August 16, 2022

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,

I find myself in “gear-up” mode. The college is on term break and the new school year begins at the end of this month. This is good because it gives me an opportunity to prepare and to try and figure out what I’m doing. Changing directions in ministry and in life can be (translate “can be” as “IS!”) challenging as many of you know. And I have a lot to learn. Do we ever wonder whether we’re getting too old to make major or even minor changes in life? No! C’mon, those of us over fifty! We can still do the things God calls us to do and what he calls us to do he will give us the strength and power to do. Look, I’m not saying we have all strength to do anything we want. Nor does God promise us success. But He does promise us his presence and his Spirit and what he wants us to accomplish, we can accomplish.

Among other things, I am preparing for a class I’ll be teaching starting at the end of August. I’ll be teaching Principles of Biblical Interpretation to first year Bible students. Can you believe that? I get to teach incoming students (who will know practically nothing) possibly the most important topic they will learn in college – How to read and interpret the Bible properly. I’m not saying that I know much of anything either, but what a great privilege and responsibility to teach young students, who will some day be pastors and church leaders, how to properly interpret the Scriptures. I’ve heard a lot of sermons from a lot of Kenyan pastors and, believe me, they need the training this class will offer. In most Kenyan sermons, context is ignored, grammar is butchered, allegory is employed, meaning is changed, application is stretched beyond the text, and just in general…well…it’s awful. I get the awesome privilege of helping these incoming, first-year students learn how to avoid wild and fanciful interpretations and how to seek God’s true message from His Word. The churches in Kenya desperately need this. Believers in Kenyan churches need this. Unbelievers in Kenya need this. There is a weighty responsibility that accompanies this privilege for me. May God receive glory in His Kenyan churches and in his Kenyan people.

There a couple of things I wish you all to continue praying about.

First, Julie still has not regained her strength after recovering from Covid. She came down with Covid over a month ago, struggled with the disease itself for two weeks but is now still suffering with some dramatic side effects. She still cannot eat and has no strength for any activity. She has had tests run at the hospital and was even put out under general anesthesia in the hospital theater to get a scope to her stomach. So far, nothing unusual has been found. On Monday she goes back to the hospital for a CAT scan that may or may not reveal something. Please pray that if something is wrong that the doctors would be able to discover it and if there is nothing wrong but that she just needs more time to recover her strength, that God would quickly strengthen her. Thank you, beloved.

Second, Kenya is facing major elections at all levels of government on Tuesday of next week – President and vice-president, senators, governors, and local government. These kinds of major elections have caused problems in the past. Many Kenyans don’t trust the system or the validity of the outcomes. In the past this has caused violence and tribal conflict. Tribal allegiance is still big in Kenya and certain tribes don’t always get along. Sometimes, tribal relations is like a shook up can of Coke. The outbursts can be kept under control until someone pops the lid. But when the lid is popped, the contents explode. Elections can present the opportunity for the lid to be popped. If it does, this can lead to great suffering for the Kenyan people. Please pray that the elections would be fair and honest and above all please pray for peace in Kenya. For the glory of God.

Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie, and Chloe

CONTACT INFO

Roger & Julie Tate
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
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.