine (so you can only imagine). When I saw his feet I could see why he could not walk. His feet were eaten up and mangled by jiggers. Jiggers are the smallest form of flea, hardly visible by the human eye. They burrow into human flesh where they live, feed and lay their eggs. They have to be dug out with a razor and treated with a medicine difficult to obtain. He had obviously been in this state for a long time as he was not able to walk, his legs had become emaciated and he looked to be near starvation. As we stood there talking to and praying for the man I could not help but think what it would be like to lie in this dark, filthy, stench-filled room day after day, not able to get up, not able to leave, with absolutely nothing to do but lie there until I died. Can you imagine?
Caring for the old man’s feet.
When we eventually left the man I told Kefa that we would need to help this man. I told him it was one of the reasons for the existence of a church and was the ministry of Christ. I told him we couldn’t just leave the man in that room to die like that. Kefa was in complete agreement with me. When we returned to Kefa’s house we decided to take the money we had collected for offerings (which they had originally wanted to use to start a building fund) and use it help the man. We have been trying to teach them the Biblical way of using these offerings and now they were going to use them in a God-honoring, Christ-exalting way. Kefa and Matilda then took charge of the man’s care. That week they took him fresh fruits and vegetables to eat and cooked him food. They contacted a friend who had been trained in treating jiggers and was licensed to obtain the medicine (the medicine is restricted because it can be used in making bombs). When the friend was prepared he came with the medicines and he, Kefa, Matilda, Nathan and I went back to the man’s house to see that he was treated for the jiggers and was being cared for. My heart rejoiced to see Kefa on his knees in the dirt, gingerly holding the old man’s feet in his hands as he carefully cleaned them, cut his toenails, cut out the jiggers and treated the man’s feet. It was a beautiful picture of Christian service and of showing the love of Christ. Our small group is now caring for the man physically and spiritually. Please pray with us that he not have to die alone in that dark room, that he would regain his health and most of all that he would know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior so that one day, when his suffering here is over, he can rejoice in the presence of the One who took our suffering for us.
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
Visit their blog!
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [January 2016]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
December 27, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I like living in Kenya. Most of the time. I think.
Ok, I can’t really make up my mind. I guess most of the time I get beyond tolerating living here to liking living here. Other times I desire the comfort of the familiar that I experience when I’m in the States. As we approached and passed the Christmas season here in Kenya, a couple of things I desire were brought to the forefront of my mind based on a variety of experiences. Those have to do with law enforcement and travel. I desire the familiarity and trust I have with law enforcement and travel that I experience while in the States.
Last month I was traveling back home from Nairobi with the family in tow when I was pulled over by police officers. They told me that they had clocked me speeding somewhere around 20 miles ago. I was incredulous because, first of all I was being very careful of my speed (not wanting to be arrested) and second of all because I had no idea where I had been clocked, what the speed limit in that area was and the speed they “clocked” me at far exceeded the maximum speed I had been going the entire trip. Although I argued my case, I was still arrested, paid a cash bond to be able to leave and had to appear in court the next day.
I was not happy.
I arrived in court the next day early and was sitting in an empty court room when I heard people shuffling around in the hall outside the courtroom and dropping a container that sounded like it contained a hundred gallons of water. Subsequently, a river of liquid came rushing down the center aisle of the courtroom near where I was sitting. As it turned out, however, the liquid was not water but a local brew of alcohol that had been confiscated and unfortunately dropped right outside our courtroom. The courtroom smelled like a brewery for the rest of the day as I waited (with a hundred other people) for my case to be heard. When my case was finally heard near the end of the day I plead “Not Guilty” and my case was immediately arraigned and rescheduled for two weeks later.
I was not happy.
When I returned to court two weeks later I sat all day and waited for my case to be heard once again. This time, however, the police didn’t show up and the case could not be heard. The judge told me I could either plead “Guilty” and have my case done with or reschedule my case for another day. I told the judge I could not plead “Guilty” as that would be lying to the court. My case was arraigned and rescheduled for January 14th.
I was not happy.
Then, last weekend we were all back in Nairobi to take Emily and Igor back to the airport and as I stopped the vehicle to wait and cross three lanes of traffic, Julie was attacked by a thug through the window. He grabbed what she had in her lap and ran off but when he realized it was just her pillow and valueless he returned, threw the pillow back into the car and grabbed Julie instead. A short scuffle ensued that included a lot of screaming, a water bottle being smashed into his head by Julie and Emily leaving a fingernail or two in his face as Julie fought him from the front seat and Emily from the back seat. I was helplessly sitting in the driver’s seat trying not to get hit by oncoming cars. Julie and Emily were able to fight him off and he fled into the darkness. We were only three minutes away from our guest house in Nairobi so we quickly escaped that area and hurried to our destination where tears, anger and some trauma followed until all our adrenaline subsided.
I was not happy.
Finally, to cap the weekend off, I returned Emily and Igor to the Nairobi airport. I found their terminal and pulled into the area clearly designated “Drop Off Area”. There were four lanes designated as drop-off and I pulled into the second one, dropped off Emily and Igor, and proceeded on my way. I only got ten feet down the path when two police officers again pulled me over. They told me I was being arrested for “Obstructing Traffic”. No amount of arguing would convince them I was in the right place, doing the right thing in the designated area. They spent the next few minutes intimidating me, threatening me with going immediately to jail where I would pay a large cash bond and be forced to appear in court the next morning. They insisted that they get in my car and I drive them to the jail. On the way they also insisted that in order to be set free I would need to give them “kitu kidogo” or “a little something”. In other words, I had to “grease their palms”, “buy them coffee”, give them “chai money”. In short, they needed a bribe to satisfy their corrupt demands.
I was not happy.
