Today we visited several members of the Gospel Fire church in Eldoret to pray for them including a woman who is having marital problems. Her husband is not a christian and he has a drink problem. Pray for a turnaround in her situation.
The service today stared very badly. We had no power and the heavy rains kept most of the people away and we had to cancel our afternoon street crusade. We started the evening service with a total of five of us in the building! Soon things picked up though and others came making a total of thirteen.The sermon was well received and most of the people came forward for prayer. Some with regard to what was preached {'overcoming fear'}. I didn't realise this until shortly before the service but the dirt street where this church is situated {it's actually a main road} was a focal point of the violence a few months ago. Dozens of bodies lay strewn along the road as gangs attacked anyone they could. Again it seems like this was a word in season.
The church was greatly affected as the congregation were almost all from the Kikuyu tribe. Many of them fled the area leaving very few members of the congregation left. Despite this however the church has grown significantly in the last few months with between 50 and100 coming to a sunday service. On one occasion 20 new people came into the church in one morning!
Last night we prayed with people with issues related to fear and one woman was healed of a stomach complaint which kept her in pain. {the pain disappeared immediately}. Another woman came forward for prayer because she was worried about doing things in the church and whether God would accept her. I had hardly started talking to her and tears came down her face. By the end her face had changed into a look of joy. This is the kind of thing that encourages me as well. Despite a slow start it would seem that the same God who met with us in Nairobi is here with us in Eldoret too.
Please pray for the saturday and sunday meetings, for good dry weather and for God to touch the hearts of the congregation and for myself also that God would give me the right words to say.
regards...Steve
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Friday, 11 July 2008
Last day in Nairobi - Gospel fire church
What a wonderful day we had. Four of those who gave their lives to Christ in the meetings so far came to the afternoon seminar and one of them came into the pastors office and put numerous drugs she had been taking on the table and told him she wasn't taking them any more. She had been addicted to pain killers but had not taken them since she was saved in the sreet crusade the previous evening. She has felt no pain since.
A scripture came to mind which says "A bruised reed he shall not break and a smoking flax he shall not quench" In the afternoon I ministered on the bruised reed which I take to mean those christians who have been hurt or damaged and was entitled 'But David encouraged himself in the Lord" In the midst of pain and discouragement when others spoke of killing him David had learned to find encouragement in God and this turned things round for him.
In the evening street crusade I preached on the smoking flax, those believers whose fire for God had almost gone out but there was still something there. Eight people came to the Lord that night and one man was healed of a kidney complaint and testified over the microphone to the crowd. Another man gave his life to Christ and is infected with typhoid and malaria. He is no longer working and hadn't eaten for two days so we took him to the church afterwards and he ate with us.
Four of the converts from the previous meetings came to the afternoon seminar which was really encouraging. Another woman came for prayer in the evening and told us that she had been oppressed by frightening demonic dreams. She believed it had something to do with relatives who were in to the occult and were trying to get her into it too. She is a christian but very scared. Another woman came forward to give her life to Christ after telling me she felt the message was specifically for her. She followed Jesus many years ago but had put her life into her business and had drifted from God. She could hear the crusade from her shop and left it to recommit her life to the Lord. She was in tears as we prayed with her.
I wish we could continue here a few more days. There seems to be a momentum building up. One man in the last light was healed of kidney pain and we had him testify to the crowd of what God had just done. Please pray for this church that the momentum will continue and that the converts will become productive members of the church and grow in Christ.
Bwana Asifiwe {Praise the Lord}...........Steve
A scripture came to mind which says "A bruised reed he shall not break and a smoking flax he shall not quench" In the afternoon I ministered on the bruised reed which I take to mean those christians who have been hurt or damaged and was entitled 'But David encouraged himself in the Lord" In the midst of pain and discouragement when others spoke of killing him David had learned to find encouragement in God and this turned things round for him.
In the evening street crusade I preached on the smoking flax, those believers whose fire for God had almost gone out but there was still something there. Eight people came to the Lord that night and one man was healed of a kidney complaint and testified over the microphone to the crowd. Another man gave his life to Christ and is infected with typhoid and malaria. He is no longer working and hadn't eaten for two days so we took him to the church afterwards and he ate with us.
