Pauline Baptist Church

 Monday July 13

            We all loaded up and went to Mombassa on Monday to do some last minute preparations for the Pauline group. We needed to put some money on our game park card for the group and run a few other small errands. Last week we placed an order for a roof rack to be built for the Land Rover so we would be able to maneuver around with the group. Monday we had to go by and have it mounted which took several hours since it was not done as promised. While Silas, Samuel, and I went to get the roof rack Kenya went and did some grocery shopping. After we got the rack all taken care of we took the kids to watch a movie. We knew once the group was on the ground it would be really busy so we tried to get in a little fun for the kids.

Tuesday July 14

            We were anticipating the group’s arrival on Tuesday at 11:15 but we got word that there had been a cancellation on one of their flights due to weather in Little Rock, which in turn threw all their connections off so they got stuck in Atlanta for a night before being able to leave the country. So Silas and I took advantage of their delay and went to town and picked up a couple more items and also did some office work to get ahead of the game.

Wednesday July 15

            In the morning I got the bright idea that it would be nice if we had a sea food lunch for the group when they arrived so they could settle in while we cooked. So I went and got some shrimp so an hour before the group arrived Silas, Moses, Gertrude, Kenya, Mama Derrick, and I all peeled shrimp so the group would have a shrimp lunch. I had no idea the work that we had to put into getting the meal ready. My dear wife was so supportive of my crazy idea, the meal turned out ok but we really had to work hard. Next time we will stick to the plan and go out for lunch when we pick up visitors. While shelling the shrimp some of the juices from a shrimp’s innards splashed in my eye and caused a terrible infection that gave me satanic blood shot eyes for about three days, but anyhow I digress. We picked up the group at 11:15 from the airport in Malindi and it was "Go Time".

            The group arrived safely but without three bags. Two of which we really needed for our planned ministry activities. One was the sound system to show the Jesus Film and the other was 53 soccer balls that we planned to distribute at some schools near our ministry sites. Once we got the luggage that did arrive and everyone back to the house we gave a tour and let everyone set up in their rooms while Kenya, Silas, and I cooked lunch. The meal turned out well but it was not as stress free as I thought it would be (again lesson learned, Kenya Sorry).

            While we were cooking the group also cracked open all kinds of awesome things from our church. There were goodies, clothes, shoes, electronics, and on and on... When they finished it was like their luggage had exploded in our living room and Christmas had come. Pauline Baptist Church is so awesome to us! We know that they love us not because of the goodies, that is just a physical expression, but we because they are always communicating with us and we know they are praying for us and are here with us each step of the way! That means so much to us.

            After we ate and got settled in we sat down for a little briefing on everything and passed out some itineraries for everyone. Most everyone was able to stay awake for the meeting although everyone was so exhausted after a three day trip. We also readjusted the schedule and I sent Moses to town to buy some soccer balls because we had committed to bring nine balls to the school next to the First Landmark BC, Malindi on Thursday so we needed balls fast. While Moses searched for some soccer balls we ran to town so the group could get some money and I took them out to see the ocean. It is pretty cool now because I can drive right down onto the beach with the Land Rover. I like to take folks down to see the ocean their first day to let it sink in that they are on the coast of East Africa staring at the Indian Ocean, I love the thought!

Thursday July 16

            We got up Thursday ready to work. We started the day by taking soccer balls and presenting them to Upweoni Primary school. The School is located in front of the church so we thought it would be a great outreach to help the community and tell folks where we were. The school has over 1300 students from Nursery school to 8th grade with 30 on staff. Yes, I said 30 on staff only 20 or so are teachers so you can do the math and see that classes are huge in size. We went from class to class and greeted the students and presented a soccer ball to each class. We also gave every student an invitation to the church with a map of where the church was. The older kids we gave English New Testaments compliments of F.I.S.H. Ministry Benton, Arkansas. We also gave some the older classes John and Romans in Swahili. It was great to see everyone in the group and several of our church members passing out the Word of God to all the students. The kids were very appreciative and it was a blessing. It took us a couple hours to pass out everything and visit each class.

