Bwanabob

7/31/99

Dear Friends,

The last week of this month has been filled with many sights and experiences that the Lord has used to help me plan for the future. First, let me tell you what I’ve been doing in the weeks previous. The second full week of July I taught a class at the Bible Institute here in Eldoret. The lesson was first in a series titled, Temptations Men Face. It should be a very good course for helping pastors here deal with sins that have destroyed many pastors in America i.e., pride, power, money and adultery. At the beginning of the class I asked the pastors if these were problems they faced, they unanimously agreed that they were and we concluded that all men the world over are merely flesh subject to attacks by the same adversary.

During this month I have continued learning Swahili and also worked at practicing it on folks around me. Some friends and I have also worked very hard on translating the book, “ABC’s of Christian Growth.” The Kenyans were the ones doing the translation of course and my fellow missionaries are proofing it, I am simply coordinating and having it printed. We took 50 copies of the first two lessons to the pastors in Turkana. We sat down with the pastors and dove into it explaining that they were to work through the lessons with their own people just as we were working with them. Please pray that this will encourage growth and maturity in areas where there is immaturity and ignorance.

This last week we visited churches in Turkana. We spent much time preparing and packing for the trip because of the distance and extreme conditions. It took over 10 hours to travel less than 300 miles, for 50 miles we had to drive on the shoulder of the road because the pavement was so broken up. The first church we visited was in Lorogum. Upon arriving we found that the pastor had left to meet us further south and we had passed the matatu he was riding in that morning. All things work together for good and in his absence we saw great maturity in the church he had started just a year ago. You can’t imagine how encouraging it was to see deacons take charge of us being at their church and arranging for food, comfort and security while we stayed with them. While at Lorogum we met an old man sitting in the desert. We went to greet him and he told us that he was sitting there waiting to die. The Pokot raiders had stolen all his flocks, all of his family had died and he had eaten nothing in two days. Jonathan Mohler and I walked back to the truck to get him some food while the deacon from Lorogum and pastor Thumbi shared the Gospel with him. After hearing the Gospel he told us that the world had left him with nothing and he was ready to accept Jesus as his Savior and give his life to God! What encouragement! (See October 4, 1999)

Later we traveled to visit churches around the village of Katilu. There is a large irrigation project there funded by many aid agencies and assistance programs. Because of the development many missions have come and built churches and given assistance. This has gone on for at least 25 years and fostered an attitude that if a church is in need of anything they should ask the missionary to give it, now matter how small. The result is churches that are stagnant, immature, lacking vision and a burden to missionaries. By this point in time those churches should be planting other churches and fulfilling the great commission. By God’s providence we were able to see the wealth of our pastors in the area and learn that their cries of poverty are simply lies. Please pray for the Lord to give us wisdom in dealing with these churches to help them become indigenous and self-supporting.

The most encouraging part of our visit was finally meeting the pastor of Lorogum, Moses Areng. He is truly a pastor who loves the Lord and has a burden to see the lost saved. We discussed plans for a Bible Institute in Turkana, planting a new church and ways to minister to the nomadic Turkanans. We also visited with a young Kenyan, Julias Gitao. He walked for six weeks all over northwestern Kenya, into Sudan and even to the East Side of Lake Turkana. His burden is to evangelize and see churches planted in areas where others fear to go and the people have never heard the Gospel before. I know that the Lord has led us to work with this man who has a burden for the unreached people groups. In our conversation he named several people groups he met which are considered unreached. Please pray for Julias and the work God would have us do with them.

If you are wondering what Turkana is like I’ll try to give a few facts to enlighten you. Turkana is just north of the equator and at a low elevation, this makes it very HOT. They wear as little clothing as possible and sometimes none; most Christians will dress modestly. There is little rainfall and when it does rain most seems to flow off the sand into washes. Many hostile neighbors surround Turkana; the Pokot of Kenya, raiders from Uganda, rebel groups in southern Sudan, and warlords from Somalia. Anytime you see a large heard of camel, sheep, goats or cattle you will see the herders with AK-47′s, G-3′s or just about any kind of automatic weapon that will spray lead. It has become very common to greet men carrying automatic weapons, I only wish they would learn to point the rifle away from you while they shake your hand. Many are receptive to the Gospel, but because most are nomadic planting churches is a little difficult. Missions and churches exist in many settled areas, but for the most part the nomads have no contact with a Gospel witness. This is where the Lord has directed my steps and I pray to be worthy of His call.

