March 31, 2010

Excited, nervous, grinning from ear to ear, hopping from foot to foot – a description of the groom during a wedding we viewed last week (man on the far right). Sheldon was so excited that when it came time to say the vows, he reversed the names and said, “I, Esther, take thee, Sheldon.” Everyone had a good laugh as the officiating pastor guided the groom in repeating the correct words. I need to back up a little now and explain … the groom was almost 70 years old as was his bride!

This is just one experience as Jack and I attended last Friday’s Kakamega Bible School graduation – the completion of two years of study (one week per month) for 16 men and women. Many of the graduates were not Baptist, but chose to attend as they know Baptists as people who teach, learn and obey the Bible.

The day also included an apology to George Shihafu, the principal of the Bible School. When told there would be a wedding after the graduation, we replied that we would not stay for that part in order to prepare for our return to Nairobi. We were assured that it would only last 20 minutes - it usually takes longer than that for the bride to enter the church! I was really concerned when FOUR fully garbed brides arrived! But, the wedding WAS over in less than 25 minutes!

A pastor ordination was also a part of the graduation ceremony! It was truly a day of celebration for the graduates, their families and their churches and a day of praising God for His greatness. I had not intended to prepare a slide show for you this week, but I could not share only two attached pictures in today’s prayer update – so I chose 20 of the 1000+ pictures to give you a brief view of the celebration day as well as 20 photos of the kids – which most of you enjoy! So, to “see a bit through our eyes” check out “Kakamega Bible School Graduation” at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=211748&id=685050129&l=36e1708f14 and “Kids Celebrating a Bible School Graduation, Wedding and More” at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=211745&id=685050129&l=ec39392e9d

Last week I added this PS to our prayer letter: Don’t forget to pray for our return trip on Saturday – we would rather not share our lane AGAIN with a huge bus determined to pass an 18 wheeler truck! I’m not sure if it was God’s sense of humour or a reprimand for “tacking” this on, BUT ... during the seven hours return trip we were not run off the road AGAIN by a huge bus passing a truck with more than 18 wheels – THIS TIME we were run TOTALLY OFF the road by TWO BUSSES passing TWO HUGE TRUCKS! Thankfully, your prayers were answered and we had a rare smooth shoulder to use as a detour and made it safely home!

We need prayers again for travelling mercies, this time for a trip to the States. Possibly it is our age, or Jack’s work covering all of Kenya, but we have realized that to get a real break, we must leave Kenya more often than we did in the past. So we are taking our annual leave during April in North Carolina visiting family and friends and attending the annual North Carolina WMU meeting. I’m not sure how often, if ever, you will hear from us until May! We do appreciate and NEED you prayer support, so please don’t stop praying for the work of the Baptist churches of Kenya during this next month! These are the true “missionaries” who are uniquely gifted to share the Good News with Kenya and Africa and we are blessed to be allowed to strengthen and encourage them. Bert Yates

March 24, 2010

SETTING: Bushiri, a village west of Kakamega in western Kenya. A missionary couple and the principal of the local Bible School are enjoying chai (sweet, milky hot tea) in tin cups and mandazi (triangular doughnuts) in the largest room of a three-room mud house. They are discussing church growth with the pastor and a deacon of Baraka Baptist Church which meets under a large tree in the yard of the home where they sit. Until a few months before, the six year old church met in a building erected nearby, but the original owner of the land decided to start his own church and reclaim his land and the church building!

NEW CHARACTER: A man enters and sits on the opposite side of the room from the group. He sits there quietly, simply observing all that is happening.

EXIT OF CHARACTERS: One missionary leaves to take pictures of the women outside setting-up borrowed chairs for the day’s worship service/discipleship training and others behind the house preparing rice and beans for lunch. The missionary is surprised by all the unsmiling kids. She then finds unique large rocks and a beautiful garden so she returns for her husband who loves rocks and gardening. As they exit, the pastor introduces the lone man – he is a church deacon and the owner of the house and the yard where the church meets. Silently, the home owner follows the missionary couple outside.

