2013, No. 3 (22/03/13)

Dear Brethren

Greetings in the Lord from a wet, peaceful Kenya, and from a greatly blessed people!

Elections

We are so thankful to the Lord that the General Elections have so far been peaceful. At present there is a Court case to challenge the result of the Presidential vote. If it is upheld then there will be a run-off between the 2 front-runners. However we still felt constrained to cancel 2 ministries. The ‘Meaty Forum’ was to be held just 3 days before voting and there was nervousness making even some public transport not operate after 7 p.m. (darkness), and the Forum does not finish until 8 p.m. I also cancelled the visit to Pokot North as it was not considered wise for me to drive through certain politically sensitive areas so near to the elections. Two Sundays before I sought to give a much broader perspective by preaching on Daniel 2 and showing so obviously that even the greatest of the kingdoms of this world shall be destroyed, and only the kingdom of God will remain for ever. How much we need this eternal perspective as the world presses so closely.

PTC

Nine students came from March 13-20. John Malala did not make it, but we had a new participant, Buba Okwier. Buba is from the Anyuak community in South Sudan on the border with Ethiopia, the town of Pochalla. He only has primary school education but we believe this is another good opportunity to bring the Biblical gospel into the country. 80% of the 8 million claim to be Christians but there has been so little teaching that it doubtful how many know the gospel of Jesus Christ. The country is wide open, so let us PRAY for the Lord to send more labourers into this part of His harvest field.

PTC Students with Geoff Thomas & Bill Emberley

Pastors Geoff Thomas (Aberystwyth, Wales) and William Emberley (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada) did all the teaching, on the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It was so much appreciated on all sides. At the finale the students presented the 2 with a framed picture of them with their teachers. Geoff & Bill were so impressed by the maturity and ability of the students, who kept up a barrage of questions day after day! I have started to mark the work from their previous studies in January on the Doctrine of Christ. There are the usual things that need strengthening – reading more, making use of the information in the reading to answer the questions, answering carefully my question and not copying from a book, explaining instead of just quoting Scriptures. The work load is great and they will struggle, but may they become men mighty in the Scriptures like Apollos.

35th. Anniversary weekend

What a blessed time of worship, ministry and fellowship we had.

(1) Friday. At the Dine & Listen in the evening we had 85 diners, at least 30 being guests, and Geoff Thomas preached on ‘What is Christianity?’It is a Person, an interpretation and an experience.

130315 Dine & Listen

(2) Saturday. This was a day for the current members of the church. Most of the members were present although a few had to work. We started with Geoff Thomas reminding us of the central theme of the Scriptures, Jesus Christ and His suffering – His physical, emotional, social and spiritual suffering. I then gave a power point presentation of the history of the church from the time I first came to Kenya in 1968 to 1993, 20 years ago, by which time we had occupied the present building. We met in my house for the first 11 years. 11 of us brethren have been members for more than 20 years. This was followed by some brethren giving thanks to God for the blessings they have received through the ministry of the church, and prayers of thanksgiving. After a delicious lunch prepared by the young adults, Geoff & Bill prepared us for saying a covenant together in which we repeated our commitment to fulfilling the 10 responsibilities of members as in our church constitution. We finished the day with the Lord’s Supper and a time of prayer.

(3) Sunday. So many of us spent the whole day together again, including non-members. Bill Emberley started the day in the Adult Sunday School with a presentation of the relationship between love and the truth, helpfully finishing with Philippians 1:9.

Geoff Thomas preached on ‘So Great Salvation’ because we have a Great Saviour, infinitely greater than prophets, angels, the Universe, equal with God, and amazingly compassionate.

The ladies of the church somehow made lovely food to feed around 100 people with left overs! The day together was completed with our afternoon service starting an hour earlier than usual and Bill Emberley preaching on Gal. 4:1-7.

130317 Sunday Congregation

Forthcoming

1. Trinity Baptist Church Leaders Conference in Nairobi April 3-4. We want to encourage the brethren as many labour alone, and we had to postpone the Association to later in the year, and we do not have a Pastors’ Conference this year.

2. Reformation Conference in Mumias (west Kenya) April 10-13. I shall be speaking 6 times on the Golden Chain in Romans 8:28-30.

3. Visit to UK & USA.

We hope to be seeing many of you soon. Please keep praying for us and the ministry here in Kenya. In Christ’s service,

Keith & Priscilla Underhill