Kenya Report 2024

take a minute here and introduce the whole team our whole tribe from Kenya and uh just so thankful for what God has done and each one of these members of our family and team as I like to remind them that God has given to us so as he said my name is Steven Reigns originally from macano Wisconsin just a little bit West of Milwaukee and my wife here Christina my much better half right here from Ann Arbor Baptist Church grew up here and so it's just a blessing to be back here maiden name is Bert so uh for some of you that are uh maybe haven't met us before you can kind of make some connect some dot connect some dots there and then we have five wonderful children that God has given us so whoever is the oldest here I'll just let that one start sometimes I can't remember now go ahead Levi and I'm 14 I'm Brooklyn and I'm 13 I'm Amber and I'm 11 I'm Andrew and I'm 10 I'm Kayla and I'm six oh all right so there's little Kayla down there all right good so we have a song that we're going to sing there in Ken one of the main languages that's spoken is Swahili and around the Nairobi area the capital city which isn't we're in the general Nairobi area doing most of the work that we're doing uh English is very commonly spoken you can get by speaking English but um Swahili for many years has been the trade language of East Africa and so we're going to sing a song here for you that I trust will be a blessing and we'll sing a verse in Swahili and so we'll give that a try I will sing The W story of the Christ who died for me how he left his home in glory for the cross of Calvary yes I'll sing sing story of the Christ who die for me sing it the saint in glory GED by the crystal sea [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I was bruis but Jesus healed me faint was from many a fall sight was gone and fears possessed me but he freed me from them all yes I sing the wonderous story of the Christ who died for me sing it the Saints in glory GED by by the crystal sea the crystal sea thank you guys you can be seated thank you so much it is really a delight to be back here with you all and I hope that you got to hear a little Swahili there kind of gives you an idea of what that sounds like and uh pray for us as we continue to learn Swahili like I said you can get by with English just about everywhere there but if you go into the more remote areas or sometimes as we're witnessing around the city where we live a city of about 200,000 people uh named a city called Thea and you'll see some of that in the video um we'll meet elderly people or people that maybe have come from a more rural area and they really don't speak or understand much English and so um it's been very helpful to try to learn Swahili and so we'll continue to study that and and develop with that how many of you know some Swahili let's see your hand if you know any Swahili raise your hand up right there what what do you know on Swahili there it is don't tell me he's the only one that knows that Swahili right there right how many of you just didn't know that was Swahili all right so anyways that usually gets a little chuckle as most we were singing a song uh that starts with it I don't know what the name of it is but it's called Jambo buana my brother-in-law and sister in Hungary wanted to put it on their one of their uh Outreach Facebook pages in their church planning Ministry in Hungary while we were visiting in 2022 and most of the people there only speak Hungarian but we were out on the streets in the town where they live and we were singing this Jambo bana song and it has the words Hakuna Matata in it and people walking by heard that and probably didn't know any English but they knew they recognized hak mat so anyways it means no worries right everything's fine so anyways now you there's your Swahili lesson for tonight but it's great to be here with you all and uh we have a video that we'll be showing just a few minutes long but give you a little update of the church planting Ministry and then the Bible College Ministry that the Lord's allowed us to be a part of I've been able to um teach several different classes in that college over the years and then also just this well last year we um kind of unofficially started teaching some music classes in the college and this year the Lord blessed with a record enrollment in the Bible College of about 40 students and about 30 of them are in the music program learning to read notes and another really cool thing that God has done is um they didn't have like most people over there just have a book with words in it and don't even really need a handbook with notes because they don't know anything about reading notes and the Lord um impressed on my brother Michael's heart he works over there as well and we have the privilege of teaming up together so we have family on both sides of the planet kind of neat uh but he and I organized to make an English Swahili Himel with notes in it and we started that back in 2018 so one page is English the other is fahil and we thought it'd be done a little sooner but it just concluded early in in January early this year and so it's really neat how we've just started teaching music in the college and now this English Swahili Himel is available only one in the world that we know of and the churches over there there's about 35 or so different Independent Baptist Churches throughout Kenya and by the way there's a need 30 some people think 35 might sound like a lot there's a need great need for many many more than that we could use you know 535 