PLOT CHANGE: After one comment by the male missionary about the incredible rocks, the solemn man becomes animated as he shares his love for the rocks that God has provided on his property – some he is using and others he sells when he needs school fees and other things for his family. He also proudly shows his fields of vegetables and trees – trees that will be ready to harvest when his three boys needs funds after primary school.

This is a description of last Sunday morning as we began another week of church planting training in Kakamega. The transformation in the deacon was experienced again as a group of reserved people became animated while talking of the things they loved – not only the trees and the rocks, but also of their Saviour. They were eager to learn more of how to be good disciples and how to make disciples. It was an exciting two days as they learned from God’s Word of His expectations and plans for them. As Sunday progressed, many smiles appeared as the children and adults became comfortable with the Wazungu (Whites). A few of their many smiles with prayer nudges guided by Proverbs can be found at “Joining Baraka Baptist Church in Prayer.” A lighter view of the day can also be seen of how one toddler took a mid-day break at “Adventures with a Kanga.”

Thank you for praying for us during this eight day trip to Kakamega. We had a safe trip and we did need your prayers. The current rains are a blessing, but with the downpours, the road between Kisumu and Kakamega has jumped a few levels up on the HORRIBLE chart. Your prayers for Jack are also being answered as he seeks to strengthen and encourage the work of Baptists in this area. He returns each day exhausted but excited after teaching. He completes two days of training today in the local Baptist Bible School – the last classes for more than 20 men and women (including several of other denominations) who graduate on Friday after two years of study. I’m also thankful for reliable roving internet which allows me to work as I travel with Jack. Pray for me as I transition into my job as Cluster Connector of Equatorial Africa and seek to strengthen and encourage our staff in Equatorial Africa. Thank you also for praying for Ngoingwa Community Baptist Church which began less than two weeks ago. Samson Kisia reports that the second service was also blessed and several new people of the neighbourhood attended. God is at work in our part of the world – thank you for joining us in this work as you pray, come as volunteers and give! BERT YATES

PS – Don’t forget to pray for our return trip on Saturday – we would rather not share our lane again with a huge bus determined to pass an 18 wheeler truck!

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“Joining Baraka Baptist Church in Prayer” – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209719&id=685050129&l=e821b374cf

“Adventures with a Kanga” – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209197&id=685050129&l=a6ec823c9d

March 17, 2010

“Do you know you belong to God? We belong to somebody!” This was announced at the new Ngoingwa Community Baptist Church worship service this past Sunday! There was also loud clapping and praise given to God when Samson Kisia, the pastor of Ruiru Baptist Church, said “We are here for our first service and there will be a Baptist church in this community until Jesus comes! We are Baptists. We are people of hope. We are people of God’s Word, people of the Bible.”

As Samson watched houses appear in Ngoingwa on the edge of Thika, he was burdened by the lack of an evangelical church in this new middle class “bedroom” community of Nairobi. In late February, Samson, invited many of his Timothys to prayer walk the area with him. One prayer was for a Man of Peace, a resident who shared their dream of a church in the community. They found a young church leader of another denomination who did want a Bible believing/teaching church closer to home. This young man also offered the temporary use of tents and chairs and suggested a spot where the church could place the tents!

So, Samson and the young pastors returned last week to the community with this message: "A new Baptist church will begin next Sunday. Look ffor the tents near the entrance to your neighborhood!" Although we live in Nairobi, 25 miles away, we also received this invitation and Jack agreed to “deliver the first sermon of this first service” of Ngoingwa Community Baptist Church” – another Samson quote! It was an exciting day of watching members of Ruiru Baptist Church, located half-way between Nairobi and Thika, actively plant a new church. Even the children’s choir acted as home missionaries that day!

It was exciting for us to see how God had members of existing Baptist churches in place and ready to plant this church. During visits to the neighborhood, Samson met two old friends working in the community – two Maasai men he first met during a mission trip at their Baptist church in Tanzania , men who desire to tend God’s flock as they tend flocks for others. God also has a young Baptist man ready to pastor and lead this new congregation – Steven Mzungu, a Christian translator with a seminary degree. Part of Stephen’s spiritual journey included time on the IMPACT team, a past Baptist Mission program that helped Kenyan Baptist kids spend the year after high school ministering to the youth of Kenya - as they were being discipled themselves!

