GOD Dots
African pastor calls small Idaho church
By Jim Day I was praying and asking God what He wanted to include in this issue. We have seen many God Dot stories over the last three years. … Then I got a phone call. The number had several extra digits and no caller ID. I was about to ignore the call when a little voice in my head told me to answer it. It was from a man named Wycliffe Ouma Oyangore. He said that he was the pastor of a church in Kenya and that he’d been praying that God would connect him with an evangelical church in the United States. I have to admit I was a little suspicious. I thought, he’ll want money, of course. Then there was the language barrier. He spoke EngJim Day lish, but his accent made it difficult for me to understand him. I asked him to send me an email. Then we prayed and said goodbye. I texted my email address to him and then received a wonderful message from him. He asked if our church would “sister” with his for the advancement of God’s Kingdom in Kenya. He asked for prayer. I love to pray! Here is the email that he sent to me:
Hi Pastor Jim, About my family: My wife is called Patricia Achieng. I have six children – four daughters and two sons, called Linda, Deborah, Marcie, Annhill, John and Glister. I am 40 years and my wife is 35 years. I came from a poor family and that made me not go to school, and so, I am just feeding my family with small means of farming and that’s where I get what I have to give as my offering unto the Almighty God. My spiritual life history: I got saved in the year 2001 and in year 2004 I heard the voice of God talking to me at 5 a.m. on a mountain when praying and fasting. He said to go and teach His people; it was a long conversation with God. I started doing the work of God in the ministry to which I was born spiritually. My pastor and mentor died in the year 2017 and things started to fall apart as I was just a servant of teaching the Word of God. Later, in the year 2020, God directed me to go to a town called Rongo here in Kenya to share the Gospel and that is when I started this church. It has around 43 elderly members and 36 children, we pray for new members to continue coming. We have 8 people as a team of praying intercessors. The church is leasing ground which we have to pay monthly because we still lack land to build a place for worship. The majority of church members are poor and we have to manage with the little we get from offerings. I and our team are praying that God may provide a way to achieve land for building a place for worship because the owner of the leased land changes his mind abruptly and can interfere with church congregating. We really do the same spiritual work you do by teaching the biblical truth. Dream: My dream is to fulfill the spiritual needs of God’s people, according to Him, (discipling) through fellowship, teaching, prayer and fasting according Acts 2:42 and reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and planting churches, Mk. 16:15-17 and Mt. 28:19-20.
Plan: My plan is to pray consistently with my prayer team so that God could open doors for us to achieve goals of building places for fellowship, empower unfortunate people like widows, orphans and the destitute (Isa. 58:7, James 1:27), establish income generating projects to support the entire mission, supporting or empowering servants of God who are out to do the work of God in churches, according to 3 John 1:5-8. I also wish to help new converts who are poor with Bibles to study the Word of God (Jos. 1:8). My view: I would like to request you as from today that your ministry name is the one that this church I have stated will be, because I have not named it. And also request you to plan and come to see us and do some required things for establishing ministry here, i.e., ordination to servants and registration of the ministry here as the government of Kenya demands. I may not have covered everything, but you are free to ask me anything that you want me to answer. Once again, may the will of God be done as He planned it for His glory. My love to you and family. Shalom
Wycliffe and I have exchanged many emails and phone calls. I have made calls to others to ensure that Wycliffe and his church are legitimate. He checks out. So, the question is, “Why did God make this connection with Wycliffe and his church?” Here is what I know to be true. The nation of Islam is invading almost all of Africa. They are building small mosques in many areas in many nations. The most wealthy churches and people in the world are American. The Christian churches in Africa are some of the poorest in the world. The Lord put it on Wycliffe’s heart to seek partnership with someone/anyone, who might be able to help. You see, Wycliffe and his church are much like Gideon in Judges, Chapter 6. The smallest and the weakest against a horde of locusts. I believe that Wycliffe is a mighty man of valor. God can do what He wants with or without us, but through this God Dot, He is giving us an opportunity to participate (with Him) in helping the church in Africa. I don’t know about you, but I’m in! Our church has decided to do all that we can to help this little church. Not sure how much help we can be, because our church is smaller than his. So, there is an ask here: Please pray for us and for Wycliffe and for God’s glory in this. Our church is ordering Bibles to be sent in two weeks and is starting a building fund. I have no doubt that God has called us to this. If you pray and feel that God has called you to help, contact me at jandcday87@gmail.com. This God Dot could be the start of something really big! n
G O D d o t s
16 May / June 2021 | Christian Living
Jim Day is the pastor of Evangelical Valley Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Hazelton, Idaho. He may be reached at jandcday87@gmail.com.
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