            When we finished at the school we returned to our house and all of us changed and went to the church plot to do some work. We cleared the back half of the property and built an addition to the Sunday school room that we plan to use for smaller children like nursery.  We all worked hard cutting grass, clearing brush, picking up trash, moving debris, and so much more. It was a hard day of work. We took a break and ate lunch together in the church and then got back at it until about 3:00 when we called it a day so we could run home and get ready for evening services. We also made several calls trying to locate a sound system so we could show the Jesus film in Mazeras since our sound system was one of the pieces of luggage that did not arrive. It was between Kenya and America somewhere. Moses even ran to town with Juma to search for a sound system before services. Kenya also went to town before services and bought some more soccer balls to give to Mpirani Primary school near Juma's home in Mazeras where we have been working. We were supposed to give them out there first thing on Friday and we still had not received the lost luggage with the balls. So we had to buy some to fulfill our commitment.

            We all came back at 5:00 to the church for services and Ryan preached for us. It was a great message and everyone really enjoyed the teachings. After services I loaded the Land Rover up in preparation for our trip to Mazeras while the group got ready to go out for supper. Moses, Juma, and I caught a tuk tuk and ran to town to make all the arrangements to get a generator and sound system. Moses had found a place before church but we needed to go and pay and be sure it was all good. We got back from town in time for me to jump in the van with Kenya and the group to go have dinner together. We had a nice dinner. When we got back we strapped down the last of the Mazeras things and called it a night.

Friday July 17

            We were out the door and on the road by 6:30am on our way to Mazeras for the night. We left Mrs. Paula and Kenya behind to pick up the sound system. Then Ryan, Rebecca, Gwen, Clayton, Silas, Juma, Moses, and I headed to Mazeras loaded down. We were supposed to be at the school by 8:30am. When we reached Mombassa it hit me that we had forgotten the soccer balls back in Malindi! With all the business we just forgot them and that is why we had left so early so we could give the soccer balls so we stopped off in Mombassa and bought nine more soccer balls so we could fulfill our promise to present the balls. So this was the replacement balls for the replacement balls.

            We arrived at Mpirani School on time and ready to present the soccer balls and announce the showing of the Jesus film that night. Mpirani Primary has close to 800 students with 14 teachers. Again do the math and you will see the ratio of students to teachers. We went from class to class and presented each class with a soccer ball and invited them to the Jesus film we were showing that night. We got to see the kids playing with the balls during their break. It was great to see them having so much fun. We are continuing to build our relationship with the community and establishing ourselves as a presence in Mazeras.

            Once we left the school we headed to Juma's home. I spoke to Kenya and she said that she and Mrs. Paula were heading our way. When we arrived we greeted everyone and sat down to visit a little. We started making plans for the visit and setting up our tent. That's when I got the call that Kenya had been arrested in Malindi for our insurance expiring two days earlier. I will not go in to the details of that whole issue since Kenya sent out an update on that. Oh my what a day Kenya and Paula had with the Kenya law system.

            After we had our initial greetings with Juma's family and ate some chapattis and drank chai we got ready to go out to pass our tracts and welcome folks to the Jesus film in the evening.  While we were getting ready Salim (Juma's cousin who was one of the first saved in Mazeras)and I got in a great conversation about where he was spiritually. He opened up to me about how he was struggling with the job he was doing and leading out in the Bible study that they were having weekly now. He has been doing the job of making an alcohol drink from coconut trees. He said he was not drinking it but making it. God was convicting him about it and he had quit just four days ago. He was having a crisis of belief, he knew God was able in his mind but now he had to prove that he believed it with his actions. The job he had known was his sole income and now he was trusting the Lord to provide for him with a job that was pleasing to Him.

