May 30, 2012

Jack’s current classes at our seminary concluded last Friday, so we are at home this week.  Nairobi is warmer than the area around our seminary, but still chilly this time of year as it is over a mile above sea level.  It was in the low 60’s early this morning and is now 68 in our house WITHOUT the aid of air-conditioning!

As I froze last week and wore more layers than I’m wearing today, Jack and his students at Kenya Baptist Theological College (KBTC) were kept warm by their enthusiastic response to guest speakers during the final week of their Church Planting Methodology (CPM) course! They were so excited and enthralled by what they heard, that  I asked Jack to write a report for you.  Today you get his intro and a report of his first speaker – the remaining four reports will be shared during June.

“In my first years as a career missionary, I served in education.  My family and I were a part of the development of a Baptist church which grew into one of the strongest churches in the city.  My next assignment was similar and we had the same results in another location.  Then as we moved again and become more increasingly involved in church planting, it was so easy because the people lacked churches and were eager and willing to join and do the necessary work.  Most of the work however was dependent on the missionary and his resources.

Those days and times ended more than 15 years ago.  Very few missionaries in non-administration roles remain in Kenya and almost all responsibilities for church planting has been left to our national partners.  How would they respond?  What methods would they use?  This past week I arranged a forum for my CPM class at KBTC to hear from folks who are my friends and my heroes – East Africans who are planting churches.  Here is the first of their stories.

Samson Kisia is a highly efficient church planter who has planted possibly 2,000 churches in the last 25 years.  He could have been just the highly successful pastor that he is.  His church has five services every Sunday, including a deaf and a Sudanese congregation.  Over 600 children learn in Sunday School, also in multiple languages, and many have been discipled.  But his passion is Church Planting.  Samson’s basic method:  He asks his members if they have a Baptist church in their home place.  If not, they go and start one! He has successfully begun churches all over East Africa – including Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, the DRofCongo, Burundi and Rwanda.  His secret?  “I am not afraid to get dirty!”

Yes, today’s update is a little different, but the work of these men and many others, including lots of women, brings us great joy.  Part of our joy is remembering the personal testimonies and spiritual histories of these East African co-workers and viewing how God has blessed the past work of our many IMB co-workers – men and women who invested their lives in these East Africans who are continuing God’s work in our part of the world.  So our prayer item this week is a praise, a praise for how God has allowed us and many others to have been and continue to be a part of His work in East Africa!  BERT YATES

May 27th Prayer Nudge from East Africa

Shared last Sunday by a missionary to Tanzania: “Snake in my house on Wed; skunk in the house last night, thankfully it left without spraying; this morning no water…. so no shower before Church. Joys of living in…” Update the next day: “Water line fixed. Skunk gone...don't know where the snake is, has not shown up again.” NOW for a bit of humour – The completion of the “Joys of living…” sentence. This FORMER missionary to Tanzania is now “…living in rural USA!” But, she is likely PRAISING God for her experiences in Tanzania which prepared her for these problems!
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No, it is not likely that a giraffe will show up at this former TZ missionary's American home, but giraffe have been spotted outside homes in East Africa and one famous guest house is known for inquisitive giraffe sticking their heads in the bedroom windows of guests! After reading this added comment, the woman shared: "I do have carved giraffes and pictures of giraffes all over my American house."

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To view daily "Prayer Nudges from East Africa", go to http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/

May 23, 2012

Writing again from the ‘teacher’s cottage’ at our seminary, Kenya Baptist Theological College (KBTC).  Jack is completing the Church Planting Methodology (CPM) course and though this week’s schedule only includes 4 hours of teaching each day, he begins a few days at 7:30 in the morning, which means staying overnight at the seminary thanks to the rains and foggy mornings!  The roads haven’t improved, actually Jack is now calling a few potholes ‘Digging to China’ holes, but in our part of the world, he should call these craters ‘Digging to Alaska' potholes – as if you dig straight down from Kenya you would end up in Alaska or in the Pacific Ocean!

This final week of teaching CPM is always Jack’s favorite part of this 45 hour course as he invites guest speakers for most classes.  He enjoyment is not due to not having to teach, but how the students respond to his guests, East Africans who are in ministry in our part of the world:  Samson Kisia, a pastor/church planter (check out today’s Prayer Nudge from East Africa); Zack Mahalangwa who explains how House Groups were the foundation of the beginning of our church, Parklands Baptist–Mombasa Road; Jeremiah Chacha representing SEMA, a leather working project which employs urban Church Planters; Shem Okello, the Coordinator of Baptist volunteers using Houses for Hope to develop churches; Euticauls Wambua, a Nairobi pastor who has led his church to plant eight churches in a remote area of Kenya; and Pius Wantene,  a Regional  Coordinator for the Baptist Convention of Kenya, who teaches his region how to plant churches through discipleship.

Pray for Jack as he continues with classes through Friday and for his guest speakers.  It is a good thing that Jack has a lighter teaching load this week as he is fighting a bad cold, so pray for quick healing. Pray also for the seminary students as they return home this weekend from this three week session.  Pray for safety in travel and for opportunities to use what they have learned and time to do ‘homework’ before they return for the next round of classes in July.  

Join us also in praying for our seminary as it continues to struggle as it works through being ‘owned’ by our convention/ local Baptist churches.  Pray especially for the Board of Governors (Jack is currently a Board member and though I am no longer on the board,  I served for many years as a member) as they make difficult decisions related to seminary’s on-going ability to serve and train.  Another prayer is for God’s choice for the new principal to become very obvious and available.

I have ‘moved’ since beginning this as the electricity disappeared again at our cottage and my computer finally died!  So, I’m now sitting at Brackenhurst using their generator as I work and repower my computer!  Yes, our lives come with problems, but it is hard to ever get bored as there is never a routine/ according to schedule day!  

My major frustration at the moment is that I’m feeling much, much better and have so much catch-up work to do. Plus, I do love my work and get so excited as I learn what God is doing in our part of the world and how He is allowing us and our co-workers  to be a part of His work.  Sometimes friends say I am overly passionate – but it is impossible to not want to share as many of these stories as possible through blogs, e-mails and Facebook!  Pray that I will be patient with interferences and totally rely upon God for His guidance and insights as I work.  I encourage you to view 2012 Prayer Nudges from East Africa at http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/ to view these stories or find them on Facebook (info on the right column). 

The electricity went off and back on a few minutes ago, which means the generator has been turned off and the electricity has returned, so I was going to stop and walk back to our cottage, but the power returning coincided with the coming of a very heavy downpour of rain, so I’m stuck here for a while.  Yes, I did bring a very large umbrella, but this is wind and rain and I’ve learned the hard way that no umbrella is large enough to stay dry… so I will stop writing, but not return to the cottage until the rain slackens!  Oops, almost forgot, I do need to add what I usually say, but it is not simply the ‘politically correct’ thing to say, but from the bottoms of our hearts:  THANKS again for all you do to support us and God’s work in East Africa, BERT YATES