Dear Brethren,

God continues to be so gracious to us in every way. I remarked in No. 7 that I felt tired after Sunday. Well two days later I was told I was suffering from amoeba and bilharzia! Both Priscilla and I have now gone for thorough physical check-ups and we thank the Lord that everything seems normal. We are seeking to get everything arranged for our time away from Kenya beginning 24th. May, until early September.

New Members

The Lord graciously continues to add members. The group of 3 were welcomed at the Lord’s Supper on 10th. April. David was baptized and welcomed in March.

• Chris Gatihi. Chris was born and raised of Kenyan parents in the States. He comes from West Hills Community Church in San Jose, California. We have received him into TBC with a view eventually to plant another church in Nairobi.
• Charles Ndung’u. He was saved about 10 years ago from a totally dissolute life. He came to see the unbiblical nature of the teaching in the church that he joined, including the ungodly life of leaders, then tried many churches, and for a while even stopped going wondering if any preach the Bible. Ever since his first Sunday a few months back he has been excited to be with us and keeps bringing others. He has his own small recording studio and is concerned only to record songs that are true to the Scriptures as he is now understanding them. He is also working on a DVD film.
• Domnick Ogwago. A few years ago Domnick went to study Bible in South Africa, and ended up in a College that teaches reformed doctrine. On completion he was put in contact with me by Wayne Mack, who used to be the pastor of the church I joined when at Seminary in the early 1970s! Wayne Mack is now ministering in South Africa, and we thank God for a brother who is so zealous to serve well into his 70s.

• David Kuria. David & Huston were the first 2 young people to come seeking a reformed church in November 2010. He told me on Sunday that he recently visited the nearby church where he had been for 16 years. Although professing to be evangelical, it is ‘seeker sensitive’ and the gospel is hardly preached. He is a graphics designer, especially with logos on T-shirts. He has done such a wonderful poster for Dine & Listen and is also working on our church website. You will be able to see the finished product!

Wedding

Last Saturday Priscilla and I spent the day at a wedding. Charity is the daughter of Paul Kianji, now one of our pastors in the Miathene church. He was one of the first persons I met when I came to Kenya in 1968, as we taught together in the same school. I again met 2 of my former students and many who came from the Miathene area. The ceremony was led by a Methodist pastor. What saddened me most was that it was a wonderful opportunity to preach the gospel to 500+ people, some of them at the very top of Kenyan society. He asked the question, ‘Why are marriages becoming so difficult?’ I thought he would take us from Genesis 2 to Genesis 3 and lay the blame at the door of sin. But no, the answer was ‘Spouses do not spend enough time with each other.’ Obviously there is much truth in this, but an atheist could have said the same thing. Interestingly he told us Jesus is his Saviour and Lord, and punctuated his speech with ‘Hallelujah!’ and ‘Praise the Lord!’ Then in his closing prayer I was shocked when he prayed, amongst other things, that no ‘generational curse’ would be inflicted on the newly weds. It shows how much this deliverance teaching has infected all Kenyan churches. It was a lovely wedding, and hour plus late as usual, and a lovely meal. It was held at one of the top tourist hotels in very beautiful surroundings. I pray to have some contact with the couple as Charity’s sister in a church member and they are coming to live quite nearby.

Future Ministry

Please PRAY for the following:

1. Gary Brady, Pastor of Child’s Hill Baptist Church, London, will be spending 8 days with us and will be closely involved in nos. 2-5.
2. Dine & Listen, Friday evening 15th. This is an evangelistic occasion where we encourage the brethren to invite at least one unconverted contact. We first eat and then there is about half an hour’s preaching from Gary. The one difficulty is getting through the traffic jams to make it for 7 p.m.
3. Kima, Saturday 16th. At the end of October 2010 I made my first visit to Kima, a settlement on the main road to the Coast, about 100 kms. south-east of Nairobi. One of our long-standing PTC students, Donald Kivungi, has started this work, and we are going to interview prospective church members, with a view to constituting the church.
4. TBC, Nairobi, Sunday 17th. Gary will be preaching in the morning service. I will be taking the Adult Bible Class on the 1689 Confession, chapter 28, and the evening service on Genesis 21. Gary will also speak to the 15 or so at the Women’s Fellowship in the earlier afternoon.
5. Pastors’ Conference, Monday 18th. to Thursday 21st. The theme of the Conference is Regeneration. Gary will speak 8 times, and I will add 2 sessions on the theme. We expect 50+ men to come from all over Kenya, abut half being from churches linked with Trinity Baptist Church, Nairobi.
6. Visit to south-east Kenya, Friday 22nd. to Wednesday 27th. This is still to be confirmed as my car is again in the garage, this time for an engine overhaul. It has done 200,000 kms. and one cylinder was misfiring. In addition one of the pistons was found to be cracked. One of the reasons for going immediately after the Conference is that I will be able to take back the 3 brethren whose ministries I want to visit to encourage.

As always, in Christ’s service,

Keith & Priscilla Underhill