Rev. Vincent Mokaya is a great asset to our ministry in Kenya. He submitted this report to us and we wanted to share it with you. It is long but well worth reading.
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Subukia, Kenya, East Africa |
It is an honor and privilege for Burning Plow Ministries to
welcome you to Subukia which is a rural village in the Rift valley of Kenya,
East Africa. It is about a four hour drive from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city.
This is one of the villages where Burning Plow Ministries has scheduled to
teach the Foundations of Biblical Faith, as well as doing evangelism through the
Jesus’ film early next year. I will be glad to share a brief story about how we got to know about
Subukia.
Three years ago, Burning Plow
Ministries helped plant a church in a village called Kawaida which is located
in the outskirts of Nairobi. Besides the financial support to this church,
Burning Plow Ministries began a discipleship program where the class on the
foundations of faith was introduced to the new believers in the church. Most of
the students in this class worked in flower/tea/coffee farms and they stayed
together in houses provided in the farm. Therefore this provided an opportunity
that the training be conducted right on the farms.
It was during a class session
that Simon Tinga who works as a security guard was invited to the class. During
that time, Simon had not surrendered his life to Christ. Therefore towards the
end of the class, Rev. Don Cameron filled by the Holy Spirit, felt that he
needed to talk with Simon about his relationship with Jesus. Immediately after
taking a bold step of faith to talk with Simon, there was conviction and Simon
made a choice; to surrender his life to Jesus and he became a believer that day.
His wife later, after some days, surrendered her life too in a home fellowship.
Simon later joined First Baptist Church as a new convert and has since been
actively committed to the Biblical teachings and all other activities in this
church. He has continued witnessing to many people about Jesus Christ.
He confessed about how most
people in his rural village lack the Biblical truth and so need to be taught.
Therefore, Burning Plow Ministries has since responded to this need and has
planned to visit Simon’s rural village to teach the Bible in 2015.
Before Burning Plow Ministries
takes a class to a new location, part of its preparations is to visit the place
to confirm the need and also meet with representatives from various
denominations in the location and share the agenda of the class. In other
words, Burning Plow Ministries partners with the existing churches in its
endeavor to teach the Truth. This is why we made a prior trip to Subukia, on October 17, 2014 with Simon Tinga as part of preparations for our next
class that possibly takes place in February 2015.
Our trip to Subukia was safe
and successful. We spent three days in the village and so much was
accomplished. We were received with joy and they were hospitable to us. When we
arrived at Simon Tinga’s home, we found family members and some of their
neighbors waiting for us eagerly because they had been informed about our
visit. We did not waste time but we got to familiarize with one another and
then I introduced Burning Plow Ministries to them and the agenda for our visit.
Then came a time for testimony
and everyone wanted to hear what Simon had to say about his new life in Christ.
And so Simon took the stage and testified of course in Swahili language which I
translated later to English. He said:
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Simon testifying |
“Praise
the Lord Jesus! As you all know, your son and brother called Simon was a very
bad person. You all know. I was an addict to liquor and other substances which
influenced my life negatively. My mother spent most of her time to counsel me
but I did not change. My family had no peace. I was an irresponsible father and
husband. I was a dirty person. I was unworthy. But today, I stand before you a
fully transformed man and disciple of Jesus Christ. I got born again and set
free from captivity and bondage to Satan. Since I accepted Christ Jesus to save
me, I enjoy peace, hope and always depend not on my mind but on God’s guidance.
Whenever I face challenges, I am never afraid but courageous in faith that God
will come to my help. I also encourage you who have not been born again to
consider surrendering your lives to Jesus! Thank you!”
Simon’s testimony shook the
hearts of the people who were listening. Two ladies surrendered their lives to
Jesus after this call.
Simon’s mother said the
following in her tribal language, Turkana, which was translated into Swahili for
me to understand and later to English for the sake of this publication:
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Simon's mother testifying |
“My
God, thank you. I thought you never heard my cry over my son but I was wrong. I
now know that it does not matter how long it takes for you to answer a prayer.
You are such a faithful God.” Her eyes were wet with tears and she could
hardly utter more audible words.
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Simon and Pastor Paul after the service |
On Sunday, we attended a
service at a church Called Jesus Exaltation Center where Paul Gakuha is pastor.
It was such a blessing for us to be in the worship service. We later attended a
pastor’s meeting where the need for the class was very well appreciated and
welcomed.
How we look forward to the
NEXT class that is meant to stamp out the roots of HERESY in Kenya, Africa. We observed
that most people in the village and even at church had no Bibles. So please,
pray that God provides for more Bibles to the people in this village. God bless
Burning Plow Ministries and all the partners for teaching the WORD!