news from kenya
BUNGOMA
Some of these Apostles did wonderful things in their time; PRAYER is the key. When Peter and John were freed they did not start preaching again right away. They and other Christians met to pray. Prayer brings power for serving God. God answered the believers’ prayers by giving them power to witness for Jesus.
Bro. Aggrey Muyila
I am now aware that we are in the last days, as Paul wrote in 2 Thess.2:1-6, “Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by our letter as from us, as though the day of Christ has come. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless a falling away comes first and the man of sin be revealed, (the Pope), the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed in his own time.” We see from the things going on in the world that the coming of our Lord Jesus is near (Rev.1:13). “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it.”
Now brethren, as the Scripture says, “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32).
Bro. Alfred Wanjala Wanyonyi,
CHWELE
We have received the important book you sent us and thank you, also for the parcel, containing the Christadelphian monthly periodicals, dedicated wholly to the Hope of Israel. As we have read them we have discovered that although they were written a long time ago they contain fresh truths penned by our beloved sleeping brothers waiting for the resurrection. The books have also shed some light to us direct about the history of the Christadelphians, rather than the wrong history that has been circulating around. Our prayers are with those brothers and sisters working for the success of the Gospel News worldwide.
Bro. David and Sis. Jacklyne Wanjala
Comment. We have recently received many volumes of the old Christadelphian magazines and have sent them to various Bros. and Srs. who are so appreciative of them.
Thank you for the parcel and letter. Please continue to send the articles about the Signs of the Times and ongoing events in the Middle East, which are really encouraging. God’s Word is spreading rapidly despite hardships in life. Mr. Kalori Asango Wandera has been very pleased to hear from you and is encouraged by your message. We are still having Bible discussions with him and he has shown keen interest in reading the Word. Would you please send him an English Bible and one in Swahili to help him learn more about the things concerning God’s Kingdom. Preaching methods are changing here and radio broadcasting is commonly used now in this part of our country. Many are lacking Bible Companions so please send us more.
We are studying God’s Word with family contacts who are very willing to know the Truth. They are being loaned some Bible literature e.g. Bible Basics, Gospel News and other articles and we are endeavouring to reach the coming Kingdom. We would like to inform you that stove making is going on also, although on a small scale.
Bro. Manasseh, Sis Doricus, Jackline and Emily Wamamili
Mr. Wandero and Mrs Concepta, and their baby Maryanne, who are seriously studying the Truth.
ELDORET
Times are hard at present with a lot of rain and floods and I have been down with malaria. There is also the burden of caring for the children, raising their school fees, especially for another boy who is in college. But we know that our God cares for us and we thank you also for caring and sending us literature. There is a great need here for Bibles, “Bible Basics”, Bible Companions, Bible Reading Planners and additional reading such as the “Declaration of the Truth revealed in the Bible” and “The Real Christ”. This will give us an added chance to preach the gospel.
Bro. Jacob Okoth
KAKAMEGA
I am writing to inform you that I no longer receive the Gospel News magazine. I would like to continue to receive it so please include my name on the mailing list. I would like to continue preaching the Word and I need your literature support also.
Bro. Gibson Azere
Comment. We have had to limit sending Gospel News to only those we hear from.
KINANGOP
As we are approaching the Day of the Lord it is good to keep watch and be prepared, making our garments clean. Rev.19:8. “Fine linen, bright and clean; fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.” 2 Peter 1:5-10 says, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge self control, and to self control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love, for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them he is near- sighted and blind and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”
It is essential that we remind ourselves that the Day of the Lord is near and righteousness is a high mark to attain without Divine help, while the world becomes more and more evil. The message of the Kingdom of God strays from the mind of man now and then; cries of war, false prophecies, sickness, lack of love among people, even some believers. Having learnt a lot and yet practising very little, we should remember our first love. When one first comes into the faith one bears very sincere love but as the years go by one can become cool. Let us not be short sighted and blind in the faith; Christ is still coming, and very soon.
Bro. Peter Njuguna
KITALE
Thank you for your encouraging letter in these last days as we patiently wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. I also thank you for some interesting Bible materials which arrived safely, which are very helpful to me when preparing exhortations. I would be very grateful for a Bible with a concordance at the back and also “Wrested Scriptures” as these would be very useful in our library for our brethren and sisters to borrow.
