Teaching How to Study & Tackle Difficult Passages of Scripture
November 11, 2024
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,
We are nearing the end of our first term of this academic year and things are progressing well, although we are tired and a little worn out. The Christmas season is just around the corner, and I am looking forward to it, although the Christmas season in Kenya is nothing like the Christmas season in the States.
I am teaching three classes this term – 1) General Principles of Interpretation, 2) The Pentateuch, and 3) Hebrews and General Epistles. I would like to focus this month on just the third one – Hebrews and General Epistles. This has been an excellent class so far and I have had good opportunities to have many great discussions and learning moments with my beloved students. If you have ever read through Hebrews and the General Epistles, and I know you have, I’m sure that you noticed there are a lot of difficult and challenging passages in these books. There have been lots of disputes about some of these passages over the last two thousand years and challenges about some of these passages have been presented from both unbelievers and those within Christianity. My students will soon be in churches preaching and teaching from these passages and they not only need to know what they are talking about and teaching, but they also need to know how to defend their teaching from possibly obstinate and even hostile opposition. I want to give them experience on studying and teaching these challenging passages and experience in facing “hostile” opposition. (In case you were wondering what kinds of challenging passages I have in mind, consider 1) How can Jesus be made perfect through suffering in Hebrews 2:10? 2) Is it possible to lose your salvation according to Hebrews 6:4-6? 3) Are people saved through faith or action and is James 2:14-25 in opposition to Paul’s teaching of faith alone? 4) Does the prayer of faith in James 5:13-15 always heal the sick and if the sick person is not healed does that mean someone is lacking faith? 5) Does baptism save us according to 1 Peter 3:21? 6) In what way has the Lord “bought” the false prophets of Peter 2:1? 7) Do believers reach a state of sinlessness according to 1 John 3:5-6 and 5:18? 8) Who are the angels who did not keep their positions of authority in Jude 6 and what exactly happened to them? 9) Why does Jude quote from Apocryphal books? And others). So, each student is going to get an opportunity to teach in class on one of these or other challenging passages and then field tough questions from the “hostile” and “opposing” members of the audience (meaning myself and the other students who are being tasked with being “obstinate opposers and schismatics”).
There is a definite purpose for this assignment. Not everyone that they will be speaking to in their churches, or in seminars, or even in people’s homes will agree with them. Some will oppose them vehemently, and my beloved students need to know how to deal with such situations and scenarios. Here is what I want them to learn. 1) I want them to learn how to deeply study the Scriptures and to be able to tackle and understand difficult and challenging passages. Not every passage of Scripture is easy to understand, and a good interpretation doesn’t always pop out at you when you first read it. Sometimes it takes a lot of work and sweat to understand a text. 2) I want them to be able to logically organize the defense of their position and to understand other people’s positions on those passages as well. 3) I want them to experience teaching through a passage that might make them feel a little uncomfortable. 4) I want them to experience opposition and hostility in a friendly environment and to learn how to lovingly and Biblically present and defend their position on the Word of God in a Christ-like way. Not every environment they encounter will be friendly and resistance can be hard to face. Better to learn how to face it amongst peers than amongst true enemies. 5) I want them to learn and then defend the truths of Scripture. 6) I want them to learn that they are not perfect followers of Christ, perfect Bible students, or perfect interpreters of Scripture. They could end up being wrong in their interpretation and presentation of their teaching and if they are wrong, I want them to learn to be open to the truth of Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, bless my beloved students and teach them the truths of Your Word and how to present and defend this truth to Your people and to the world.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
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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Ministering to Families with Autistic & Neurodivergent Children
October 16, 2024
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
I would like to take an opportunity this month to focus on some opportunities that God has opened up for Julie recently. As you already know, our daughter Chloe is on the Autism spectrum, which presents many challenges in raising and rearing her and learning how to best deal with how her autism manifests itself – lack of executive functioning, emotional dysregulation, stimulation overload, meltdowns, and occasional violent outbursts. This has caused us to have to learn a lot about autism and neurodiversity, but, especially Julie has done a tremendous amount of research on the topic in the past few years. Julie herself is neurodiverse and it has taken many years for us to learn some aspects of how her mind works and interacts with the world as well. [“Neurodiversity is the idea that the human brain naturally varies in how it functions, and that these differences are normal and should be embraced. The term ‘neurodivergent’ describes someone whose brain processes, learns, or behaves differently from what is considered ‘typical.’” Most of us would thus be labeled neurotypical because our brains work and process in ways that we would consider “normal,” although that is probably a bad term to use because there probably is really no “normal.”].
