Rift Valley Baptist College

We concluded a wonderful Bible College session this past Friday night.  We had 93 students gather from various parts of Kenya to learn and study the Bible together.  We taught four couses in the English division, Baptist Polity 1, Doctrine of the Bible, Cults, and finally a class on the Taberncale.  A big thank you to bro. Greg Wagoner as he taught the classes on Cults and The Tabernacle.  The Swahili students were taught a class called Baptist Polity 2.

We are blessed to have some wonderful students representing nearly forty different churches.  We are privileged to be training thirty five men who are now pastors or assistant pastors.  All of our men involved in the Congo ministry have been part of the college.

College Students in Class

Some of the 35 pastors being trained in Rift Valley Baptist College

MISSIONS CONFERENCE

We began the missions program in the Grace Bible Baptist Church shortly after she was organized in December 1999. Each year we have seen the missions giving increase and the faith of the people increase.

Our desire has always been to see a church in Kenya that not only sends people to the regions beyond but also gives so people can go to the regions beyond.  It is often thought that people in Africa are too poor to give and consequently must rely totally on outside funding in order to do a work for God.  I do not believe that is true and I believe it goes against what the Bible actually teaches.  I have seen many stunt the growth of churches in Africa because they pour money in from the Western world without first confirming that the people themselves are sacrificing. 

God's way of giving has always been "equal sacrifice".  What I mean is the amount given individually or corporately by a church will not always be equal in amount but the sacrifice involved must be equal. To require any less sacrifice from a church in Africa is harming that church.  I am certainly not against churches receiving help BUT I am against churches receiving help when they themselves are not sacrificing.

The Grace Bible Baptist Church gave over 250,000 Kenyan Shillings to missions last year through its faith promise giving program.  This does not include a percentage above that given to missions through the tithe giving of the people. Because of the sacrificial giving of the people God has allowed us to reach into various parts of Kenya and the regions beyond with the Gospel.  We have been able to partner with others and see the gospel light begin to shine in some very very dark places.

This past week was an exciting week as we celebrated taking the gospel to the world through our annual mission's conference. Brother Greg Wagoner missionary to Tanzania was our main speaker and he did a fantastic job.  Many of our people were able to attend the evening services and we had a great time at our mission's banquet on Saturday evening with an attendance of 297.  It was a lot of work making sure everyone was fed properly but a lot of fun as we rejoiced together over the blessings of God from the last year. When the commitments were taken up on Sunday morning we far exceeded our goal of 265,000 KS for the coming mission's year.  We are looking forward with great anticipation to what God will allow us to do this year.

Serving the food for the banquet



Some of the banquet crowd eating "chicken and chips"





Greg Wagoner family singing a missions song



AN ORDINARY MAN

I enjoy reading and usually have at least a couple books or so that I am reading at one time.  I only wish that I had more time to read. When I find myself with some spare time I try spend it with a book.  Mostly at this time I read books that have to do with God's calling on my life, taking the gospel to the regions beyond. I would like from time to time to mention a book that I have read. 

AN ORDINARY MAN

by Paul Rusesabagina

I have recently been researching some of the great human tragedies that have taken place in the areas of the world where God has allowed us to begin ministering.   In the countries of Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo literally millions have been slaughtered in Genocide over the last decade and a half.  The hatred that would cause someone to participate in such killing is hard to understand.  Just a couple of years ago here in Kenya we saw the beginning of this hatred and fortunately we were pulled back just as we were about to walk into the pit of genocide.

Travelling through the areas and ministering to the people where these things have took place causes the need to have a deeper understanding of what happened in order to properly deal with people.  I don't know if I ever will fully grasp what happened and the effect that it still has on people but I know that I must try.

In 1994 over 800,000 people died in just one hundred days in Rwanda when neighbor turned against neighbor, friend against friend, and at times family against family.  The wanton slaughter is hard to imagine even after I have visited Rwanda, talked to the people and visited some of the "killing fields". The killing was all done in the name of Tribe.  Truly tribalism is a great and grevous sin.  A sin that is very prevalent here in Kenya.

This book was not so much about the cause of the genocide or events during the genocide but more about how one man took it upon himself to do what he could do to save those around him.  Paul Rusesabagina was a hotel manager when the genocide started and used the resources at his disposal along with his own wit to save 1,268 people that ended up taking refuge in his hotel.  At times it seemed that all would be lost but always and many times miraculously they were spared.  His story in this book was made into a movie called Hotel Rwanda.

