New Venue for the Chapel
August 19, 2020
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Fortunately, not every newsletter that I write is filled with gloom and woe. Fortunately, again, this one (unlike the last one) will not be filled with gloom and woe.
So I think in the place I left off last month in this story of church building missionary work in Kitale, I was relating to you that we had lost our place of worship again and I was looking for a new location. No place seemed perfect and each place had its pros and cons. But one place, in particular, seemed to offer the best possibilities and potential, albeit with the higher price. Thus, I snatched it up and signed a two-year lease on the accommodations. In the new venue the Chapel will have its own house with a larger living room in which we will worship and preach the Word of God. The house also has other rooms where Sunday School or children’s church can also be conducted. It will be refreshing having the building completely to ourselves so that we can use it however we wish. I got the place all set up and announced we would be worshiping together again on August 16, 2020 (the year of total unpredictability and chaos).
August 16th rolled around and, indeed, we held our worship service. Only four other people showed up. This is uncharacteristically low attendance for the Chapel. In fact, it is the lowest attendance in the history of the Chapel, since I started it in October 2018. I was anticipating a low attendance but not quite this low. But I did expect this. I knew that a family had moved out of town and that the government is still not allowing children under the age of 13 to attend (which includes most of the families attending the Chapel). So, I am not discouraged, yet. The four who returned were all very excited about returning and starting things back up. Since we were so few, I asked them if we should just spend some time praying together and reading a portion of Scripture and discussing it. They said, “No”, they wanted a normal time of singing and the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Elphas said, “There are lots and lots of churches in Kitale but none of them actually teaches the Word of God”. While this is not exactly accurate it does show you the importance of the Chapel and the reason we exist in this place—Teach the Word of God, make disciples, start churches, spread the Kingdom, show and share the love of Jesus. So, we did that. We sang. We prayed. I taught about Jesus being the “God you can see and touch”. We discussed the Word of God together. Now we pray that more of our Chapel friends will make it back over the next couple of weeks.
In personal news, Julie will be visiting the States for a month, leaving only a few days after the writing of this report. We have not had an official furlough since 2013 because we are not able to leave the country with Chloe and Julie very much needs a short break from Kenya. So, she will be spending the month of September hopefully resting and visiting our stateside children and parents in Michigan. Chloe and I will remain in Kenya. Please pray for a safe and beneficial journey for Julie.
Blessings to you all,
Roger, Julie, Amy, Josiah & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta@gmail.com
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Faithful Attendees and Newcomers at URBC
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
November 27, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Wow, it seems so much has happened since I wrote last month about our inaugural service at the Upper Room Baptist Chapel. I was excited when I wrote to you all last month describing our first service. But I didn’t know who might return and who wouldn’t. Now I have more that I can report.
Since our inaugural service, we have been averaging right around 12 in our attendance each week. I am very happy that we have had that many in our weekly services. Especially since those who are attending seem to be truly interested in receiving teaching from the Bible and in knowing and following Jesus. The next four weeks after our first service saw pretty much the same 12 people attending the services. I think that they are definitely getting something they do not experience at other churches here in Kitale. Here’s a couple reasons why I think that.
First, I set up a time to visit one of the families in their home. Elphas, Ann and their daughter Esther haven’t missed a service since we started. I meet with Elphas every week to disciple him but I wanted to visit him at his home. While I was in his home (a small, one-room apartment), he told me that he has gone to church for a long time but has never had a pastor visit him in his home. He didn’t know that was a thing pastors did. This week Elphas and I will visit a man named Joseph in Joseph’s home. Joseph was a first-time visitor last week.
Second, I’ve been told by others who have been coming that the teaching is simple, easy to understand and straight from the Bible. I say, “Praise God,” because that is exactly what I am striving for! This is definitely a rare element in Kitale churches.
Last week I was really excited because we had four first-time visitors to the Chapel. Each of these four-first time visitors came as a result of being invited by other regular attendees of our services. Two of these four I know to be very new believers. After the service and the “informal pastor” time and fellowship they stayed around and talked with me for nearly an hour. They told me that what they heard and experience at the Chapel that day was not like anything else they’ve experienced elsewhere. They said the teaching was Biblical as opposed to, in their own words, “Motivational speeches about succeeding in business” or “sermons about making money and getting ahead in life”. They also said that when I confessed I was not a good guitar player and that they should expect to hear mistakes, that they knew then and there that the Chapel would be different. This is because they said a Kenyan pastor will never admit to doing anything wrong. Finally, they appreciated hearing what the Bible actually says instead of hearing a list of rules and man-made laws about how they can be acceptable to God.
Dear Lord, Oh, how we would like to make a difference in the lives of these new believers and in the lives of the others who are attending and in the lives of many other Kitale residents.
Please make this your prayer for us as well.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in Kenya,
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.
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Room Rented for Start of Church Plant!
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
July 28, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are able to thank God for an answered prayer. I have reported in past newsletters that I was looking for a room in town that I could rent and use in order to start up a new church here in Kitale. If you were following my former reports you would know the following: First, before leaving for the States for a month, I had located a room and agreed on a price with the owner, only to have the rate doubled when I went to sign the lease. Second, while I was in the States I had a couple of Kenyan friends who agreed to look for a place for me while I was away. And, now, one of those places my friends found has finally come to fruition and I can finally say we have a room and have signed the lease and everything is official. The room is on the third floor of a building in town, is located in a relatively quiet area, has plenty of natural lighting, good security, and even access to toilets. This may not sound like much to be excited about but finding all these things in one location is quite challenging here in Kitale. The portion of the room which I rented is about 20′ by 25′ and can probably comfortably fit 30 people (and even more uncomfortably). If we are somehow blessed with more people than can fit in the room, then we will be glad to come up with alternative solutions to that problem in the future. Since the time I rented the room I have been preparing it for use. The tile floor needed fixing, the doors and handles needed replacing, and the broken windows needed repairing. Also, the original room was quite large, and I could not afford to rent the entire space but only a section of it. Thus, I had to build a partition wall across the room to block off my section. Other preparatory activities are also ongoing in order to get the room ready for use. Please continue to pray for this ongoing work.
Again, I believe Kitale needs a church that:
- Teaches the truth of God’s Word in a simple, clear, understandable manner
- Worships God in Spirit and truth and simplicity
- Loves, follows and obeys Jesus
- Desires to spread the Kingdom of God
These are such rare qualities in churches here that I felt compelled to start one and pastor it myself.
One example of the reason why a church like this is necessary is a young man named Elphas that I have been meeting with. Elphas and I meet in a dungy, musty, smelly basement of a hotel in town. We get together there to drink tea and talk about the many questions he has about the Bible and about Jesus. This week we spent two hours just talking about what happens to people when they die, what and where is heaven, where do the spirits of believers and unbelievers go after death, and how a person can know he will go to heaven. After every question he asks me I say, “Elphas, I can only tell you what the Bible says about this” and then we go to the Scriptures and investigate what God has said in His Word. I am trying to show Elphas that it matters not what any man might say but only what God’s Word says. This week Elphas told me, “After talking with you I realize all my pastors are lying to me”. I don’t know exactly what he meant by this statement and I didn’t feel like I should follow up on it. However, it did reinforce to me that there are many Kenyans who are starving for the Word of God and wanting to know what it really means to follow Jesus and to know God.
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