Because of her growing knowledge and experience in autism and neurodiversity, Julie has had opportunities to speak and do presentations about the topic, specifically at RVA but also one-on-one with parents of autistic children at the Kijabe Hospital. There are many children in Kenya who are neurodiverse (as is true around the world) who need special ministry and care but who often fall through the cracks in families, schools, and churches because they don’t think, act, and behave “normally,” or neurotypically. These children need the love of Jesus and the love of His people and the ministry of His churches to make it in this world, which to them is strange and does not act or behave “normal.” So, Julie was tasked with speaking on the topic and helping people at RVA and Kijabe become more aware of the needs of these children and how they can better be ministered to and helped by people who love them and want to see them grow in the love of Christ. The first time she presented, it was very well received and people began seeing the need of knowing more about the need to minister to neurodiverse children. She was asked to speak again and expand upon her previous presentation. After the second presentation some people began pushing for her presentation to be mandatory for all RVA staff. She was then asked to do research on some past and present students and to present findings on how RVA can begin to better minister to these children.
In the meantime, as I have mentioned, she has met with parents of autistic children to offer some guidance and advice to struggling parents who don’t know what to do and don’t know where to go for help. As a parent of an autistic child myself, I can tell you that there are many times in life where I feel helpless, feel like pulling my hair out, feel like quitting and giving up, and feel completely alone in my parenting struggles. I feel isolated from God’s people and His churches and oftentimes face despair. Parents of autistic and neurodiverse children need the love of Jesus and the ministry of His churches as much as their children do. I think the work and ministry that Julie has been involved in is assisting children and families and will ultimately impact the Kingdom of Christ and bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus. Please pray that God would continue to use Julie in this way, for His Kingdom and for His glory.
Pray also that God would keep us safe in Kenya and safe on the roads. We have had a problem with very long delays in receiving work permits. This week I will have to file a second “temporary” extension for Julie’s work permit while we wait for her real work permit to be processed and approved. Without this we cannot stay in the country, so, this is actually a pretty big deal. Also, without going into much detail, Julie and I almost “bought the farm” driving to Nairobi yesterday. Driving in Kenya is always dangerous and the A104 highway (which we need to use in order to get anywhere) is considered one of the most dangerous roads in the world. We were on A104 when an incident occurred because of the reckless driving of another driver. Again, without going into detail, I thought we were dead and to this hour don’t really know how we are not dead. It took me a full ten seconds after the incident before I could breathe again and probably five minutes before my heart rate came back down to normal. I replay the incident in my mind and can only conclude that God protected us. Please pray that God keep us safe and ministering for His name in Kenya.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
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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New School Year Starts with Students Representing 7 Different Countries
September 8, 2024
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
First of all, let me apologize for not writing a newsletter last month. Here is my lame excuse – Julie was in the United States visiting family and I was struggling with Chloe here in Kenya and just trying to make it through the month. I felt like I didn’t have much to write about except: Monday – struggled with Chloe; Tuesday – struggled with Chloe; Wednesday – struggled with Chloe, etc. I recognize that it is a lame excuse so, again, I apologize.
This month, however, we have opened up a new school year after seeing our graduates off from last year. It is exciting to welcome the new students and to see what God is doing and is going to do with them in Kenya and the world. As always, one of my greatest prayer requests for many of these students is finances. The economy in Kenya continues to struggle (thus, the many riots and demonstrations by the Gen-Z’s in Nairobi and around the country that have caused so much trouble) and most of the students have difficulties even raising the money for their fees. But one of my goals is to see all of these students educated in the Bible and ministry and graduated at the end of their studies. Therefore, I continue to work with each of them to ensure they all eventually wear their regalia at graduation and go out to minister the Word and the love of Jesus to God’s people and the world.
