Christmas Day, 2015

Good News of Great Joy

I can think of no better guide for this week’s update as it has been a true week of “good news of great joy… for all the people.” We experienced this joy last Thursday night at the special meal for the KBTC family after the graduation practice and even more so as 20 students graduated the next day surrounded by their friends and families, which included their church families.

Excited students on their way to graduation practice last Thursday.

I could write and write about what we felt and heard, but I’ll let photos and this video capture the joy and the celebration of graduates who are trained and equipped, ready to stand before our heavenly Father “in the gap on behalf” (Ezekiel 22:30 NIV) of “every nation, tribe, language and people” not just of Kenya, but of Africa and of all our world still waiting for a proclamation of the eternal gospel (Revelation 14:6 NIV).

A special moment as Jack prayed with the graduation party (KBTC Board
Chairman, professors, special guests and graduates) before the procession.  

The KBTC staff and students had worked very hard to beautify the grounds.

The moment when Jack conferred the diplomas of 20 very happy students.

Group pose after graduation and...

...a photo captured moments before as Bert did her job!

Then on Sunday, our church, Parklands Baptist Church - Eastgate celebrated a Masterlife graduation. This was another great reminder of the joy of believers who are ready to claim our Savior’s authority to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

And then yesterday, Jack and others met with Teacher Isaac and StoryTeller Richard who had just returned from a second round of teaching at the Kakuma Refugee Camp assisted by Tut, a KBTC student. These are just a few of the comments made which left Jack too excited to go to sleep last night:

A photo of the sharing of  God's stories
which were being learned to reshare!

“After all the training in my life and degree level theological study, my life has never been so clarified until hearing Bible stories unpacked.”

“The response is incredible. We could have storying and TEE in every ethnic area of the camp.” WIKIPEDIA reports that refugees at the camp are from "South Sudan, Sudan and Somalia... Ethiopia, D.R. Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Eritrea and Uganda."

There was lots and lots of rain during the two week
training at the Kakama Refugee camp, which led to
traveling in unexpected ways.

“There are enough teenagers to fill three stadiums. We need sports evangelism.”

“We’ve been given almost an acre for classrooms and for a demonstration farm which would feed and support our training centre.”

Should have added not just unexpected ways,
but dangerous ways requiring lots of prayers!

Our second missionary journey is finished and Tut, our student at KBTC, remains. We did not want to leave. Can we return in February?”

So #WhyDoWeGo as missionaries? The events of this week are perfect ways to share why Jack has invested his life in teaching and encouraging and strengthening others to be on mission with our Father. These events are also why I spend my days taking photos and sharing stories and of what our Father and His workers are doing in our part of the world, including making this 'Battle of Celebrants' video captured after last Friday's graduation of the celebrations of a Maasai student and a Kikuyu student.

Easy to download option of 'Battle of the Celebrants' at https://vimeo.com/149129217.

Our #1 prayer request at the moment? For rest! We do love what we do, but we are exhausted at the moment and definitely in need of a break, respite, breather, time-out, repose and a time of relaxation and any other synonyms available for REST!

BERT YATES       

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For more special stories and views from the week, click the IMB Sub-Saharan African Peoples, KBTC, and Bit's of Our Hearts TABS found above this post.

Why? Why? Why?

View this morning on the KBTC campus.

WHY did a small group of workers continue working at the Kenya Baptist Theological College (KBTC) for long periods without receiving a salary (the only income for many of their families)?

WHY did two of these workers meet daily before their work days DURING the times of no salary to pray for KBTC's restoration and the college’s ability to train the shepherds of God’s people?

Nelson (KBTC's chai brewer) and John (KBTC's man with the green thumb),
the early morning prayer team, with Ron Langston, an IMB worker who served
for many years at KBTC, at Ron's and his wife's retirement celebration.
(Shared in our April 15, 2015 blog post.)

WHY did some take new jobs and invest their lives in KBTC without any assurance of long term employment or receiving salaries in a timely manner?

Shared in our January 30, 2013 blog post.

WHY have volunteers and others provided time, monies and other resources to help rescue KBTC when the place looked forsaken (one elderly Kenyan man’s description in early 2013)?

WHY have Baptist families from the United States come to work at KBTC for long periods when there was no assurance that KBTC could be revived, restored, resurrected, revised and rescued?

