Dear Praying Friends,
NEW CHURCH PLANT IN BURUNDI
Several years ago God brought to our attention the need for churches in the country of Burundi. Burundi is a landlocked country in East/Central Africa that seems to have been forgotten by missionaries in this present time. Burundi has a population of nine million people and does not have one Independent Baptist Missionary in the entire country. Information is very hard to come by, but it seems that there has been very little missions work ever done by Independent Baptists in this country, and certainly nothing in the past several decades. I have personally passed through Burundi and her capital Bujumbura over thirty times when traveling to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Every time I pass through God burdens my heart about the need of Gospel preaching churches in this country. A few years ago, we began working with a small congregation that expressed interest in being a Baptist church. After confirming the salvation of those attending, we baptized the entire congregation. We have continued working with this church and appreciate many changes they have made, but have come to the conclusion that to minimize several problems, we need to see a new church started; a church that has the right foundation from the very beginning. We have anxiously prayed and waited for a missionary to come to Burundi, but God has made it abundantly clear that we should not be waiting for someone when He has already prepared a people to do the work. We are officially announcing that the Grace Bible Baptist Church of Nakuru, Kenya, will be starting a new Independent Bible Believing Baptist Church in the capital city of Burundi, Bujumbura. We plan to begin this new work sometime in the next few months. This is a MAJOR undertaking for our church in Nakuru. It will be time consuming, very expensive, and we will face many trials. We do not know how God will provide, but we believe God, knowing that where God leads, He guides and provides. Please pray for this huge responsibility that the church is about to take on. We need your prayers and look forward to sharing with you news of a new church in Burundi.
GRACE BAPTIST ACADEMY
The Grace Baptist Academy is a ministry that we do not usually speak much about, but it is a ministry that has become very special and where we have seen God bless. Twelve years ago we started a small nursery school at the Grace Bible Baptist Church. God gave us the desire to see the school expand. We began adding one class to the school each year. We are now running two schools, a nursery school and a primary school. The nursery school has 120 students and the primary school (1st thru 8th grade) has 280 students. These 400 students meet everyday on our church property and it gives us a great opportunity to see them trained, not only in books but in the Bible. We have seen many wonderful salvation decisions and lives changed. We have now expanded our primary school to include a boarding school with 75 students. Many of our boarding students come from South Sudan and it has given us a greater burden for the people of South Sudan. Having a Christian school brings its own unique set of problems, but it has been a tremendous ministry in reaching people, and has allowed our church family to ensure that their children get a quality Christian education.
His for Kenya,
And the Regions Beyond,
The Mickey Family