around there probably at least and so anyways just uh it's been exciting to see the the Lord bring that together and see students now in the Bible College they just started their second term in the Bible College last week and so there's uh there's a number of different faculty that are helping to keep that music program going and uh but it's just been a thrill to see and the students are so excited to be able to learn music and so that's been a blessing and I know that'll be a tremendous help uh you guys are blessed I can see to have multiple piano players most of those churches don't have one and they don't have anybody that would know how to read those notes and another really neat feature about this book is that some of the Swahili uh hymns in here that are in Swahili were written by Kenyan or Tanzanian East African men during the East African Revival and so it's a really neat thing to be able to have this himym book and seen that uh being made available to the churches over there but our our main Outreach uh focus is just getting the gospel out wherever we are and we've been helping with a couple of different Church plants one there in the city of Thea that I mentioned Lighthouse Baptist Church and we've been thrilled in the last couple of years to see the Lord provide a property and a building finally for that Ministry and that's just been a tremendous establishing factor for that church in that city of 200,000 and that's the only Independent Baptist Church that we know of or that is there and then also we've been helping with a church more out in a somewhat of a Village area that's all in Swahili which um we've also been going there to try to get some Swahili submersion and uh so anyways you'll see a little bit of that uh those church planting opportunities and the Bible College ministry as we show the video and then I'll come back up right after that so if we're ready to roll with that and then we'll continue on [Music] when you think of Kenya perhaps you think of the amazing animals in African safaris 5 million people visit Kenya each year for the thrilling and unique sites this country provides we have been privileged to enjoy some of this beauty of God's creation you may also think of Kenya as a third world developing country with some pretty interesting sites we often gasp at or get a good chuckle of things we see as we Traverse from day to day we don't just typically see these sites in the United States for obvious reasons on our first Furlow a few years ago we discovered our youngest daughter Kayla has Turner's syndrome the doctors also found out that she has a unique liver condition as a result of Turner syndrome and they were suggesting a liver transplant to make a very long story short God led us to another group of doctors that advised us to wait on the transplant and do a radiological procedure instead they predicted that this could give Kayla 15 to 20 years before needing a transplant this is enabled us to continue living and serving the lord in Kenya we are very thankful for the team of doctors in Wisconsin and in Kenya who God has provided to help us maintain Kayla's health of course we know our times are in God's hands and we are willing at any point for God to change our Direction humanly speaking but we are very thankful for the opportunity to serve God in the country of Kenya the place he has called us to and the place we have grown to love at the beginning of our second term God enabled us to ship a container of Swahili John and Romans New Testaments and whole Bibles to Kenya we praise the Lord how he provided and intervened to make this possible those scriptures have been a blessing to many and we look forward to how God will use the remaining scriptures please pray for God's Direction in this regard we trust God wants to use these scriptures in future church planting Endeavors also during our second term God has opened the door for Steven to lead a music training program at Independent Baptist College of Ministry Godly music has been a lifelong passion for him and it has been amazing to see God put all the pieces together for this to come to fruition in conjunction with leading the music program it has been amazing to see the Swahili English Himel project which started in 2018 come to completion recently and coincide with the beginning of this music program in the college please pray with us that God will grow the influence of Godly music in the Kenyan churches during our second term God allowed us to further our Swahili studies and gave us opportunity to minister in Swahili in various ways at Trinity Baptist Church in gatu with Dr Rick Sue Daniel and Mary Christine Simonson Steven has preached twice in Swahili in this term and we feel like we have definitely improved in Swahili conversation although we still have a long ways to go in order to become fluent we praise the Lord for these small steps and ask for continued prayer in developing in Swahili lastly in our second term we were able to continue Ministry at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Thea it was great to see this body of Believers in their own place and we are praising the Lord that the new building and property has been completely paid off as of last year thank thank you all for your investment and sacrifice to enable the work of God to go forward in this place it has been great to see the members of Lighthouse Baptist Church step up and take ownership of various responsibilities they have had some unique opportunities for outreach in the community with a chapel service at