Monday, December 3, 2007

Back in the Father’s Loving Arms


In November 2007 I led a team back to Kenya to plant/build a church in Namanga. Namanga is a town on the southern (Tanzania) border. For nearly seven years I have prayed for Namanga since I first drove through it in 2001.

A team came from Sheldon, Wisconsin with money to build the church and help with the evangelism. A team of students from East Africa School of Theology also came.

On Monday when the door to door teams went out, I joined a team and we began visiting the simple huts and houses near the new church property. One of the first homes we came to belonged to a single mother named Elizabeth and her little boy, Gabriel. We presented the Gospel to her, but she told us she was not ready to be born again. We invited her to the crusade and revival meetings that were to be held all week.

During the course of the week Elizabeth came to every meeting but one, but she continued to resist the call for salvation. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday went by and she continued to say she was not ready. We learned that she had attended church as a young girl, but when she got pregnant in the 6th grade, she had left the church and had not felt comfortable returning.

Finally on Thursday as we visited her again in our door to door visitation we asked her if she was ready to receive Christ. This time she said she was ready. We had the opportunity to pray with her as she returned to the Father’s loving arms.

During the week that we were in Namanga 154 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ. The church (tabernacle) was built and planted.