Revelation 22:17 -- The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Outfitters for Adventure sent funds for the roof on the new church building just a month ago. Although work remains on the walls, the roof keeps the sun and rain off the people. It is always warm/hot right on the equator, so the walls are not as essential. However, there is no electricity in the building yet. The sound equipment was powered by a generator, which ran out of fuel before the teachings ended. So, they moved outdoors and continued as an outreach to the village. In the above picture, 4 people came forward to dedicate their lives to Jesus. In the image below, a view of worship time under the new church roof.
Martine (Neil calls him Marty) has a clear teaching gift and is one of the speakers with Neil at the pastors' conference near Mombasa this week. Marty reminds Neil of our friend, Rich Gau, a former pastor of City Hill Church in Eden Prairie, who has been the pastor of a church in Vancouver, British Columbia for several years. Marty is a Kenyan pastor from Kitale, an hour north of Francis Owour's city of Eldoret. At the April pastors and leaders conference in MauMau Market, Martin looked at our book, Navigating Life: A Mentoring Toolbox, and called it "Christianity 101." He asked Neil for several copies for his leadership training school in Kitale. Neil had 500 copies of the book published in Nairobi, to have them on hand at Cosmas' house for the pastors. After the first group of around 20 leadership trainees in Marty's school completed our book, a woman in his class used her copy to start a church in her village.
Neil taught for 3 hours when the conference opened on Friday. Still on jet lag, Neil was pretty tuckered out. I stayed awake until 2:00 a.m. Minnesota time, hoping for enough news to write a new blog post, but finally fell into my own exhausted sleep. Much was happening in Neil's part of the world. He sent several text messages.
"After speaking for 3 hours today, I am at an open-air crusade. Marty is speaking. Oops, the generator just ran out of gas. I took a half-hour nap while waiting for them to get the generator started again.
"Marty is preaching about the Samaritan woman. Both Shawn (from Northern Minnesota) and I thought he said, "American." I love you, Honey Bumpkins. I am picturing laughing together about thinking it is a sermon on the "American Woman."
"Marty speaks often about me coming to Kitale sometime. When Martin got the book, he used it to mentor leaders outside his church, most of them pastors.
"On our way back from the crusade, we stopped by the house of a man who left the church. We talked through his offense tonight. He will be back in the church tomorrow.
"I passed out some of Don Bartley's (Ruth's high school classmate) tracts to people on the fringe tonight. They really fit.
"It is amazing the difference it is making for me to be here! Thank everyone for their prayer support, which is such a big part of the effectiveness. Today, when I was preaching about the covenant God made with Abraham, I just broke down and started weeping. The electric current of the Holy Spirit's anointing was just too much for me to retain my composure. I am doing the bulk of the teaching, and I need the Holy Spirit's strength to carry me through.
"Wonderful morning (Saturday). I ministered the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was wild. About 20 people came forward and 3 gals became just sloppy drunk as they were filled with the Holy Spirit. You can't make this stuff up!
"After praying for the 20 or so people who came forward, I invited people who already spoke in tongues to come up and lay hands on them in prayer. I assumed the rest of the crowd must be filled with the Holy Spirit, but a block of 8 or so older ladies did not respond. I asked why. They didn't speak in tongues. The other pastors rounded them up and said they should go forward to ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Those older ladies looked like disobedient little school children as they ducked their heads and came forward. As we prayed for them, the oldest one moved her lips, but no sound came out. I encouraged the pastor to ask her to speak out the words. She began speaking in tongues, and for a while, she could only speak in tongues when she tried to talk.
"It is sunshiny today -- about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Their winter. We are on a hill overlooking a valley full of palm trees, with the crickets chirping.
"The battery on the van is a bit weak this morning. Prayer needed. I pulled something in my ankle, so I am limping. We leave tomorrow after church for the 10-hour return to Nairobi. I slept pretty well last night. I am missing you, dear.
Prayer Requests:
- Conference attendees to continue to grow in the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit as they minister Jesus' good news.
- Electricity for the new church building.
- Workers will complete the walls of the new building.
- Battery restored to full operating strength in the van.
- Healing for Neil's ankle.
- Good rest tonight for Neil and those traveling.
- Safety on the highway as they return to Nairobi tomorrow.