What can I do about planting a church for every people?

22 December 2011

When I first read Alan Johnson’s book, Apostolic Function, I was challenged. What could I do to help those I contact participate in planting churches where there do not exist? If it is true that few people go to places and people they have never heard of, I wanted to expose the students of our Bible school with unreached people groups. We hung posters in our chapel, we distributed prayer brochures of unreached peoples, and we named the buildings on campus after the unreached people groups of Kenya. We had prayer emphasis in chapel, took mission trip to unreached people groups, and annual mission conventions in which we educated students on the needs of those that are unengaged by missionaries and the gospel.

Nehemiah received his “call” through Hanani, one of his brothers, who shared a report of the people of Jerusalem. In a similar way, the call comes to many through information as well as inspiration. Since we began sharing the information on unreached peoples, Steve and Mary Njihia are in missions today because they prayed daily from the prayer guide and God called them. Arnold Ngari has started a practical ministry team at EAST to reach out to Muslims in Nairobi because he saw the South Asian banner in the chapel and began to develop a burden for the Muslims. Susan Kimani is beginning her mission career with an unreached people group next year because she caught the vision on EAST mission trips. Alfred Sangala asked to do his EAST internship with the Gabbra people because he saw their name on our administration building and felt God calling him to work among them. An American student spent eight weeks in Loglogo among the Rendille because she wanted to do a mission internship in Kenya and we suggested doing it among the Rendille. I believe that unreached people will one day join us around God’s thrown because we get the information out. Apostolic function is every member of every church doing everything they can to see that every person everywhere has a chance to attend a church in their culture and language. We can do our part through every poster, brochure, and conversation we have.

Johnson, Alan. Apostolic Function: The Paradigm of Missionary Identity: J. Philip Hogan World Missions Series Monograph Vol 1. Springfield, MO: Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, n.d.

Remove your Charms

As we were walking from hut to hut in the village of Oloiborototo a Maasai mother, Nalari Molo Wiy came up to our group. She said through an interpreter, “I hear you are people of God. Would you please come and pray for my son, Rengoine Molo. He is sick with many diseases. He has been fainting daily. Last night was the worst incident we have had. We have taken him to the doctors and they have taken many tests. They say that there is nothing wrong with him, yet when we take him home he is still sick.” We went to pray for him at her boma (homestead). As we were praying for his healing, I sensed the Spirit of Jesus say, “The boy is wearing charms. I want to heal him, but these must be removed.” I stopped praying and opened my eyes. I asked the mother, “What are these items around Rengoine’s neck?” She explained that they were given to him by the Maasai traditional healers to ward off diseases. I stated that we were praying to God. If God were to heal, we might not know if it was God or these charms that brought the healing. I asked if it would be alright if we took them off. She said it would be ok. We cut off the necklaces and prayed again. She and her son come to our services everyday. I asked her on Friday, “How is your son?” She said, “He hasn’t been sick at all since you prayed on Monday.” She gave her testimony on Sunday before more then 300 community members at the first service in the new tabernacle. She said, “The preacher asked us to take off the charms if we believed God alone had the power to heal. We took them off. God has healed my son and he has not been sick once since we prayed.” 6js

Update on Jonathan December 2011

Jonathan has been working as a volunteer at I-Tec in Florida for about a year. His goal was to see the Maverick, a flying car, go into production. He engineered many of the components and assisted in getting the flying car approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). You can see the car on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiF9X8NRh-A Jonathan went back to LeTourneau for the Fall Semester 2011 to finish two classes for graduation. He has just been hired as an engineer at McCauley Propeller Systems, a division of Cessna. He will be moving to Wichita, Kansas after the first of the year to begin his new job.

6J’s

Update on Joelle and Daniel December 2011

Joelle and Daniel Van Otterloo have been married for about a year and a half now. They are both working at Cox South in Springfield, MO. Joelle is on the Oncology Ward, 4th floor, and Daniel is on the Cardio Unit, 5^th floor.

Update on Jenni December 2011

Jenni is now a junior at LeTourneau University, Longview, TX, and where she is studying nursing. She went on a missions trip this summer to Honduras. The team was involved in medical missions.

Update on Josh December 2011

Josh, age 17, is a junior in High School at Rosslyn Academy, Nairobi. He injured his knee in May and had ACL reconstruction surgery in June. He is doing regular physical therapy to strengthen and rebuild the knee. He should be ready for sports again by March. During this time he has been spending a lot of time developing his guitar and bass guitar skills. He plays regularly on our church worship team, at the Rosslyn chapel, and other venues. You can see him playing “Route 66” on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zONKxTWdGTI

Update on our Family 2011

Janelle has been involved in family, Rosslyn and EAST this year. She is an active member of the Rosslyn Academy Moms In Touch group and hosts a new MIT group for moms of university students. She is the matron for the EAST ladies group, Koinonia. This summer, we were able to spend a month in the US on vacation: Washington DC, to Pennsylvania (Jeff’s sister’s family, Kathy and Jim West), to Florida (Jonathan) to Texas (Jenni), to Missouri (Joelle and Daniel and Jeff’s mom’s 75th birthday celebration), back to Texas to fly to Washington State and Oregon (Janelle’s parents, brothers’ families, and sisters and aunts and uncles), back to Texas and Missouri and then Jeff flew back to Kenya. Janelle stayed an extra month with Josh for his knee surgery recovery.

Acting Superintendent at Rosslyn Academy

I have also been serving as the Acting Superintendent of Rosslyn Academy this year. The school is at record enrollment this year with 546 students. We are experiencing a positive spiritual atmosphere at the school this year. Our chaplain has reported that a number of the students have received Christ. We are busy building this year. Two faculty homes are completed and four more are under construction. A new kindergarten classroom was opened in August and additional classrooms are planned for the elementary and middle school soon. Rosslyn will open a preschool in August 2012. Check out the website at www.rosslynacademy.com. During the year while I am assisting Rosslyn Academy I have put my PhD studies on hold. I look forward to getting back at it summer of 2012. 6J’s

Ground Breaking at EAST Kitengela Campus

East Africa School of Theology (EAST) has seen some significant milestones in 2011. We have experienced a continue sense of the presence of God in the chapels and classes. After 26 years, the Commission for Higher Education of the Ministry of Education in Kenya has approved EAST programs (Biblical Studies, Intercultural Studies, and Church Educational Ministries). The first PhD classes opened on the EAST campus in conjunction with Pan Africa Theological Seminary in September 2011. We also broke ground for the new KAG EAST University campus in Kitengela, about 40 kilometers south of our present campus. The construction is underway for a beautiful campus, which will ease the Nairobi campus overcrowding. We are presently serving more than 700 students (includes diploma, degree, masters and doctoral levels) on the campus built for 200. This year we had four more EAST full-time faculty members enroll in PhD programs bringing the total to 11 studying at this level. Check out all that is happening at EAST at www.east.ac.ke. 6J’s