Paul is not a saved man, I believe he is a Seventh Day Adventist and certainly anyone believing their doctrine cannot be saved.  However, the premise behind his story is very applicable to the Christian. 

GOD USES ORDINARY MEN TO DO EXTRA-ORDINARY THINGS.

I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 1:26-28.  "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:"

Why is it that many today are trying to be extra-ordinary in the eyes of the world?  Why is it that many think they must have a super, higher education?  Or a large income?  Or somehow be successful in the eyes of the world?  These are not the things God is looking for in a person.  Certainly in and of themselves they may not be wrong but they are wrong if it is thought that they are what one needs to be used by God.  I don't think we should be trying to gain the respect of the world in order to reach the world.  I believe we should be totally dependant upon God.

Is it possible that many have the problem that is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:29?  "That no flesh should glory in his presence".  I believe that flesh looking for glory is just another way to say PRIDE.  We know that God has nothing good to say about pride.  Possibly the reason we are not reaching our generation is because too many of us are looking to glory in our flesh instead of being "ordinary". Too many of us are full of pride.

My prayer to God is that I will always be an ordinary man, only then can I have no glory in my flesh and only then can God use me the way He desires.

"To the Regions Beyond" By A.B. Simpson

2Co 10:16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand.

I have taken most of the last month preparing the church and myself for our upcoming mission’s conference. We are "rebranding" our missions program with the name GRACE TO THE REGIONS BEYOND.  God has given us a burden, desire and unique opportunity to take the gospel to some of the neediest places in the world. 

As my thoughts have been on this subject, the words to the below song, written by A.B. Simpson over a century ago have been ringing in heart.  Take a few moments and meditate on the message of this song and then say a prayer for the GRACE Bible Baptist Church as we endeavor to take GRACE to the Regions Beyond.

“The Regions Beyond”

To the regions beyond I must go, I must go

Where the story has never been told;

To the millions that never have heard of His love,

I must tell the sweet story of old.

To the regions beyond I must go, I must go,

Till the world, all the world,

His salvation shall know.

To the hardest of places He calls me to go,

Never thinking of comfort or ease;

The world may pronounce me a dreamer, a fool,

Enough if the Master I please.

To the regions beyond I must go, I must go,

Till the world, all the world,

His salvation shall know.

Oh, you that are spending your leisure and powers

In those pleasures so foolish and fond;

Awake from your selfishness, folly and sin,

And go to the regions beyond.

To the regions beyond I must go, I must go,

Till the world, all the world,

His salvation shall know.

There are other “lost sheep” that the Master must bring,

And to them must the message be told;

He sends me to gather them out of all lands,

And welcome them back to His fold.

To the regions beyond I must go, I must go,

Till the world, all the world,

His salvation shall know.

AN ABUNDANCE OF BLESSINGS

Dear Faithful Prayer Partners,

Our just concluded trip to DR Congo and Burundi was filled with an abundance of blessings.  We are excited at the prospects of seeing the Word of God go forth in these regions and are blessed beyond measure to be part of His work in His field.  As I mentioned in my last letter, my wife Wendy, accompanied me on this trip and her reaction was exactly as I expected.  She was deeply moved, often to tears by what she saw and experienced.  In the next few weeks she plans to write a bit of what she saw from her perspective.  If you are interested it will be posted on our blog - www.mickeystokenya.blogspot.com .

Wendy with some of the church kids in Uvira, DRC

I was able to preach in Bujumbura, capital city of Burundi, to a group of believers that have been meeting together with brother Kambi wa Ecco.  I first met brother Kambi two years ago when I made my first trip to Burundi.  We have been able to develop a good relationship with him and have begun giving him proper training.  There are a number of people that we are confident are ready for baptism and we hope to soon hold our first baptism service.  During the preaching service we had a crowd of about a hundred show up and eight adults responded to the invitation for salvation.  We are very excited about soon seeing a church started in this area.  We have still not been able to find, nor have anyone tell us about, an Independent Baptist Church in the whole country of Burundi.  It seems that IF there have ever been missions work done in Burundi amongst the Independent Baptist it has been at most on a very limited basis.  Just today I spoke to a director in a large mission’s board and he told me that in his research he has not heard of Independent Baptists ever going to Burundi.  It is obvious the need is great in this country and we are blessed that God is allowing us to take them the gospel.

