Day 2 Endtimes Harvest Discipleship Center
Sunday, September 05, 2010, 5:00pm Bungoma Time
We have had a great day in the Lord here at Endtimes Harvest Discipleship Center. We had around 100 people this morning including the children from Siritanyi since this is their home church. It was really exciting to see all of them walking around with their new bibles that I had given them on Monday. They were very proud of them and it was good to see that they had the word of the Lord in their hands learning to become skilled warriors for Christ. The service here begins at 9:00 with the praise and worship music that runs until about 10:30 as people come in all during that time. Then there is a short welcome and some more singing for another 30-45 minutes. After that it’s time for the message from the speaker and today that was me. I wanted to share with them about the spirit of fear and the role that it played in their lives and the life of the church. I used the passage in Matthew 14 where the disciples were out in the lake and the storm came up. I showed them how fear caused the disciples to be afraid of the situation which was the storm and also how they were afraid of the solution when it appeared which was Jesus walking to them on the water. What a tough spot for anybody but we’ve all been there. After talking for a while I simply asked them what they would do if they had no fear and whatever that response was then that is what the spirit of fear is robbing them of right now. I especially relayed it to the mission of the church because Bishop Ogara has shared with me his vision of “taking the city of Bungoma for Christ”. I challenged them to not let the spirit of fear stop them from fulfilling that vision. There are over 400,000 people in this immediate area, I think that the vision is a good one! People received the message well and said that they were encouraged. Thank you Lord! At the end of the time together the Bishop asked everyone that wanted to receive prayer to come forward and that I would pray over them. There were about 20 or so and it was a privilege to be able to pray for these people. Then to dismiss he called all the students up to the front, tomorrow the schools start here and so there was about 50 students and they all lined up across the front and then he asked me to voice a prayer for them as they start school. It was a really good service and I know the Lord moved in a great way. After everyone dismissed we told the women to stick around that we had a special session for them that would be led by Pastor Tommy’s wife. There were 34 women who stayed to watch the video of Jamie teaching out of Philippians plus a bunch of the younger girls stayed and wanted to watch. I would say there was probably 20 of them so there was over 50 all together. Leonard interpreted and as I sat and watched I could tell that the women were really tuned in and listening to what was being said. They were all very happy when it was over and very appreciative. It has really been a good day here in Bungoma. Last night I had something new for dinner. Boiled sweet potatoes with a peanut sauce along with some cooked beef, it was very unique. This morning something funny happened that I have to tell you about. Last night when I went to bed I had asked the Bishop what time we needed to leave and he replied between 9:00 and 9:30. So this morning “Mamaa” (that is the term which you call any woman with children here) came and knocked on my door and said my bath water was ready (I know what you’re thinking but that’s for another story, it’s not what you think) so I looked at my watch and it was 6:15. I thought wow we are getting an early start today but ok, whatever (by the way I have learned in Swahili that “Sowa” means “whatever”). So I got my bath, shaved and brushed my teeth and while I was getting dressed they were sitting my breakfast out (scrambled eggs, bacon and toast!) and I came out and was eating and I noticed that everyone else was completely ready and got the feeling that they were waiting on me which is unusual because I have made it a point to be ready so that nobody would have to wait on me. Anyway, I looked at my watch and it was 6:15 and I couldn’t figure out why everybody was ready. Then it clicked, yeah, what you just thought of…….my watch had quit and when I turned around and looked at the clock it was a few minutes after 9:00! The Bishop saw me looking and told me not to worry because I had time, I hurried anyway. For those of you who know me I have to know what time it is because everything is associated with time for me. But as I was at church this morning I caught myself looking for my watch and then I heard the Lord say “why don’t you enjoy just being here and quit worrying about what time it is, you’re on MY time anyway and I’ll tell you when it’s time to do something else.” So I didn’t look for time the rest of the day until we were back at home. Lesson learned! But tomorrow I get to try and find someone in Bungoma who can open a dive watch and replace the battery, or I will go the rest of the week without a watch……we’ll see what the Lord decides. It’s the little things that get you. Please continue to pray as we are not yet done with the work that the Lord has sent me here for. Love you guys! How ‘bout them Hogs, 44-3!
