Missions this month

I cannot believe that it has been more than a month since I last sent a report. The past several weeks have sped by in such a blur. Time flies when your having fun or when your very busy.

Missions is all about starting churches and equipping people to go out and start other churches which do the same. That is a simplification but I think you get the idea. Much of what has kept me busy the past 4 weeks has revolved around missions.
I was invited to preach at Karen Baptist Church in Nairobi the first Sunday of September. The church is taking the whole month of September to emphasize missions. What a blessing to see this mission church actively engaged in reaching out to the world with their own missionaries. Among the handful of missionaries supported by the church there is one missionary, a national who has been in Somalia for the past few years. He said something I don't think I will ever forget. I paraphrase his words:

During times of war many people leave the mission field or pull back. I must continue on because during times of war Satan is reaping souls. It is the time when people need the gospel the most.

I left the church service really fired up about our own missions program at our village church. We have taught about faith promise giving and the people have responded well. Now it is time to take the next steps and commit to support our own missionaries. Our missions program is still in its infancy at this point but I see huge potential in the coming year.

I have had a desire for about 2 years now to start another church plant near our home in Moshi. The Lord has not allowed me to do so until now. Greg Wagoner and I have been giddy with excitement over the planning of this new church. However, it brings some challenges and difficulties. Property is very expensive in Moshi. Even finding a place to rent will probably cost us $500-$1,000/ month. There are many established denominations in this city many of which incorrectly preach a gospel of good works (see Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) and there will always be a Satanic presence trying to cause us to fail and quit. Please pray for this new church. The first service will be held on Feb 6th 2011.

Earlier this year I organized the shipping of a 40' container from the US to our home in Moshi. The container is stuffed full of ministry equipment, Bibles, many household items that are not available here in Tanzania, as well as some toys for both the kids and myself. The long journey of this container has finally come to an end. Just today we got approval from customs to open the container and remove our items. After we moved about 12,000 gospels one of the very next items to come out was a four-wheeler. We splashed some gas into the tank turned the key and it fired up! Praise the Lord! Now, it's not all just for fun and games, we have a lot of scriptures to hand out. Imagine me and the boys going hut to hut handing out scriptures. I love being a missionary!

While in Kenya, we had some work done on our vehicle. I had a car alarm installed and every window, mirror and removable part etched with our vehicle’s registration number. The etching is supposed to be a deterrent to thieves. It is much more difficult to sell a mirror with someone else’s registration number on it. We also got visas from the Kenyan immigration office allowing us to enter Kenya at will for the next 12 months. We then stocked up on groceries and returned to our home.
Now it is time to get ourselves ready to move to a new home. I want to get it done quickly so I can focus my attention on some new out reach efforts in our church.

Please pray:
For God to lead us to a location to start our new church.
For much needed funds to pay for this new church plant (we are asking God for $200/mo)
For our first service on Feb 6.
For our move to our new home.
For growth for our existing church in Kingereka (spiritual and numerical).
For me: My Swahili- especially in preaching, my soul-winning efforts and for wisdom as I lead our church.