Bro. Herman Kisabuli
I very much appreciate the two letters and the gift we have received from you. Thank you for remembering us and being concerned about the miserable situation we have had in Kenya for quite a time now. May our Heavenly Father bless your giving hands to do more for brethren worldwide before our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
‘Gospel News’ has uplifted us very much and the brethren and sisters of Baraton Ecclesia are thankful for the materials you have sent them over the past years and humbly request more spiritual materials such as Bibles, used books, a Bible dictionary, Concordance, encyclopaedia etc. that will help us grow in faith. Thank you for the Present Day Events and Middle East updates that make us aware of what is going on there. We have lifted up our heads for the coming of the Anointed one who is at hand. Please keep it up; the big reward is there with our Lord Jesus waiting to be given you.
Bro. Martin W. Barasa
Many greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am sure that our Lord is at hand due to the signs of the times. We were happy to receive the Bible Basics manuals which is very interesting for our Bible classes which we have arranged from house to house each week. Our ecclesia has sixteen families and we have many friends coming to our meetings and I have also converted the whole of an Apostolic group. We plan to hold a mini Bible School in our ecclesia based on ‘Bible Basics’ and ‘The Real Christ’ and lastly, the youth activities.
Thank you for agreeing with our project for preaching the truth; the brothers and sisters are happy with it. The books you have sent us, including, “The Real Devil” and” The Real Christ” will enable us to preach effectively to those in the Apostolic Church, who we meet with every Friday at present. We kindly ask you for a contribution so that we can buy a tent to accommodate 200 people or more, including interested friends, at our meetings. At the meeting last Sunday more than 200 people attended and we learned more about Satan in the book of Job and I found it easy to answer all the questions. The preaching project will cover the whole of the Rift Valley and it has started from Shimo to La Tema Ecclesia.
Bro. Martin Chemiati
I kindly ask you to send me the ‘Gospel News’, a ‘Bible Planner’ and ‘Wrested Scriptures’. We have been sharing these with Bro. Martin Chemiati who lives four km. away from our village.
Bro. Anthony and Sis Rodah Wafula
Bro. and Sis Anthony Wafula
MARAGOLI
I am writing to you because I had a tutor from England but have not received lessons from her for the last seven months. I would like to find the way that you can inform her about this because the lessons were teaching me more about the Word of God and I was answering them. Perhaps you can put this information in the Gospel News as I want to continue with the lessons. I am now 17 years old and in Form 3 and very soon I will be baptised in Kisumu.
Rachel Asseyo.
Comment I have sent a copy of your letter to the Kenya co-ordinator and trust she will sort things out for you. I enclose Bible Basics – but do not do this as a correspondence course – continue with the one you are on.
Rachel Asseyo
MBITA
We are progressing well in the ecclesia but we need a lot of prayers for Kenya because of the politics in our country. I am requesting that you send me the following books please:- The Real Devil, The Real Christ, The Gospel of Mark and The Bible our Guide.
Bro. Daniel Ogembo
MIWANI
If you take two glasses, fill one with clean water and the other with dirty water, there will be a very notable difference. Pour some of the dirty water into the clean glass and you will notice that the dirty water will not become clean. The only way to make the dirty glass clean again is to pour the dirty water out and wash out the glass.
Our lives can be like these two glasses of water. If we allow some “dirty water” into our lives, it will only make our lives unclean. One of our ecclesial members recently attended a funeral and there was a woman behind the pulpit preaching their message. The message she gave was a false message and the songs were familiar Church hymns, but he said it just didn’t seem right. “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” (1 Cor. 5:6.)
This situation probably didn’t seem strange to a lot of people at the funeral. However, to a child of God, it must be recognised as out of God’s order and contrary to the teaching of Scripture. There are many churches in Christendom today which are being led by false prophets and are being led astray and deceived. Even though the so-called prophets may be highly esteemed by men they are nothing more than glasses of dirty water posing themselves as glasses of clean water; they are not the same. Therefore let us stay true to the Scriptures and “desire the sincere milk of the Word.” (1 Peter 2:2). Christ makes all the difference, (2 Cor.6:17), use the Bible Companion daily.