Pastor Oloo dealing with men who
came for salvation in Burundi

Bro. Kambi and family



I also preached at our church in Uvira, DRC.  We were blessed with a building at full capacity and a great spirit amongst the church.  There were about ten visitors in the service and during the invitation four of them responded to receive Christ.  One of the visitors was a high ranking official in the Security Office named Clinton.   As their name indicates the security people are responsible for the security in a given area.  It was the security people in Baraka that "arrested" us on my last visit to Congo.  Often it is the security people who are notoriously corrupt and demanding of bribes.  Clinton did not respond to the invitation but it was obvious that he was under conviction during the preaching.  Just yesterday I received word from Pastor Oloo that they visited Clinton in his home and he made a decision to trust Christ.  BWANA ASIFIWE! (PRAISE THE LORD!)

Preaching in Uvira, DRC

We plan to open up a branch of our Bible College in both Congo and Burundi this coming January.  This is a BIG step and will take a lot of careful planning, a lot of work, and even more money.   Training is an important part of the great commission and if we plan to have a lasting impact in these areas people must be properly grounded in the Word of God.  

The next month is going to be extremely busy and we would appreciate your prayers for the following things:

• Ongoing preparation for our upcoming session of the Bible College.
• 26-28 November - Grace Bible Baptist Church missions conference.
  
• 29 November - 3 December- Bible College sessions.
  
• 6-13 December- trip to Congo with supporting pastor from Canada.   He has a very good contact in Bukavu, DRC and we will be looking at the possibility of a church being started there.

As we near Thanksgiving time we have many things to be thankful about. At the top of the list is our thankfulness for all who pray for us.  THANK YOU!

His for Kenya,

And the Regions Beyond,

Robert Mickey Jr. and family



AT THE AIRPORT

I am sitting at the Nairobi airport with my wife Wendy.  We are about to get on a plane for Bujumbura, Burundi and then onward by vehicle to DR Congo.  I will be preaching in Bujumbura later today near where we soon hope to see a church started.  To the best of my knowledge I do not know of an Independent Baptist Church in the whole country of Burundi. I am pretty sure that there is not a missionary living in Burundi as I have checked with all the boards and searched high and low but nothing.  We have begun training a man, even bringing him to Kenya for some intense training.  Burundi has a tragic history and we are very excited about possibly opening it up to gospel preaching churches.

 

This will be the first time Wendy has had the opportunity to accompany me to Burundi/Congo.  It is good for the people to meet my wife and also for her to see what is taking her husband away from home so much.  She is a bit nervous leaving the kids behind in Kenya but they are in the capable hands of Pastor Oloo's wife, Carol. 

 

Pastor Mike Njoroge and Pastor Justus Oloo have been in Congo this past month and it will be good to see them and work with them in strengthening the church in Uvira, Congo. 

 

Please pray for us as we travel, preach, testify, witness and serve in some of the most destitute regions of the world.  Also pray for the children while we are away.

 

Wendy

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA

Wednesday we celebrated the 18th birthday of our daughter Amanda.  Where does the time go?  It seems like yesterday I was at the hospital holding her for the first time.  Time truly does have wings.

Amanda has been a joy from the day she was born.  She has never been rebellious or caused us any trouble.  Not including of course the normal problems caused by all girls :).

Amanda is faithful and active in the ministries here in Kenya.  She has been teaching a Sunday school class for the last five years and she heads up our Ushindi kids program.  Ushindi kids meets on Wednesday nights and is a children’s program that was started by our oldest daughter Charity. Charity is now in the U.S. working.  When Charity left Amanda stepped in and has done a great job.  She coordinates the teachers, puts together the lessons, stories, games and etc.

Amanda is soon going to begin her last year of high school and is diligently praying for God's will to be done in her life.

We are very fortunate that all of our children love God and desire to serve him.  Amanda thanks for being a good example and know that Mom and Dad love you and have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

October Congo Trip

I want to thank everyone for their prayers concerning my recent trip to Democratic Republic of Congo.  It was evident that many were praying us.  Many events that happened on this trip will forever be etched into my memory.  I will do my best to give you a small taste of what happened.

