Our Second Stop - Kenya 2019

Acts 1:8

"But you shall receive power when the Holy
spirit comes upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and is all Judea and Smmaria, and to the end of the earth."

Bible school at Mike & Pat's house in Meru~

After spending about a week in Kitali we will go back to Nairobi.  Our second stop of the trip will be the Meru District. Meru is in the mountains where Mike and Pat started their ministry about 15-years ago. The climate is like Colorado.  Many people think Kenya is hot but it's not.  I wear a jacket in the morning and evening because it is cool, not hot.

Pat, Mike & Linus

Mike and Pat started by rescuing kids on the street.  I'm not sure how many they have rescued over the years but they have many success stories. There are always at least 15-20 teens running around the compound.  Mike and Pat raise these kids to be ministers for the Gospel.  Many of them attend the bible schools they have started. All have the opportunity to get an education under Pat's leadership.

Mike & Pat on the long, bumpy road to Pastor Stanley & Mary's house~

A few like Stanley, the Central District Director, begin teaching in the schools. His brother Dennis, who will be our guide and interpreter, began teaching at fifteen.  He is now the assistant director of Mike and Pat's ministry.  It really is a family affair in Kenya, Mike and Pat unofficially adopt these kids and make they their own.

I love the Meru District.  It is the small beginning of a great ministry in Kenya. I like Pat's saying; "Just common ordinary people doing extra ordinary things for God". All of the directors of the district have come from the bible school in Meru. The ministry headquarters used to be the bible school.  Now, there is also an apartment where we stay.

The school in Meru has so much potential for leadership development.  Both with church planting and future bible schools. The vision of The Heart of God Ministries, is to go to the rural communities and plant schools in churches which already exist. The more leaders we can develop, the more schools we can plant in the churches in Kenya.

Linus, Pastor Stanley & his wife Mary~

Stanley and Mary are pastors of a life giving church in the district.  They are also district Director's.  Mary is a fantastic teacher of the word and Stanley was not only one of the first kids raised up in the ministry.  He came out of one of the first schools Mike & Pat started & had been preaching the gospel since.  I met Stanley on our first trip in 2008, when we helped plant the second school for the ministry.

Pastor Steven's Bible College in Isolio

 I have met so many promising graduates!  When they get a hold of the message, they become the messengers God intended them to be.  As with a box of chocolates, you never know what is going to come out of the central District.  I'm really excited about being with Mike and Pat for our week in the Central District.  It is truly is the Heart of God.

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.