a nearby boys school a 3day VBS and carolling at a nearby supermarket it has been a joy to see people saved and discipled and then endeavoring to do the very same thing please pray that Lighthouse Baptist Church would be a center for training and sending out laborers into the Harvest field what part does God have for you in the Harvest field of the world Matthew 9: 37-38 says then saith he unto his disciples the Harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few pray ye therefore the lord of the Harvest that he will send forth laborers into his Harvest are you praying for Laborers are you willing to be a laborer right where you are and in the Harvest field of the [Music] world all right well I trust that helps you get a little better better visual glimpse of what the Lord is doing over there and kind of the layout of some of the places we go and opportunities God has given us of course we're so thankful for how the Lord has directed with our daughter Kayla and the um Turner syndrome and the liver issue and I very uh some special help from individuals right in this church especially as we were uh kind of on a big learning curve and kind of spinning trying to wrap our head around all this and uh being able to get some uh good advice from those in medical uh work here in this church we sure appreciate that and uh just so thankful for how the Lord has directed each step of the way it's not anything we would have really chosen to put into our lives but of course the Lord knows what is best and if we had much more time I wish I could tell you of so many different specific ways God has provided um through that medical Journey with her health challenges um but really overall she is doing great she's full of energy as I'm sure you'll probably see and um uh she's just uh really doing very well and so um we thank God for that we were able to do a checkup uh several weeks ago at Children's and Madison and they were wondering if they would need to maybe adjust the stint a little bit or uh move it one way or the other open it up a little more uh the surgeon who installed it looked it over and came back to us uh and told us everything looks great he couldn't be happier with how it is and so um he said everything's looking really good so now it he even mentioned a reduction in the different medical checkups you know monthly Labs now are two to three every two to three months and ultrasounds that were every six month are now just once a year and so it was really a blessing to just hear that uh she's doing well but we know it's a result of prayers of God's people so thank you all for your prayers and uh just for wisdom and Grace um looking back on it now there's just several things at it we wouldn't even have even known where to go to get certain uh medical things done but the Lord just opened up a way there around the Nairobi area the capital city of Kenya and it's just been marvelous to see so we thank God for that thank you for your prayers for her um I could just uh maybe we could just open it up for any questions for just a couple of minutes if anybody has any questions there's so many different things that could get into but what are some questions that are going in your mind regarding just everyday life or the ministry that God has for us there in Kenya feel free to ask questions if nobody has any we'll just continue on but um any questions out there from you well up there too I guess we got some folks all right okay yes okay so around the area where we live Kenya is huge Africa is huge Africa can hold you know about three and a half of the United States on the continent of Africa so it's a massive continent Kenya is probably about the size of Texas and um the uh the central South Central and out to the western part of Kenya would be considered um predominantly Christian in the very broad sense of the term and even the country itself uh by the leaders of the country have pronounced it to be a Christian country but if you go up all up and down the east coast of the country the northern part of the country very heavily Muslim and uh especially up along the Somalia Kenya border um a strong Muslim influence there and uh so around the area where we are there the Nairobi area the capital city area um many people would call themselves Christians but as we go out witnessing talking to people we'll ask them so when did you become a Christian and most of them kind of look at you confused like become a Christian like I've never been a Muslim you know in their mind they're thinking I've never been all these other different faiths I'm I've always been a Christian and I love to try to challenge them you know according to the scriptures to think about well have you ever had a point of conversion where you realize just like everybody else in this world I'm a sinner I deserve hell Jesus Is God paid my penalty for me and believed on the the Lord Jesus Christ so getting people to think about that you know many many people don't they would say they're Christian but if you ask them when they became a Christian or how uh many of them have a lot of varieties of answers and so at the same time though because they would say they're Christian because they would many people would say that they believe the Bible and follow it even though most of them have never even tried to read this book the whole book um uh they would uh still they're very open to what we have to say and it's very cultural uh Kenyan culture to if somebody starts talking to you you don't shut the conversation down you keep it going and so