Bro. Peter and Sis. Jane Omuny
MOMBASA
Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul in 1 Cor.11. refer to Christ’s ‘broken’ body. If the bread was his body, and he broke the bread, it was an intimation of the breaking of his body even if he had not said “This is my body which is broken for you.” Broken bread, broken body involved each other.
The substitution of “given” for “broken” would make no difference, for the body was given in being broken in death, just as the blood, like the poured-out wine, was shed for us in the same act, and this does not conflict with the prophecy that “a bone of him shall not be broken.” (John 19:36). Though no bones were broken, his flesh was broken, and his flesh was his body, in contrast with his blood.
Jesus said, in John 6:51, 55, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world...For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” His flesh was his body, in the proximate and most visible sense and this was broken in the terrible process of being “nailed to the tree”.
The Lord has chosen to give his broken bread and poured-out wine to represent his flesh and his blood offered in sacrifice for those who knew the truth and “thy word is truth.” (John 17:17.
Bro. Walter Wanyama Wasike
Bro. Walter Wanyama Wasike
MUMIAS
Thank you for sending me The Real Christ and Gospel News, which I am happy to read. The books you are sending me help a lot in making us become more spiritually self- sufficient. I was very happy the day I received the parcel with the book, The Real Christ. If I were a bird I would have leapt and flown in the air with joy.
Jesus wants us to be like him, faithful in all our ways, loving and pure in our mind and worthy to be called in truth, a brother or sister of Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother”. We have a weekly Bible study at home every Wednesday from 8.a.m.-5.30.p.m.
We fell sick and we can’t cope and we are still weak and reading in our beds. The weather has changed and there is a decline in crop output and also a decline in moral standards in the world. All these are signs of the last days, when the Bible tells us that Christ, as our Saviour, will come, as we are expecting him to come. We need to learn more about the Bible, so brother please help us.
Bro. Emmanuel Joumer
NAITIRI
I received the ‘Bible Basics’ and other literature concerning the true Gospel. I am very grateful and happy to inform you that they are of great importance to me. I have read Bible Basics with my two friends Adriano and Chrispinus with the help of our elder, by answering questions that arise. We hope very much that you will continue sending us any pamphlets and Christadelphian literature regarding our beliefs from the Bible. I look forward to receiving the book, The Real Christ, please. Your work is highly appreciated and we hope that this young, growing ecclesia will stand by the truth of the Bible. I want to spread the gospel more and that is why I read and try to share it with my friends so that we may grow in faith.
Bro. Nasong’o Haron
NAITIRI
I am sorry that I did not write to you in time to tell you that I received the book concerning the Kingdom of God, The Real Christ. It had gone to Webuye, a town that is far from where we now stay, some 40 kilometres away.
In Kenya now, we have a new constitution that people believe will ease their problems. Things are not much different from the previous constitution, although things cannot change straight away. The new constitution cannot change the way people behave. The way forward, whether with this new constitution or not, is to just follow the Word of God that is in the Bible. This is the only guide that can help us to live peacefully, in harmony and with love towards one another; just to follow the law of God as it is in 1 Sam.12:14. “If you fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God.”
I look forward to the day when people of the nations will change their behaviour and follow all the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, to love our God with all our hearts, with all our soul and with all our minds and with all our strength. This is the day when the problems concerning economic crises, wars, drought, famine, poverty, illiteracy and other problems will cease to exist.
The Real Christ is helping many of our brothers and sisters, together with friends. I personally have not even reached half way through the book but we are discovering new teachings which people have been misled about for a long time. We are taking our time, as an ecclesia, not to rush to finish it quickly, but slowly with understanding and trying to put the exhortations into practice. We are also happy to have received newsletters called “Present Day Events”, which show that the coming of our Lord Jesus is near because of all the national and international crises.
Bro. Nasongo Haron
Bro. Nasongo Haron
NAKURU
You asked how we can spread the gospel to other people. In our ecclesia we don’t have extra Bibles for visitors so I think the best way to begin to spread the gospel is to talk to visitors in our home, our friends and neighbours. So please send us a few Bibles and pamphlets so that we may continue bearing fruit for the Lord.
