My Guide - Kenya 2019

Acts 8:30-31

How will I get there if someone doesn't guide me?

"So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah & said;  "Do you understand what you are reading?"  And he said;  "How can I unless someone guides me?"

A instructive moment~

How will I get to where God wants me unless I have a guide?

We are just a few weeks away from this years trip to Kenya and I wanted to introduce to you some of our companions we meet along the way. Today, I want to introduce to you someone I met on the 2008 trip. My guide, Dennis Mugambi, has been there for me on my adventures.

In 2008, when Dennis was 15, he rescued Lonnie Dillard and I from a mob.  He saw we were in trouble and rode his bike back to Mike Heiser and got Mike to come and help us. Dennis to me is like a guardian angel, he protects me and gets me and the team to where we need to be so we can minister the gospel.

Lonnie & Linus, at Bible School in Kitale~

 Dennis in 2018, was there for me when I was delayed in getting to Nairobi by a whole day. It seemed like there was no one to meet me.  I was wandering around the airport, when Dennis appeared to take me to a hotel.  The next morning, he fed me and took where I needed to go in Kilifi.  After that -  disappeared for a few days.

I was ministering at a bible school in the central district during last year's trip, and found myself way beyond my cultural understanding of Kenya in a teaching.  Dennis was there as my interpreter to bail me out once again. He just took over for about 10 minutes and got me out of trouble.

Mike & Pat's family in Kitale~

Dennis & his brother Stanley are both sons of Mike and Pat Heiser, leaders of the Heart of God Ministries in Kenya.   The Heiser's raised these boys as their own in Kenya.  Stanley brought Dennis to Mike after their mother had died. Dennis was not very old when Mike and Pat took him in.

Mike and Pat educate these kids, raise them as their own.  They become these awesome men of God,  teaching in the Bible Schools and Churches. Dennis was preaching in the schools when he was 15.  After finishing high school, he went on to college and graduated with his degree. He was going to be a missionary to Europe, but God told him to stay with Mike and Pat, to help them in their mission.  He is now Assistant Director to Mike and will be our guide for the month we are there.

Bible School in Chigoria~

Before I leave Kenya in March, Dennis will know my message to leaders.  He will not only be hearing the message to leaders over and over again - but he will also interpret it back to the Kenya leaders many times.   I am looking forward to our time together Dennis is awesome.

Leadership is the Key to the Kingdom

Matthew 16:19

I will give you the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Vitaly from Siberia,Russia & the Ukraine.  Linus, Mike & Pat Heiser

I woke up this morning with this thought, "Leadership is the Key to unlocking the Kingdom of Heaven." Leaders have been given certain keys to unlock their spheres of influence. But you must put the key in the lock and open the doors of heaven for others to come in.

If we look at the scriptures ahead of Matthew 16:19 you will see who Jesus was talking to. It was Peter, who was Jesus main disciple. He was the oldest, but not the smartest.  Peter had something the rest of the disciples didn't, the revelation, Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God and he wasn't afraid to say it.

In Matthew 16:17 Jesus said, "Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father who is in heaven and I say to you that you are Peter and on this rock (THE REVELATION) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

Leadership and their revelation are the keys to any ministry. Leaders need to reproduce leaders. Every seed produces after its own kind. Mike & Pat have done an excellent job of reproducing leaders in their ministry. It is time for their leaders to reproduce so we can have more keys to the kingdom.

Meru Bible School, 2018

I have a key ring, it has my car key, my house key, my Gathering Place key, my blessing box key and a few more.  Some I don't know what too, but they all open a door to something. If you ever lose you key ring, you can't open any doors, you can't start the car, you can't go to work, you can't get in the house or your work and you can't open your blessing box.

Leaders if they are not discovered, may have the key to open the windows of heaven.  Most leaders are not charismatic, they are down to earth people, who can roll up their selves and get the job done. Actually, they are common down to earth people who said yes to something God wanted done. They are not qualified to do it, but they are willing to step out in faith and see what Jesus wants to do.

