At
Pure As Gold Ministries, we want a Spirit, Soul and
Body approach.
The
Spirit- Establish and conduct the Bible School in Busia,
Kenya.
The
Soul- is to train local Kenyans in life skills, such as
professions, i.e. carpentry, masonry, etc., and handling finances,
starting a simple business, etc.
The
Body- Meet physical needs, food, clothing, shelter. This
will primarily be accomplished through local churches by utilizing
resources provided from churches outside of Kenya.
We
at Pure As Gold Ministries are determined to be a people of vision,
and infusing vision into others.
God has told the church to "Go
and make disciples of all nations...teaching them." (Matt
28:19-20).
This is the church's primary mandate
and why I believe we Christians are still here on earth. God loves
people and does not want one of them to perish. He has given us
everything we need to "Go". It is not something he will
make us do though. We have a choice.
Acts 1:8 says we shall be his witnesses
locally, regionally and globally. But how can everyone "Go"?
We can go by financing others. We can go by praying daily for
those who physically go to other nations. We can even go by going
on a short-term mission trip.
What an exciting commission. We
are all able to go, whether by physically going, by going via
prayer and financial support.
We at Pure As Gold Ministries are
called to physically"Go", but we need everyone's help
to do it. We are the body of Christ, and each one of us has a
different part to play in the Great Commission. We are called
to help fulfill the church's mission globally.
Our first project will be in a
small rural area of Africa called Busia, Kenya. We are called
to establish a network of "Training the Trainers."
Would you consider being a part?
Individually, we will never fulfill the purpose of the Church.
But together, as the Body of Christ, we can. We ask for your help
to begin this project. You can read more about the how, when,
where, who and why on this website, but we cannot do it without
you.
Please consider being a part of
discipling the nations. Already, there are over 450 Africans (not
just Kenyans- many are from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and other
African countries) who desperately need and want training in the
Good News that God loves them and that God wants them to "Go"
to a dying and hurting world.
It's only together as one body
made up of many different parts that we will fulfill the great
commission of loving a hurting and dying world.
Population:
36,913,721
Population growth rate: 2.799%
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.1%
15-64 years: 55.2%
65 years and over: 2.6%
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 55.31 years
male: 55.24 years
female: 55.37 years
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 6.7% HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1.2 million
Ethnic groups:
Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%,
Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African
15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1%
Religions:
Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%,
Muslim 10%, indigenous beliefs 10%, other 2%
note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but estimates
for the percentage of the population that adheres to Islam or
indigenous beliefs vary widely
Languages:
English (official), Kiswahili
(official), numerous indigenous languages
Literacy (age 15 and over can read and
write):
total population: 85.1%
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m
What a packed but profitable trip.
From the day after I arrived in Busia, to the day before I left,
I was kept busy teaching and preaching, sometimes 3 times a day.
The response was fantastic. 2 ladies were saved, several others
were healed instantly- headache which was caused by eye problems,
and another who had vision problems received instant healing. Praise
God for his goodness!
We had a couple of 2-day discipleship
conferences, and four 1-day conferences. We went deep into the interior
a.k.a. "the bush." You would be amazed where a 2-wheel
drive Toyota sedan can go! But, we were able to go to these remote
churches and love and encourage the pastors, some of whom have as
little as 10 people in their congregations. What a blessing! They
received us warmly, and were so enthusiastic about the teachings.
I taught on several different subjects,
such as "Righteousness by Grace", "God's True Prosperity",
Spirit, Soul and Body", God's Word is Your Foundation, God's
Love- The Key to Unlocking the New Covenant, How to Meditate on
God's Word- Psalm 23, The Lord's Prayer, Don't Worry, Put on God's
Armor, and more.
I also held a meeting with our Kenyan
staff who will be working with us. They are Sabastian, Silas and
Vitalis, all whom I have known on all three trips starting in 2006,
and have proven themselves to but faithful and trustworthy men of
God. I have heard nothing but good reports about them from many
people.
Sabastian and I were also able to
make many more plans about the Bible school, and we can really see
how this is going to work. We have developed strategies on using
video curriculum to reach very remote areas.
The majority of people would never
be able to attend a traditional Bible School, due to financial,
distance and time reasons. However, by going to them, we can make
it available to the "front-line pastors" who are doing
the work of God, but lack the proper training to teach the God's
Word.
I was excited to hear the reports
of what Sabastian is doing with the pastors' fellowships in the
different areas. He has been like a Father to them, helping them
to organize and get into unity. These are pastors from Pentecostal,
charismatic, Baptist, Anglican, and nonaffiliated churches. The
things that are happening there, would never happen here in the
U.S., but God has supernaturally gifted Sabastian to network and
bring people together.
To all who helped support us, a BIG
thank you! We still have some costs, such as the airline tickets
($1500) and the laptop and Bible software ($700) for Sabastian,
so if you could help with that, it would
be a great investment into God's Kingdom!
Our family is believing to move in the Summer of 2009 to Busia,
Kenya. We are going to rural areas starting in Busia, where the
people are largely forgotten. Busia District would be similar to
a US county. There is about 268,000 people there. They have no Bible
School.
The Evangelist has gone to Africa.
Many Africans have heard of Rhinehart Bonke, or T.L. Osborne and
their massive crusades in the 1980's and 90's.
However, the Teacher has not gone,
except in some of the larger cities. The Africans in the rural areas
have been left to starve spiritually. There are many churches and
pastors that are struggling to feed God's people, but the pastors
have little to no training. It is like a huge tidal wave that sweeps
in and wipes out the old broken down buildings (in a good way),
but then flows back out and leaves a mess, because there is no one
to rebuild. Hosea 4:6a says, "My people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge."
We believe that God has given us
a 3 part answer in order to meet the district of Busia's needs,
at all levels. We want to see the hearts of the people and leaders
turned towards God, and so see nations changed.
We are ultimately believing for the
whole of the African continent changed. That may seem lofty or too
far fetched, but without a vision, we are like a boat on the ocean
without a map and rudder. Proverbs 29:18a says, "Where there
is no vision, the people perish."
Please pray for us. Pray for our
team. Pray for the harvest. Not everyone can "Go", but
everyone can help through pray and giving.