Life in the Kingdom of God will be enjoyable, without diseases, famine, chaos, wars and so on, but the road to it is very narrow and requires total devotion. 2 Tim. 3:1-17. Every work-person works with the hope of being paid, maybe at the end of the day, the week or the month , but the faithful workers of the Lord will be rewarded with the precious gift of eternal life. 1 Thess 4:13-18.
Bro. Samual Wanga
NANGO
The Present Day Events leaflets are very informative and tell us of the real situation we find ourselves in right now and as Bible students it gives more impetus to our studies of the gospel. Our prayer now is that we should lift up our heads for our redemption may come even right now when we least expect. Our Master will come to eventually transform the world from all these upheavals and we are fervently waiting for that time. In short Matt.24:3-14 tells it all and we are left with a reminder to be watchful at all times.
This year 2010 SOME areas of Kenya got a bumper harvest after four years of poor harvest and we are thankful to the Almighty for His concern and blessings to His children. Recently when I was cycling down a slope I lost control of the bicycle brakes and as a result fell off and got hurt very badly all over my body. I am recovering very slowly at home, this has awaken me to come closer to God and seek for His guidance and care.
Many people are now perplexed at the situation they find themselves in and some are now eager to know and to learn how they can come near to God because they know that there is a force behind these calamities and upheavals. It has therefore become fertile ground here for preaching the gospel and we should be more steadfast right now than when we began.
Bro. Raphael Aimo
A Bible Discussion Group.
NYERI
I have moved from Namomoru, where I was attacked by a robber and am now in Hospital at Nyeri.
Bro. Angelo Chege
SINDO
From 1999 to 2010, eleven years of constant communication, we have maintained God’s message together, being a strong witness for the Truth. I have learnt a lot from you and your family and I was able to meet Duncan in Nairobi. You have made me to grow very strong in the Lord’s business and to learn that if you put your heart to know, you will know. Indeed I have a strong vision or dream to be one of the saints in the day our Saviour comes to set up the glory of God’s purpose on the earth and to give us the reward, salvation, immortality, eternal life.
I want to talk about why I trust the God of Israel. I was baptised on 21 August 1976 in Nairobi by Bro. David Rowley from England. It was one of the wisest decisions of my life to serve the God of the Bible, who has the qualities above any other god in the world. He is the supreme ruler, being the Creator of heaven and earth, eternal, immortal, invisible, Spirit, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, unsearchable, loving Saviour, sinless, lawgiver and judge, merciful and immeasurable. God is one, there is one God.
When I was in the Roman Catholic faith I used to ask the priest the question, Where do people go when they die? What does the God of the Bible teach us? We have the Bible but people prefer to trust in human doctrine instead of putting trust in the God of the Bible. Many so-called Christians have wandered away from the truth; the Bible says that God will make them believe a lie, a strong delusion, the mystery of sin is working in the world today. He has revealed his message through the prophets, Jesus Christ and the disciples. Isaiah 1:2, “The Lord has spoken.” Heb.1:1-3, “God spoke to our fathers by the prophets and hath spoken to us by his Son.”
The death on the cross has proved how God’s power is supreme. He raised Jesus Christ and gave him immortality and power to make us like him. We therefore pray through Jesus Christ our Saviour. (2 Cor. 1:20). “For all the promises of God find yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” (2 Thess.2:11) “Therefore God shall send them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false”.
I was able to give thanks to our God, the Father for your hearty material. Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” When you serve a person he or she expects gratitude or a word of appreciation. There is a joy we receive when we give out but we expect a thank you note. What about if you keep silent? Communication is a two-way system. You serve me and I should also respond.
Jesus healed ten lepers but only one thanked him, the rest did not bother. I thanked you for listening to my request out of your own cheerful heart. I will remember your service for the year 2011, God willing. You have indeed saved me from being out of communication with my brothers and sisters worldwide.
Please continue to pray for my family and still provide me with spiritual help. Eph.5:20, “giving thanks always for everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Bro. John Owalo Onani
SUNA MIGORI
Thank you very much for the book The Real Devil and an update on Signs of the Times. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that had been made. In him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it” John 1:3-5).
