Burgess Road Baptist Church

May 2016

Beloved Prayer Partners

Psalm 78:4-8 reminds us of the importance of the gracious works of God for each generation and the solemn and sacred duty of each generation to ensure that those coming after them would remember God’s gracious acts from the past. In essence, each generation should be motivated to place their confidence in God and His Word. Otherwise, failure to remember God’s gracious work would lead future generations to forget God and to repeat the mistakes of those whose heart and spirit were not right and steadfast before God. Note that 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 demonstrates the reason and the purpose for the written Word of God.

Discipleship ministries:

1. Bible School Students – Simeon Koech, Mike Otieno, Silvanus Agisu
2. Sunday afternoon Bible Training – Simeon Koech, Mike Otieno, Silvanus Agisu, David Ouma.

Church Ministries:

1. We have continued to work closely with church families struggling in their spiritual lives and facing financial challenges as well as life decisions. Note that we are faced with cultural beliefs as well as prosperity or materialistic mindset in the lives of many. Biblical counseling is truly important in every ministry and growing believers.
2. We have been faced with deaths in relation to our church members and we have been engaged in funerals one after another. Though a time to comfort, also opportunities available for us to share the gospel.
3. Sicknesses have been a challenge with church members also following each other. Desmond Agisu/Roseline/Stephen’s uncle, etc.
4. We have seen good progress in every department of ministry with new families, young adults, and children from the community joining the church. We have seen more commitment to ministry service and involvement. Pray for more desires and commitments.

Outreach Ministries:

1. House-to-house visitation during Easter this year gave us a great opportunity to reach out to a great number of homes with tracts and invitations as we shared our faith without fear. We held an afternoon seminar on “God’s Provisions” at the time as well that has led to a continuous visits thereafter.
2. Early this Month, May 8^th 2016, David Ouma led our Youths on a mission to Sing’ore Girls High School where they shared the Word of God.
3. Sayare Radio program continues to be a blessing and an avenue for us to reach out to the outcast of the city of Eldoret and the larger Western region of Kenya.

Building Project:

1. Faced a challenge with the builder and have come to an agreement with a new builder who is ready to finalize the work.
2. Financial challenges exist but we thank God for the progress. Although not much, the church is making their building contribution as we progress. On May 2016, the church will be putting together the collection from different departments. Pray for success and commitment of all.
3. We desire to begin the final part of roofing after the heavy rains that continue around the country. Pray and support this progress with whatever God lays in your heart for God’s glory.
4. We desire to officially dedicate the facility in February 2017 along with celebration of our 10^th Your support is appreciated dearly.

Family Life:

1. We thank God for His provision and protection under His wings. Ian, Regina, and Rena are keeping on with school, this being their last semester for this school calendar year. Pray for them as they get into their final year of High school (Ian and Regina) and Rena going to her final year of elementary (primary) school.
2. Edna continues to be a blessing to us all at home, church, and in ministry. Apart from taking care of her family, she serves as a Sunday school superintendent, Sunday school teacher, Lady’s Bible Study leader, etc. amongst others.
3. Stephen is busy with preaching and teaching and leadership of the ministry apart from dealing with legal issues and building project and weekly pastoral duties. Pray for us daily.

We, thus, pray to our Lord and savior, “Spur my desire to search this work which you’ve finely wrought, Frame my poor mind to comprehend its treasured fill, Mold all my heart to love the truths you’ve kindly taught, Grant me the faith to do your good and perfect will.”

In His Care,

Stephen & Edna Muindi
Ian, Regina, Rena
Ephesians 2:10

January 2016

Dear Ministry Partners

It’s important to note that the foundation, the progress, and the future victory of God’s people rests in God’s Word. Liberals may try to destroy the foundations of Christianity, but all the foundations of God stand sure (2 Timothy 2:19). Just as God warned the nation of Israel against their disobedience, unbelief, and rebellion that led them to captivity and destruction, so should we be warned, for these are the days when righteousness is perverted and the righteous are despised. God stated that “…My people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge….” Further, He noted, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing that thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children” (Hosea 4:6). The psalmist did ask a very pertinent question for us to answer. “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). In other words, what are the children of God to do? First, we must exercise a deep and ever-deepening faith in the indestructible Holy Scriptures. Second, we must earnest contend for the faith…once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3).

We praise the Lord for your prayers and support over the years. Our lives and the ministry here have been made possible by your commitment and desire to reach out with the gospel. Some of you have supplied us with training materials and financially supplied for ministry equipment. We are so thankful for your Christmas Cards, greetings, letters, and gifts. You mean a lot to us and you truly refresh our souls and make us re-energized for another year. God bless you so-so-so-so-so… much.

We praise the Lord for keeping and sustaining us by His grace through the most difficult moment in our ministry in 2015. The process of church discipline was so painful to us as well as the church family. We continue to pray for repentance and restoration of those who are being deceived by the evil one and their own desires for the pleasures of this world. Please continue to pray with us for God’s help and faithfulness in the teaching and the preaching of God’s Word. We continue to train men and women for ministry and truly looking forward for a time that we will have a Bible College established.

We praise the Lord for the progress of Elgon View Baptist Church auditorium facility which is at the roofing stage. We hope to see the roofing done by June/July 2016 and the metal doors and windows and wiring and sounding, etc., by December 2016 as finances avail. If all goes well as we anticipate and with God’s help in meeting the financial needs, we should be able to plan for an official opening of the facility and dedication service during the 10th Anniversary in February 5, 2017. Please send your gift toward this project through Baptist Mid-Missions indicating “Muindi Building Project,” and make it part of your prayer for this project to be accomplished in His time.

