Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Our first Monday appointment was at Kibathi where Peter Mbugua preaches. This is a rural church meeting in a borrowed room in a house in a small compound.  About 30 people were crammed into the room to hear my lesson from Mark 16 on “The Resurrection of Christ.”  A young brother translated it into Swahili.  English is the second official language in Kenya, but often rural people who read English cannot speak or understand the spoken word well.

This church outgrew the small room and several members came from the community of Kangui, so Peter established a new church there meeting in a small second-floor, rented room at the back of a building which houses businesses.  Today about 12 people joined us for the lesson from Colossians 3:11, “Christ Is All.”

A special lectureship for preachers on “How to Study the Bible” and “Marriage and Morals” was planned for August 1-3 in a conference room at the Eastward Garden Hotel in Nyahururu.  Paul Coffman and Joseph Warui attended to many details in arranging the venue and inviting preachers.  Joseph said 66 participants joined our class on Tuesday, some traveling a full day to arrive.  The session started with singing at 8:30 A.M. and then proceeded to specific topics.

The students were given the excellent Word in the Heart workbook entitled “How to Study the Bible” and I followed the main points in each chapter with some added material of my own.  My Tuesday topics were “A Book to Study,” “Can We Understand?,” “Reasons to Study,” “Prepare the Heart,” “Improper Attitudes,” and “Rightly Dividing.”  Paul also gave a lesson on how to be effective in our work as evangelists, and he conducted an evening session to address questions and lead additional discussion.  We are blessed to have have good translators such as Joseph Warui, Moses Njoguini, Robert Muchiri, and Boniface Warui.

Joseph said our Wednesday attendance was 59.  I had a full day of teaching which covered “Nailed to the Cross,” “The Context,” “Read All,” “Translations,” “Historical Context,” “When God Says Nothing,” and “Figurative Language.”  This was followed by an open forum in which both Paula and I fielded questions. Though I participated in nine sessions today, we are being blessed by beautiful weather with daytime temperatures in the 60’s – which avoids the problem of exhausting heat (which I was expecting).  I later learned their hottest season is January-April.

One brother was taken to the hospital, and it turned out he was suffering from pneumonia.  Two men visiting who were not New Testament Christians exercised their faith in Christ by repenting of their sins, confessing his name, and submitting to him in water baptism – we rejoice with God and the angels!

There were 57 souls present Thursday to study the theme of “Marriage and Morals” for the last day of our lectureship.  Every day singing praises to God has been part of our activities, and the singing is excellent.  I spent about 30 minutes this morning explaining how and why the Catholic Bible is different by adding books to the Old Testament, in answer to a question.  Then I addressed the subjects of “Marriage: God’s Gift to Man and Woman” and “Marriage: Joined by God.”  After lunch “The Threat of Pornography: Making Sex an Idol” was presented in two parts.  Because the lessons are translated, it took about three hours total to teach these two parts, but the men were patient and attentive.

In fact, they said they greatly enjoyed all of the lessons because it was their first time to participate in this kind of systematic study.  That reaction is understandable because all of them are relatively recent converts and they are hungry to learn.  It has been necessary for Paul to concentrate on basic first principles of the gospel in converting them and teaching them how to worship according to the New Testament.

At the end of the day, our parting was bitter-sweet as we rejoiced in our three days of study but regretted our parting of the ways.  Perhaps someone reading this report would like to come and conduct similar lectureships making a systematic study of Bible themes for the sake of these Kenyan preachers.  It is expensive but profitable work.  Contact Paul Coffman (frenchc1@aol.com) and Joseph Warui (josephmuthungu@gmail.com).  These Kenyan preachers are indeed hungry to learn!

Friday we traveled far out of town and left the highway to follow dusty paths across barren wilderness land to reach an area where over 480 native people garbed in their unique attire were assembled from the Saburu and the Massi tribes.  These people try to survive by farming and keeping sheep, goats, and cattle, but seasonal scarcity of water and occasional severe droughts create competition for water sources, resulting in violent clashes and warfare among six of 26 tribes in the region.  This perplexing problem has such a long history that the government has not been able to open schools for the six tribes which fight.

Joseph Warui and Paul Coffman have convinced the chiefs to agree to make peace with a provision that a non-profit organization will build a school for them to share.  Joseph is chairman of the board of this organization with eleven other people, some of whom are Christians.

As today’s gathering began, I opened the meeting with a prayer asking God to bless this project, these tribes, and every family with their children.  The plan includes new wells and equipment which can provide sufficient water supplies for all six tribes.  The government approved the plan, land has been obtained, private investors are getting involved, and a temporary school is projected to open in January of 2024 while plans for the larger permanent facility go forward.

Christians are actively involved in this project, but it is not connected to any congregation and no church funds are involved.  Today’s meeting was conducted on the property where the school will be built.  Peace among these six tribes is such an important accomplishment that it came to the attention of Kenya’s President, who wanted to meet Paul, and national T.V. covered our meeting here at the school’s site.
These efforts exemplify Galatians 6:10, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”  Christians will be utilized in the school as much as possible.  Already doors are opening to spread the gospel as people see the impact it has in individual lives and on the community.

Today various announcements and expressions of hope and appreciation were made by chiefs and by other tribal members.  This 2½ hour meeting in cool air under generous clouds concluded with my sermon on “Searching for the True God” (Acts 17:24-31).  Since these tribes recognize pagan gods, I shared Paul’s presentation of the one true God.  The people of Athens thought the gods were many, were inexplicably angry, and were very distant from man.  The Apostle Paul explained that one God made all the universe and all people, constantly cares for us and sustains us, and rules the nations so that all people who seek Him can find Him through Jesus Christ.  I closed the study by urging the people to bring their questions to Joseph for further study.  Since Christians have a leading role in this project, opportunities to sow the seed of God’s kingdom will grow.

Learn As You Go Department: Sitting outside for 2½ hours can give your head a sunburn even if there is a total cloud cover and you never see the sun.  I realized this when I stepped under the shower at the hotel last night and it felt like the top of my head was on fire – and water would not put it out.

Another participant in the previous three-days Bible lectureship was baptized into Christ today.

Kenya is doubtless the leading country in the world in speed bumps!  All paved roads have them in all sizes including neighborhoods, towns, and main highways.  Some are as huge as a hippopotamus – and that is only a slight exaggeration.  Vehicles must slowly crawl over the big ones or have their bottoms ripped out. Such are the discoveries of visiting other nations.  Flag this information for your next trip to Kenya!

I have been seeing a beautiful full Kenyan moon, in hope that you can see it too!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.hebronlanechurchofchrist.com
https://biblework.congregateclients.com
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com