that's just been a great open door to being able to communicate the gospel and be able to help people because they are open to what the Bible says and they say that they believe the Bible therefore it's really a great open door to be able to explain the clear gospel to many many people there and so we've been able to see a number of people realize okay just because I call myself a Christian doesn't mean that I'm a Christian I have to have a point of conversion like the Apostle Paul there in Acts n and other believers where every believer where they realize I'm a sinner and I need Christ as my personal Savior and Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved so yeah so it's a great Open Door there in that part of the country we've been out to some of the more uh Islamic predominant areas of the country and it feels like a whole different world there um but we are very thankful for how the Lord brings so many different people from different tribal parts of of Kenya and from other neighboring countries there's a good number of Somalian and Sudanese refugees that come to Kenya because Kenya is considered a free country and that opens up a great door of opportunity to get the gospel to people uh that we could never go into their country labeled as a missionary and try to start a church or give the gospel but God brings them to Nairobi and and to the churches around the country and get to see many opportunities uh with people like that good any other questions [Music] okay all right yes they are homeschooled so pray for Christina she does a fabulous job with that and um I try to help in different areas of that as well but um she does a tremendous job with that and they just concluded their school year uh a couple of weeks ago and they'll be starting up again in September um so we we stay on the American schooling system it just works better with traveling back and forth at different times um and with homeschooling you can just kind of set the schedule that you want and that also works out really well with just the Bible College Ministry and different church planting Outreach opportunities for us to be homeschooling and not driven by a schedule of a school over there um that the that the kids would be in and so that really does work well and um as far as the next big decision with that did you say is that what you're asking um I don't know are do you have anything to add on that okay yeah we're pretty well in a Groove I feel like um but we always appreciate the prayers for that because because as any of you know who have homeschooled or been homeschooled it takes a lot of of work and uh so anyways yeah we appreciate prayers with that good anyone else yes sir yeah I would say that overall it's much more of a urban rural divide um but the the you know the uh for several decades now the British because of the British influence in Kenya they've been teaching English in the schools for several decades so uh I don't know out in the rural areas they just don't use it as much as they do around the greater Nairobi area and so I think it's just it catches on quicker and obviously the population is more dense around there and so um and and then just with work opportunities you know um it just tends to heavier gravitate more toward English you can get better paying jobs if you know English and so yeah I think it's more of the nirobi area influence but as far as I know they teach it even out in a lot of the rural schools but as far as languages the average person there speaks three different languages and so they speak their tribal language you know these most African countries are divided up into tribal regions and uh that's kind of their ancestral region area and so they speak that tribal language and then most of them speak Swahili which for years has been the trade language around East Africa and nowadays most of them around the area where we are and even further out are speaking English as well and so imagine flipping between three languages they they all can a lot of them can do that pretty comfortably that's pretty amazing okay any other questions yes you been about 10 years do sure all right yeah great question so right now we just really sense that the the Lord is just really doing a great church planting movement that is way bigger than us as individuals or a family you know there's a number of very like-minded missionaries there that are all uh working together and have some of them just really invested most of their life into being able to train um and disciple there and see this Bible College I'm sure I know uh brother Hallstead is supported by this ministry as well and he's been here um over the years but he's the one that leads our Bible College Ministry and uh so there's a number a few a handful of us missionaries but then also uh probably seven or eight Kenyan pastors that have come through our Bible college that are also teaching in the college and we're just seeing such a great fruitful operation going on there just with being a part in that and then also we ourselves being involved in church planting um so we really feel like it is something that God has in motion that uh is very effective and I definitely at this point I don't really see the Lord directing us into anything else um yeah and it's just been very fruitful we've seen many graduates from that college and and from our you know people in the church getting saved and wanting more training and and uh going out and taking the pastorate of a good Bible preaching church and being qualified to do that you know the