One of the things that continues to thrill my heart is the growing group of international students that we have at the school. Our four Congolese students graduated in July and have moved on to either further studies or to return to Congo to minister to their people and their country. However, with returning and new students we now have seven countries represented within our student body. Of course, we have students from all over Kenya and many Kenyan tribes represented. Some of our returning students also come from Uganda, South Sudan, India, and Tanzania. Our South Sudanese student has not been home to see his wife and children in over two years because it would be too dangerous to try and travel in and out of his village. He wants to travel back just once, after he graduates this year, to minimize the travel and the danger. When he does return, there will be no open and usable roads to his home, and he will have to fly into a small airstrip and then continue his ministry to his people and his village. In addition to these returning students, we now have new students from other countries. We now have a student from Indonesia. He also will not return home until he graduates and returns to Indonesia to minister the Word and the love of Jesus to his people. The other two international students I need to be very careful about when I talk about them, because of their situations. I will not be able to disclose their origins or their destinations, in order to keep them safe.
One is from an undisclosed African country who also works as a missionary to another undisclosed African country. I wish I could describe even what he is doing for the Kingdom of Christ, but I want to keep him and his ministry safe. The other student comes from even farther away, but we need to keep him safe as well.
I mention these international students because I am excited to know we are teaching the Word and ministering to people who will be taking the gospel back with them to their own countries and ministering God’s grace to their own people. They are not more important or more exciting than our many Kenyan students, but it continues to thrill my heart to know that the reach of the gospel and the extent of Christ’s Kingdom is expanding as a result of our efforts and ministry. I am impressed with all of our students, and I love them all and continue to pray that God would use them mightily in His service and for the Kingdom of His Son. I hope you all will continue to pray for them in this way as well. To the glory of God.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie, & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
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
Students Knowing, Loving, & Following Jesus
June 14, 2024
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,
I was reading over my newsletter from last month entitled “Is this Place Cursed?” I hope I did not come across too pessimistically because this place is definitely NOT cursed. Yes, I have come to the conclusion that it is a much more dangerous place to live than what I am used to in the United States. There are more natural disasters, the roads are much more dangerous, we face drought and floods, and even the smallest insects seem to be much more deadly. But God loves this place and God loves the people and we want to see them all knowing, loving, and following Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And, praise be to God, many of them ARE knowing, loving, and following Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And, praise be to God, some of them I get to work with and teach on a daily basis and get to see their growth and progress in the Kingdom of Christ.
Case in point: I am currently teaching our first-year students in a class called Basic Theology (Part 2). These are mostly young and inexperienced students desiring to enter the ministry and serve the Lord in the expansion of His kingdom (make sure to read “inexperienced” and not “stupid” because they are all, in fact, very bright and intelligent). We were talking about Salvation (Soteriology), and I wanted them to be aware that historically and also in the modern Christian world there are often vast differences in the way Christians have taught about Salvation – from Calvinism to Arminianism, from God choosing to man choosing, from sovereignty to free will, from determinism to Open Theism. My goal was to make sure they understood some of these differences, to look at the Scriptures to try and determine the answers, and to critically think about what God has revealed to us in His Word. The debates in this arena of theology have been hot for centuries and I wished them to be aware of the concepts, the terminology, and the approaches. It was a difficult conversation for many of them as they were not all aware of the differences or the terminology. Some of them struggled because they had never heard there was “another viewpoint” than the one they had always been taught and they were seeing things in the Scriptures that they were having to wrestle with. I wasn’t purposefully trying to confuse anyone, but it is good for future pastors and church leaders to be familiar with these concepts, and to be able to critically think about the Scripture’s teaching so that they are not swayed by every “wind of doctrine” that comes along. After long discussions I wanted to bring them back around to the Biblical teaching that salvation is by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone (solus Christus), to the glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria). One of my students, named Reuben, gave an illustration that showed confusion in some areas but great understanding in the important areas. He said: “Mwalimu (teacher), when the thief on the cross next to Jesus died and then appeared before the gates of heaven, they probably asked him, ‘Are you a Calvinist or an Arminian? How did you get here?’ The thief probably looked around and said, ‘I don’t know who Calvin is, and I don’t know anything about Arminianism, but I asked that guy on the middle cross to remember me and he told me that I would be with him in paradise. I’m with that guy on the middle cross.’” OK, there may not be perfect theology in Reuben’s illustration, but I agree with Reuben, I’m with that guy on the middle cross. Lord, bless these beloved students, followers of Jesus, and future church leaders and pastors. Help them above all things to cling to the man on the middle cross and to lead all the Kenyan people to cling to that man on the middle cross.