Pat Heiser has a great saying and I've used many times: We are just ordinary people, doing extra ordinary things for God, Supernatural things which we are not qualified to do. Do you realize God does not have anybody qualified working for Him.  It is Him, who qualifies us, when he calls us to do something, our hands should shoot up in the air and say, "Look no further, I'm your man or women to do the job through you."

Russia - first graduate class.

What are we looking for when we go to Kenya in February? We are looking for people who are not qualified but willing to be used by God. I've already seen many of them in the spirit.

When we went to Russia, not qualified, we just went.  The students who showed up not qualified but willing to be used.  In 2007 a bishop told me out of the bible school in Jelgava, Latvia in 1991-92, over 25,000 churches have been planted. With unqualified people who wanted to be used by God. These my friends are the keys to unlock the doors to heaven.

I see that same hunger in the eyes of students in Kenya, they want to change a nation for God, they have their hands raised and are saying, "Look no further I'm your man".

The Blessing Box - Our Partners in Ministry

Philippians 4:19

 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

As many of you know, we went to Kenya last year - 2018. On the trip home,  I felt ready to go back in a month!  I was just a little ahead of God's plan for Kenya. There is a scripture which is perfect for the situation Kent & I were in when we returned. In James 1:3-4 it says; "Knowing the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, so you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing."

Kent pointing the way~

After about two months of being back from Kenya, I realized, patience is not a Christian swear word. Christians hate the word patience.  We think we can get it all done by ourselves, which is a total lie from the pit of hell. We need patience, to be complete entire and lacking nothing.

For the last nine months God has been working with me on this word, patience. There are three things that have happened in our ministry in those nine months.

#1 Preparation:  I have been working on a leadership manual. I'm old school and my manual isn't fancy, it is a yellow tablet written in pencil.  It's been used just about every day for the last nine months.  It is a leadership manual & will probably work into something fancy.  For right now it's more of a discussion book for leaders in Kenya.

#2 Relationships: I am finding out you can't do a project like Kenya by yourself. I have Kent for a traveling Companion.  Mike & Pat Heiser, are the leaders in Kenya.  Regional Directors; Obed, Victor, Stanley and of course my guide Dennis.  I've grown to love Dennis as my own kids.  Of course our partners here in the United States play an important part too.  Facebook has kept us all connected.

Pat, Mike & Linus~

Many of you don't know Connie Hoge but she is the one who has built this blog, which gives me another avenue of getting my words out to everyone.  I just write and she puts it into a blog for all of you to read. She and her husband Butch, along with many other partners want us to succeed in Kenya.

#3 Finances:  If I would have gone back to Kenya in two months I wouldn't have had the MONEY. Over the past few months our bank account has been increasing daily more and more.  We have a Blessing Box over at the post office;  P.O. Box 228, Glenwood, Iowa 51534. We have several partners who send MONEY to our Blessing Box. We believe our Blessing Box is full in Jesus Name.

Yesterday, the blessing box was full of blessings, over $1,100 came in to our Ministry! Sometimes when our work at the Gathering Place is not very busy, our blessing box is very busy! God, knows what our NEED is, not our wants.  I wanted to go back right away, God wanted a perfect work, complete, entire, and lacking nothing. Thanks be to God for meeting our needs not our wants.

Just by reading the blog you have become Partners with us and our relationship becomes stronger by reading the daily news of Acts 29 Ministry and the Gathering Place.  If you come into the Gathering Place you have become a partners with us.  Whether it is once or every day, you are a partner with our ministry and we want to thank you for your relationship with us!  You may be one of the many volunteers who help us while I'm in Kenya, our partners.

We are a month out and our big need for the trip right now - is a computer for me to take to Kenya. I don't want a big one, just one I can type on and not have to use my big fingers and thumbs on to keep in contact with our partners during the trip.

Thanks for being a partner!!

Linus