Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [January 2013]

The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hello, Beloved, and greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior.  I want to start this update by saying thank you for thoughts and prayers.  I am saying this because we seem to especially need them right now because we feel like we are under attack.  This attack isn’t from flesh and blood but from principalities and powers, from the rulers of the darkness of this age.  These attacks are designed to discourage and depress us and cause us to doubt our reasons for being here in Kenya.  I think we are facing spiritual, physical, financial and emotional attacks.

1)  Spiritual.  This is coming from the various ministries that we are working on.  What we had hoped would not happen seems to be happening.  Those who we had reached with the gospel and with the Word of God and thought were genuine might be turning out to be otherwise.  In the Kanisa la Baptisti ya Shangalamwe (Baptist Church of Shangalamwe) the numbers have dwindled as members of the church begin to realize they will not be receiving gifts and money from the missionaries.  They were faithful for a long time but many seem to have been faithful because they still held out hope for gifts.  Now they know they will not get them and so have dropped off and we no longer see them.  Others are still around but even they seem to hang around simply because they want things.  For the first 6-8 months we had virtually no requests for things.  Now, every other week we get requests and this month it has turned to down right begging and manipulating.  We were told that God sent us to them so that we could take care of them.  I can’t begin to tell you how discouraging this is to see those who we thought wanted Bread for their souls trading this in for bread for their stomachs (and it’s not as if they are in need of food either).

2)  Physical.  We can’t seem to get Julie healthy for any sustained period of time.  She’ll feel good one day and rotten the next.  She’s having a hard time eating.  If she doesn’t have malaria, she has typhoid.  If she doesn’t have typhoid, she has schiztosemiasis.  We really don’t know what is ailing her.  There are no good doctors here in Kitale.  There are no good doctors in Eldoret (nearest bigger town about 1½ hours from Kitale).  I’m not even sure there are good doctors in Nairobi.  We’ve already been done there once for Julie to see the doctors and we will be going again next week.

3)  Financial.  It seems like one thing after another.  First, I have to buy a new car.  Then I have to pay Emily’s school fees. Then I run over the dog, breaking his leg and requiring him to have surgery in Nairobi. And that seems like just the start of it.  Recently I feel like I’ve been wearing a path between Kitale and Eldoret and between Kitale and Nairobi for one reason or another.  These trips have become very expensive (Especially Nairobi.  It seems everything in Nairobi has doubled in price in the last couple of years).  I’m not mentioning any of this to solicit financial support.  I’m just keeping you all updated as to our condition and why I feel we are under attack.

4)  Emotional.  We just finished with the holiday season.  We enjoyed being together and celebrating Christmas as a family but December is still one of the hardest months to be in Africa.  It’s emotionally hard to be away from the States during the holidays.  We miss the gatherings, the festivities, the holiday cheer.

I hope I don’t sound as if I’m whining.  I’m not.  I just want you all to be prayer partners with us and to know how much we need your thoughts and prayers right now.  May God bless you all.

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)
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta[at]gmail.com
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