Another case in point: I also serve as the finance manager of the college. In that role I deal daily with the struggles and challenges of students to find the necessary money to pay their school fees. Paying school fees is probably the biggest challenge my beloved students face. We have policies in place at the school, but I have to be as gracious and merciful as I can be to my financially struggling students. I would rather be gracious and give them extensions than to lose a future church leader because he cannot pay his school fees and complete his Biblical education. I was working with one particular student over the span of a couple of weeks, her name is Faith, that was facing great challenges in paying her fees. In the end, I helped her complete her fees by paying the balance of 4000 shillings. This is only $31, but she was overjoyed. Like as if I was a king of old and in her tears of joy, she prayed that the Lord would bless me with long life, with peace and happiness, and with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Lord, in return, would you bless Faith with the necessary funds for her school fees and may she all of her life direct and bring her Kenyan people to King Jesus.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie, & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
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
Life Can Be Strange
March 10, 2024
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Life can be strange, can’t it? How often do you stop and think to yourself, “how in the world did I end up here, doing this, at this point in my life?” If you’re anything like me, then you do this often. When I was eighteen and going to college for the first time, I never would have thought that at fifty-four I would be in Africa, teaching at a Bible college, and pouring my life into Bible students and future Kenyan ministers. Maybe you are where I was thirty-six years ago – not thinking about ministry work, not thinking about missions, not thinking about Africa – only thinking about finishing school, making money, and girls. Maybe the Lord will lead you in strange ways too. Maybe He will lead you to the mission field where you will be doing strange things as well.
I really do get to pour my life into future pastors and ministers. Lots of teaching, lots of mentoring and modeling, lots of counseling and guiding. But pouring into future ministers isn’t all study, teaching, and heavy theology. It also means some fun too. Last week I invited my mentoring-group of students to my house for the evening (see the picture I provided). This is a small group of students that I get together with a couple times every week to talk about their lives, their spiritual walk, practical ministry, and stuff. But the evening at my house was just for fun. You know – eat, play games, be goofy, relax, and get to know each other better on a personal level. Yes, missionaries and pastors can be goofy too. We ate a lot, laughed a lot, and played some games. We played a game called Snorta – a rowdy, raucous game involving quickly remembering another player’s animal and making their animal sound before they can make your animal sound. Sounds dumb, and it is, but it’s fun. I thought it would be easy, however, there was something about Kenyan guys that I didn’t know – they don’t have cutesy animal noises for animals. In America, we all know the cute animal sounds for various animals. Pigs say, “oink, oink.” Dogs say, “bow wow.” Ducks say, “quack, quack.” Frogs say, “ribbit, ribbit.” Mice say, “squeak, squeak.” You recognize all those, right? Well, in Kenya, as I found out, animals don’t say those cutesy sounds. So, my Kenyan men could only try and make the sounds that they actually hear the animal say. And, as I found out, they all sound the same. Kenya pigs say, “hurrrumph.” Kenyan dogs say, “harrumph.” Kenyan ducks say, “karrrumph.” Kenyan frogs say, “gggurrrumph.” And Kenyan mice say, “hurrrumph”…only at a little higher pitch. OK, it was crazy, it was fun, and we laughed at each other a lot. In the end I think God was pleased with our little get-together as He was probably laughing at us too. These are good men that I have the honor to spend time with and help shape them for their future ministry of spreading the gospel and expanding the kingdom of Jesus. Life is strange. Who knew part of my ministry in this world would involve sitting around a table with eight Kenyan guys making strange and funny animals sounds.
