Seasons of Refreshing

We have been praying and believing for revival for some years now and we are really believing that it is getting closer. Joyce asked for a sign and I guess that last Sunday we got one. Last week it poured with rain all Sunday which, though not unusual during the rainy season, was more torrential than we normally expect. It was terrible, especially for the mothers with children who protested loudly at the weather. I managed to preach for one hour, after which I and my note book were soaked, so it looks like I will have to start re-writing my sermons but thank God my Bible escaped unharmed due to the quick thinking of one of our ushers.

We are praying for dry weather this week but also that we can finish the church roof . It will cost around £5000 but we only need another £1000 to cover the part we are using .

Let it rain Lord, but only in the spiritual sense of the word!

Church without Walls - Literally!

It has been a great couple of Months for the church since moving to our new location, with everyone is still excited about the future. Of course we are still missing part of the roof and the walls but the church members are doing their best to raise some finances to continue building. We would particularly like to finish the at least part of the back wall before the rains come.

New members are signing up and Membership/baptism classes are underway. We are now having several times of prayer during the week in response to the call to 'pray for the peace of the city'. The spiritual atmosphere on the ground is wonderful and we always look forward to times of prayer there.

We have had a few challenges this month; Joyce lost an Aunt and so the family has been busy arranging the funeral and Joyce's brother Fred had an accident at school which left him unconscious. He has had several blackouts since the accident but now, thankfully the neurologists has given a good report and we believe all will be well. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds we have had to postpone our trip to visit our other churches. This trip is important as it gives us a chance to connect with and encourage church members as well as our leaders outside of Mombasa. We were also due to baptise a number of new converts. However, we are not discouraged as we believe we will be able to get to the before the year is over.

Progress Report

It has been a busy time for us here in Mombasa over the last few weeks. In January we took the decision to move to our new building. Even though the church building is far from finished we felt that it would be less of a burden as we now have no rent to worry about.

So on February the second we gathered under a new (half) roof and acarpet of green grass and began to worship in our new home. I am glad to say that we have not regretted the decision at all and everyone is excited and envisioned.

Our next challenge is the rainy season which is fast approaching. We are arranging sandbags to stop the worst of the water and we will be collecting funds to finish some more of the roof.

Spiritually, the land we have purchased has been traditionally used for witchcraft and so it is quite a strategic move. I was surprised and amazed at God's ordering of our steps when planing the construction; After arranging the layout of the church it turned out that the positioning of the building and the platform means that (unbeknown to me at he time) when I stand at my lectern I am speaking in a direct line to the front door of the local witch doctor!

Security has also been an issue as the new location is inhabited by Gangs of young men who come out at night to break into houses and mug people. They have been a concern to our guards and have been trying to throw stones at our lights because they don't want to be seen. Think that there might be an analogy there?

We have seen a number of new faces, although many are watching from a distance at the moment. Please pray for the church and the people of Bokoli to be transformed by God's presence.

AGM

This morning we are holding our annual AGM. We will be praying for the elders, pastors and department leaders as well as announcing our commitee for the coming year.

It is a time of great anticipation because, after today we have only three more Sunday meetings in our rented building. On Sun 7th of February we will begin to meet at the Community Centre.


- Posted using my iPhone

Building Progress

It has been a while since we posted some news here as we have been pretty occupied with getting the church to the new site. Over the last few months, our new landlord has made things pretty difficult for the church. First of all they put the rent up by 150% and then insisted that we sign a new lease, something which we cannot commit to. Because of this we have to be on the new site by the end of January.
Building work has been moving ahead and by the end of October we had most of the frame up for the building. In November we went home to spend time with family as well as visiting some friends and supporters. Also I was able to preach at Praisway Church in Colchester. Before our return, we had received a generous gift of £5000 towards the roof of the church and money became available for building toilet facilities which will serve both the church and the school.

The challenge now is to have the site ready enough to have meetings from the end of January. There wont be a proper floor and no walls but there should be enough shelter to go ahead if we don't have too much rain.

Aside from the building, I am very concerned that we help people to leave nominal Christianity behind and move on to maturity. Getting people to small groups has been a challenge but after some time of reflection and study, I feel that I have been given some new direction. As soon as we are meeting at the new site, I am planning to re-envision people and to introduce a new programme of discipleship for the whole church.

Thanks for all your prayers and have a very blessed Christmas

Building The Walls

It has been wonderful to see some progess at the new plot; last week we built a new wall and today we are beginning to level the site in readiness for the new structure. Also later today, I will be purchasing the steel which will be used for fabricating the frame of the building. If everything goes to plan then the main frame should be up by the middle of October. After that, all that is needed is a floor and a roof! Of course lot's of other items are needed from wiring and lighting to paint.

In November we are hoping to be in the UK to meet supporters, spend time with my family and to have a much needed break.

Eldoret and Kitali

About ten days ago, we arrived in Eldoret to meet our UK team comprising of English, Romanian and American participants. We had a great week encouraging the church there and also Pst Peter. You may remember from previous posts that Peter was sent from our Mombasa base to launch a new church plant in Eldoret town. You will also be aware that sadly, he lost his wife to Malaria in February.

In-spite of facing many difficulties, Peter has pressed on with the church and it is starting to grow. The UK team helped in door to door evangelism and with drama and testimony. They also saw a number of healings as they reached out. I was able to preach both in the open-air and in church where we saw a good response to the Gospel. I don't tend to count hands but a good number of people responded to the Gospel message and are being followed-up.

After a week in Eldoret, the UK team moved on to Siaya, where they had a wonderful time, even seeing someones sight restored. We however, moved on to Kitale where we have another church which is Pastored by Mr and Mrs David Simiyu. This church is in the village rather than the town and is housed in two small rented rooms with the dividing wall removed to make a small hall.

We were able to spend a day in Kitale, encouraging the church and their Pastor. As they have two services, both Joyce and I preached with Joyce being a bit more succesful due to some language difficulties. We spent the rest of the day in fellowship with the people and taking a meal together. It is also encouraging to see that the church has acquired a small piece of land and is beggining to build a structure for the church to meet.

Back in Mombasa we have begun to order materials for the construction of our new church building. We don't actually have enough funds to finish but we are pressing on anyway. The new structure will be a semi-permanent structure, large enough to seat about a thousand. It is so exciting to finally start building on the new plot.The bore-hole is still being dug as the contractor tried to get away with only drilling half way. After discovering that we were not born yesterday he brought the drill back and things are on track.

The UK team also joined us in Mombasa for their last week in Kenya and it was a wonderful week where we saw much in the way of healing. This was especially true in the door to door where one woman who was bedridden and who believed her self to be bewitched, was miraculously raised up after two years. Also in the open-air a mans knee/leg was healed and the team were surprised to be able to feel bones moving and coming back into place as they laid their hands on the subject.