Pray for the Following:

* Pastors in Turkana; Moses Areng, William, Daniel, and Moses Larot.
* The young Kenyan missionary, Julias Gitao.
* A new church to be planted.
* Wisdom in dealing with spiritual immaturity and confronting lies.
* Traveling safety and safety in general.
* The crusade to be held at the end of August in Lorogum.
* A video projector.

Thank you for your prayers and support.In Christ Bob Clark

7/25/99

Dear Friends,

Things are fine here in Kenya. The rains have come regularly in Eldoret and many days the dirt roads become a gooey mass of slick mud. It makes for fun driving and reminds me of driving on ice back home.

Most of this week was spent having tracts printed and part of a discipleship book translated. I have 800 tracts explaining God’s simple plan of Salvation, these will be given to the four churches I work with in Turkana. My friends were also able to translate the introduction and first two lessons of the book “ABC’s of Christian Growth.” We had fifty copies printed and will divide these among the four pastors. Please pray that the Lord will bless the translation and let it be a tool for further Christian growth among the Turkanans.

We leave early Monday from Eldoret and then pick up another man from Makutano, Gitao. Julias calls himself a missionary to the Turkana. He once walked 250 miles into Turkana and spent six weeks visiting pastors and preaching there. We hope to assist Julius in planting a church and are seeking the Lords direction on this trip.

You might find some of our preparation details interesting. Because of drought in Turkana we are taking enough food for ourselves and then some, we don’t want to be a burden to the churches we visit. We’ve stocked up on medical supplies and will most likely need them to treat some of the people we are visiting. Even the cure for malaria which only costs $1 US is not available to many Turkanans, and if it were available many couldn’t afford it. The truck is loaded with extra fuel cans, spare parts, spare fluids, two spare tires, two spare tubes and even a kit to repair flats. We’re taking water and when we run out we have a small purification filter. Most importantly we are taking the tracts and discipleship books and seek to further the Kingdom of God. We don’t have a set schedule for holding services, but the custom is that when missionary guests arrive a meeting is expected. Please pray that many would come to know the Lord and that we would be an encouragement.

Thank you all for your encouraging e-mails and forwarded messages. Please continue to pray for us and especially this week as we work to minister in some out of the way places.

Sincerely in Christ, Bob Clark

Thought: How far have you walked for Jesus.

7/19/99

Dear Friends,

The Lord is blessing and has plenty of work for me to do here. I will need to keep this short and let you know what I will be doing this week.

I am preparing to travel to Turkana District next Monday. I have told the four pastors I work with there that I will be bringing them the book, “ABC’s of Christian Growth”. I started working on this a month ago, by turning over an English copy of the book to a pastor for translation. I still haven’t gotten any of the Swahili translation. Please pray that the Lord will move people to help get this translated, entered into computer and printed before Monday morning. It’s quite a task here in Kenya to get this accomplished, but my God is a BIG God and He gets things done. Pray that He will intervene that I may take some part of this discipleship book to Turkana with me. This discipleship book touches on almost every subject that young Christians struggle with and is very solid on teaching the basics of growing in Christ. Our adversary will do anything to hinder us and the longer that old snake delays us getting this book to the pastors the longer it takes Christians to learn many wonderful things about serving our Lord.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement and please pray with me on this translation.

In Christ Bob Clark

7/6/99

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

Things went very well in Burnt Forest this last Sunday. The church is actually closer to the town of Kipkabus than Burnt Forest. The church has been there for about 4 or 5 years and the attendance was around 250. We had the usual 3 hour service which is really a blessing because we stand and sing, then have the different choirs sing, and then have at least two different preachers. Every time something different happens we stand to sing. I’m not sure how many people were saved because I always turn the invitations over to the Kenyan pastors. Several people came forward after the service, some for baptism and others to accept the Lord.

After the service we had dinner on the grounds. We had potatoes and carrots, meat and soup and Chipatis (flat bread). I always go away stuffed to the gills. We even had fresh milk (boiled of course); it really reminded me of home. After dinner we had a baptism. On the way we bought potatoes for the Bible Institute students. I got about 300 pounds for $14.50, and I thought it was a good bargain.

I was allowed to baptize 22 people that Sunday afternoon! I’ve learned how to say the baptism in Swahili which is a real blessing. The lake we baptized in was high up in the hills and reminded me so much of lakes in Alaska. It took care of my homesickness for places I frequented in Alaska. God is So Very Good!

I will be teaching a lesson at the Bible Institue this week, “The Temptations Men Face”, please be praying for me.

I need to get started on this months prayer letter so had better go.

Love in Christ,

Bob