Not so strange is the activity I will be involved in tomorrow (Sunday). I will be taking another group of students (different from my mentoring-group) to a town about an hour from here, called Kinoo. We will be preaching and ministering there in Kinoo for the day. I will be preaching and one of my students who will be graduating in July will also be preaching. He has the great, Biblical name of Abednego. He is the only “Abednego” I have ever met in my life. You can’t pray for us for tomorrow as you will not get this newsletter until much later, but you can pray that the results of the gospel message and the proclaiming of the Word of God would be far-reaching and enduring for all those who hear it.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
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
The Love of a Father
February 8, 2024
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,
Kijabe is currently covered in thousands of little, white butterflies. I look out and in every direction I see little, white butterflies. They are all flying in the same direction, so they can’t just be the same butterflies flitting about. This has been going on for two weeks. I cannot even begin to imagine the number of butterflies that have flown by. At times it almost looks like it is snowing.
I am currently in the midst of this new term, and I am very much enjoying the classes and I think the students are as well. In Basic Theology class we have some awesome discussions on our various theological topics. These are my first-year students, but they are already good, deep thinkers. I know I have asked them a tough question, though, when the only response I get is silence. My other class is Biblical Financial Management with my last-year students who will graduate in July. We are having a good time and having deep discussions in this class as well, even though you might think it hard to have deep discussions over financial management. But my goal in the class, as I keep reminding my students over and over, is not to help them become rich (I could care less whether ever are or not) but that they might honor and glorify God with their money and in the way they manage the finances of their churches. The financial principles I focus on more are about integrity, stewardship, and honoring God rather than just budgeting, planning, reporting, and other financial stuff (although I do teach them budgeting, planning, reporting, and other financial stuff). These are critical issues for my Kenyan students. Pastoral and church ministry can actually be a trapping for unsuspecting ministers. It is so acceptable among many pastors to mismanage and even steal funds from the church that this generation of future pastors and church leaders need to learn these lessons before heading into the ministry of the kingdom of Christ.
It is not all just classes, classes, classes for me though. Some of my best moments for discipleship come in the everyday times of spending time with my students. I was sitting at lunch with some students, both male and female, and the discussion we had really hit me hard and made me realize just how much love and discipleship my beloved students need. Having finished our food, one of the female students said, “Mwalimu (teacher), I want to marry your son” (don’t worry, Josiah, I haven’t committed you to anyone). I have actually been told this from Kenyan women many times before and the reason has ALWAYS been the same. So, when I asked her why she wanted to marry my son I expected the usual answer – Because he is a rich American and I want to marry a rich American and not be poor. So, I was quite surprised when the dialogue went like the following. Student: You love your wife, right? Roger: Yes. Student: You show her that and tell her that right? Roger: Yes. Student: You love your daughters, right? Roger: Yes. Student: You show them that and tell them that right? Roger: Yes, all the time. Student: My father has never told me he loves me. He never calls me or talks with me. The only time I talk to him is when I call him to ask him for school fees. I want to marry your son because he will love me and love my daughters and they will know that they are loved. Roger: I’m sorry that your father doesn’t know how to communicate his love to you but I’m sure that he really does love you. Student: Mwalimu, I really don’t know that is true. I really don’t know that my father loves me. He has never said it or shown it to me.
At this point in the conversation the other female student spoke up and confirmed that this was the exact same relationship she had with her own father. Then all the male students that were sitting around the table piped up and said all of their relationships with their fathers were also the same. I felt very sad for my students and tried very hard to convince them that their fathers truly did love them but none of them were convinced. I am not a perfect man, husband, father, son, brother, teacher, missionary, or Christian by any means. At least I can try and model, as best I can, Christian love to these beloved students. I told them all, “I can’t promise you that your father loves you, but your Heavenly Father loves you, Jesus loves you, and I love you too.” It may have been the first time they had ever heard a father figure say that to them.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
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