Bible says not a novice not a beginner not an amateur but somebody who's grounded in the word and that bible college has just been a tremendous tool to really establish I remember going to a an ordination of one of the men one of the graduates from the college who this man lived is from originally from out toward Lake Victoria that's his home area and I was able to travel 6 hours with some of the other men in from the Bible some of the Kenyan pastors and uh sit in on that ordination out there and I was so I was thinking man I would I would have had a little challenge answering some of those questions they were asking him I mean but it really impressed me with their depth of concern for Bible Truth Bible Doctrine and uh I know that man did a great job he's been pastoring Faithfully out there now for a few years and was able to start a church there in his home area his family property and uh which is actually very heavily 7th Day Adventist territory out there near Lake Victoria uh but anyways he's been doing a great work out there and it's just been so fruitful to see people come and get training there's some ladies in the college as well and uh they they're able to go in back into their churches and just help with you know children's ministry teaching other ladies and being involved in their Min in their Church Ministries that they're coming from and uh but seeing some of these graduates going out and they already know the tribal language in an area maybe they already have some family property and they can and just a lot of things that are a big challenge for us as a foreigner to just try to go out and learn the subculture and sublanguages and things like that so I really see it to be very fruitful um just what we are doing and uh so we'll continue on with that until the Lord directs other unless he leads otherwise okay yes one more question and then we or maybe two here okay go ahead yep okay well um overall yes um it's usually pretty peaceful quiet area uh we live in a neighborhood you know with several hundred other houses similar to the house that we live in and uh you do have to have your own security it's it's different you just have to learn what you need to do to live in that area you know um like over here if there's you suspect a burglar you know at your house or something you can call 911 and you get a slew of squad cars at your house pretty quickly in many places and they'll help you out over there you got to go drive and get the police officers if you want them to come and help you with something like that and that just doesn't usually work well in those situations and then um so basically like what we have we just and is very common around the area where we live just a a wall around the perimeter of your property with some razor wire and electric fencing on top of that or some people have dogs inside the compound and you just kind of have your own set of security and the Lord has blessed with that and just as far as peace around that area um sometimes around presidential elections things can kind of amp up a little bit between different tribes but the area where we live is actually the most prominent tribe of the country the kikuyu tribe and so um they're very friendly very welcoming toward us everywhere we go I mean we've never really we've never sensed any hostility so we thank God for that but um yeah the sometimes around presidential elections things can get a little bit interesting and you just kind of keep a low profile you know try not to go out and about if you don't have to and uh things usually end up just calming down and and every once in a while we'll go somewhere and there's some tires burning in the street or rocks that were thrown out into the street you know from people trying to do some kind of demonstration but um sometimes that happens in America too and so safety is certainly of the Lord and we thank God for his leading with that I think I saw one other hand right back here yes I I'm not sure I called it that can you just say it one more time okay all right yeah great question um I I'm chuckling because you know that's a great question and I don't want it to ever seem like I'm I know I hope I'm not advertising myself as doing anything amazing but God is doing our great God is doing amazing things and we hope we just keep uh surrendering to him but that is a good question the Lord really U began working in my heart about going to Kenya as a missionary when I was around the age of 12 13 um just uh our pastor was always preaching on surrendering your life to just serve god with your life and go wherever in the world reminding us this world isn't our home don't settle in and and dig in too deeply where you are keep the priorities where God wants them and the L and then there was this missionary from our church there just west of Milwaukee mwano and he was so that was he was from our church and he'd come back from Kenya every few years and give updates and he and I both had red hair and he'd look at me and say red when are you going to come to Kenya and serve the Lord and I'd think whoa I didn't know I was going to Kenya you know but it was like the Lord just used that challenging question to just really stir my heart and over the years I just couldn't get away from the idea that I think God is pricking my heart we'd have missionaries come to our church and it was like God would just Kindle up that fire you know about foreign missions and um the Lord and my parents of course were just always encouraging all of us kids just do listen to what be