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December 2002 - January 2003
Greetings in Jesus Name,We trust that all of you had a wonderful Holiday and that the Lord blesses and prospers you in the New Year.
We finished out the 2002 year with several meetings in the Nakuru area. We were scheduled to do a week of meetings in Nairobi at the beginning of Dec., but due to the election campaigns going on we felt it better to cancel and reschedule for next year. One of the pastors there said that it might not be safe to be moving around the city at that time. One incident that happened during the campaigns left one man dead and a lady blind when two of the campaign parties came together on the same street. Several other people were injured and a lot of car windows were bashed in.
Gary ministered to Pastor Opicho’s students at his college in the workers area here in Nakuru on the 11th of Dec. He encouraged them to go on and do what God called them to do and taught them on the importance of God’s Word (see photo below).
On the 13th Gary ministered at a meeting for Pastor Emilio at Gospel Outreach to a group of different Churches. He taught them on the anointing, “How do you see yourself”. Several people came down to be ministered to and we are expecting to hear a good report in the future of what God did in that meeting. (We had our end of the year meeting here for the ministry on the 12th of Dec. and ate a nice Christmas dinner together afterwards).On the 18th we were invited to New Life House for a Christmas party for the boys that used to be street children. They are being rehabilitated at the New Life House which is run by Leif & Sussanne Madsen from Denmark. The Madsen’s have been in Denmark since the middle of July and they had asked John and Anne Martin, from the U.S. to oversee the ministry in their absence. We had a very nice meal with the boys and then they put on a program for everyone.
Gary ministered on “Satan’s Bait” at Pastor Njoroge’s Church on Dec. 22nd in the morning service. In the afternoon he ministered at an outside crusade and four drunks and two children came to the Lord. Pastor Maxine, who had just started a Church in that area, said she would follow up the next day on those who got saved.
Sunday morning at Pastor Njoroge's church
Outside crusade
Janet was missing her children and grandchildren so she invited two young girls, daughters of Pastor Eric Muyeiya, to come over and bake cookies for the Holidays. It was the first time that they had rolled and cut out cookies and they did a great job. They blessed their family with decorated cookies and cupcakes for Christmas and they were excited to show their handy work to their family.
We spent Christmas day with another missionary couple, John & Anne Martin and their three teenagers. We had a very nice American lunch and then relaxed and played games. We felt like we were in the States since the Martin’s had a tree and the food was prepared in an American way. We felt blessed to be part of their family for the day.
We ended the year by ministering twice at Pastor Zachariah Shahasi’s Church on the 29th of Dec. Several people came down for ministry and we look forward to good reports in the future (see below).
Pastor Shahasi's tent church
We started off the New Year with a 5 day meeting at a local church in Nakuru. Pastor Shahasi hosted this meeting at the Four Square Church. Gary taught on the Covenant, Ministry of Helps, and "How do you see yourself in 2003". He also taught on couples. Afterwards, when we opened it up for discussion, there were many genuine questions that needed some answers. Janet taught a ladies meeting on the 4th of January and shared how the Lord had given her some creative ideas. The ladies want her to come back and share more this year.We have been ministering to an Asian family for quite a while and we invited them to our house on the 11th for a day of fellowship and dinner. They have two daughters and we gave them some Christian story books to read. We invited them to come to an Asian Christian meeting at the end of February or the beginning of March and they said that they will go with us. They have been asking a lot of questions and we have been giving a lot of answers. We thank God for what He is doing in their lives.
On the 12th we started another 5 day meeting at Pastor Bonanza Wanjiku’s Church, “God’s Glory Church”. Gary taught at the lunch hour meetings on the Anointing and in the evenings he taught on the Covenant, Right Thinking, When to say and when to pray, and Supernatural guidance.
Pastor Bonanza Wanjiku speaking
Gary teaching at God's Glory Church
In the afternoon of the same day Gary taught on the Covenant at the Asian Fellowship (photo right). We had a good attendance and they want him to possibly do 4 Sunday services in Feb. & March. We are excited about what God is doing in the Asian community.On the 19th of January, Gary preached at Pastor Opicho’s Church while he was out of town. We have worked with Pastor Opicho since 1995 and he knows that he can count on and trust his Church to Gary for ministry while he is away. There were two men that gave their lives to the Lord, two that were filled with the Spirit and several other needs met. That evening we were invited to dinner at another missionaries house. The Madsen’s had been away on furlough since the middle of July of last year and they invited us and two other couples over for fellowship and dinner. It was a very nice time of catching up on what they had done in Denmark while they were gone. We prayed for another missionary that night who was having heart problems and a few days afterward we were told that our prayers were answered. We Praise God for all the small and large things that we are seeing Him doing through us. He surely is a God of Mercy and Love!