Accepting the humanity of Jesus Christ is a death-blow to the serpent power of the garden of Eden. “Surely thou shalt not die” ceases to be in the language of a true follower of Jesus. Jesus died and rose on the third day and all his true followers have hope of eternal life after resurrection, should they fall asleep in Christ first. Going to heaven at the time of death is a pagan myth with no Scriptural roots. Getting out of our comfort zone is a calling that we must all take the cross and follow Jesus. It is at two way traffic and Joshua was bold enough to tell the Israelites on their way to Canaan that the die has been cast, you either serve the gods your fathers served beyond the Jordan or follow the Lord. Because of the fear of the unknown, we, like drowning men, clutch at straws. We want to follow Jesus while someone else is carrying the cross – a big distortion of what the call entails. We are called to take part in the unfolding drama – not to watch and applaud when our side is winning.
Even if we meet opposition we will never forget the words of the Apostle Peter, 1 Pet.3.15, “But in your hearts sanctify the Lord God. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” Unlike Cain we must be keepers of our brothers despite the limitations. Like Ezekiel, we have been made watchmen. If we warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sins, but we will have saved ourselves. (Ezek.3:19).
The exposition of the Scriptures in the book The Real Christ tells beyond any reasonable doubt that without a proper understanding of the humanity side of our Lord Jesus Christ, man gropes in the darkness of ignorance. Religious study requires research, just like other disciplines.
Bro. Joseph Onyango
TARBO
The ‘ospel News magazine is helping us very much. We at Tarbo Ecclesia are eight members; three brothers and five sisters and 14 friends plus 35 Sunday School children, most of them orphans who are in need of great care. In the photo enclosed you can see that they meet under a tree, which is dangerous as a branch can fall on them. We appeal to brethren worldwide to pray for them.
We appreciate great help from a group known as S.W.A.K. through a support group under a Chairlady, Irine Murunga and Secretary Jacinta Ivelia. They have supplied the children with learning materials such as books and geometry sets. Each was given 10 books, 3 pens, 3 pencils and one geometry set.
We are in great need of reading materials such as Swahili Bible Basics, Present Day Events, Middle East Updates, etc. In these last days we need exhortations very much so we have planned to meet once a month for Bible School.
Bro. Emmanuel Milimo
Tarbo Ecclesia. From left on the front line is Sis. Beatrice Milimo and from the right and at the back in the white shirt, Bro. Emmanuel Milimo, together with other brothers and sisters, friends and Sunday School children.
TONGAREN
Thank you for your letter and parcel of Bibles and ‘Bible Basics’ which are very helpful to myself and my family. May the Lord bless you for that help. We have been supplied with a Bible after baptism but having more copies have been of great value to my family in their study of the Word of God.
Bro. Daniel Simiyu
The Bible tells us that we are with the poor, the fatherless and the orphans always. Our Ecclesia has now started offering free courses on garment making to the orphans and the fatherless. For this project to prosper we need donations of fabrics, sewing machines, literature books and hymn books. The aim of the ecclesia is to train and register the trainees for Government Trade Test Exams so that they may obtain national certificates. Some of our last year’s trainees have already acquired certificates from the Government.
I must thank the Lord, our Almighty God, for giving us life, and so long as we still have life, we should labour for the Lord Jesus. Through our Sis. Mary Clement and our Bro. Trevor Hughes, Tongaren Ecclesia now has a plot for ecclesial use; we have put in a temporary structure where the sewing project is now situated.
Thanks a lot for the leaflet on daily events of Bible prophecy. Also I was glad to hear of the progress of printing New Testament Bibles for distribution which will greatly help English scholars, especially youths and Sunday School children.
God is at work and we are proud that now we are having a full Bible translated into Bukusu language, which is a local language spoken in our region, but because it is still new it’s cost is very high at Ksh.800 each (US$10) Also to buy a copy we have to travel a long distance to another town thus increasing the cost.
Tongaren is the only ecclesia which is very much interested in reading and preaching the Word of God in Bukusu language. We usually operate our Sunday services in our local language. Our ecclesia has 24 baptised members, 11 of whom are brothers and it is good that now a full Bible is available in Bukusu language and God has revealed to us everything written in the Holy Bible through our language. For this we praise God, as reading and hearing the Word of God in foreign languages one might not understand it 100% correctly and that is why Tongaren Ecclesia is not very much interested in foreign languages when giving exhortations at memorial services. We do use our local language for clear understanding.
Bro Isaac Kapa
