Pauline Baptist Church

26 Wednesday

Wednesday was an Office day filled with emails, updates, and planning. I also was able to order the Jesus film in a couple different languages. One of the languages is in the local dialect in Mazeras. When we show it in the local language it will be really good! Josiah had Judo also on Wednesday evening. I got the chance to visit with some of his teachers a little. They are some nice guys. One of them is named Martin he says he is saved and attends a Pentecostal church not too far from us. The other teacher really just wanted to talk Judo.

27 Thursday

We took a trip to Mombassa so everyone except me could get their Yellow Fever shot. We had to go to a couple of places then finally we were able to get the shots at the Mombassa Hospital. The kids all did great no one even cried not even Samuel. We wanted to get everyone's Yellow Fever shot in preparations for the up coming trip to Greece for the Eastern European Missionary Retreat. Magnolia Springs MBC, Alabama paid for our ticket to travel and our sending trip Pauline is paying for our accommodations and meals. We are super excited about this opportunity to enjoy the seminars, fellowship, and preaching with the other missionaries who will attend. Our kids are really looking forward to attending VBS with all the other missionary kids while the adults are in classes.

We got back to Malindi in time for our evening Bible Study. Starting next week Ricklynn will be teaching from the book of Galatians so pray for him that the Lord will give him the confidence and ability to teach.

28 Friday

Moses and I spent a lot of time preparing for the Jesus film presentation in Malindi on Friday. We tried using a battery without using the vehicle to power the whole set up but it only lasted about thirty minutes. We are pulling a lot of juice with the projector, amp, speakers, and DVD player. We also went to the plot and did some measuring to see where to put the film. We painted a screen on one of the walls inside the church compound.

Back at the house we also measured the distance we needed to be to get the cinema 6feet wide. Then we loaded everything up. At 4:00pm nine of us met at the church and went out to invite folks to the Jesus film on Saturday. It was so much fun walking around Ngala phase three and Muyeye inviting people to the cinema. Juma, Alfonze, and I were together. We talked about all sorts of things and just enjoyed one another. I love these guys they are not just "the work" they are my friends and fellow laborers. I truly want to be careful not to miss the journey by focusing on the destination.

We had to be sure to tell people that the cinema was free. I thought that would go without saying but here in Malindi many churches charge for things like a cinema, using it as a fund raiser. We passed out invitations to the services along with our verbal invitation to the cinema. There were several who thought the invitation was a ticket to get in and we had some chase us down to get a "ticket". We had a good time and return home around seven.

29 Saturday

We arrived at 4:00pm to set up for the film. We unloaded the equipment and prepared to set up. We had planned to put up some ropes in front of the projector so we would not have any disruptions in the middle of the film. Moses drove the first pole into the ground for the rope, only to bust a water pipe! The water started gushing out. Of course it was from the main line at the road so there was no way to shut it off. Moses and John used a bicycle tube split in half to tie around the busted line to try and slow down the water flow. I ran to the hardware three times to try and get something to fix the busted line. We finally did get it patched and went back to preparing things for the film. Even with the little disruption we were able to get everything done and started the film right on time.

All of our people showed up and we had a steady flow of people arrive throughout the film. We probably had around a hundred attend the cinema. We did not have anyone saved but it was a good opportunity to show that the cinema really was "free" and we did not take up an offering like most churches do at events like this. We also did not stay out all night and go crazy with the microphones. All this is a huge testimony to our community. Most groups that have open air meetings in Malindi end up going nuts and stay out until ridiculous hours of the night and always need to have a offering. I think the next time we show the film we will have an even better turn out. We are becoming known as a church that does things different. Different in a good way.

Malindi and the interior are much different. When we are in the interior we get a huge response but in Malindi there are a lot of open air meetings and people are a little afraid of them. We will show the film again maybe the next month or two.

30 Sunday

Moses went to Mazeras first thing on Sunday morning by matatu (minivan public transportation)to preach to the folks there. Juma went on Saturday to prepare everything and to teach on Sunday. We had good services in Malindi. I taught Sunday school about Jesus was more concerned about relationship than numbers. Then in worship I preached on the sickness of ME and building our kingdom and our righteousness. After church Mama Derrick and Mama Cedrick stayed with the children to start the children's choir. I am excited to see them step forward and take this on.

In the afternoon I spoke to Juma and Moses about how it went in Mazeras and they said they had a great meeting with one saved! This was the first Sunday they had teaching and preaching. We are continuing to lay ground work and lay the foundation for starting a church. I really think Juma is doing well and Moses was really excited too.

I also spoke to William in Mazeras and they had a good turn out with the group meeting at his place. He is planning a trip in this week to pick up some books and some Bibles for those who finished their Bible studies.

31 Monday

We left Malindi for Nairobi to depart for Greece. We headed out at 4:00am and made Nairobi around 1:00pm. Our welcome to Nairobi was being sandwiched between a semi carrying a forty foot container and a small pickup truck. We pulled off to the side of the road but the other vehicles both kept going. There is little to nothing you can do if the vehicles do not stop especially because it was in the middle of traffic. Our van sustained some pretty good damage nothing to hinder driving it but some more dents and a crushed mirror. Welcome to the big city I guess? We went to our room and called it a day after we battled the rest of the way through traffic.

1 Tuesday

I went out first thing in the morning to the US embassy and picked up my new passport and Lydia's new passport. We had applied for them back in May but this was our first trip in since then. The Passports were all ready so I headed down town to Nyayo house which is where Kenya immigrations is to get my work permit transferred from my old passport, Lydia's dependants pass transferred to her new passport, Samuel's dependent pass stamped in his passport, Sarah's dependant pass stamped in her passport, and Reentry permits for everyone. Praise the Lord, because I got it all done in a matter of 20 minutes and that is a small miracle here.

After the success at Nyayo house I decided the try and find the replacement mirrors for our van. The dealership did not have them and the second hand places did not have them so I had to have them made at a glass shop. They said they would be done Wednesday.

I ran back to the room and picked up Kenya and the kids to have lunch. While we were out we went to Evangel Press to purchase books to use for classes we are doing and want to start doing. I also bought a slew of Hymn books to help the churches we have started and for future churches.

2 Wednesday

We went out to get our mirrors that were suppose to be ready at 2:00pm and on the way got hit again on the back side of our van and of course the Matatu that hit us kept on going like nothing happened. The mirrors were not done so we went back to our room and on the way back, yes, we got hit again. A Matatu clipped our van with his mirror while passing us. We are now back at the room and not planning to go out.

Today was really an extra day. We did not have any business to do today but I was afraid that if we did not give ourselves an extra day we might not get everything done with the government and would miss our flights. Thankfully we got everything done and we are sitting on ready to go to Greece. I am hopeful I can get our monthly report written before we leave.