“Speed the Light” is Helping Every Young
Person Reach Every People Group
Over
the past 4 years we have had the opportunity of taking the good news to an
unreached people group in Kenya called the Rendille. Using vehicles provided by
Speed the Light we have been able to travel in this desert with students from
East Africa School of Theology (EAST) and teams from the United States. The
roads that exist are very rough and in some places we have been stuck in dry
river beds and had to pull vehicles out. Without the STL vehicles we would not
have been able to reach the Rendille as we have been able to do.
The
Rendille are the only camel herding people in Kenya that are not Muslim. They
are Jewish. Even though they did not have a written language, they have
celebrated the Passover for centuries. They slaughter a lamb, put its blood on
the doorposts of their homes and eat the Passover feast together. Hundreds of
years ago when Muslims came across North and East Africa they distributed the
Koran and tried to convert the Rendille. The Rendille rejected Islam and burned
the Koran on Mount Moille. If you look at a religious map of Africa today, the
line between Muslim North and East Africa and animist and Christian Africa cuts
through the Rendille land. God seems to have used the Rendille to stop the
advance of Islam into Africa.
With
the help of STL our EAST mission teams have planted four churches and witnessed
4772 Rendille coming to the Lord in four years. Through the efforts of these
missionaries and other organizations the Rendille have been moved off the
unreached people group list (see joshuaproject.net).
Recently
50 Rendille were invited to EAST for a celebration of God’s grace among them.
They rode on the EAST STL bus. Many had never seen a paved road, a river that
wasn’t seasonal, electricity, skyscrapers, or beds. When we offered them the
dorm beds to sleep on, some asked if they could put the mattresses on the floor
as they were afraid they would fall out.
There
is rejoicing in heaven over each of the Rendille who comes to the Lord. God
loves people of every people group and promises that people of every ethnic
group will be around the throne in heaven (Rev. 5:9). Today there are Rendille
pastors leading Rendille churches. This was possible because young people gave
to Speed the Light so missonaries can take the good news to people who have
never heard. I believe in Apostolic Function: Every person in every parish
doing everything possible to reach every people group. Speed the Light is one
way every young person is involved in reaching every people group.
6J’s
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