Please join us in praising God for Ngoingwa Community Baptist Church. Specific prayer nudges can be found with pictures at Ngoingwa Community Baptist Church - Praying for a Baby Church.* Join us also in praying for an eight day return trip we begin on Saturday to Kakamega in western Kenya. As I search for ways to share God’s work with you, Jack will teach Church Planting in new areas and check on those trained in January. Pray for safety as we travel and that we will allow God to direct our actions as we seek to strengthen and encourage the current and future work of Baptists in this area. BERT YATES
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* Ngoingwa Community Baptist Church - Praying for a Baby Church at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=207717&id=685050129&l=796d83142f
Visit the first service of Ngoingwa Community Baptist Church – An exciting look at Church Planting by Kenyan Baptist and how you can pray with them. Also a great example of why being a missionary on the LEGACY TEAM (work with the established Baptist churches) is an incredible journey as the Yates seek to "Strengthen and encourage as we engage lostness together” (Acts 14:22; Revelations 14:6). PLUS a few views that most of you didn’t see at church last week!

March 10, 2010

“TO ALL PEOPLE OF THIS KENYA. Illchamus is the only name but not Njemps.” I received this note last week from a man who is evidently of the Illchamus People Group – a comment he added that day to a prayer item posted on the Omba4Kenya (see 1 at end) blog on June 8, 2008. YES, I typed the right year and NO, this did not surprise me!

Last month, the African Union Commission ordered the Kenyan government to return land taken years ago for a game reserve to the Endorois community, a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin People in the Rift Valley. (2) This decision has led to many discussions about Kenya’s smaller and often unrecognized People Groups. The government lists 40 plus people groups, but many are a grouping of many smaller clans or tribes, often speaking a separate language.

The information found in a series in last week’s SATURDAY NATION should have startled anyone who believes in the Great Commission and proclaiming the eternal gospel to all “who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language and people” (Revelations 14:6) Entitled, “Kenya’s Tribes on the Brink”, the report talked of tribes becoming extinct as languages and tribes die out. “Only seven can speak dying language” (3) told of the death of an old woman who had fought to keep the identity of the Yakuu tribe/clan known by teaching their culture and language. As life changed in Kenya in recent years, these hunters and gatherers of honey and plants in the forest have been “assimilated by their populous Maasai neighbours” - pastoralists neighbours (those whose lives revolve around keeping livestock and finding pasture and water for them) who call them the “Ndorobo … poor people who do not own livestock.” My reaction: Will there be any Yakuu People standing by the heavenly throne praising God and saying, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

“Little known tribe that census forgot” tells of the “500 Sanyes on the coast of Kenya. (4) Many disturbing facts were found in this article, such as the writer finding among the Sanye People Group “100 children, none of who seemed to attend school” where “hospitals are foreign.” These people, who make up seven clans, have also been given “a derogatory name” by their neighbours – “Dahalo or the Dako” referring to people who are suspicious and live isolated. The writer says that “The Sanye are very … sensitive. Unannounced visitors are likely to find the village deserted.” My questions when I read this: Will the Sanye People, believers in witchcraft, allow a visitor to proclaim the eternal gospel before they become extinct? Will there be Sanye People in heaven?

Another dimension to this discussion on smaller people groups was shared in “The dying of tribes is the only way to end tribalism.” (5) There were many valid points in this article, yet, as it talked of “Politicians, anthropologists, historians, archeologists, linguists, sociologists, and even journalists” being a part of the discussion, I wondered if Believers are also concerned about the “likelihood of the extinction of some ethnic group”?

