MY AFRICA TRIP REPORT

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I had several objectives for making the trip to Kenya to meet with Charles Otieno Owino head of the Kenya House Church movement and the other KHC leaders.

KHC was created to serve Kenya’s and now Tanzania’s rural areas.

I connected with Charles almost three years ago now on LinkedIn. It was largely because of my posts on www.livengeternal.net where I said the end-times church will be like the church described in the Book of Acts – House Churches.

In one post, I used the example of Francis Chan. He walked away from a church of 5000 to establish house churches with no paid pastors or buildings. Francis said the church was all about making disciples that make disciples. If a house church has not trained up disciples prepared to start another house church with family and friends in a short period of time (e.g. 6 months) then the church is not functioning as it should, he said.

Charles responded to my post with a hearty endorsement and outlined what KHC is doing in Kenya. Subsequently, I have been supporting KHC ever since to send out missionaries to establish House churches in new areas. KHC has grown from six to twenty-two house churches in the period I have been working with Charles.

We had one Zoom Meeting when Charles had all the house church leaders together for a time of thanks, praise, worship, and seeking God’s guidance on the way forward. However, despite my age, I felt God was prompting me to visit KHC to meet the leaders and establish where they were at in terms of the basics:

1. Belief in an inerrant Bible including its young earth history. This is why we had a Zoom Meeting with Creation Ministries International at the start of our three-day meeting.  

2. The Bible provides the true history of this universe. Creation, The Fall, Noah’s worldwide flood, God established the nations at Babel, God established his own nation Israel (role and purpose), central to that purpose, Jesus enters history at the prophesied time to save mankind:

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

This was Jesus’ first coming as the sacrificial lamb; however, the Bible clearly reveals that He will come a second time as the victorious King to establish His Millennial Kingdom on this earth. Prophesied end times signs indicate that His second coming is not too far distant. The principal prophesied end times sign was Israel becoming a nation again in 1948.

3. To ensure KHC understood the role and purpose of Israel in God’s plan for this universe including Jesus’ second coming to rule and reign over the nations with the resurrected saints from a glorious, restructured Jerusalem for one thousand years.

The picture was taken at the end of our three-day meeting a few of the pastors had to leave early to travel home. The dirt tracks to the meeting site were horrendous, certainly not roads.

Pastor Charles is at the far left of the picture

RESULT:

Alfred and me

I was hoping the English of the house church leaders was good enough so that we would not need an interpreter. This was not the case. Fortunately, Alfred the brother of the KHC leader, Charles is a teacher, and we proved a good team.

The agenda of the meeting shows the focus on the Bible providing a true history of this world, Israel, and preparing for Jesus’ return to rule and reign on this earth with the resurrected Saints for one thousand years.

The Holy Spirit led me to make one major addition to the program, we had two sessions on the role of the Holy Spirit in living the Christian life.

KENYA HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT

Preparing for Jesus’ Return

THREE DAY CONFERENCE

April 17th to 19th 2022

SUNDAY APRIL 17th

9.00 am       Welcome and Introduction     Charles Otieno

9.15 am       Purpose of my trip                    Ron Edwards (R.E.)

10.00 am     CMI Zoom Meeting              Pieter le Roux CMI

11.00 am     Rest time

11.15 am     Bible provides true history of the universe (19) – R.E

12.30 pm     Lunch

2.00 pm       GOD & ISRAEL – NATIONS ARE GOD’S IDEA (24) – R.E.

3.30 pm       Rest time

3.45 pm       ISRAEL – HISTORY & PURPOSE (35) – R.E.

4.45 pm       Rest time

5.00 pm       ISRAEL – FULLY RESTORED (65) – R.E.

6.00 pm       Close

MONDAY APRIL !8th

9.00 am       ISRAEL FEAST DAYS IN TYPE & PROPHECY (33) – R.E.

10.15 am     Rest Break

10.30 am     Presentation continued

12.45 pm     Lunch

2.00 pm    PROPHESIED RESTORATION OF THE LAND TO ISRAEL (100) – R.E.

3.30 pm    Rest time

3.45 pm    Presentation continued

4.45 pm    Rest time

5.00 pm    Presentation continued

6.00 pm    Close

TUESDAY APRIL 19th

9.00 am    ARE WE READY FOR JESUS? How to Prepare for His Return (58) – R.E.

