The Season of Hope
December 1, 2021
Merry Christmas from the Tates, everyone!
This Christmas of 2021 marks the second Christmas marred by a general feeling of world-wide fear and trepidation. For some people, the words “Corona Virus” bring feelings of imminent threat. For others, it is more a feeling of caution but also uncertainty because of the way world governments are dealing with the situation. For some there is fear; for others there is angst. For some there is fear of disease, suffering, and even death; for others there is fear of corruption, oppression, and tyranny. Either way, there is more shared world-wide distress than I have ever seen in my adult lifetime.
I love how the Psalmist in Chapter 4 of the Book of Psalms says to God, “Hear me when I call…You HAVE relieved me in my distress.” David prayed because he was in need of relief, but he talked as if God had ALREADY given it. David assumed it; it was a foregone conclusion to him. He prayed with an expectation of hope. Not a “hope so,” but a “hope KNOW.”
Sometimes I’m not sure what specifically I need – I just know there is this anxiety, this longing…this emptiness that needs filling. This…dis-satisfaction with this world. It’s a longing for Hope – for the end of futility…the end of sin and its effects both around me and in me…the end to brokenness, disease, and death…the end to evil, poverty, and oppression…the end to division, hate, and violence…the end to suffering of all kinds.
But God teaches me through His Word that He has ALREADY relieved me in my distress. He has ALREADY sent His answer – in the greatest, most complete, and most comprehensive manner possible.
IMMANUEL.
GOD WITH US.
JESUS.
God IS the God of all Hope, and this is the Season of Hope because Jesus is our “Hope Know.”
This season especially (right now in 2021) is given to us as a reminder – a refocus.
“Take heart,” Jesus said, “for I have ALREADY overcome the world.” It’s done. It’s finished. Now we are simply waiting for it to work its way through – but it’s done – it’s a foregone conclusion.
All the suffering, the hate, the disease, the oppression, the death – it has ALREADY been dealt the death blow and lies writhing on the ground fighting for its last gasp of oxygen. The answer has ALREADY been given – the healing medicine ALREADY applied. It’s been done in the birth, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus. We long for peace, and the Prince of Peace has come.
So, God, hear us when we call. Have mercy on us. You HAVE relieved us in our distress. Now, fill us with the Peace You have ALREADY provided so we can love others with the love with which You have loved us. Help us be satisfied in our dis-satisfaction, knowing we hope (KNOW), along with all of creation, for the full coming of Your PERFECTED Kingdom.
The King is Coming!
Love,
Julie
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.
Read more
Is Living on the Mission Field a Death Wish?
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
June 25, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Question: Is doing mission work and living on the mission field a death wish? I have to wonder if it is. I don’t know how I ever leave my house in my car or on my motorbike and return alive. The unwritten rule of the road in Kenya is if you are bigger than the other vehicle then you have the right of way. That means when I’m on my motorbike, other cars will deliberately pull out in front of me or deliberately use my lane to drive in, forcing me off the road. At other times, when I’m in my car, motorbikes will dart in and around me, missing me or oncoming traffic by mere inches, forcing me to brake hard in order not to kill them. Pedestrians step out right in front of me. Cows, sheep, goats, chickens, baboons, and zebras all use the same road as me.
And then there is malaria, e bola, typhoid, amoebae, and all the other microscopic critters that share our living space. Fortunately, we don’t have to worry too much about the bigger critters like snakes, crocodiles, lions, hyenas, or hippopotamus. They are around, some farther away (like crocodiles, lions, hyenas, and hippopotamus), some nearer (like snakes), but we don’t really concern ourselves with them.