The road was too steep and rough for a truck, so when
students first moved to Baraka Hall, it was done by donkey!
(Shared in April 24, 2103 blog post.)

WHY were students willing to return to KBTC with their fees and live and study in a building which required wading through water in the hallways when it rained even when the future of the college was still unknown?

Photo captured this week of the renewed joy of KBTC!

WHY have those at KBTC faced persecution and frustrations and continued striving for KBTC to become “once again in a place where African Believers can be prepared to REFLECT the PRESENCE OF GOD and become qualified and capable workers in our Father’s Harvest Field.”

Yes, all these questions do relate to the #WhyWeGo theme which I’ve mentioned many times as we approached this Lottie Moon Christmas Offering season! The answer to all the above questions is that these people, including Jack and I, have gone and done all this BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS!

Baraka Hall in January 2013.

We all have “persevered and have endured hardships for [HIS] name, and have not grown weary” (Revelation 2:3) BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS! We all desire to “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all the peoples” (Psalm 96:3 HCSB).

View captured this morning of Baraka Hall!

Just preparing for and reading what I just wrote leaves me tingling with excitement as I review what has happened at KBTC in the last three years and what is happening! God is at work and we thank Him for allowing us to join in His work in Kenya and among IMB Sub-Saharan African Peoples.

Today's Nudge to Action for IMB Sub-Saharan
African Peoples - a part of Bert's work as Prayer
Networker for SSAP affinity. CLICK the SSAP
tab above for another WHY from KBTC.

WE ARE ALSO THANKFUL FOR YOU and your partnership in His work, which includes the support and encouragement you give us by praying, giving financially (especially through the Cooperative Program, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and other global missions offerings) and through sending volunteers or even coming as volunteers to be at work in our part of the world! BERT YATES

Beautiful Feet

Yes, I’m late, really, really late on sharing this week’s prayer letter. I’ll let FB posts I've shared yesterday and today do the explaining!

Posted yesterday morning on FB: Earlier this morning I was excited, yet stressed about preparing special posts to share today during this Lottie Moon/ Week of Prayer for International Missions season. THEN God sent this view and tweets (the bird kind) which calmed me. THEN during my morning devotions (I have to be awake awhile for God to get through my thick head), He led me in a totally different plan for this week's update! THEN the electricity went out, also complicating work. So, I began editing this photo to get your attention and ask for your prayer support. THEN the electricity returned before I could post this! BUT I definitely still need prayers for staying focused and sensing God's guidance today!

This morning's post:  Thanks for your prayers yesterday! I did stay focused and God's guidance was definitely felt. Electricity bounced often, yet always returned! BUT last night I felt like this bird and wanted to hide! I should have also asked for strong internet and for all my programs to work properly! As the sun set yesterday, I finally gave up on posting our weekly update via e-mail as the internet was weak and the created movie had scratchy music! SO pray today for strong internet and that an alternative way of creating a better quality movie will work!

Not included in the movie, but finally a photo of me
arranging the retirement cake before taking photos!

Posted after noon today: READY TO DOWNLOAD on your computer - an improved, with great music copy of the “BEAUTIFUL FEET – IMB EAST AFRICA” video shared yesterday of the joy and sorrow of a family celebrating the retirement of family members who are leaving the family home to return to another continent? This is what was faced as this video was prepared sharing the special day (Nov 29, 2015) when missionaries and kids of the East Africa Cluster/ Sub-Saharan African Peoples Affinity met together to recognize those accepting the IMB’s Voluntary Retirement Incentive. Due to security issues, faces could not be shown, thus the BEAUTIFUL FEET (Romans 10:13-15) are shown of workers and kids of all ages, some who have lived in East Africa for only weeks and others for more than 40 years.

To download this, visit https://vimeo.com/147699856.

I could share lots more this week, but I'm ready to give my computer, my fingers and my mind a break.  Remember to CLICK the tabs at the top of this page to view more about what God is doing among the Sub-Saharan African Peoples, at KBTC and bits of our hearts! 

Yes, I did take a photo of my feet - at this was after I
had rinsed them off!  It was a very, very rainy day!

AND THANK YOU for praying for us, for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and other global missions offerings, and for coming/ sending more workers our way! BERT YATES