October 8, 2021

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,

Cause and effect.

Cause 1:  Over the past year and a half we have had a number of what I’ll call Governmental Covid Restrictions placed on religious institutions, including churches. The way this works is this: The government gets concerned about Covid cases, or the rise of Covid cases and as a result it shuts down cross county travel, institutes a curfew, and places serious restrictions on churches. Sometimes they say churches cannot meet, other times they say children under 12 and people over 59 cannot attend, or they say that less than 50% of a building’s seating capacity can be used.  During these times of restrictions people oftentimes fear going to church.  These restrictions often last a month or two before the government lifts them at which time people start trickling back to church.  Then, after a month or two the government gets concerned again and the cycle repeats all over again.

Cause 2: I visited the States for a month.

Effect 1: Because of the above reasons our attendance at the Chapel has dwindled considerably.  I suppose this is to be expected.  It is difficult for a small church group of people to survive such circumstances.

Effect 2: We have an opportunity to press the RESET button on the ministry, to do some things differently and to implement some changes that need to be made. Of course, I’m not going to change the basic things I started the Chapel for in the first place. I still plan on making the teaching and preaching Biblical and simple, directing the people to love and follow Jesus. I also still plan on keeping the worship simple and heartfelt. These are things seldom found in churches here in Kitale. Thus, the great need for an institution like the Upper Room Baptist Chapel. But, pushing the RESET button means we can implement a children’s ministry to make attending easier for families of children. We can also implement more first-century like fellowship – eating together, sharing together, and helping each other.  Also, we can implement what is oftentimes called “Outreach”.  I don’t want to call it that or even to think of it like that because “Outreach” usually focuses on “bringing people to the church”. I want the people of the Chapel to simply be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community, serving others in our community and showing them the love of Jesus. And, I don’t want them to do it to “bring people to the church” but simply because we love Jesus, love others, and want to show them the love and heart of Jesus.

So, we get to press the RESET button.  Opportunity or challenge?  Probably both.

Blessings to you 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.