Prepairing to go Back to Kenya!

Only six more weeks till we leave.

Africa Team - September 2008

Now that the Holidays are over, we are back to making plans for the trip in February. I have spent the entire year writing lessons for the return to Kenya, to help Mike and Pat.

In December, Mike and Pat visited here in Glenwood, for about an hour. We spent the time making plans for our trip in February. The plan is to minister to the graduates from Mike & Pat's schools. Over the past year Mike and Pat have been planting more schools & working with their Directors. It's time to take the next step in preparing leaders in Kenya.

Today, Mike wanted a schedule for a proposed direction. I sent Mike that proposal this morning. He will review it & make suggestions but we are on the same page about training leaders. The next six weeks will be a refining the work we've done over the last year.

Review: In 2008 Lonnie Dillard and I went to help Mike & Pat plant their 2nd school. It was a very successful Bible School Plant.

Lonnie & Linus, at Kitale Bible School

In 2018, Mike and Pat had Kent Coates and I, return to Kenya. Since 2008, they've planted 27 schools, 26 Churches and have over 1,000 graduates.

Chigoria Bible School - with Pat, Mike, Linus & Kent

In 2019, more schools will be planted, with more Bible school Graduates. Mike and Pat have been busy in the states and are about to return to Kenya. They are making preparations for Kent and Linus' return trip in February.

Neema Bible College, Meru

One thing is for sure, God is going to make our time in Kenya a very exciting time. We have been making our plans & we will see what God has planned for us when we get there. It so wonderful when God gives you something to share and you have not even thinking about it. It always truly works out for the better.

Isiolo, Bible School

If you want to be part of the trip you can donate on line - or send your donation to Acts 29 Ministry P.O. 228, Glenwood, Iowa 51534.

Kenya Rediscovered - Part III - Apostles Don't See the Poverty but the Potential

Kenya's Future~
 
The potential outweighs the poverty that you see all around you.

District Directors Obed, Victor & Stanley

Mud Church with a tin roof - a humble beginning

On the way home from my second mission trip to Kenya in February, 2018, Kent Coates and I started to talk about what we had just experienced from the past couple of weeks. We saw some pretty phenomenal things.

The first thing we observed was Kenyan's don't have a lot but they don't need a lot. They are very happy people in the midst of the poverty you see there. But if you are an apostle you don't see the poverty you see the potential.

 The second thing God showed us was that everywhere we went there were humble beginnings. Mike and Pat Heiser, who have been ministering in Kenya for fifteen years, like working in the villages and so do Kent and I. Most of the churches were built with sticks, homemade bricks, and tin roofs. I was reminded of where some of the most significant revivals started, in stables not in stadiums.

We saw many Kenyan Churches like the one above.

Revivals which last start in humble beginnings. Jesus was born in a stable, the Azusa street rival in California started in a horse barn, and many of the Bible schools I helped to start have been in very humble beginnings, Russia, England, and many others.

A Bible Study with many hungry students.  Notice the one by the window.

The third thing which became obvious was the hunger for God's Word. I saw one student who was writing down notes and taking a video at the same time. He didn't want to miss anything. The students were so hungry for the Word.

The last thing we saw was the Pastors of all the churches we visited wanted a school in their churches. One Pastor in a small village told us, "When we have church on Sunday a few people come, but when we have a Bible school many more come."

These observations, coupled with Mike's vision for Kenya, gave us a vision for a second step to the school: training the graduates, there are over 1,000 of them, to go further than just their diploma. Training doesn't stop with graduation, it's only the beginning.

I discussed with Mike and Pat the need to train more leaders like the Regional Directors. All the leaders are going to have to reproduce themselves several times. It's not about us, it's about Kenyan's winning Kenya. They have a culture, just like every other country I have been in. What fits in their culture? After I returned home, I began to develop a leadership manual based on the School of Tryannus, in Acts 19.

Bible School Students in Meru. This is where the school started over ten-years ago.  Over 1,000 graduates from these schools

The next step for Kenya is raising up leaders from the graduates they have; helping the graduates write their Acts 29 chapter. I saw the hunger in their eyes, I heard how much they love God and want to seek Him. Matthew 6:33 comes to mind, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Mike and Pat have asked Kent and me to come back in February/March of 2019 to help them train leaders and graduates in order to begin more Bible schools. Kenya's future is so bright they will have to wear sunglasses to look at it. Can't wait to see what God is going to do in 2019.

If you would like to be part of what God is doing in Kenya you can partner with God and us through prayer and/or financially. We now have a donate button on our blog, or you can send a donation to us at Acts 29 Ministry, P.O. Box 228, Glenwood, Iowa 51534. God is doing some awesome things in Kenya!