We have been meeting with a man named Luka Omari from time to time at our church in Uvira, DRC.  Bro. Omari comes from the village of Sebele, near the town of Baraka which is about seven hours away.  A few years ago bro. Omari became disenchanted with the church he was in, realizing that there was some deep doctrinal problems and set off on a journey to find the truth.  He eventually ended up in Mwanza, Tz, a two days journey from his house,  at an independent Baptist Church pastored by our good friend, Greg Wagoner.  Time was taken to thoroughly talk to him about salvation, doctrine and etc.  Omari made the decision at that time that the Baptist Church was indeed the correct church.  He was biblically baptized and then began a time of much prayer that God would somehow work out a way for a church to be started in his village and people to receive the correct training.  

Not long after this time God in a way that only God could do, began to move and lead the Grace Bible Baptist Church to reach out into the "regions beyond", into the DR Congo.  When hearing of this Bro. Wagoner contacted us with the information regarding bro. Omari.  We made contact and then slowly began building a relationship with him as we studied the bible together.  After a time we were quite confident that Omari was a man of integrity who greatly desires a true biblical church to be started in his village.  Ten days ago, pastor Isaac Mungai and I set off on an unforgettable journey to preach and then baptized converts in this village.  We did not know what to expect but as we look back at it now we know that God had every step planned.

We left Uvira at about 11:00 am and made it to the town of Baraka at 6:00 pm.  We covered about 60 miles but it took us seven hours to do it.  I can honestly say I have never been on roads quite like that road.  We met Omari in Baraka, found a place to spend the night, had supper, a time of fellowship and went to bed.  Sometime in the middle of the night Omari heard a scream from a mother that her baby had been taken.  A search was made but the baby could not immediately be found.  Finally as the morning light was beginning to show the baby was found on the trail leading to the lake, its stomach cut open and insides removed.  If we did not realize it before it was evident to us now that we were in Satan's territory.

That morning we jumped on the back of a motorcycle and headed out to the village of Sebele where bro. Omari lives.  Sebele sits right along the shore of lake Tanganyika about an hours distance from Baraka.  We were met in the street by many of the people as they were eager to meet the visitors from Kenya.  It ended up that we arrived a day earlier than anticipated and the people decided that they would like to take advantage of the time and asked us to preach to them.  Word went out over a considerable distance that there would be a preaching service on the hillside that afternoon at 4:00.  When it was time to preach there was well over 200 people standing in the hot sun listening as Pastor Isaac preached a simple plan of salvation.  Later when an invitation was give 15 people responded and accepted Christ.

That evening as we were preparing for bed, one by one people started coming to see us. They all had questions concerning the bible, doctrine, salvation etc.  It was not long before the little hut we were in could not hold everyone and they were standing outside the door and windows listening to us talk.  Some of the questions were so outrageous that it was hard to believe they were being asked but it was obvious that they were being asked out of sincerity.  As we were speaking I asked everyone if they had a bible, not one could answer yes.  Not only did they not have a bible, no one in their family had a bible and most had not even had the opportunity to hold a bible.  I then understood why the questions were so outrageous.  It was one of the most emotionally moving moments in my life and I determined then that the next time I went to that village I would carry a chest full of bibles.

One man by the name of Fidel seemed to take the lead in asking questions.  It soon came out that he was a "pastor" of one of the area churches.  While talking it became evident that God was working in his heart and I began to slowly go through the plan of salvation with him.  Because he was so mixed up it was necessary to start at the creation story and finally end up at the cross.  What a wondrous moment when he bowed his head and accepted Christ.  Fidel then said, "I have deceived my family and a lot of people, I will do my best to see that they know the truth."  The next morning he stood before his "church" and resigned and told the people that from that day forward he was going to be a Baptist.  He came to the preaching service with his family and that afternoon I baptized him!  We stayed up until the middle of the night answering questions and teaching the bible and seeing a number of people accepting Christ.  I am sure that I have never had an evening and night that was as fulfilling as that night.

On Sunday morning we had a crowd of nearly 500 people stand on the hillside as I preached to them the truth of God's Word.  For most of them it was the first time to ever hear the true way of salvation.  When I gave the invitation 18 people came forward to accept Christ.  

