February 10, 2023

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,

I pray this newsletter finds you well. I’m sure that life in the United States is not without its challenges. We find ourselves with some challenges here in Kenya as well.

First, Kenya is currently suffering through a more than usually severe drought. Kenya usually has its annual rainy season and dry season. And during the dry season it is always, well, dry. It gets dusty, things turn brown, crops suffer, etc. But this year is the worst of my fifteen years in Kenya as there was basically no rainy season this year. People started talking about it months ago but now we are really starting to see the effects of it. People all over the country are really suffering from a lack of water. Here in Kijabe where we live there has been no rain and so we have no water. We are now rationing water – no laundry, no showers for a while (we are at least able to take “missionary” showers now), and no flushing toilets (until it is necessary). We don’t know how long this situation will last but it has gotten to the point where we have had to send all of our students home. They were already supposed to go home for mid-term break but we had to cancel classes early and send them home. They are scheduled to return late next week but this will only occur if the school is able to somehow get some water. Nobody around here really knows when that will be. This is not really the rainy season, but we could really use some rain. Please pray for rain.

Second, the drought is really beginning to effect Kenyans financially. I am seeing it mostly in students’ inability to pay school fees. Fees are usually paid when families sell crops or livestock and then they use the proceeds to pay bills. But right now, crops and livestock are not faring well and families are struggling to eat, let alone have extra for school fees. Last month I did mention a student, Milkah, who had been left in a bad spot and couldn’t pay her fees. I want to thank you all for praying for her as she was able to raise her fees, pay her bill, and return to class (except that class has been canceled and students sent home because of the drought).

In more happy news, we had our first visitors here to Kenya in a very long time. It was a joy to have Doug and Sharon Brook visit us for a few days. They are our dear friends from our home church in Ohio. I realized when I was introducing them to folks around here that Doug and Sharon are my “oldest” friends. I don’t mean oldest in age, but oldest meaning “longest standing friends”. Of all the friends in my life, Doug and Sharon have been around and stood in there the longest. I have been friends with Doug for 43 years and Sharon for 40. You probably can’t imagine how much we miss “home” sometimes. Having friends here brought a little bit of “United States Home” to our “Kenya Home”.

We are praying for you all, that you would know and love Jesus, that you would follow and serve Him, and that the Kingdom of Christ would grow in your neck of the woods, wherever you call home.

Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe

CONTACT INFO

Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com

For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.