10.15 am Rest Break

10.30 am Presentation Continued

12.45 pm Lunch

2.00 pm   Presentation Continued

3.30 pm   Rest time

3.45 pm Presentation continued

4.45 pm Rest time

5.00 pm Presentation continued

6.00 pm Close

MAKING AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST

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Making disciples is the most important job of any church, and there’s no better tool available than the Bible. Also, the best church model for making disciples is the House or Home Church where one on one exploration of God’s Word is possible and accountability is maintained. The disciple’s job is to help their student:

  • Know Jesus Christ better
  • Connect with and grow in biblical community
  • Apply God’s Word in their daily lives

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

Having discovered from this one verse that we are ambassadors for Christ we then need to be held accountable for what we do with that truth this coming week. This is what discipleship is all about and can best be done in small groups.

Note what Paul says here about how we need to pray for the ambassadors for Christ.

“To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” Ephesians 6:18-20

We are in the last days Jesus spoke about in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21) the tribulation that Christians experience during this time Jesus said will be like “birth pains”, the tribulation will increase in intensity to become great tribulation hence we need to pray for all the Saints and particularly ourselves that we will be courageous and stay the course continuing to proclaim the gospel as Paul did even though in chains.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” Matthew 24:21-22

KENYA HOUSE CHURCH MISSION TRIP

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We are progressing well with our discipleship ministry in Kehancha in Kuria but it is very hard here. The region is very dry with no green vegetation, and there is a scarcity of water and food. Our people are walking 3kms to fetch water from a borehole for drinking and cooking. It has been hard work for our evangelism team to reach farmers in the field and minister to them. Some of the people here testified that they have never heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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KHC mission trip to Kehancha in Kuria region, Tent ministry – pastor Julius ministering the gospel message Jan 17th, 2022

We held tent discipleship and outdoor evangelism meetings. In every place, and at every point, we ministered, we were able to feel the  Holy spirit’s presence touching and convicting the hearts of many people to repentance with many people coming to believe in Jesus Christ. And as a result, many gave powerful testimonies.

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You can see pastor Jacob gathering with some of these families under one of the few trees left standing and sharing with them the gospel message. There is abject poverty, no chairs to sit on, people are standing some sat on stones and wooden logs. Keep us in your prayers. Thankfully your financial help was received.

We ministered the gospel message in various homes, to the pastoralists out in the field, even to the school children, and also to the business people in the marketplace. Unlike our past mission trips, this time we conducted a women’s ministry, and this was as a result of a large number of women present in our meetings.

A hairstylist, Mrs. Rhoda Opiyo testified she lost her job three weeks before we stepped into that region. The reason given was that she was talking too much about Christ, evidence of Christians being persecuted for their belief in Christ Jesus.

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Sadly, none of these twelve members have Bibles. We had funds to buy one Bible for the leader of the women’s group.

We hope to raise funds for more Bibles and would appreciate your help in this regard.

If you would like to help me support the Kenya House Church Movement you can do so on the Home Page by clicking the Donations button. I do not ask for funds to support my ministry but feel called to support the growth of House Churches in countries that can do with help.

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KENYA HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT IN NEED OF BIBLES

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I have helped the Kenya House Church Movement for two years now particularly to move outside of the Migori region. As a result, House Churches have been set up in Ogembo in Kisii, Lidha in Nyatike and Nyamuzi in Tanzania.

The most recent was a return trip last month to Lidha in Nyatike County. Lidha is a beachside town on the shores of Lake Victoria. Nyatike is a sub county within the region of Migori.

Charles and his leadership team were invited back to Lidha by Mr Daniel Odhiambo and his team. Daniel had been appointed leader of the new House Church Group that Charles, and the leaders that had accompanied him, had set up on their previous trip to the county.

The pressing need is for bibles for these newly established House Churches in all three regions. If you would like to join me in supporting the growth of House Churches in Kenya you can do so by clicking on the Donations icon on the Home Page.

CHARLES TRIP REPORT

“We were delighted by the reception we received from Daniel and the other members of the House Church.

We had successful indoor and outdoor meetings.
INDOORS- we conducted several indoor meetings delivering the gospel message to those who came to our Tent Meetings.
God through the Holy spirit gave us power and authority to cast out demons from people who were possessed by evil spirits. There was a young lady brought into our meeting who had suffered at the hands of a magician and witch doctor. Her parents told us that she had been possessed by demonic spirits for two years. She had been in year three at school at the time and was unable to continue with her schooling. We prayed for her and by the power of the Holy spirit she was delivered from several demons.