            I sent the rest of the group on with Juma and I stayed with Salim so we could look at scripture together and continue our conversation. It was awesome to see what God was doing in Salim's life. He is truly growing as a disciple of Christ. He is rough but willing to follow as God continues to refine him. Throughout the day I was in contact with Kenya about where she was and all. For one to see if she was ok and also watching the clock because she was bringing the sound system for the Jesus film and she was two hours away. It was looking like she was not going to make it in time for the film that we were telling the entire area we were showing. Salim and I returned to our conversation, then I got a call from the Mombassa Airport about the missing luggage. The Mombassa Airport is 20 minutes from Mazeras. They said they had two of the missing pieces of luggage and one of them was the sound system. Salim and I hopped in the truck and picked up Clayton because the luggage was his and headed for the airport immediately.

            It was a God thing for that luggage to come to Mombassa and not Malindi like it was suppose to. The time for Kenya to leave and get to us in Mazeras had come and gone so we had no sound system and our missing one just happens to show up at the airport 20 minutes away, coincidence, No! just God doing what he does. While in route to the airport Kenya called and said she had been set free from jail after going to court but again she was past the time to arrive before the film so I had her just drop off the sound guy and equipment since it would not make it and trusted that the sound system we were picking up from the airport was still in good condition. I told Clayton if we get there and it is an empty box we are in trouble.

            Salim and I continued our conversation as we drove to the airport it was so good! At the airport Clayton went in to claim the luggage but had to call me in when customs started giving him a little bit of a hard time. I came back with him and spoke in Swahili to them and told them that we were going to use the sound system at a cinema in a matter of hours. They completely changed their demeanor. They charged us a small amount in customs and then we were off. By this time our time was getting slim to make it back to set up for the film and show the film. We hit a massive traffic jam when we left the airport and sat still for 20 minutes until finally Salim ran up ahead of where we were and unclogged everything. There was one truck jamming it all up and refused to move. Salim said that he spoke to the man and asked him to move and he finally agreed and it opened everything up. When Salim got in as we passed where the jam was I told him that with his personality and ability to work with people God was going to use him to do great things if Salim would allow him to. It was a great trip to the airport on many fronts.

            Once we arrived back in Mazeras and Juma's family home we immediately went to setting up the film. Clayton and I slipped away with Salim to eat our lunch that we had missed since we left to go get the luggage. Lunch was Goat innards and Greens mixed with a side of Ugali. MMMM Yummy. I was the first to set down of the three of us so before Clayton got in I chucked four or five hunks of stomach out of my bowl into his without him knowing.(I finally told him later on about that) We ate together in Juma's house while the others continued to work on the Jesus film set up. When I was close to being done I had one last piece of innards left that I just did not think I could get down so I showed Clayton how to finish with out everything coming back up, I asked Salim about some dust that was on the wall and when he turned to explain about the termites I flipped my last piece into his bowl. Hey, don't judge me you would do the same if you thought of it and besides he loves the stuff.

            After we ate the time had come to run a test of the film and get started with the meeting. Darkness was still 20 minutes away but we wanted to test everything since we just got the sound system and all. What happened next completely broke my heart. I turned on the DVD player and a blue screen came one and said no disk so I opened the player to clean the disk and try again and the unfathomable happened...after all the effort and God supplying a sound system and Kenya getting out of jail and on her way, after announcing the to entire school of 800 kids and visiting throughout the village... I opened the DVD player to find NO DVD! First I asked Ryan is someone trying to play a funny on me and he assured me no then I told him we have no Jesus film. My mind scrambled and I told Moses and Ryan to preach and do something while Juma and I ran to Mazeras to try and find a DVD at a shop.

            Literally Juma and I ran on foot across the valley 15 minutes straight until we came to a little shopping center and jumped on the last motorcycle taxi left and started toward Mazeras town in pitch  black by now. We made it to Mazeras and searched five or six shops with no success finding the Jesus film but we did manage to find a film on Jeremiah. By this time Kenya had arrived in Mazeras with Paula so we had the motorbike drop us off at the van and I drove us into Juma's families place. This was a challenge in the dark with the van since there is no road and the van has no 4x4 but we made it. When we arrived I ran up and put the film in praying that the format would work with my DVD player and that the quality was decent. I apologized publicly for the mishap but was grateful that we at least had a cinema. The cinema was in English but it was the best we could do. The film was good and Moses translated a little during the movie and everyone was satisfied. We had a lot of people show up. After the film I apologized again and told everyone we would come next month with the Jesus Film in Swahili.

