Newsletter

Kenya Report

May 2019

 After a very trying time to get to Kenya, with many adventures in the airports, customs, and the airlines themselves, Kent Coates and I arrived at the Nairobi airport. The whole atmosphere changed from having to fight every step of the way to "Welcome to Kenya"!

When we arrived we were at the back of the immigration line when a lady waved to us and told us to go to the front of the line. As the official was writing out the visa and he asked me, "Where are you going?"

"Meru" I replied. Meru is where he was born and he stamped my visa. Kent and I were amazed at how quickly things went with none of the hassles we have had in the past. The next hurdle was luggage. Ours was waiting for us, we collected it, and proceeded to customs. They were scanning all the luggage until they got to ours. He waved us through with no inspections. The rest of the night went so smooth, the hotel clerk even put us on the first floor so we wouldn't have to carry our luggage up two flights of stairs. Welcome to Kenya!! This would set the stage for the rest of the trip.

Pastor Patroba's church greeting us.

The picture is of Pastor Patroba, Dennis our guide and interpreter, me, Obed, the Western District Director, and Kent Coates. What a reception we got at Pastor Patroba's Church. All the people came out to meet us with singing, dancing, and leis. The parade started about 1/4 mile from the church.

Pastor Patroba & the team in Kitali

We were going to take a day off and cancel our meeting with Patroba's staff, but Pastor Patroba came any way and wanted to understand more how Leadership Training would work.

As we were discussing this, he said, "I am already doing this. God showed it to me when I started the church. I have planted several churches in Kenya and Tanzania already by raising up staff from my church here in Kitale."  We began to talk about how important it was to raise up leadership of your church. It was an awesome meeting.

The next Sunday we went to Pastor Elijah's church in the Meru District. We found the same thing in his church. He also had begun to raise up leadership and had begun planting churches. After church we came outside and a question and answer session started. When I sat down I found out I had many graduates who were Facebook friends and had been following me since I was there last year.

Linus & Pastor Elijah

The Bible Schools in Kitale

Our goal was to raise up leadership from the Bible School graduates so Mike and Pat could reach their goal of having 1,000 students in Neema Bible College at any given time. This requires teachers in the Bible School. We wanted to tap into the graduates this trip. We began this in the Kitale Region with Apostle Obed. We began slow but picked up momentum as the trip continued to the other Districts.

Director Obed with Kitale graduates

Meeting with Obed and graduates.

 Obed began to take us to many different schools, the first was right in Kitale.  We found several first and second year students which I taught in the morning. Then in the afternoon session Kent taught the first and second year students and I took the graduates out for the afternoon session and explained how more training would be available soon. We were not sure how soon but just by the promise of more training they lit up with excitement. In every school in the Kitale region every graduate raised their hand to the possibility of more training.

Our team consisted of: Dennis, Assistant Director of Neema Bible College\guide\interpreter; Obed the Western District Director; Pastor Kent Coates, my traveling partner and very good friend; and myself. The team was in such unity. You can always tell when the team is working together because there is so much laughter on this trip. Great Team Work!!

Dennis, Apostle Obed, Kent Coates

The Mountain District at Meru

The first Bible School we taught in was mostly graduates. As the day went on they were calling their friends to come to the afternoon session. There were many pastors who were graduates. When it came time to start, very few were there, but they continued to come as the day went on. I taught the graduates and again Kent took over and taught the first and second year students.

Graduates of Bible School in Meru

 Mike, Pat, Dennis, Stanley (the Central District Director), Kent and I made up the team in the Central District. Once again unity prevailed and we taught in this combined school from about 10 a.m. till lunch. They didn't want to stop but we made them take a 30 minute break for lunch, then continued on till 5 p.m. Once again the response was the same - they all wanted more training. This group probably had the most graduates of all the schools.

"Church in the hole"

Bible School Students

On day two we took an excursion to the "Church in the Hole". It took us about an hour to go just a kilometer. By far the worst 4-wheel drive road I've been on. Mike said if we don't go to them, they won't come up to us. When we arrived we were met by about forty Bible School students. There were only two graduates in this school but they were excited about more training so they could teach in their school.

Graduates from Isilio

Kent teaching with Pastor Stephen interperting

 The third school was Pastor Stephen's church in Isilio. Mike had some situations at home he had to attend too - one being a lack of electricity. We had been without for four days. He called Stanley to come and interpret because Dennis had to go with Mike. Pastor Stephen had never interpreted, but he did an excellent job until Stanley could come and take over. After lunch I took the graduates out and Kent taught the first and second year students. The graduates were hungry for more training. There were about twelve graduates and all of them, including a 92 year old, wanted more training and wanted to stay together at their school.
 

The Conference in Meru

Graduates from Meru  Pastor Stanley, Pastor Elijah, Mike and Dennis

Mike, Pat, and the team hosted a conference for the Meru District and many students were in attendance, including some friends from last year who drove 55 kilometers on motor bikes to attend. There were several graduates in attendance. It was an awesome time for all of us. I was so blessed to see so many of the students come out from the Meru District.

 

The Eastern District in Kilifi

This District has always been a favorite for me. It is where God gave me the revelation for mobilizing His army for Kenya. There were three schools in the District: the first was Kilifi, then Melindi and the last school Marereni.

It was the finish to a very successful trip. While in Melindi I witnessed Dennis, our interpreter, Victor the director of the Eastern District and myself in a scene of transferring the anointing. Dennis was teaching my lessons, Victor was interpreting for him, and I was just writing on the blackboard. It was an awesome sight.
One of the most memorable parts of this trip was the laughter and the unity we had. Everyone was in tune with each other. It was a little sad to come home but the mission was accomplished for this trip. Mike and Pat have done a great job of raising up leaders for Kenya.

As I watched the sun set on the way back to Kilifi. I was thinking about our last day in Kenya. What a great trip with lots of memories with a group of like-minded people.  

 Sunset in Kenya!

Thank you so much for sending Acts 29 Ministries on trips like this to train leaders in foreign countries. We can't thank you enough for partnering with us on theses training trips to raise up leaders in Kenya. When you send us, you are going with us in our hearts.

God Bless!