Dear Friends,
The last two weeks we have continued to travel to visit churches we work with. Two weeks ago I did a marathon bush trip starting in Juluk where we had a two day teaching time and showing Christian films ending with the commissioning service for one of our young Bible Institute graduates. The teaching and films were a real blessing to the church and community. The films touch on the difference between living with traditions of promiscuity, drunkenness and immorality and the new life of a Christian learning how to live according to God’s Word. These films usually get a very positive response from folks in the villages Christian and non-Christian alike. They readily admit that their bad traditions are often what keeps them from moving ahead in life and know that they must put them behind and accept Christ to begin a new life of blessings.
The commissioning service for Kevin Lokwang was a great blessing. We were able to hear testimonies from Elders from his sending church where Kevin had grown in the Lord. All of those giving testimonies talked about how faithful and humble Kevin had been through the years and also how willing he was to teach and preach the Word of God. In all there were elders from four different churches present who had known Kevin and were able to stand with his sending church and approve his commissioning. The village he was being sent to was very grateful to receive him, they sent a small delegation with a few gifts to the commissioning service and promised that they would take care of him once he moved his family to Lokwee.
After the commissioning service on Saturday we traveled from Juluk to Lokwee. Let me give you a time line of travels: From my home to Juluk I traveled 3 hours in the Land Cruiser, then parked it in the bush and walked about 2 miles, crossed a river and finally reached Juluk. From Juluk it was back across the river to the truck then 5 hours drive through the bush to Lokwee.
On the journey from Juluk to Lokwee we had Kevin’s family and all the household possessions he and his wife owned piled on or tied to the Land Cruiser. It was definitely a Beverly Hillbillies moment, there was a bed tied to the front bull bar and a sewing machine in the back, kids, chickens and well wishers.
We had a great service in the Church at Lokwee that Sunday. Everyone there was happy to receive Kevin as their pastor and willing to give offerings to make sure that he could take care of his family. On a more difficult note we talked with Donald, the Bible Institute graduate who had been preaching at the church in Lokwee, about how he should confess and deal with the sin that had removed him from the ministry. Please pray for Donald and his home church in Juluk that they would follow the Lords leading. I traveled back from Lokwee that Sunday afternoon, early Monday morning an area I traveled through was raided by the Pokot tribe, several Turkana were killed and many animals stolen.
This past Sunday, Ericka, the boys and I all traveled together to the church at Lokapel. We all had a wonderful time. Vance, Edward and Riley were a hit attraction with the local children, thankfully the pastor had a closed manyatta where he could chase most of the kids out of and the boys had some room to breath and play. They ran bare foot, we tried to keep shoes on them, they climbed trees, dug holes and chased the chickens and goats, drank hot milky tea and got very dirty. They were asked to watch a goat being killed in our honor, we wondered how they would respond, but they didn’t cry at all and were very intrigued by the killing and butchering. Later that night when we were served the liver and stomach, the boys ate like they were given candy! We are thankful it was such a good time for them.
The pastor at Lokapel, Marko Ekonon, has been through some real difficulties. First he fell into sin that nearly wrecked his ministry. He finally confessed his sin before other pastors and his church, but within two weeks his youngest daughter died. He was at a point where we was despondent, wanting to leave the ministry and move into the interior bush and forget everything. Thankfully, the Lord isn’t letting him go. The day after his daughter died seven of our pastors visited his home to help him deal with the sin he had confessed. Rather than press the issue with the sin, they were able to help with planning and carrying out the funeral, but pastor Marko asked the seven pastors to stay after the funeral to help him work through problems that his sin had caused in his church and community. While Ericka and I were with pastor Marko and his wife, we were able to encourage and give advice on how to move ahead as a family and in the ministry. Our boys being there was something special for them and we are grateful the Lord could use us to encourage and brighten another pastors life who has been through such a valley.
We left Lokapel on Sunday afternoon and drove through a little rain on the way home. The boys were exhausted but slept most of the trip. Now we are getting geared up for a week of Bible Institute classes, but I’ve heard that the local health officer has asked all schools to be closed this week to prevent the cholera outbreak from spreading any further. So we will take this week as it comes and may have Bible Institute classes next week.
God bless you all and please remember the following pastors in prayer, Kevin Lokwang- new pastor at Lokwee, Marko Ekonon- pastor at Lokapel who lost daughter and is dealing with fallout of sin. Please pray for our Bible Institute graduate Donald Lokobo that he would be humble and follow the advice of his pastor and church.
In Christ, Bob Clark