On the 26th of Jan. Gary taught at Pastor Chris Otieno's church on "Faith" in the Sunday school class and on the "Covenant" during the main service. The people got excited about what they had learned and we expect to hear some good reports. We had one man that gave his life to the Lord and several others that came down for jobs, needs of their families, and we had 2 filled with the Spirit of God. In the afternoon session Janet taught on the woman from Canaan and told the congregation not to get offended in the Church. This is a new congregation and most of them are new converts. We will be ministering more at this Church since it is here in Nakuru. A lot of the pastors here are seeing a great need for teachings instead of preaching. The Lord spoke to us while we were preparing to come to Kenya and told us to "Teach, teach, teach My Word. If I were there I would be teaching." So we are fulfilling what the Lord has sent us here to do.
Gary with Pastor Otieno
Teaching at Pastor Otieno's church
On the 28th of Jan. we had a six day meeting that was in Kimilili, which is about four hours from Nakuru just outside of Bungoma. Pastor Kalike of Christian Glory Centre was the host Pastor along with several other Pastors in the area. We had multiple meetings each day, focusing on Pastors/Leaders meetings in the first session and then lunch hour meetings in the afternoon, concluding with revival meetings at night. The pastor/leaders meeting focused on both the practical and the spiritual along with the qualifications and calling of the ministry. Janet and I both preached on Sunday morning. Gary ministered at Pastor Kalike’s and somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 people came to the altar for salvation, Baptism of the Spirit, and other various needs. At the same time Janet ministered at the nearby church of one of the other host Pastors, and was equally effective as she shared from her heart. We both felt that the meetings went very well and had a good impact on the churches that came to the meetings.
Pastor Kalike has been given the ministry of networking ministries together and to raise up the Church of God in Kenya. During the conference we attended there were 5 or 6 denominations represented. To have this happen, shows a real move of the Spirit of God.
Pastoral Conference with Pastor Kalike
Pastors and Leaders Meeting
Pastor John Peter Kalike and his wife Susan are missionaries who have come from the Congo, the former country of Zaire. (Please read the story below, of God's divine working in their lives!). They have a wonderful fellowship of believers that are reaching out to others in the area in an effort to accomplish blessing and ministry in the local town of Kimilili. Pastor Kalike and his wife have been in Kenya for about six years, starting a ministry from their home and then growing into a blooming church fellowship of about 600 people. They have struggled as have all missionaries, with acceptance, learning the language, being persecuted, and being supported financially, which they have not been since coming to Kenya. God’s grace and calling, however, remains intact and they continually look to Him as their Stronghold and Support.
May the Lord bless and keep you and may the borders of your dwelling be enlarged. We pray that you have a prosperous New Year. We know that there are many uncertainties in the world at this time, but know that your redemption draweth nigh. All the things that were prophesied for the end times must come about. Wars and rumors of wars, people crying, “Peace, peace”, when there is no peace. Floods, earthquakes; all these things must take place before the end. We are sensing that the best place to be in these times is as close to the Lord as we can get. We have made some adjustments in our devotional time and prayer time as we see the end time unfolding before our very eyes. We trust that you are sensing it too and that you will be found doing the work that God has given you to do.
In Christ's service and love, Gary and Janet
So you think you have strange neighbors!
These are walking just outside our compound.
--------------------------------------------------------- Pastor John Peter Kalike's Story
Before coming to Kimilili, a small town just outside of Bungoma, Pastor Kalike and his wife Susan came from what was then called Zaire but is now called the Congo. God called them to this small town that they had never heard of before. They did not know how to get there or even where it was.
To get to Kenya, Pastor Kalike had to endure much hardship and several occasions where he was nearly killed in a Rwandan crises. People came to where he was staying while holding a meeting to kill him and others for preaching the Gospel, but the Lord delivered him. They wanted his passport, but he told them that he did not have one and showed them his bible and told them that he was a pastor and they let him go.
On another occasion he was stopped at a border patrol and asked for money, but he told the soldier that he was a preacher and that he did not have any. The soldier kept bargaining for less and less money. When Kalike told him that he had nothing, the soldier became very angry and had him stand off to the side where he was going to shoot him, but the driver of Kalike's vehicle gave the soldier 500 shillings and he was let go.
The Kalike's finally came to Kenya and started a home church which God breathed his blessings on and shortly they moved into a small structure on a piece of land which the Lord gave him. The Lord also gave them the finances to build the church. In almost a year he had to extend the church building due to the growth that the Lord gave. Then in about another year, they again extended to what you see in the picture below.
Pastor Kalike's congregation, Christian Glory Centre
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