sensitive to what God wants you to do whatever it may be and just let God lead you in that and the lord gave me an amazing young lady here uh to marry 15 and A2 years ago and God had been working in her heart about foreign missions and not particularly about Kenya uh but it all came together and made sense when the Lord uh brought us together in marriage and so it's just been a thrill to see the Lord leading each step of the way and to think you know even when I was a teenager God Was preparing you know things to be done there in Kenya that he wants us to do so yeah we serve an amazing God and we're just thrilled that's a great question so thanks for asking that all right good well our time is ticking down here and we want to be sure to open up God's word and so let's take our Bibles briefly here and just turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 2 Corinthians chapter 5 2 Corinthians chapter 5 always good to remember that uh as we read through the Bible kind of try to remember what what the book is all about and and who maybe who wrote it and who it was written to and obviously as we say the name of the book here 2 Corinthians we're reminded that that book was written to as a letter by the from the Apostle Paul to the saved baptized members of the local church in Corinth and so I love the Apostle Paul's challenge here and really as he just talks about uh to the people there in Corinth he he's explaining what his ministry motivation really is what made makes him tick you know why is it that the Apostle Paul would be willing to go out and be whipped and beaten and thrown into prison like we see in Acts 16 and many other places and many other people even other than the Apostle Paul okay all of those early disciples uh faced a lot of persecution and they were willing to die for Jesus they were willing to suffer for him and that's not an easy thing you know we can get some aches and pains and we can be groaning and complaining and man people want to stay away from us because we're just in complaining mode you know and we've never even in experienced something as intense as uh some of these early Disciples of Christ experienced and uh I'm not trying to diminish or minimize uh the trials or challenges that we might face uh that might feel very large very overwhelming at times but at the same time How could somebody like the apostle Paul go through so many things so many trials and troubles and tribulations and still just have such a focus on Ministry I'm just challenged so often by his example even in in the book of Philippians you know other books he wrote from prison and there here he is locked up for obeying God and he all he can think about is ah I well how can I keep the work of God going forward ah I can write a letter I'll write write a letter and hand it off to somebody and get it off to the church there in Philippi and tell them to just be rejoicing in the Lord as his chains are jingling around his wrist and he's writing that letter you know locked up for obeying God and those kind of things just always really stir my heart and uh help me to realize wow you know uh that's that's a great motivation so look here at 2 Corinthians 5 and verses 14 and 15 the Bible says here for the love Love Of Christ constrain us that word constrain there has that idea of just like like wrapped up almost in bondage but the Apostle Paul says that this bondage that he's wrapped up in is the love of Jesus that's amazing what a great bondage to be wrapped up in and constrained by it was like he he couldn't get his mind off of the incredible complete sacrificial love that Jesus had to leave the Splendor and Perfection and Glory of heaven and come down to this Earth take on human flesh humiliate himself by taking on the cre you know this is all we've ever known so we don't think maybe that that's so humbling but imagine only ever living in splendor and Holiness and Perfection and glory in heaven and leaving that and coming down to where people kill each other people Envy people Strife people lie people cheat I mean that's who we are as sinful people right but Christ loved this world and came and that love just constrained the Apostle Paul and that drove him every day uh to be willing to be chained up himself to be persecuted for the cause of Christ so the love of Christ constrain us Paul says to the church at Corinth because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again so it he he's kind of showing some of the logic here that you know okay there's the love of Christ that motivates me and it drives me day after day after day to be willing to to be locked up and beaten to be W really more than that willing to just giving give the gospel share the gospel everywhere I go and if it means getting bound up and thrown into prison okay but I'm just going to keep on sharing the message of Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone and he was so motivated by that that you know that was his purpose that was his Drive the love of Jesus Christ was his motivation in fulfilling fing the spread of the Gospel that everywhere he went he just could not hold himself back from sharing the message of Salvation and you know as Believers Paul wasn't he God's no respector of persons right God had a special role for the Apostle Paul but Paul is not greater than you and me in any way we are all washed those of us who are saved were Washed by the same Precious Blood of Jesus Christ you and I who are saved we have the same wonderful command and privilege and responsibility to be sharing the gospel