Category Archives: Keith’s Updates

Regular Updates form Keith

P. T. C.

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The students came for the 2nd. time this year, March 11-18, including 2 from Pokot North, Peter Nalunyit (Wasat) and Stephen Ong’ulo (Kasei). They were taught The Gospels and Acts by visiting teachers, Geoffrey Thomas (long time pastor in Aberystwyth, Wales, our home church), and former pastor Stephen Turner from New Zealand. We are very thankful to the Lord for their coming and their teaching.

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Here are the students in the lecture room, many with their computers. The front two are from TBC Nairobi, Vincent (left) who we are seeking to set aside as an elder in some months, and Peter (right) who is very interested in ministering to the Rendille people. There was also David Awan Malek (back centre) from South Sudan who would like to return every 2 months for the PTC, but the only way is by air and the cost is great.

POKOT NORTH

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From 2nd. to 10th. March I went again to visit the work in Pokot North, together with 2 young men whose mothers are church members. They have both finished High School and are looking forward to taking courses that could lead to employment so that they can help support their families. As you can imagine, it was a life-enriching experience for them, a challenge to be thankful for what they have received, and to live of life of devotion to the Lord.

I had the opportunity to preach 3 or 4 times every day, both to the churches and to students in the schools we sponsor. The work is being consolidated, and it is expanding with many opportunities to bring the word of life.

imageAt APUR the congregation was swelled by church members coming down from the hills (behind). I preached on Acts 2:42 to encourage them to be fully committed to the life of the church, and on Matthew 26:41 that the Christian life is one of constant fighting against temptation.

imageAt KASEI we again found a nice shady spot to preach to the small group of believers. Joshua wanted me to encourage them to love the church so I chose to tell them about the figures in Ephesians 2:19-22, citizenship, family, and temple.

imageAt WASAT, as in every school we were able to visit, the children come together, and we bring them the word of God. This is a privilege we have as the sponsor, as well as being able to teach the whole school our doctrine in one lesson each Friday. To do this more effectively we need more preachers, and a programme for school assembly and the Friday class.

imageAt KAPTEREMA there is this beautiful Nandi flame tree under which the teachers have their ‘staff room’. It looks attractive until the wind gets up and blows a cloud of dust into the face! Bit by bit the Government is helping to build the necessary facilities, while we also help in supporting teaching so that there is a full complement of staff.

imageAt KAMKETO on Sunday morning 2 churches met together, along with the secondary school girls, and those who board in the primary school. Only the school hall was large enough to accommodate all who came. I had the privilege to preach on God’s love from 1 John 4:7-10, and our love from John 13:34-35.

imageAfter the service there was the usual ‘greetings circle’ outside and at least 250 adults and students were counted as being present.

imageThe Kamketo Trinity Girls’ Secondary School: Having an established boys’ school in Kasei with more than 200 in the 4 classes, and we have now started the girls’ school in Kamketo with a founding class of 16. We thank the Lord for the funds that many of you gave to enable us to construct one classroom, two toilet blocks, and to renovate a dormitory for their use. Imagine that these girls have 5 teachers for their various subjects, 2 part-time from the primary school, 2 who we support, and one funded from fees paid.

imageThe girls in Form One are about 14 years of age, all from the region of Pokot North, and some from local schools sponsored by Trinity Baptist Church. In order to take advantage of this opportunity we are sending Patricko Odhiambo there with his family to be a chaplain for both the Primary and Secondary Schools. He is from the church at Osani in South Nyanza and completed the PTC many years ago.

imageThomas Lokerisa, leader at These 3 men are sporting TRAIN T-shirts. TRAIN (Kenya) is the Charity in UK through which the funds for the School buildings has been channelled. From left to right: Andrew Chemolok, leader at Chepkinagh; Adan Mohamed, one of the young men who came with me.

imageHere are photos of the classroom, the inside of the dormitory, and one of the toilet blocks (long-drop), the latter I know not normally paraded as a photo! Having started the school, we now look to the Government to develop the infrastructure. As the girls sang their welcome they made know their need for solar lighting so that they can make best use of the evenings in reading. Remember it is always dark by 7 p.m. here in the tropics.

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Eldership

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Brother Eric Omondi Abwao was duly recognized as an Elder/Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church on December 21st. in the morning service. We had two other churches represented, Joshua Karani of Faith Reformed Baptist in Nairobi, and David Awan Malek of the Trinity Baptist Churches of South Sudan. The other brother was John Muketha the chairman of our Deacons. Pastor Murungi led the service and I was told he “conducted it very soberly, even gravely.” The brother were are next considering for the Eldership later in 2015 wrote, “I enjoyed seeing it, though with some trepidation as I pondered the oaths that Eric took for the sake of God’s people, and thought of the probability of taking them as well. The men who prayed did so very earnestly. I was particularly moved by Karani’s prayer.” We know you are praying with us for a strong, united Eldership that will lead the church forward in the ways of the Lord in the years to come.