Four of the converts from the previous meetings came to the afternoon seminar which was really encouraging. Another woman came for prayer in the evening and told us that she had been oppressed by frightening demonic dreams. She believed it had something to do with relatives who were in to the occult and were trying to get her into it too. She is a christian but very scared. Another woman came forward to give her life to Christ after telling me she felt the message was specifically for her. She followed Jesus many years ago but had put her life into her business and had drifted from God. She could hear the crusade from her shop and left it to recommit her life to the Lord. She was in tears as we prayed with her.
I wish we could continue here a few more days. There seems to be a momentum building up. One man in the last light was healed of kidney pain and we had him testify to the crowd of what God had just done. Please pray for this church that the momentum will continue and that the converts will become productive members of the church and grow in Christ.
Bwana Asifiwe {Praise the Lord}...........Steve
Eldoret and Kisumu
I have a three day mission in the eastern city of Eldoret covering friday, saturday and sunday with host pastor Joseph Karanja and then moday through to Wednesday will be in the city of Kisumu for three more days of meetings. We've already seen God do some wonderful things, people healed, delivered and saved. I would love to see this continue so keep praying.
Looking forward to giving another good report soon....Steve
Looking forward to giving another good report soon....Steve
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
'Gospel Fire- Nairobi'
On Monday Erwin and Timothy set off for ministry in the church of the Lord Mombasa. I am now working with gospel fire ministries and am with their church in Nairobi. Hopefully Timothy will update you on events in Mombasa in the next few days.
Things have accelerated here. The response by the people in the church is excellent and I am finding that God is continuing to give the right words at the right time. The Swahili praise and worship is passionate and you can get so easily enveloped in it all.
On Tuesday the pastor added a street crusade to the end of our afternoon revival service. {I looked through all my sermon noted but found no peace about any of it.} The music equipment we had set up on the main street kept going wrong and as I took the stage with my notes I had chosen something said to me 'Just preach the gospel'. At the end of it many people came forward for prayer and 4 people committed their lives to Jesus. This is the first time this church has done a street event and the pastor told me it is very hard to win souls here but we are now seeing breakthroughs. As a result I have a number of prayer requests.
A Tanzanian lady is raising her children on her own with not enough money to support her family. She asks for a financial breakthrough.
Another lady is in a similar situation after her marriage ended and has no job at all. She came forward saying she wanted to give her life to Jesus. Pray for her to continue in the decision she has made and for a job to support her family.
A young lady from a Catholic background came to recommit her life to the Lord. She has become born again in the past but told us she keeps falling away. We found out that it was the influence of non christian friends that was drawing her away. Pray that she would be given divine strength to stand for Jesus, for the courage to break off ungodly ties and for the establishment of godly relationships in the church which would support her.
In the fist night of the revival services a man came into the church and answered the altar call to give his life to Jesus. Pray that he would continue in that decision for Christ.
A man came forward on crutches with one leg amputated at the knee and told us he wanted to come back to the Lord. He was once a keen christian and student of the bible but got into an adulterous relationship and went his own way. He was wealthy with two cars. Now his life has hit rock bottom. He has nothing. A car accident took one of his legs and he has no job, no wife and no home. He has been put up with his child in a shack and has an alcohol problem. He is overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness. I hope to see him again this afternoon at the service.
God bless you...Steve
Things have accelerated here. The response by the people in the church is excellent and I am finding that God is continuing to give the right words at the right time. The Swahili praise and worship is passionate and you can get so easily enveloped in it all.
On Tuesday the pastor added a street crusade to the end of our afternoon revival service. {I looked through all my sermon noted but found no peace about any of it.} The music equipment we had set up on the main street kept going wrong and as I took the stage with my notes I had chosen something said to me 'Just preach the gospel'. At the end of it many people came forward for prayer and 4 people committed their lives to Jesus. This is the first time this church has done a street event and the pastor told me it is very hard to win souls here but we are now seeing breakthroughs. As a result I have a number of prayer requests.