I don’t claim to be a theologian, but I am a PRAY-ER and these articles have definitely led to my praying with more strength for the unreached People Groups of our world. I am also a creator of prayer slide-shows – so you can find a new album of pictures, “Proclaiming the Eternal Gospel to Every Language and People” (6), which I pray will strengthen your prayers as join with the Baptists of Kenya in praying for the lost of our world. Bert Yates
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1) Omba4Kenya/Pray for Kenya – June 8, 2008 - http://omba4kenya.blogspot.com/2008/06/sunday-june-8-2008.html
2) Endorois to get back their land, thanks to AU court (Daily Nation, February 9 2010) -
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/858948/-/8pjsq2/-/index.html
3) “Only seven can speak dying language” (Saturday Nation, March 6, 2010, p.10) – http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Only%20seven%20can%20speak%20dying%20language/-/1056/873770/-/mjies0z/-/index.html
4) “Little known tribe that census forgot” (Saturday Nation, March 6, 2010, p.16) – http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Little%20known%20tribe%20%20that%20census%20forgot%20/-/1056/873782/-/4n1xxuz/-/index.html
5) “The dying of tribes is the only way to end tribalism” (Saturday Nation, March 6, 2010, p.16) – http://www.nation.co.ke/News/The%20dying%20of%20tribes%20is%20the%20only%20way%20to%20%20end%20tribalism%20/-/1056/873788/-/n8t751/-/index.html
6) Proclaiming the Eternal Gospel to Every Language and People – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=205477&id=685050129&l=7f2bfa4db5 - Non-FACEBOOK members can view these pictures

March 3, 2010

Kenya may soon have a new national holiday – National Unity and Thanksgiving Day in remembrance of the National Accord signed on February 28, 2008, which brought peace to Kenya after two months of post-election uncertainty and chaos. The news reports were a good example of how Kenya is at peace, yet much political and tribal discord remains – The politicians couldn’t agree on the name for the holiday – some called it National Thanksgiving and Cohesion Day and another wanted the word HOPE added to the name!

Nevertheless, we did experience a very special Day of Thanksgiving this past Sunday at Parklands Baptist Church. As I spotted friends while snapping pictures, I remembered testimonies of how lives were transformed after the late 2007 national elections. I was in awe again of how many friends used this difficult and traumatic time as a trigger for growth and maturity, rather than discouragement. I took a new picture of the child who stars in one of my favorite photos – a picture taken at Parkland’s Healing Service on the Sunday after the National Accord was signed. In the last picture, my friend was two months old and sleeping soundly as his father prayed. Today, he is a rambunctious two year-old and his father has learned to keep his eyes open if he wants to keep up with his son!

I also realized why, although we do face painful and difficult problems, we continue to find joy in our work in Kenya and an assurance of being where God wants us! There are problems, most which we cannot share freely – disappointments with fellow Christians who are not the strong leaders God needs them to be; frustration when others fail; pain at seeing Kenyan friends suffer due to the economic/political/social problems related to living in a third world country, such as one who cannot afford needed medicine or the friend who may have to drop out of seminary due to a lack of finances and family support, etc.

But there is also joy! The joy of watching the young deacon who led our church in last Sunday’s Thanksgiving Prayers and knowing he was discipled as a Shauri Moyo Baptist youth by our best friends. It was hearing my young seminary friend joyfully share how she used what she is learning to counsel a troubled friend last week. It is Jack’s joy of watching students share his joy of Church Planting as he continues teaching this month at our seminary! I experienced joy as I put together a Prayer Slide-show of the new church we attended on Valentine’s Day, “Praying for a BABY Church”.* Joy also comes from knowing that we have people like you praying for us and supporting us as volunteers and through your financial gifts to Lottie Moon and the Cooperative Program. THANK YOU, BERT
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* Praying for a BABY Church - Learn how a group of committed Christians in Kayole/Soweto Estates (Nairobi, Kenya) are obeying our Savior's Great Commission as they seek to "Reconcile their Community Back to God" – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=203032&id=685050129&l=8bf3a63843 (Non-FACEBOOK members can access these pictures. To begin the slideshow, simply click the first picture AND make sure you get to the last one – I found a special surprise as I edited this picture!)

For more pictures from Community Baptist Church, go to "Sing, Praise, Proclaim His Salvation!" (Pictures of kids from the church with praises from the Psalms) at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=198523&id=685050129&l=c7d379bb73
AND "Valentine's Day Drive to Church" (A scenic tour of traveling across Nairobi with a few prayer incentives) at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=196983&id=685050129