November 19, 2008

I am still immersed in “missionary stories” – this week’s story revolves around a church dedication that we attended last Sunday. As I roamed around taking pictures, I realized that this young church, Baptist Chapel, is a true Great Commission Story – an incredible story of God’s multiplication plan – a story of how carrying out the Great Commission leads to many Great Commission Stories! It was a long day (the service lasted over 5 hours), but an incredible day as we viewed how the older Baptist work in Kenya continues to mature and produce baptized disciples. In a few days I will share the full story of how this church is the result of the work of missionaries, volunteers and Kenyans committed to making disciples and teaching others to obey all of our Saviour’s commandments.

After days of meetings last week, Jack is now playing catch-up as he completes reports and assimilates all he absorbed. He returned from the BARA (Baptist AIDS Response Agency) Retreat excited and proud of how this ministry is being used by God. This is a true success story of how a dream of IMB missionaries is now a Kenyan ministry growing in their ability to serve their Heavenly Father. They continue to do this by relying upon a biblical foundation to help vulnerable groups avoid HIV/AIDS, while helping others face the reality of this illness.

Jack’s schedule last week also included a Board of Governors meeting of the Kenya Baptist Theological College. He felt your prayers as he and others were able to deal with many thorny issues. Our seminary/college is facing many changes as they grow, mature and become independent. Missionaries will continue serving on their faculty/staff, but the day has come for the KBTC to be “owned” by Kenyans rather than by the IMB – not simply ownership of title deeds, etc, but more importantly as it becomes a heart desire for Kenyan Baptists to produce trained men and women of God.

Thank you also for praying for our friend who returned last week to her former home, Zimbabwe, to assist with a relief project. Many missionaries have transferred to Kenya from Zimbabwe in recent years due to job re-assignments, and it has been difficult for them to hear second-hand of all the distress their friends are experiencing. Our friend did visit with the family that took their dog and all are surviving among all the chaos. Please continue praying for the situation in Zimbabwe and in the Congo where many missionaries and national Christians are striving to be ambassadors of God’s love and salvation in difficult situations.

My prayer request this week is that I totally claim 1 Peter 4:11 as I do my prayer advocacy work. Join me in praying that I will speak the very words of God and rely upon his strength as I share prayer items. Pray for Jack as he advises, strengthens and encourages our Kenyan leaders and missionaries who desire to minister through our Baptist churches. Pray for the Spiritual Retreat that we will attend this weekend with many of our IMB co-workers. We are in the midst of an IMB re-organization and this a stressful time for many of our colleagues. Join us in praying for true peace and revival. Bert Yates