A Tanzanian lady is raising her children on her own with not enough money to support her family. She asks for a financial breakthrough.
Another lady is in a similar situation after her marriage ended and has no job at all. She came forward saying she wanted to give her life to Jesus. Pray for her to continue in the decision she has made and for a job to support her family.
A young lady from a Catholic background came to recommit her life to the Lord. She has become born again in the past but told us she keeps falling away. We found out that it was the influence of non christian friends that was drawing her away. Pray that she would be given divine strength to stand for Jesus, for the courage to break off ungodly ties and for the establishment of godly relationships in the church which would support her.
In the fist night of the revival services a man came into the church and answered the altar call to give his life to Jesus. Pray that he would continue in that decision for Christ.
A man came forward on crutches with one leg amputated at the knee and told us he wanted to come back to the Lord. He was once a keen christian and student of the bible but got into an adulterous relationship and went his own way. He was wealthy with two cars. Now his life has hit rock bottom. He has nothing. A car accident took one of his legs and he has no job, no wife and no home. He has been put up with his child in a shack and has an alcohol problem. He is overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness. I hope to see him again this afternoon at the service.
God bless you...Steve
Kenya Calvary Chapel.
Sunday was the 21st anniversary of the main church we have been with in Dandora, Nairobi. People came from Mombasa and even Tanzania to be at the event. I was sent to another church that day and it proved to be the right thing at the right time.
The church is run by bishop Moses who also does mission work in South Africa. He has been driving us round the city all week and I looked forward to visiting the church. Moses is an exuberant pentecostal preacher/evangelist and the church song service was lively.
I didn't even start writing the notes for this sermon until late the previous evening but felt very inspired. I preached on the power of unity, how we are to look after others in the church and a number of other things. It must have gone well because I carried on a long time and the people were still very attentive. I looked at bishop Moses and asked if he wanted me to wrap things up. He was intent on me continuing as long as it took. {The sermon lasted nearly two hours!}
The response afterwards was great. I offered to pray with those who wanted to see prodigals come back to the church and many were touched by the message and requested prayer for loved ones and so the post service prayer ministry went on for a long time as well. Moses told me that the people usually start leaving of their own accord if the service goes beyond One O clock but they all staying. He told me that the message related to the main issue of the church and many were deeply moved. This certainly wasn't down to any talent on my part but was down to the message God gave me.
This seems to be the norm here. I've come with prepared messages but am preparing sermons at the last minute which turns out to deal with the main issue of the church I preach at next. We eventually got to Dandora at around 5:00pm. The event was in it's last hour. It didn't matter as we had such a good service at Calvary Chapel.
There are too many prayer requests to mention but generally I would like you to pray for all who requested prayer at that church and that they would see loved ones come back to the Lord.
God bless you...Steve
The church is run by bishop Moses who also does mission work in South Africa. He has been driving us round the city all week and I looked forward to visiting the church. Moses is an exuberant pentecostal preacher/evangelist and the church song service was lively.
I didn't even start writing the notes for this sermon until late the previous evening but felt very inspired. I preached on the power of unity, how we are to look after others in the church and a number of other things. It must have gone well because I carried on a long time and the people were still very attentive. I looked at bishop Moses and asked if he wanted me to wrap things up. He was intent on me continuing as long as it took. {The sermon lasted nearly two hours!}
The response afterwards was great. I offered to pray with those who wanted to see prodigals come back to the church and many were touched by the message and requested prayer for loved ones and so the post service prayer ministry went on for a long time as well. Moses told me that the people usually start leaving of their own accord if the service goes beyond One O clock but they all staying. He told me that the message related to the main issue of the church and many were deeply moved. This certainly wasn't down to any talent on my part but was down to the message God gave me.
This seems to be the norm here. I've come with prepared messages but am preparing sermons at the last minute which turns out to deal with the main issue of the church I preach at next. We eventually got to Dandora at around 5:00pm. The event was in it's last hour. It didn't matter as we had such a good service at Calvary Chapel.
