FEBRUARY- MARCH PRAYER LETTER

WORK PERMIT RENEWED

God recently answered a huge prayer request regarding the renewal of our Kenyan work permit.  For a myriad of reasons some that have been seeking a missionary work permit have been seeing their request delayed for long periods of time.  One of our co-workers has been waiting for over a year to have his permit renewed.  Without the proper missionary permit it would cause much of what we are doing to grind to a halt.  Our visas and permits that allow us to work in Congo and Burundi are directly tied to having a valid missionary permit from Kenya.  My last permit was delayed for six months and the governments of Congo and Burundi refused to allow me to enter their countries during that time.   I applied for our new permit early January and amazingly I received word exactly two weeks later that I had been approved for another three year missionary work permit!  Thank you for your prayers!

MISSIONS GIVING

Grace Bible Baptist Church gave $28,050 to missions this last year of 2018.  This was the most they have given in a year to missions.  It is amazing to see the love, sacrifice and willingness of the people to give in order for them to do their part to reach the world with the gospel.  We are fortunate to be able to partner in our ministries here in Kenya and the Regions Beyond with such a great church!

SHAME ON THE DEVIL

We had two difficult events happen to us in the last ten days.  We have no doubt that Satan is fighting and trying to discourage us.  Earlier in January I was spending some time in the churches in Congo and Burundi while Wendy and Elizabeth were here in Kenya.  On Sunday evening, the 17th of January, I received a text message that Wendy and Elizabeth had been in a terrible car accident.  Information was hard to get and I was beside myself with worry. I could not get a flight back to Kenya that night and had to wait until the next morning. Although our vehicle was badly damaged, God miraculously spared them from nothing more than some bumps and bruises.  Looking at the truck it is hard to understand how they were not seriously hurt. Thank you for your prayers!

Because of the accident we are now without a vehicle and have been scrambling to find the necessary transportation to get things done.  Over the last several years we have been slowly saving up money for another vehicle and decided to transfer that money into an account in Kenya so that we could begin the process of buying a car.  Yesterday Wendy and I went to the bank to open an account specifically for that purpose.  I carried with me a substantial amount of money to put into the bank.  Unfortunately due to some paperwork snafu there was a delay in the new account.  Because of some prior commitments I had to leave the bank with the instructions that I would return later in the afternoon to conclude everything.  Unknowingly to me someone that was at the bank saw me with the money and followed me.  They followed me for over an hour until they were able to find a place where they could rob me.  I lost the money along with my passport and other things that I was carrying.  We were able to see much of what happened on CCTV and it was an eerie feeling watching yourself being stalked.  There is much to the story and God surely saved me from a possible terrible situation.  Thank you for your prayers! We need them!  And shame on the devil!

FURLOUGH 2018 AND KENYA UPDATE

We have begun scheduling meetings for our upcoming furlough that will take place May through October 2018.  If you would like us to make a report to your church, please send us a message.  If you do not support us, we would love the opportunity to present the ministry of Kenya and the Regions Beyond to your church. 

Today, the 12^th December is Kenya’s fifty-fourth Independence Day.  Kenya certainly has had her ups and downs through the years, but she continues to be a country that offers total freedom to worship God and is a beacon of hope to many other African countries.  We pray that God’s hand will continue to be evident in Kenya and particularly in the Bible believing churches as they continue to grow and mature.  Our burden is that God will use the churches of Kenya to reach into many of the difficult areas of Africa with the Gospel. 

The Kenyan election has finally ended, with the swearing in of Uhuru Kenyatta as president.  The opposition is still threatening action but at this time calm has returned to the country and we pray that it will continue.  It has been a rough five months for the Kenyan people and for many it will take a long while to recover. 

We thank you for praying for the people of Kenya during this election time.  Please continue to pray that the opposition will accept the results, the country is clearly divided in half and much needs to take place to repair the damage that has been done.  

We hope to hear from you concerning our upcoming furlough.

Continue to pray for Kenya

The Kenyan election that took place the 8th of August and was then overturned by the supreme court was held again on this past Thursday the 26th October.   This time the controversy over the election is even greater than the first time.  Two weeks before the election the challenger, Raila Odinga, withdrew himself from the election stating that the supreme court mandated changes to the election process had not been done and the election was going to be nothing more than a sham.  Therefore, he would not participate in an election with a predetermined outcome. 

The electoral commission would not allow him to withdrawal his name, so he in turn asked his supporters to not vote.  On election day there was trouble in much of the opposition areas and the tension all over the country was high.  There are unconfirmed reports of 70 people killed during the election. The chaos was so great in some areas that four whole counties where not able to vote at all.  The votes are still being counted but it seems that most of the opposition supporters followed the dictate of their leaders and did not vote.  The president's vote total seems to be much lower than the first election with reports of only 35 percent voter turnout.