We took a good amount of time speaking to those who received Christ concerning baptism.  When we were sure of who had the right understanding of baptism we began an hours long walk to lake Tanganyika to baptize them.  The whole way there we were singing the praises of God, I have never seen such joy as those who were about to be baptize were showing.  We began to have a number of people follow us and by the time we reached the lake our crowd had grown significantly.  That afternoon we baptized 17 people who had made a public profession of accepting Christ.

When we began our trip back to Uvira it was necessary to again spend the night in Baraka.  That night very late we received a knock on the door by "security" people telling us we needed to pay some money.  They were looking for a bribe. It happens often in Congo and it is something that we have grown to expect.  However we do not pay bribes and are determined that we never will,  certainly not when we are about the Lord's business.  It was not taken very well that we would not give them anything.  They finally left but with a stern warning that first thing in the morning we were to be in their office ready to pay or we would be sorry.    

The next morning we were up early to catch a vehicle for the long journey back to Uvira.  It was about 6:30 am and as the vehicle was just starting to leave, the "security" people showed up, pulled us off the vehicle and marched us to their office.  We were told that we had been arrested and this began hours of "games" as they threatened us, tried to scare us, talked about the chains that they said they were going to lock us in, and finally separating us into different rooms to go at us individually.   When none of this got them the money they were after they took a different approach.  They asked to see our letter of invitation allowing us to preach in their zone.  Now technically we have not yet been given permission to preach in the Fizi zone, which is where we were.  We have only been given permission to start churches in the South Kivu zone.   Since we did not have this letter they decided that we were not really preachers but spies sent to stir up politics.  This started the whole process of threats and intimidation all over again.  As we were beginning to think that we were going to spend a whole lot of time in those cells, abruptly the "officer" stood up and looked at me and pastor Isaac and said you can go.  We did not stick around long knowing that they could just as quickly change their mind.

I have only given some of the highlights of this trip, skipping over some amazing and funny stories. 

God sure has been good to us and I am having the time of my life as we serve Him taking Grace to the Regions Beyond.




Luka Omari and wife

 

Sign for new church



    

Our vehicle needed a little help up the hill

   







KESHA

Last night we hosted 70 youth from the Grace Bible Baptist Church for a Youth Kesha.  A Kesha is basically an all night watch service.  We started the activity with supper and ended it with breakfast.  In between the two "eating times" we had a time of preaching, singing, games and etc.  Our house was quite crowded with the youth but we managed to survive the night without too much trouble and without the neighbors calling the police on us!

I preached from Matt 6:33 and really tried to challenge the youth to keep their priorities right. Much of the Western World culture has found its way into Kenya and unfortunately most of that culture does not tend to draw one closer to God.  Most Kenyans view the U.S. as "Christian" and are often ready and willing to accept what comes from her.   We take great efforts to separate our youth from the worldliness of Western Culture and are blessed to have some of the best youth anywhere in world.

One event that took place at the Kesha will keep our youth talking for years to come.  Around 4:00 am we took every one outside and gathered around a "bonfire" for a time of singing, testimonies, story telling and etc.  We had the bonfire underneath a large tree and unknown to most everyone we had someone high up in the tree wearing a full gorilla suit.  The "gorilla" was throwing "seeds" down at the crowd below.  It was real dark night and somewhat difficult to see but finally someone noticed what they thought was a "big bird" high up in the tree.  About that time the "gorilla" gave off a very realistic sounding "roar" and began scampering down the tree.  The reaction was what I expected and was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  I wish I could have captured it on video as it would have been an overnight sensation on You Tube.  The line for the toilet suddenly got longer!



Our friendly neighborhood Gorilla



WELCOME

Welcome to our blog!  We are a missionary family sent out of the Cleveland Baptist Church serving in the country of Kenya.   We are privileged to represent God, our sending church, and all those who support us. 

We arrived in Kenya on January 1, 1998 and thus began an incredible journey that can only be attributed to God.  When arriving in Kenya our belief was that God had sent us here to take the "Grace of God" to the people of Kenya, little did we realize that not only would God allow us to do that but also he would set in motion His plan to use the people of Kenya who gladly received His grace to take that grace to the Regions Beyond.

I have decided to begin recording this incredible journey of GRACE TO THE REGIONS BEYOND and ask that as you go along with us that above all you pray for us.





Charity               Timothy              Amanda

           Robert     Elizabeth   Wendy    Stephen