Greetings!

I promised to fill you all in with more details in the next letter. Promises made, promises kept.

The Holy Spirit has been doing much work in our ministry. I preached on Ephesians 2. Specifically on the difference between Children of God and Children of the Devil. We expect children to resemble their parents. It is abnormal, possibly a sign of infidelity, when they do not (obviously foster/adopted kids are exempt from this illustration). So how can Christians claim to be children of God, but behave like Children of Satan? Jesus said the fruit always matches the tree. You can self-identify as a Christian all you like, but if you act like an unregenerate sinner, among your other sins, you are probably a liar. And a fraud. God desires truth. We have to be genuine followers of Jesus Christ, not quasi-religious hypocrites who blaspheme His name by unBiblical, heathen behavior and attitudes.

One of our muzeyi (old men) who sits in the back every week, believed on Jesus Christ, confessed his sin, and was saved from Hell by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That morning, I had been thinking, as Pastors sometimes do “Is anything I am preaching/teaching having any effect at all?” Then this happens. God always shows Himself strong when I need it. I will be baptizing this gentleman on Christmas Day.

I had to discipline some deacons at our Isanja church. I went there that morning fully planning to close the church. I cannot have a church full of unregenerate sinners masquerading as followers of Christ. The Holy Spirit met with us. People confessed sin. You have to understand how unusual that is. People prefer to hide their sin. This is probably the case everywhere, but it is very much so in East Africa. The men involved in the gold stealing scheme humbled themselves and asked forgiveness of the church. They cannot be deacons, but they aren’t going to split the church by yanking their families out, causing a bunch of drama in the community. Their wives repented, which is amazing. Usually the women lurk in the shadows while their men take the fall, then they become sources of division in the church. Not this time. They repented too. Finally, we all committed ourselves to forgiving, encouraging and loving one another, and working to avoid bitterness. It was remarkable. God made it very clear – do not close this church. Keep praying for Isanja Independent Baptist Church.

Pray for our baptism service on Sunday at Ngarama IBC. We are hoping to reach into the community with this. Pray that the gospel will reach willing hearts, ready to hear the truth. Then there is the baptism service, church dinner, and two weddings coming up on Christmas Day at Sangano IBC. Be in prayer for that also, that God would be glorified, people would be saved, and the believers would be edified.