            After the cinema we tore down everything and ate supper then crashed in the tents. It was good to put the day behind us! What an incredible day! God supplied in so many ways and we learned and especially the group I think that you must be flexible when doing missions. Brother Lynn Raburn would say that if you do not bend you will break on the foreign field. We were triple jointed to get through that day!

Saturday July 18

            We awoke Saturday ready to face the day. We tore down camp after we all got moving and made a plan for the morning. We saw some rain coming in the distance and tried to beat it but we got soaked trying to take the tent down but no worries. We all sat down and had fresh chapattis, Mandazi, and hot tea.

            I sat in the other room with Juma, his dad, Moses, Salim, and Juma's Grandfather to discuss the issue of Juma and Mama Naomi. We had a lengthy discussion that ended with the conclusion that Juma does not need to take Mama Naomi as his wife with all the lies she has told and with her refusal to change her ways. The issue at hand is the children. Juma has one little girl with Mama Naomi and one on the way. Juma's dad said that customarily since the children were out of wedlock the mother and her family can keep the kids or give them to the dad. If they keep the children Juma will not be a part of their lives until they come to an age where they can decide for themselves. If they give them to Juma he will have them permanently. Juma's dad said that as soon as the new baby arrives that he and Juma's mom will come and finish everything with Mama Naomi's family. It was a hard meeting and has been a hard road to travel. Everyone has tried to help Mama Naomi to see that she is pushing everyone away but she just does not want to be married or have a family from the looks of her actions. Please pray for Juma and his family this is a huge load on them all!

            After breakfast we had some time to readjust everything before time for Ryan to do some teaching. We sat down for teaching with a few people but ended up with a good group when it was all said and done. Ryan did a great job teaching the folks. After Ryan taught on who Jesus was I taught also about hard sayings of Jesus. When we stood to close I opened it up for questions and Juma's dad raised his hand with three questions. One on funerals, one on women and prayer, and another on the necessity of using Praise the Lord as a greeting. They were really good questions and things that the folks there were dealing with. Juma's dad said we want to know what the Bible teaches about these things. It was Double A Awesome! I answered the questions and then we closed and greeted one another.

            We loaded up everything and called it a day and headed back towards Malindi. We stopped in Mombassa and let the group do a little T-shirt shopping as we passed through. We all also enjoyed some Italian ice cream. When we got home everyone was zapped from a night in the village especially considering the day we had before. We all showered up and Kenya had food ready for us.

Sunday July 19

            We all got to the church for Sunday school. Moses taught the adults and Paula, Rebecca, and Gwen helped with the children. For the worship service Ryan preached with Moses translating. Ryan did a great job preaching! When services ended we all walked to the beach to baptize John, Joseph, Jackson, and Ajabu. After they were baptized we welcomed them into the church. It was a great service! When we all dispersed each of the guests went to one of our church member’s house to eat lunch with them and fellowship. I was so excited that our members opened their homes and that the guests were willing to go. Our family ate with Benard (the preacher from Kilifi) and those who were baptized. It was a great day of ministry and fellowship.

            Gertrude did not make it to service so Kenya and Rebecca went to check on her because it was completely out of character for her not to come and especially since one of the visitors was supposed to go to her house. They had a great visit with Gertrude and she really needed the visit. She did not have the money for them to get to town this week because her nephew spent all her money that she had planned to use to come to church. Her phone was dead so she could not communicate with us. She was a wreck Kenya said when they arrived. By the time Rebecca and Kenya left they said she was doing much better and was very encouraged. Pray for Gertrude's husband Jeff that he will be saved! She was super upset also because Jeff was all ready to go with her until they found they had no money to go. Satan won that round.