Later, we were able to teach her the word of God, she repented and believed in the name of Jesus Christ. We also found out that she had been introduced to witchcraft by a girl friend.
OUTDOORS  – Everyday, our evangelism team went out taking the gospel message to different homes, beaches and  small islands. They were able to meet people at their places of business, teaching and sharing with them the gospel message and praying with them.
Reaching them at their place of business was the best method of meeting them ,since the people living around the  lake are mostly fishermen, fishing is the main economic activity in this area so much of their time is spent on the lake and at the beach selling the produce from the lake.
Thankfully, we were able to meet many who were receptive to our gospel message.
God was on our side with the power of the Holy spirit present, convicting the hearts of many to believe our message and come to repentance. It resulted in many being saved in the name of Jesus Christ.

Thankfully, the Holy spirit strengthened us all until we finished our five days mission. No one fell ill or felt weary.
The stand out achievement of the trip was the birth of a new House Church at Lidha  It consists of six people and will be mentored by the leader of the other House church, Daniel Odhiambo.

BIBLE DISCOVERY HOME GROUPS

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An important step in making disciples for Jesus. You don’t have to be a graduate of a Bible College to conduct these Bible studies. Family as a Mission to Make Disciples.

In this video, Torben introduces you to three simple steps you can take to see a Bible Discovery Group begin! These three steps provide a simple but amazing tool you can use to host your own Bible Group. Last Reformation (L.R.) is already seeing many new groups start all over America!

Last Reformation plans to network with groups who are ready to start a Bible Discovery Group or host THE KICKSTART PACKAGE. The goal being to see a reformation of the church, back to the REAL JESUS FELLOWSHIP – just like the early church, with love, power, and growth! Then they will make disciples and see Jesus build HIS church!

L.R. expects this is going to explode! I think they are right! So watch the video! Share the video!

RESPONSE OF SOME EVANGELICALS TO PERSECUTION

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Many evangelicals in the USA have been anticipating some kind of confrontation with the changing social order. Crawford Griffen writes about it in his new book Survival and Resistance in Evangelical America – Christian Reconstruction in the Pacific Northwest. Over the last five years, he says, ” I’ve been writing about what might be one of the most significant trends among American evangelicals – a migration movement into the Pacific Northwest that has resulted in the formation of some very successful and increasingly influential intentional communities.

From small towns in northern Idaho, and elsewhere in the region, writers, artists and polemicists are publishing books with Penguin, Simon & Schuster and Random House, and broadcasting talk-shows on Amazon Prime. While offering different perspectives, they present a similar sense of crisis. The nation is no longer held together by common values, they explain. They argue that the teaching of evolution in public schools, the debates about abortion, gender and marriage, and the guidelines that shut down churches for reasons of public health are different fronts in a long war against Christianity. They recognize that the neutrality of the public square is an impossible ideal. They understand that politics is always about coercion. And so they proposed their solution. While, in the grand scheme of things, the believers who have migrated to the Pacific Northwest are not numerically significant – although they may number in the tens of thousands – they do project considerable soft power. Many of these believers live very visible lives. The community of several thousand members that has been established in Moscow, Idaho, for example, supports a publishing house, a music conservatory and an impressive liberal arts college. Led by Douglas Wilson, whose many publications include a book that he co-authored with Christopher Hitchens, this community sets out to make Moscow a Christian town.

Other migrants into the region prefer more secluded lives. They are attracted by the idea that this region could form an “American Redoubt,” as James Wesley Rawles has argued, a hold-out for those who want to resist the cultural powers that be. Rawles is the author of several novels and preparedness manuals, which are published by Penguin, and his website, survivalblog.com, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every month. His work sets out a more ambitious agenda for survival and resistance, in which readers are encouraged to adopt evangelical piety while being ready, if necessary, for less spiritual forms of defensive combat. For obvious reasons, those who follow Rawles’ agenda prefer not to attract attention. But for all their differences, Wilson and Rawles agree that believers need to expect an extraordinary cultural crisis in the short to medium term, and prepare for the new world that will follow. While their tactics for dealing with opposition are sharply different, their vision of the future is much the same. Dark skies are on the horizon, but they predict huge numbers of Americans will be converted, the social and political life of the nation will be renewed, and the policy of a renewed republic will be built around the demands of biblical law. Their optimism is appealing but I don’t believe Biblical prophecies such as these two by Jesus supports this optimistic view.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” Matthew 24:21-22

I believe the Bible reveals that those Christians that adopt a praying church as it was in the Book of Acts intent on making disciples in their own communities, loving their neighbours and honouring Jesus regardless of the cost, will have the most impact for the Kingdom in these last days. The power of the Holy Spirit will be once more evident in this Home Church environment.