But on a different note, one thing that did make me very happy was Emily and Igor’s two week pre-Christmas visit. It was wonderful having all our children together for the first time (including Chloe) and celebrating the birth of our Lord together. I will focus on the fond memories of their visit instead.
And that makes me happy.
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
Visit their blog!
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [December 2015]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
November 26, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Hello dear friends. The day that I’m sitting here writing this newsletter is actually Thanksgiving Day back in the States. In Kenya it is just another day (Yes, I’m sure you’re shocked to hear that Kenyans don’t celebrate American holidays). It’s actually sad for us Americans who would love to be celebrating Thanksgiving with our families back home. Holidays back home are a nostalgic time and a time of missing family and friends.
And now that I said Kenyans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving I now have to admit that today actually is a public holiday – a one time public holiday for this year only was announced earlier in the week. Why? Because the Pope is in Kenya today. I believe this is the first time he has visited Kenya (not just the current Pope but any Pope). While it is not a big deal for me it appears to be a big deal in Kenya. A million people (over a quarter of the total population of Nairobi) are expected to gather and see the Pope perform mass. So, while your public holiday surrounds the giving of thanks, our public holiday surrounds the arrival of the Pope.
Now, speaking of Thanksgiving, I see from Facebook posts from various people that our tradition of giving thanks to God on this day for His bountiful blessings is under attack like never before. People are making it all about racism, the suppression of Native Americans, genocide, political agendas and what not. Now, while this attack on our desire to return thanks to the One who is deserving grieves me, I do not want to entangle myself today with the arguments. Instead, in the spirit of Thanksgiving:
- Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your Son, his sinless life, his sacrifice for us on the cross, his resurrection and defeat of the grave
- Thank you, Lord, for your grace, your mercy and forgiveness in our lives, and for the salvation you offer us through your Son.
- Thank you, Lord, for your Spirit who strengthens your children, gives us wisdom and guidance and empowers us to do your work and ministry here on this earth
- Thank you, Lord, for your eternal plan that you established from the foundation of the world that cannot be thwarted or prevented
- Thank you, Lord, that you hold all things in the power of your hand, that you are sovereign and transcendent, faithful and trustworthy
- Thank you, Lord, that while you are transcendent, we can know you personally through our mediator, Jesus Christ
- Thank you, Lord, that you change our hearts and minds and continually mold us into the image of Jesus
- Thank you, Lord, that you allow us to minister and work in your name for the blessings of the nations of this world
- Thank you, Lord, that you cleanse us from our sins and transport us into the Kingdom of your Son
- Thank you, Lord, that you have prepared for us an eternal home where we will live with you and worship you forever
- Thank you, Lord, that when this age is over you will return for us and will make all things in this world right again
- Thank you, Lord, for loving us
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
Visit their blog!
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [November 2015]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
October 31, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
If my monthly newsletters had a title I would entitle this month’s letter “Pastors NOT Welcome”. Well, with a title like that maybe I should explain. So, when I speak of pastors I am certainly not referring to American pastors. The American pastors I know are Godly, Christ-like and Biblical. They have the best interests of the church members at heart. They are concerned about the Kingdom of Heaven and furthering the cause of Christ. I’m not saying they aren’t without their faults, but the ones I know are good people who want to lead others to a deeper relationship with Jesus. No, the pastors I’m talking about are Kenyan pastors. It seems whenever they show up, I end up with problems.
We have a group meeting in the house of a man living in a local village. The group is small and though we have been meeting for nine months, it has been extremely difficult to get anyone to attend our meetings for more than about three or four weeks. Thus, the group has remained small. We have spent much time in the last nine months teaching them about salvation, baptism, following and loving Jesus, serving others and many other major Bible doctrines. We have also taught them to remain meeting in the house instead of buying property, we taught them how to remain independent, self-reliant and self-propagating, and we taught them to use their offerings to help the poor, the sick, the widows and the orphans in their community. All along the group has agreed with all the teachings. They seemed to agree whole-heartedly. Then, a few weeks ago I walked into the house to begin the group meeting and there sat a man. I introduced myself. Then I found out he was a pastor. I groaned within myself. I knew what his presence in the group meant. It meant the whole tenor and attitude of the group would change. I knew that the focus of the group would change. I knew that problems would begin to occur and I knew exactly what those problems would be. It would involve money, sponsorship, buildings, quarrels and dependency. How did I know this? Because that is the way it happens every time a local pastor gets involved with our works here in Kenya.
The very first week the pastor attended our group meeting things began to change. At the end of the meeting I was informed why the group was small and why a lot of people were not coming to the meetings. I was told it was because people didn’t want to meet in the house, that meeting in the house made them feel uncomfortable and not like a “church”. I was informed they wanted to start looking for a place to rent for a meeting-place. I asked them where they would find the money for such an endeavor. The answer was “God will provide”. Can you guess who “God” is in this answer? If you guessed “Roger” then you guessed correctly. The next week I was informed that the group had been “given” a piece of property. I was taken to the property and shown how ideal it would be for a church building. I was shown where the building could be built, where the toilets would be put and how much extra land there would be for growing crops. When I asked how much this would cost I was told 1,000,000 shillings (you could probably actually double that to get the true amount). This was coming from a group whose weekly offerings amount to 50 shillings. To give you an idea of what this is like, compare it to a church in the States which collects a total of $50 a week in their offerings who wants to build a church building worth $2,000,000. I asked where they would get the money to do this. I was told “God will provide”. Again, substitute “Roger” for “God” in this sentence and you will understand what they really mean.
Where will this end? I have a prediction. It will end with quarrels, struggles over who gets what share of the pie, resentment of me for not giving them what they want and ultimately the death of the group. Is the pastor the culprit or the symptom? I don’t know but either way he’s NOT Welcome.
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
Visit their blog!
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