            While Kenya and Rebecca were gone, Gwen started working on our dryer to install a part the group had brought to us until there were several of us trying to work on it. I got juiced by the electricity but not killed thankfully. Our conclusion of the matter was that our house does not pull enough amps to run the dryer. We know another missionary family that has this same issue in Mombassa so we have a brand new dryer that we can not use.

            Once everyone made it back to our house we had a worship service together. Josiah led the singing and I preached for the group. I preached a message entitled struggling to die. I loved the chance to preach in English! We had a great time in the Lord before calling it a night after supper.

Monday July 20

            We were up bright and early for a day of fun after the ministry days. We went snorkeling in the Indian Ocean! After snorkeling for a little while we headed down to the beach to play in the waves. It was so much fun! Then we visited the Crocodile Farm in time to watch them feed the snakes and Crocs. We also bought a guinea pig while we were there for Abigail. I bought some Crocodile meat for the group as well. We had a great time just playing and resting together.

Tuesday July 21

            We were up bright and early and on the road by 6:00am headed interior to Singuaya to visit William's family and donate some soccer balls to the school they attend. We arrived at the school at 8:30am to find that many of the teachers were not there and the Deputy Head Master half drunk and smelling like beer in his office! The Head Master finally arrived with blood shot eyes like he had been drinking all night also but anyhow. They had an assembly with all the students present and allowed us to address the student body and tell them why we were there. The kids were great and excited to have us.

            We went from class to class, presented the balls, and gave all the students tracts. It was a great chance to reach out to the kids. I wish they had better examples to follow in their school! The children were all very grateful for the gift they got from the group. After we left the school we headed off road to William’s house.

            When we arrived at William’s we greeted everyone. William said that a member of his family in the next boma over had died so we went over to greet them and tell them we were sorry. The grave was fresh because they had buried the Mzee the day before. There were still many people in the family around from the funeral. After greeting them we headed out into the shamba(fields) to look at William's families crops. Then came the down pour that drowned us! We were completely soaked by the time we walked back to William's house. When we arrived we sat under the porch until the rain passed. Then we ate some chapattis and drank hot tea. It was so good! We were freezing and soaked, but we were all happy.

            After the chapattis and tea we went over to the boma where the mzee had passed away and Ryan did some teachings. In the middle of his teaching we all had to run inside of one of the small homes near by to continue because of the rains coming again. It was great. After the teachings we prayed and went back to Williams place. I told William's family that we need to leave because of all the rain it would make it difficult for us to get out. We slipped and “slided” our way out with no hang ups.

            As we were driving we decided to take a detour to a place in Marafa called Hell's Kitchen. It is a depression in the earth that has amazing coloration and is a neat hike. It is off the beaten trail but is a neat place to visit. We were there for an hour or so then continued our journey back home. At the house Kenya had us some Crocodile stew. We all gave the crocodile a whorl. It was not too bad.

Wednesday July 22

            We went to Mangangani Wednesday morning to do some visitation to invite folks to the Jesus Film on Saturday. We carried two vehicle loads of people. The folks from the group plus several from the Malindi Church. It was awesome to have so many participate. There were also several from the Mangangani fellowship present. We divided up and canvassed the area passing out tracts and inviting everyone for the Jesus Film on Saturday. When we finished canvassing the area, the Mangangani folks prepared a meal for all of us. It was so awesome!! We did not expect a meal but the folks in Mangangani wanted to show their appreciation. I was so blessed to see their desire for ministry and to see everyone fellowshipping so well. Folk from America, Malindi, and Mangangani all eating and laughing together, God is good!

Thursday July 23

            We loaded up on Thursday for a fishing excursion on traditional dhow boats. Everyone was so happy paddling out to sea and so eager to get out to start fishing. All that changed into sea sick puppy faces! We had some major sea sickness that was not funny at the time but now is hilarious. We came home with a slew of fish and fried them all up. Unfortunately there were only a few of us able to eat the fish while others continued to try and get their land legs back.