There are too many prayer requests to mention but generally I would like you to pray for all who requested prayer at that church and that they would see loved ones come back to the Lord.
God bless you...Steve
Friday, 4 July 2008
Recent services and God's favour.
Erwin and myself are now preaching in different places. The church have sent me to one of their daughter churches in the poorest area of Nairobi which is called 'Soweto' named after the poverty stricken area of South Africa.
The night before last I preached on how God can help us overcome fear. The response was overwhelmingly positive. It turns out that fear is one of the main challenges in the area and this word helped people a lot.
Yesterday we all went to another church in Jopka, Nairobi where there is a small but very vibrant church which has faced stiff opposition from some local people. {especially christians}. Some are angry that the pastor is a woman and have told her that God does not anoint women. Despite this she has a wonderful worship service going and the church loves to sing and praise. I knew nothing of these things when I started preaching but I ministered on Davicd overcoming Goliath and the things he overcame beforehand. His elder brother Eliab made nasty accuisations about him that were unfounded yet Davids response to it is very important. I told the church that God is always looking for a man or woman like David and that if we would have his attitude God will fight for us and help us to defeat the Goliaths in our lives. Several things I said related to things that were happening in the church and the word was very well recieved.
Tonight we will be back at Soweto. Pray that God would give us the right words to speak and for a miraculous healing for a young girl by the name of 'Peris' who after a stick went into her eye is now blind in that eye, suffered headackes and blackouts. Her family simply cannot afford to get hospital treatment but we are believing God for a miracle.
God bless you...steve
The night before last I preached on how God can help us overcome fear. The response was overwhelmingly positive. It turns out that fear is one of the main challenges in the area and this word helped people a lot.
Yesterday we all went to another church in Jopka, Nairobi where there is a small but very vibrant church which has faced stiff opposition from some local people. {especially christians}. Some are angry that the pastor is a woman and have told her that God does not anoint women. Despite this she has a wonderful worship service going and the church loves to sing and praise. I knew nothing of these things when I started preaching but I ministered on Davicd overcoming Goliath and the things he overcame beforehand. His elder brother Eliab made nasty accuisations about him that were unfounded yet Davids response to it is very important. I told the church that God is always looking for a man or woman like David and that if we would have his attitude God will fight for us and help us to defeat the Goliaths in our lives. Several things I said related to things that were happening in the church and the word was very well recieved.
Tonight we will be back at Soweto. Pray that God would give us the right words to speak and for a miraculous healing for a young girl by the name of 'Peris' who after a stick went into her eye is now blind in that eye, suffered headackes and blackouts. Her family simply cannot afford to get hospital treatment but we are believing God for a miracle.
God bless you...steve
Prayer requests
On tuesday evening after a service I was asked to pray for a young girl by the name of 'Peris' {Not Paris in case you were wondering}. She had a stick hither in her left eye and the stick actualy went into her eye. It has now gone white and she cannot see through it. She is suffering from headaches and occassionaly faints.
She lives in the porest part of Nairobi called 'Soweto' named after the poverty stricken area of South Africa. There is no way her mother can afford hospital treatment and so we are praying for a miraculous recovery. Please pray for ht efainting to stop and for the headaches to go and for her eye to be healed.
Alos one of the pastors in the fellowship I am ministering for is called Steve. He has been married for 13 years but his wife cannot have children because a tube is blocked. They cannot afford the money it would take for an operation to correct this so please pray for his wife also.
God bless you...Steve
Thankyou....Steve
She lives in the porest part of Nairobi called 'Soweto' named after the poverty stricken area of South Africa. There is no way her mother can afford hospital treatment and so we are praying for a miraculous recovery. Please pray for ht efainting to stop and for the headaches to go and for her eye to be healed.
Alos one of the pastors in the fellowship I am ministering for is called Steve. He has been married for 13 years but his wife cannot have children because a tube is blocked. They cannot afford the money it would take for an operation to correct this so please pray for his wife also.
God bless you...Steve
Thankyou....Steve
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