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Rendille

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I visited 23rd. September to 1st. October 2014 having delayed a couple of months because of my operation.

(1) Peter Kivati accompanied me. He and his wife are fairly new members of TBC Nairobi. Before he came to see the Reformed Faith as the Biblical Faith he was active in ministry with Life Ministries (Campus Crusade). Seeing the way we preach and evangelize has revolutionized his thinking. He is due to start the PTC in January and has long desired to work amongst an unreached people like the Rendille. It was such a wonderful opportunity for him and we pray the Lord will lead him and the church as we consider the future.

(2) We spent a few days in Korr, the main centre for the Rendille people. We have a church here with about 15 members and we are in the process of putting up a permanent building. Most of the members rely on Nairobi financially, either because of the work they are doing in the church or school, or they are widow or destitute. Sarah recently moved to Nairobi with her children because it is where she can find work to support the family. The 3 leaders are trying hard, regularly visiting in Korr and in the all the goobs (villages) that surround it. We have encouraged them to walk the 20+ kms. to Farakoren and Dubsahaay Chaule, goobs where we are the only ones ever to have preached. But they are untrained, and 2 of them have no formal education. So the church is weak, but still we believe the Lord is able to use them so long as they are true to the Scriptures and so preach the truth as it is in Jesus. We had been hoping that Khobocha would start training for the ministry in the PTC next year, but he has decided to train as a teacher so that he can help his family to come out of their poverty. So we continue to wait prayerfully for the Lord to raise up a man able to lead the work in the Korr region. Stephen Silamo has recently rejoined TBC Nairobi and he and his wife would like to return home to minister in Korr. He is presently studying and has the opportunity of an hour each week on the public radio channel in which he is going through the Gospel of Mark in the Rendille language.

(3) Lekuchula is one of the first places I visited back in 1998, about 25 kms. south of Korr at the foot of Bayo mountain, and I have visited regularly. This was frankly an awful visit with a very nasty public dispute about the 3 teachers we employ in the Nursery and small Primary School. We had also been told that nothing takes place Sunday to Sunday although we had recognized a leader there. One lady who has been such a great support seems to have been covering this up. There is a lot of drinking of vodka-like spirits as seen in the discarded sachets and small plastic bottles lying around. When we challenged one of the leaders of the goob about this he simply lied through his teeth that there is no such thing. This scourge is happening in many parts of Kenya, and of course we know the fruit of it. How desperately the gospel of saving grace is needed. We need to get the School registered with the Government (now County not National) in order to have a continuing influence in the place until the Lord raises up a preacher here.

(4) Ndikir is the goob where Brother Raphael Bulkash and his family live amongst the section of the Rendille called Ariaal whose first language is Kisamburu and not Kirendille. He has seen very little tangible fruit although the word of God has been spread far and wide. A charity called Kind Fund, working with us, has a private school here and with permanent classrooms now being put up we believe this will give stability to the community. We are looking to see how we can put up a permanent house for our faithful brother and his family. Raphael’s younger brother Samuel has been helping in Ndikir for a couple of years since finishing High School and he was also set to start the PTC in Nairobi in January but has decided to train as a teacher. Raphael comes down to Nairobi every other month to record radio programmes in Kisamburu to be aired over TWR.

(5) In my evaluation of this most recent visit we were encouraged by the faithfulness of the few brethren. But the work is hard and demands faith that the word of the gospel will bring forth fruit in the Lord’s own time. The Rendille are very resistant to change being very satisfied with their own traditional religion, believing they are good people before God. There are challenges from the few other churches that are working in the general area. I have read one report of more than 90 baptized by an American visitor, yet when I asked the pastor on the ground he said he has only one man and possibly a few women who are saved. We are having to ask questions. Are we putting our efforts where we should or are they too widely spread? Should we give up some things we are doing? Are we preaching exactly the right message, with the right emphasis? For example, should we be even more forthright in showing the emptiness, even idolatry, of the traditional practices? Most others seem to ignore them and just want people to profess faith in Christ.

I am sorry that there are no photos with this report on Rendille. I am not able to format them at the present time, but I have put an album on my Facebook for those who are my friends.

High School Camp 2014

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From 28th. November to 3rd. December 2014 there were about 60 young people from different parts of Kenya for this annual Camp. Many of them are children of church leaders. The theme was on the Armour of God from Ephesians 6:10-18. We consider this a very vital ministry as High Schools are almost entirely boarding and children easily get deflected or lost spiritually. We want them to know there are like-minded churches in different parts of the country as few are able to travel because of lack of resources. We have already heard of one young man from TBC who has professed faith and we pray there may have been a saving impact in the lives of many others.