            We had Bible study at 5:00pm at the church. Clayton gave us a scripture reading and devotion and everyone else in the group gave testimonies about the trip and all they had seen and done so far. It was a very encouraging service. It was good for the church to see how God spoke to the group while they were with us.

Friday July 24

            We spent Friday at the Game Park. We had a great time and got home really late. Juma called me while we on our way in about the group meeting in Mazeras. He had gone to Mazeras to do something for his uncle and while there Salim told him he had gotten a job that took him away from home Wednesday thru Sunday so he could not lead the Bible study on Thursday or Sunday until this job finished. Juma called me to see what we should do since there was no one to lead the study on Sunday. I asked him what he thought and he said the he could stay if he needed to and lead the study. I asked him if he wanted to stay and lead the study and he said yes. I was loving how God put Juma in this situation and to see his response to it. I told him to lead the study and call us if he needed anything. He was excited about the opportunity.

Saturday July 25

            Saturday was a packing and shopping day for the group since they were scheduled to depart Sunday afternoon. Before they left to go shopping we had to check out our pictures on the TV to relive the trip. It was fun.

            Saturday after noon we headed to Mangangani to show the Jesus film. We loaded up both our vehicles with church members and the group and headed to Mangangani. We got all set up and started playing some music to let people know we were getting ready to start. After getting a plan together with Brother Mbuvi we started putting things in motion.

            First Ryan did some teachings geared for the children. Then the children's choir sang several songs, followed by Ryan preaching again for the adults. After the preaching Brother Mbuvi did introductions of everyone and told about the times of services for the Bible study that met there and then we started up the film. Yes this time I actually had the Jesus Film. We showed the film and we had a lot of people show up in excess of 400. It is hard to estimate because we could not see everyone but it was attended very well. We stopped the movie with 15 minutes remaining and Moses gave a clear presentation of the gospel with Brother Mbuvi at his side to receive folks that came forward. We had four people come forward and Daniel spoke to them and they all accepted Christ as their saviour! It was a great night. After the invitation we continued the film until it was over and had another invitation and announced the time of the bible study on Sunday. Everyone stayed until the last amen and even applauded when we were all finished. It was a great evening! We tore down and headed home.

Sunday July 26

            Sunday services went well. Moses taught Sunday School and Silas preached. We were a little down in attendance but I think it was the weather because it was so rainy. We even had to get up in the middle of service and move to one side of the building because the rain was coming in sideways. The group gave each family in the church a soccer ball at the end of services. They were all so happy!

            After services Juma called me and told me that they had 18 meet in Mazeras and that they had one saved! He was so excited that he led his first person to the Lord! It was so awesome to hear him talk about it and feel the excitement through the phone. He said someone else wanted to be saved but had some questions and he would bring to me and Moses to get the answers so he could take it back. Juma is growing so much and God is grooming him! He is falling in love with ministry.

            I told the group about Juma and we all rejoiced and praised the Lord. Juma also spoke to all the members of the group and told them good bye over the phone since he would not get to see them before they left since he was ministering in Mazeras. We had a great time with Paula, Gwen, Clayton, Rebecca, and Ryan! Our sending church is so awesome and we love our people. Our relationship is more than a rubber stamp relationship with Pauline we are THEIR Missionaries and they KNOW us. Praise God for them!

            After the group left we were just relaxing when the bell rang. Brother Mbuvi was at the gate bringing report from Mangangani. He said that they had 45 in attendance and 2 of the people saved the night before were in services on Sunday and came forward for baptism. He also said he had another 21 who were ready for baptism and to start a church in Mangangani. We visited for a while and made plans to start the church on August 9. They are doing so good. We have been patiently working in Mangangani for several months laying ground work I told brother Mbuvi that the momentum was strong in the work there and it was time to move. We will be continuing plans between now and the 9th of August but I am super excited about Mangangani. I know that brother Mbuvi is also. Pray for him as he leads this group and we continue to labor together.

James Taylor