with people everywhere we go why because we are so constrained by the love of Jesus Christ that he would leave heaven give up everything to come and give himself for the sins of this world take my punishment that I deserve and take it upon himself because he loves me and Paul was overwhelmed with that and then he gives a little logic there in verse 15 he says that he died for all that they which live or in other words those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and have everlasting life those are the ones that live they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves okay Paul basically says the same thing in Romans 121 and 2 I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a Living Sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service it's only reasonable that we would not just live for ourselves why because somebody died for me to be able to live so I better live for the one who died for me right and not for myself and that's so easy to do just because we're missionaries does not make that automatic for us we need your prayer to be able to yield to the grace of God day by day and to remember the constraining love of Jesus Christ not to feel constrained by oh well this is what I want to do with my life you know or oh I don't want to surrender to God in that area you know because it's going to be too hard I might get persecuted or they might laugh at me they might roll their eyes at me Paul just REM and it takes time it takes time to stop and reflect on what Christ has done for us you know we don't automatically just naturally dwell on the love of Jesus Christ we've got to realize this is the most important thing that ever happened on this planet and I need to dwell on it I need to make time I need to start off my day reflecting on Jesus Christ who he is how he left Heaven came to this earth how he took my punishment I deserve to be suffering for eternity and hell and Jesus took that punishment for me wow he died for me so it's very logical it's very reasonable as Paul says in Romans 121 1 and 2 but like we see here in verse 15 that he died for all that they which live those who've received that eternal life should not henceforth live unto themselves don't just you know don't leave God out of the equation when you're making decisions go to God lord what do you want me to do with my life what do you want me to do today Lord show me some area maybe you'd say well I feel I know that God has led me down this occupation or this path of life but you know maybe there's some things that you haven't really surrendered over to the Lord maybe one of those would be just share having that top priority of sharing the gospel with people I like to challenge the believer there in Kenya as I have opportunity try not to let one week go by without sharing the gospel with somebody looking someone in the eyes and sharing the message of Salvation with them and not everybody will let you do that but man there's there's opportunities left and right yesterday we were out at a couple different places and three people was it yesterday or the day before it kind of blurs together but in the last couple of days I can think of three faces that I've never met in my life but I got to give them a gospel track and they thanked me profusely like they were they were so thankful I'm like wow I've never and unfortunately there were situations where I had to move on you know one of them was like at a parking payment thing and there were cars lining up behind me and I'm like I want to find out why you're so thankful that I gave that to you you know but the fields are white people are ready people are searching and we need to keep that as the top priority remember this world isn't our home this life is just a little Vapor James says don't get the priorities of this world above the priorities of what God has for our life he died for us live for him it just makes sense it's just reasonable and I am so thankful for the privilege to be here I know that in many ways I'm preaching to the choir here many of you know this many of you have just been long time Faithful Servants of the Lord and I praise God for that we're so thankful I hope that even as we could share some of these things about Kenya that as I conclude here that you would remember that um it's a huge part of your Eternal bank account your prayers for the Reigns family in Kenya is fruit to your account like the Apostle Paul wrote to the members of the church at thessalonica God wants to use you and to lay up you may never come to Kenya but you can impact Souls through your prayers you can have an impact through giving to the missions program here at this church you can have an impact through just being a faithful witness and faithful member active member of this wonderful New Testament Church and so I trust that your hearts are encouraged tonight and as you watched that video and saw faces that is fruit to your account you're praying you're giving you're participating in the work of God we if it weren't for good solid faithful Believers like you here at Ann Arbor Baptist church we would not be able to go and do what we're doing and so it's it's a big Network called the operation of God and God is at work and we're excited about what he's doing thank you for your prayers and uh I trust that um the Lord I know the Lord will bless as we continue on

Channel: Ann Arbor Baptist Church

Views: 91

Keywords: Ann Arbor Baptist Church, Pastor Jonathan Barber

Id: RYEwM1kQaU4

Length: 45min 45sec (2745 seconds)

Published: Thu May 30 2024