On the eve of the election, Raila Odinga called a press conference for a major announcement telling the country that he was disbanding his political party NASA and was transforming them into the National Resistance Movement NRM.  They would from that day forward be a resistant movement that would resist everything the government does.  Basically, the desire is to make the country ungovernable and force another election with the changes he desires.

Elections in Kenya have always been tribal affairs and unfortunately this election has caused the tribal tension to rise to unprecedented levels.  The rhetoric on both sides are abominable.  People who should know better are saying things and posting things on social media that are divisive and ugly.  I have never seen a time in Kenya that the tribal divisions are as great as they are today, and many Kenyans have told me that the hatred being displayed between certain people groups has reached a level never seen before. 

The economy has shut down for many, the Kenyan people are hurting, yet some continue following their leaders like sheep to the slaughter. It's time that Kenya had some leaders that would put the whole nations interest ahead of their own interest. Unfortunately, the current leaders don't seem to understand that important part of leadership.

Despite the current situation there are those who are standing for what is right.  There are preachers and churches that are going against the tide and consistently loving people and have not allowed themselves to be swayed by the politics of the day.  It is these preachers and churches that must continue to set the example and be a light that others can follow.

Continue to pray for the people of Kenya and especially the pastors and churches.  I am especially appreciative of Pastor Justus Oloo, co-pastor of the Grace Bible Baptist Church, who continues to set an example of pastoring a mixed tribal church and leading them to remain unified despite what others are doing around them. 

SEPTEMBER- OCTOBER 2017 PRAYER LETTER

KENYA ELECTION UPDATE

The Kenyan Presidential elections were held on the 8th of August and the voting process was conducted peaceably.  As the country awaited the results there were some obvious apprehension on the outcome, but overall it could not have gone much better.  After the counting of the ballots, the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner. Half the country broke out into celebration and the other half went into mourning.  There were some isolated riots of protest and a lot of tension as the country waited to see what the losing candidate, Raila Odinga, would do.  Would he accept the outcome or would he incite his followers?  He had begun indicating that he would not accept the outcome but was silent on what he was going to do.  Tension was rising and people were worried.  It forced us to cancel all of our Bible College sessions as people needed to stay near their homes in case the worse happened.

Surprisingly, to most people, Raila Odinga took his issues with the election to court and said he was willing to accept the verdict of the supreme court.  Most of Kenya believing the court would accept the results of the election were ready to get on with their day to day living.  On the 1st of September the Supreme Court of Kenya shocked the continent of Africa and for the first time ever in Africa, ruled that the election was nullified because it had not been conducted correctly according the  Kenyan constitution.  According to the ruling a new election has to be held within 45 days.  This new election is now scheduled to take place on the 26th of October.

The tension in Kenya has now risen tremendously because of these events.  In our twenty years living in Kenya I have not seen the tribal hatred and animosity as great as it is now.  I have read and heard things said that are very dangerous.  There are people on both sides of the political spectrum that have indicated that they will not be willing to accept defeat in this next election.  The president is furious at the supreme court and has used language against it that is very provocative. The challenger has indicated that he will not allow the election to go forward if reforms in the election process are not done first.  Obviously in the short amount of time before the election date this is close to impossible.

The Grace Bible Baptist Church has many different tribes represented in the membership that are on the opposite side of the political spectrum.  The church remains unified and continues holding special prayer meetings to help ensure the unity remains.  Please continue to be in prayer for the nation of Kenya as this election process goes forward.  The chances of trouble have greatly increased.

PRAY FOR KENYA

One week from today, August 8^th, nearly 19 million Kenyans will go to the poll to vote on a president.  Elections in Kenya are always a tense exercise and this election seems to be no different.

It was almost 10 years ago when a Kenyan election very nearly turned into a genocidal war.  Thousands were killed, tens of thousands injured and hundreds of thousands lost everything except their life.  God graciously pulled the country of Kenya back right before she went over the cliff.  Kenya is still suffering and recovering from that election.

We do not believe that this election will be a repeat of 2007 but unfortunately as we get closer to the election date the tension amongst some in the country is growing.  Most Kenyans want nothing more than peace but at times politicians and tribal kingpins have a way of causing people to not think clearly.

In the last couple of days there have been some disturbing events that have taken place that have caused great concern.  Kenya has gone to an electronic voting system for this election.  The man given the task of overseeing this system and ensuring that all the necessary precautions were in place for the vote to be credible was found tortured and then murdered.   There was no effort made to camouflage this killing as an accident, his body was dumped in a place where he was sure to be found.  The killers seemed determined to send a chilling message that they will stop at nothing to ensure the outcome they desire.

We have been meeting together as a church each Saturday morning over the past month asking God for peace in the country and unity in the church.  It has been a special time of prayer for the church and we will continue these prayer meetings as long as necessary.  

We ask that you continue to pray for this election and specifically that God’s hand of protection will be upon all the churches, that they will remain unified regardless of tribal identity.   

YOUR PRAYERS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AT THIS TIME!!!

CHURCH FAMILIES PRAYING TOGETHER