Rice and Jesus at Mama Njuguna’s
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
January 29, 2017
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Rice and Jesus at Mama Njuguna’s.
That previous statement might need a little explanation. Mama Njuguna’s is the restaurant at which I like to eat lunch in town. With that short sentence you now know what the “Mama Njuguna’s” in the above statement means. Mama’s isn’t really much of a place. You’d probably call it a dive. It’s rustic, dirty, made out of iron sheets and I sometimes share my space with mice. But the food is good and really cheap. I can usually eat my entire lunch for 50 shillings (about 50 cents). At Mama Njuguna’s I can get chai (tea), chapati (flat-bread), and cabbage and potatoes. But mostly I can get rice. Beans and rice; Ndengu (green grams) and rice; Githeri (beans and corn) and rice. Now you know where the “Rice” in the above statement comes from. The only thing left to explain is the “Jesus” in the above statement.
I try to eat at Mama’s 3-5 times a week (again, because it is so cheap and convenient). That makes me a regular at Mama’s. [But I am also very much a novelty. Mama’s being located on a back alley in town it doesn’t get frequented by many Wazungu (Swahili term for “White People”). In fact, I am the only one that has EVER frequented Mama’s in the entire history of its existence. The son of Mama Njuguna once told me how special a customer I was because I made the establishment international. Now, Mama’s may be a dive but it is a really happening place. It is always very busy with people always coming and going. So there are lots of customers and lots of workers constantly running around. The seats are wooden, no backed benches, and the tables are cut low so you have to bend way over to eat. I am usually packed into a bench with customers pushing in at both my left and right elbows. This is where the “Jesus” in the above statement comes in. With me being a novelty and the only white guy that has ever been in this place I inevitably get asked the question by someone at my right or left these questions in succession: “Who are you and what’s your name?“; “How long have you been here?“; “What do you do here?“. It’s almost always those questions in that order. So, guess how I get to respond. “I’m from the United States and my name is Rogers” (Yes, I have to say Rogers instead of Roger. For some reason they can understand and say Rogers but Roger is unintelligible and unrepeatable to most Kenyans). “I’ve been here for nine years now.” “And I’m here as a missionary doing work for the Kingdom of Jesus.” The following conversation always revolves around Jesus.
Sometimes I get to tell them why I would give up my life in the States to preach the Kingdom of Jesus in a foreign land. Sometimes they ask me for money. Sometimes I get to share a part of the gospel with them. Sometimes they have some project they want me to support. Sometimes they are Muslim. Sometimes they are “pastors” looking for support. Sometimes I encourage them in their faith. Sometimes they encourage me. But almost always we talk about Jesus. And being a regular at Mama’s, I know all the workers and get to hear about their day. Mash and Dan, the managers, never fail to tell me that they went to church last Sunday. I also get to show the love of Jesus to all the servers: Betty, Sonny, Margaret, Maurall, Mercy, Shiro, Ingrid and others. I’ve even met Mama a time or two.
Maybe your headline would read “Burgers and Jesus at McDonald’s” or “Coffee and Jesus at Starbucks” or “Donuts and Jesus at Krispy Kreme”. Beloved, never be ashamed to talk about Jesus, no matter where you might be.
Now you understand the meaning of “Rice and Jesus at Mama Njuguna’s”. I think that has a nice ring to it. And it’s not as unsanitary as “Mice and Jesus at Mama Njuguna’s”.
Please pray for me as I prepare for another trip up into the bush, to the village of Kasei in west Pokot, a long, long way from home both physically and emotionally. I am developing a series of messages entitled “Learning to Follow Jesus from the Life of Daniel”. I will be spending five days in Kasei for a seminar there. I hope to encourage the existing believers as well as lead unbelievers into a new relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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
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Stones Turned to People in Pokot Town
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
October 26, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
For the past many months, I have been praying for an opening back into the land of the Pokot people. The way had been closed to me for a long time but God may have opened a way back.
The Pokot people live north of Kitale. I don’t want to call them primitive, because they aren’t. But these people certainly live “off the map” and “off the grid” in a land that is very hot and very dry. Oppressive even. This month I took my tent, my sleeping bag and my backpack and took the 7-hour drive over dirt roads (aka – paths) to the Pokot town of Kasei. I spent 5 days there talking and walking with Daniel Loyelel and with many of Daniel’s people. Daniel is a 47-year-old pastor of a Baptist church in Kasei. Daniel was saved and baptized under the ministry of a pioneering Baptist missionary to Pokot back in the 1980s. When the missionary left, Daniel decided to take up the call to his own people and plant a Baptist church in Kasei. He had no building and no money so he decided to place 60 stones on the ground under a tree for people to sit on while he preached the gospel. But nobody came. The next week, again, nobody came to hear the gospel. So Daniel began to pray, “Lord, turn these stones to people” and continued that prayer. In a couple of weeks, he had 10 people under the tree listening to the gospel.
Downtown Kasei
Now, Daniel’s church under a tree has a semi-permanent mud building to worship in and 200 men, women and children worshiping in it. But even beyond that Daniel and his people have seen the need to send the gospel to the rest of his people. They have sent their own men across the nearby mountains and have started a number of other Baptist churches in other villages. They are truly carrying on the great commission there from Kasei. Given Daniel’s start under the tree I am reminded of John the Baptist’s words to the Pharisees, “God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9) and Peter’s message to the pilgrims of the Dispersion, “You also, as LIVING stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5), and also God’s message to the Israelites of His power to “take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). What a great and awesome God we serve who can “turn stones to people”. To walk and talk with some of these folks and discuss their changed lives and their glorious Savior was a joy.
Let me briefly share a few entertaining stories of my trip.
Story #1: My new Pokot name. So, I was given a Pokot name from some of the Pokot people. My new name is Limakou. It means “a bull with spots on his head”. When I asked why they had given me that name all I got in return was chuckles and laughter.
Story #2: The coffee experience. I had taken with me some instant coffee in the off chance I might have an opportunity to enjoy some caffeine. So my new Pokot friends heated some water over a fire and asked if they could drink coffee with me as they had never tasted coffee before. I enjoyed my instant coffee from a rusting tin mug but my Pokot friends didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I did. They kept sticking out their tongues and frowning after each sip. Then they would add more water and sugar in an attempt to dilute and sweeten their nasty drink. I guess coffee is an acquired taste and the Pokot haven’t acquired it yet.
Story #3: The jimmy-rigged vehicle. Some friends of mine from Kitale graciously agreed to drive me to Kasei in their Land Rover. We were 4 hours out into the “bush” when the vehicle broke down. The missionary way of repairing vehicles out in the bush can be quite comical. It took twisty ties, binding wire and lots of electrical tape and sweat but two hours later we were back on our way.
Story #4: The ride home. My ride home from Kasei was in a public vehicle shuttle. It left Kasai at 2:30am. I was so tightly packed into the shuttle with other people that I couldn’t move. The driver drove and bounced us over the path faster than a whirlwind. The person behind me vomited 7 times. The 3 chickens in the back squawked the whole time. The drive blared the radio the entire trip on WKMC, the home of Africa’s greatest hits. Every song sounded exactly the same to me – Thunderous beat, repetitive rifts, indecipherable lyrics. Oh, well, at least I made it home safely.
Now that I’m back home the challenge will be to see if I can work with the people of Kasei. I want to help them in their ministering and their walk with Jesus but I also don’t want to get in their way. They would like for me to return and teach them in various Biblical seminars. They also begged me to bring Julie and Chloe with me but I just don’t see how that could be accomplished. I will pray and ask God to show me what he would like me to do and if the way is open.
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!
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