And, you know, every long-term missionary can say they know at least one other missionary who has died in an airplane crash. Well, up until this month I didn’t know of any. I can’t say that anymore. And that is what is causing me to reflect upon this subject so much in this newsletter. If you keep an eye on international news you might have noticed earlier this month that a small plane carrying eight passengers and two crew members went down in Kenya this past month, killing all those on board. It went down in the Aberdare Mountains, requiring two days for rescue workers to even find it and arrive at the crash site. As I said, nobody survived. Normally when we hear about plane crashes we think “well, those things happen” and we feel bad for those who have died. But this plane crash was VERY, VERY personal to us here in Kitale. You see, this plane was THE VERY PLANE that goes from Kitale to Nairobi every day. We only get one scheduled flight from Kitale to Nairobi every day and this was “our” plane that went down. We have all ridden it. Julie and I have ridden it many times. My parents have ridden it. Other of our guests have ridden it. Amy and Josiah have ridden it a couple of times already just this year (2018) when going back to school. Any of us could have been on that plane. We thank God that none of our family was flying on that plane on that particular day. When we heard about the crash, Julie and I looked at each other and wondered what were the chances that we DIDN’T know somebody on that plane. The chances were good that we did. And as it turned out I did have friends on that plane. Two of our missionary community were on that flight and were taken home to glory: Zechariah, a missionary from Fiji that I did not know very well, and Ron, a missionary from the States and a good friend of mine. It is incredulous to me that Ron is gone and that he left in this way. I was supposed to have coffee with him just before I left for the States but he had to cancel and I didn’t see him. Then we were to get together after I returned to Kenya but then he was killed in the crash. Now I will never see him again.
I guess we missionaries are all aware of the fact that we could die on the mission field. Obviously, none of wants to have to pay that ultimate sacrifice for the work of God, but we all know it could happen. I kept thinking over and over again that my kids could very well have been on that flight. Any other day and they may have been. We place ourselves in God’s hands and pray for safety, accepting the risks and knowing that our God is big enough to take of us. And if He does allow bad things to happen we also believe that He is big enough to also work that out to our good and His glory. So, is doing mission work and living on the mission field a death wish? Definitely.
Rest in peace, Ron, and worship in the presence of your Savior.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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.
Read more
Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [April 2013]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Life is hard. There are tears. There is pain.
I wasn’t planning on writing like this, this month. It seemed depressing (although I don’t intend it to be depressing). However, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like God was confirming in my mind to write these things this month. Life is hard.
There is pain.
As I write this I am experiencing pain myself. Yesterday a car pulled out in front of me while I was riding home on my motorcycle. I hit the car and ended up rolling on the pavement. Now my neck hurts, my shoulder hurts, my back hurts, my knee hurts and my shin hurts. I have no major damage, just some aches and pains. The Kenyan people live with pain too. Malaria, typhoid, other debilitating diseases. Some even live with the pain of hunger or thirst. Others live with pain because they have no means with which to see a doctor.
There is grief and loss.
Who among us hasn’t lost a dear friend or loved one to our great enemy – Death? How long does that grief last? Often, a long time. Death is so prevalent in Kenya. The infant mortality rate is so much higher here. Young children die because of infectious diseases or lack of medical care. Parents leave children orphans because they both perish from AIDS. This month, a lady that lives next door to us nearly died because her husband wouldn’t spend the 2000 shillings (about $23) to take her to see the doctor. I gave him the money and she still lives today, but I seriously think he would have let her die. Funerals here bring me back to a stark reality too. It’s not sanitized like in the States. While you stand there the coffin is dropped into the ground and men refill the hole with dirt until it is all once again recovered and the mound stomped on to pack the dirt down.
There is betrayal.
I wish it wasn’t the case but there is much betrayal in Kenya. You can work with a person for years and then when he realizes he is not going to get from you what he wants, he turns on you and says all kinds of slander and lies about you. Yes, we are currently experiencing this as well. The closer the betrayer is to you, the more it hurts.
There is famine, drought, substance abuse, homeless children, murderous rioters, political scandals, and much more.
What can we say to all these things? Yes, life is hard everywhere, not just here, but also where you live. Does it not make us long for when Jesus returns? Does it not make us long for his presence? Revelation 21:3-4 says, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Today I am mindful that Jesus is returning and that day may be soon. I am looking forward to the day when “Death is swallowed up in victory.” I will pray for the coming of that day. Until then I will work for the salvation of American and Kenyan people.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Emily, Amy, & Josiah)
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
Read more