We praise the Lord for the three men (Simeon Koech, Silvanus Agisu, and Mike Otieno) who are attending a local Bible Institute under my tutelage. We continue to see a good progress in their lives and families and trust that the Lord is leading them into ministry. We have truly begun to see the fruits of our patience in faithful teaching and preaching as we train others for ministry. Please pray for them on daily basis and for God’s leading in their lives in ministry.

Every New Year comes with desires and strategic plans are made. Some of these plans are either long term or short term. Please pray for such short term plans to be in line with the long term strategic plan and accomplish the purpose of our ministry goals.

Pray for us to be faithful and vigilant in our walk with the Lord; for our kids to keep on well in school, home, and church; for Bible Training with four men every Sunday afternoon; for faithful and effective preaching and teaching through the weekly Radio Program; for progress in laying a foundation for a beginning of a Biblically founded and Christ-centered Bible College to serve in a vital place of need; for numerical and spiritual growth of Elgon View Baptist Church along with the needed facilities for Sunday school teaching and Bible College Training; for peace in the country as political temperatures rise toward elections next year; and for a fruitful 2016 regardless of Church Building Project and weekly ministry demands.

Pray for Ian and Regina as they progress in school to 12th grade this summer and thus a year away from college. This will further place more constrains on Mom and Dad financially and planning for our furlough beginning August 2017 through August 2018. Ian and Regina have to make career their choices and we should be making some considerations. They have always desired to go into medicine and may be someone out there can assist us in those areas. If you are considering having us to be part of your ministry during our furlough, please let us know as we begin to make our schedules for 2017-2018. We long to see most of you during that time. But hopefully, we trust that we can see some of you come visit with us here before our time with you there. We thank you all again for praying for us and with us and for your unceasing love and support in ministry. Blessed 2016!!!

In His Care,
Stephen & Edna Muindi
Ian, Regina, Rena
Psalm 11:3

2015

Merry Christmas from Lamar and Dian Enfinger

Dear Pastor Cooley and Church Family,

Another year is almost finished. How time flies especially when we are getting older, but still have the burden in our hearts to volunteer in Christian camps.

Our year started out with an illness of Acquired Hemophilia and a 3-1/2 weeks hospital stay. This illness actually started while on a Mission Trip in November 2014, but the results of what was actually happening to me was discovered in January 2015. I was simply sitting on our couch having a cup of coffee and my knee began to swell very big. Ouch, this really began to hurt. I called for Lamar and as soon as I was able to get off the couch and with much effort we were on the way to the ER. When the Dr. drew out the “fluid” with his long needle, the fluid tuned out to actually be blood. He did this three times and still blood came out. I was soon sent to Sacred Heart Hospital as the lab technicians felt the machines at West Florida Hospital were not working. I waited in the ER room at Sacred Heart Hospital until a call from Dr. Malhotra said for me to be admitted. To make a long story short, the next morning in the hospital Dr. Malhotra came in my room and told me he had been up most of the night on his computer and talking to other doctors and it was evident that I had Acquired Hemophilia. He also said only 1 in 1-1/2 million people get this illness at my age and there is no cure. After a few moments of silence I said, “I am a child of God and He does heal.”

As soon as Pastor Cooley and family heard the news, prayers started going up immediately. Even though Lamar and I did not completely understand this illness we, after talking to our Lord and Savior and holding each other with tears shed, accepted that God knew what was best and asked for complete peace that this was His choice in our lives and we needed to give it all to Him. What more could we do but again realize that we need to take things one day at a time. Everyone was wonderful to us and even though I still can’t remember everything that happened in the hospital I do know there were so many blessings that it was hard to complain. A lot of plasma was placed inside my body, a couple of blood transfusions and then Dr. Malhotra started me on chemo.

How thankful I am that Lamar, my wonderful husband, was there by my side as much as possible. Family, friends and so many prayed and stayed with me when they could.

Now almost a year later, in December 2015, I am on chemo prevention every two months. Also during this year when Dr. Malhotra gave us our first 6 weeks between chemo because my numbers were normal he said, “Now you can get in your RV and do some mission work.” Yes, he knows about our lives and he has shared some of his. We believe God chose Dr. Malhotra to take this illness and give his best to heal me with God working through him. Lamar and I left in October and volunteered in two different Christian camps in Tennessee and also visited our daughter. Then in December our doctor stretched my chemo treatment to 2 months. We took advantage of this time and called our children and said we want to go to Orlando and just have some fun. How privileged we were that all of our children were able to go with us and the four days of early family Christmas vacation was simply and absolutely wonderful. The weather was beautiful, God gave me strength to walk around with what l call my magic cane and we laughed, talked about so many things, and this time was an indescribable exciting loving trip we hope to never forget.

ln November, 2015, our Mission Board Program of MMAP closed the doors. There were not enough volunteers to keep our office open. But this has not stopped many of us involved in this kind of volunteer work. Lamar and l are now Independent Mobile Missionaries. Already many of the camps we have volunteered at have contacted us to please come back and help.

Lamar and l still plan to do the same kind of volunteering and hopefully get back on the road in April. The next three months are full of appointments and we plan to do some needed work around our home and get some repairs fixed on our 9 year old RV.

Thanks to all for all of your prayers. God isn’t through with us yet.

We would like to mention that this year our son also got married to our most wonderful daughter in law, April. How blessed we are to have been there at the wedding. Sometimes we think it can’t happen to us and that we will keep on living even though we know there will be a time when God calls us home. When that time comes for us to leave this earth please make sure that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. He died on the cross for you and all He asks is that you believe in Him. Confess your sins and trust only in Him. He did it all for us.

Proverbs 3 2,6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on to thine own understanding ln all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths.” To Lamar and I this verse is so powerful in our lives.

Again thanks most of all for powerful prayers. Remember God is always listening!