PTC

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The PTC students came 5th. to 12th. November and we had a very spiritually profitable time on the subject of Pastoral Theology. As I sought to emphasize the priority of preaching, and preaching in one’s own local church instead of travelling widely, this became very convicting to them as they like to move around. We discussed much from the Scriptures about using the Bible in public praying, administering the ordinances, and conducting weddings and funerals. The latter are so important here, and we decided this may be so because people do not want to take the chance of being cursed by the spirit of the dead. Then we went on to how to counsel those with problems, and direct dealing is not something the average Kenyan finds easy.

clip_image002We came to the end of another year of the PTC on 12th. November. Over lunch we had the usual farewell speeches for the 2 who have completed all the lectures in Nairobi. Barnabas Olare (left) is from Mombasa (see 2014, No. 10). He movingly told us that if one met him now apart from his face he would be totally unrecognizable from 3 years ago! The Lord has changed him from being a preacher of Prosperity to Doctrines of Grace. Dominic Ndung’u (right) is a member of TBC Nairobi, and has been a ministry Intern for the past 2 years. He is particularly interested in working among children and youth and is taking charge of the forthcoming High School Camp and VBS.

South Sudan

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Please pray for David Awan Malek, a Pastor with the Trinity Baptist Church of South Sudan, centred in Malakal. This is the area that has been so devastated by the present civil war, with whole towns being destroyed, Malakal, Balliet, Adong, Gelachol, etc. These were places that I visited in 2010 and 2012, and some church leaders and members have been killed. Most people are now living in refugee camps. David plans to be with us for the next 2 months to study theology, to better his English, to learn how TBC Kenya functions, and to look after some health concerns. Pray for this country that claims to be Christian but needs the Biblical gospel. Pray for someone willing to go there to help them.

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Mombasa 20-24th. August

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By God’s grace I recently completed my first week long ministry outside Nairobi since my operation. I went with Dominic Ndung’u one of our two interns. It is a 500 km. drive to Mombasa on the main highway through Kenya. It is a busy road with up to a few thousand lorries/trucks daily taking imports from the port throughout East and Central Africa. So much has Kenya been developing that when we got near Mombasa the traffic crawled for two hours until we reached our destination in the north of the town. [http://panoramicdon.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/how-construction-of-the-mombasa-malaba-railway-will-transform-kenya/]

Gospel Missions Agency

The Pastor of this church in Mombasa is Barnabas Olare. He is a fellow student with Dominic in our PTC in Nairobi, and will be completing lectures at the end of this year, Lord willing. It is only 3 years ago, at the start of the studies, that the Lord opened his eyes to the truth when he was deep in the Word of Faith teachings. It has been so encouraging to see him go through the 3 years of study as the Lord has been teaching him. He is now a strong opponent of the doctrines he once espoused.

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Reformation Conference

This is an annual event in both Mombasa and Mumias (2014, No. 6). I was the speaker together with Barnabas’ brother, Elly Achok. It was basically the same Conference as in Mumias in April, on the theme of ‘Rediscovering Biblical Religion’. Their very open and forceful proclamation of the truth as it is in the Lord has earned them a lot of opposition as the Word of Faith doctrines are very prevalent. So the numbers were much lower than in the few previous years since the Conference began. Yet we rejoice that there were up to 50 who came, about half of them pastors.

Please PRAY for these two brothers as the Lord has opened up many opportunities for them. They have a training school (see below) and recently returned from a preaching tour in the DRC (Congo).

The facilities of the GMA, Mombasa, like so many, are rudimentary. It is in a relatively poor section of Mombasa. The walls are of corrugated iron sheets, and the floor is dirt. The ‘modern’ thing is the rows of plastic chairs, not forgetting the PA system which is the first thing every church goes for! But their whole way of worship has been drastically reformed so the staple diet is now hymnody.

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Wisdom Training School Graduation (23rd. August)

Elly and Barnabas run a one year theological training programme which is basically a study of systematic theology. It is thoroughly reformed. Those who do really well and who feel called to the preaching ministry are beginning to be recommended to our training in Nairobi. Well, I was the ‘chief guest’ for the graduation of 10 students who had done the course through email. It included the wives of our two brothers. You can see them at the front of the building, suitably donned in gowns and mortar boards (picture above right). Kenyans take any educational achievement very seriously. Many people came to rejoice at the graduation of their loved ones. Before presenting the certificates I preached on the Parable of the Sower, applying it both to graduands and congregation. What a joyful occasion it was and I thank God for what these brethren are doing and the privilege I have had in training them in the PTC. They have been a real encouragement to me.

Pokot North (26th. June–3rd. July)

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My fellow pastor, Murungi Igweta, had his first extended trip to North Pokot. 3 of the young people accompanied him. Just recently public transport has been introduced into the area making it possible to more easily go the last 100 kms. There was a ‘Weekend’ ministry with the 200+ boys at the Kasei Secondary School that we sponsor. What an opportunity to minister to all these boys from all over Pokot North and beyond for more than 2 full days!

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The above photo is of boys of Kasei Secondary School listening to the ministry of the Word. There continue to be great opportunities in educational establishments we have had a hand in starting.