Mercy Ministries Update November 2019
Eatons on their first day in Kaya! (left to right: Evan, Tanya, Levi, Jacob, RaeAnn, Sophia, Joshua, Josh, and Sherri)
November was yet another busy month at Mercy Ministries. We thank God for all He has done in spite of us. One of the highlights was an eight-day mission trip from an amazing family, the Eatons. Josh Eaton pastors Cross Point Baptist Church in Caney, KS. He came with his wife Sherri, and their three oldest children, RaeAnn, Sophia, and Joshua. Josh’s brother Jacob also came with his wife Tanya and their two sons, Levi and Evan. I can’t even describe what a blessing it was to have them come serve alongside us. We already miss them dearly.
Mercy Baptist Church
Mercy Baptist Church Kaya currently has 84 members. This is the church that we planted almost 2 years ago (January 2018) that meets at the Mercy Ministries campus. I pastor the church along with two other elders, Leonard Wanyonyi and Richard Simiyu. Leonard is currently attending KReST (Kisumu Reformed School of Theology) and Richard attends the Wisdom Training Center classes that meet at our campus every Saturday.
KReST is a great seminary degree program that is led by the HeartCry directors for Kenya, Naphtally Ogallo and Sam Oluoch. We currently have four pastors of our 2 church plants and 2 other churches we work closely with enrolled at KReST. Their recent assignments have included the Offices of Christ, Eschatology, the Minor Prophets, the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the Fall of Man, Total depravity, Church Planting, Evangelism and Missions. Required reading has included Berkhof, Mbewe, Lloyd-Jones, and Packer. WTC is a certificate and diploma program that is also very solid. It is led by Elly Achok and takes the students through units of about 6 weeks each, studying various doctrines of Systematic Theology. We have a total of 15 local pastors currently enrolled. They are currently studying the doctrine of God. Required readings for this unit includes Berkhof, Lloyd-Jones, and the 1689 LBCF.
Our other church plant, Mercy Baptist Church Tulumba, currently has 31 members. During pastor Josh Eaton’s visit, we were privileged to baptize 9 of them. A few weeks prior, I taught a covenant membership class which included a biblical explanation of baptism. We baptized these 9 after a credible profession of faith after having gone through the membership classes. Our next step there is to implement Communion on a weekly basis, as we are also doing currently in Kaya. We are also working with the choir at pastor Elly Achok’s church in Mumias to assist us in training the choirs at both churches.
Also during the Eaton’s visit, we held our first-ever Bible conference here in Kaya village. God willing, we hope to make this an annual event. This was a two-day conference which featured pastor Michael Maura of Bethesda Baptist Church in Nairobi and pastor Josh Eaton as our speakers. What a blessing it was for all of us to sit under their preaching. The theme of the conference was The Five Solas of the Reformation. We had 292 pastors, church leaders, and community members from Bungoma, Kitale, and even Uganda in attendance. The preaching was Biblical, the worship was God-honoring, and the fellowship was sweet. Thanks to The Gospel Coalition and Ekklesia Afrika East, we were able to give each attendee a free copy of Ufanisi? (The Swahili version of Prosperity? written by our conference speaker Michael Maura, along with Ken Mbugua, Conrad Mbewe, John Piper, and Wayne Grudem).
Group photo at the end of the conference
Two days later we did some house to house evangelism in our village with several members of the Eaton family. We were welcomed by several families and managed to hand out more copies of Ufanisi? as well as some Bible tracts in English and Swahili. That evening, the Eatons joined us for Family Bible Study with the Mercy Home family. We sang Come Thou Fount, Be Thou My Vision, and Psalm 23. We then watched a brief video on the Doctrine of Heaven from our Little Pilgrims Theology curriculum.
We feed the children of our community lunch every Saturday and Sunday. On the Saturday that the Eatons were with us, they helped feed the children... physically and spiritually. Levi (Jacob and Tanya’s 11 year old) did a Gospel presentation and each child received a bracelet and plan of salvation in Swahili. Even the workers building the school came and listened and wanted a bracelet and plan of salvation. There were nearly 300 children in attendance. Later that evening, Levi did the same Gospel presentation with the children (ages 5 and up) living at Mercy Home.
The last day the Eatons were in Kaya was on Sunday, December 1st. We had an all-church worship service for the four churches that we work closely with, (our 2 church plants plus 2 churches in nearby villages). Pastor Josh Eaton preached on Ephesians 3:14-21. After the service, we gave out to everyone in attendance who did not already receive a copy, Ufanisi? Immediately after the service, Evan Eaton (age 9) told his parents that he has looked to Christ for his salvation. Soli Deo gloria!
Mercy Children’s Home
We currently have 90 children living in our home and in a few days will be taking in three more former street boys who have gone through a rehabilitation program at Embrace a Street Child in Kitale. All of our children are growing and doing well. We have 11 kiddos that are HIV positive, 9 of which are suppressed. We are awaiting test results on the other 2. Getting treatment for HIV is free here in Kenya, but we have to constantly monitor to make certain the correct medications were given from the hospital program. We also have to make certain the children are fed a very good diet as the medications are very strong and can make them sick otherwise.
During their visit, Sherri and Tanya Eaton did a Gospel presentation with the help of RaeAnn, Sophia, Levi and Evan using felt pieces to all the children of Mercy Home aged 5 and older.
The feeding program we are doing for the children of our village on Saturdays and Sundays helps us to stay more in touch with our community. Several months ago, Stephanie noticed a little boy walking abnormally on his foot so she asked our social worker, Dottie, to check on him. It turned out that he had a clubbed foot, but his family could not afford surgery. Unfortunately it is common here for clubbed feet to go untreated. We were able to take him to Dreamland Hospital in nearby Kimilili where they fixed his foot for free! It was such a blessing to see him healed from his ailment. His family has lived in Uganda, but due to some issues and loss of their land they had to move to Kenya. His father wanted to support his family but was struggling to find work. We were able to give him a job as our grounds keeper and the Mercy Home grounds as well as the Mercy Christian Academy grounds have never looked better!
Mercy Christian Academy
Mark and Lauren of EIC training our MCA teachers and staff
We are preparing to open the second week of January for the new school year. This year we are adding grade 6 so that grade 5 from last year can continue to attend MCA. We recently had missionaries from Eldoret, Education in Christ, come and teach a week-long training seminar for all of our teachers and school leadership. They did such an amazing job! Their efforts are really helping us to achieve our goal of being a truly authentic Christian school. They will again return in January after the school year begins for a 3-week stay where they will be able to spend time observing and mentoring each of our teachers.
During the Eatons’ visit, Jacob Eaton and Karson Bys, along with a little help from Josh Eaton, Stephanie Bys, and myself, managed to make 105 school desks!
We are in the process of registering our school with the Kenyan government. They have recently raised standards after a school building collapsed in Nairobi last year, killing 8 students. We have more toilets under construction, as well as 3 more permanent classrooms so that each grade has their own room. Thanks to generous donors, including an incredible fundraiser from Uncle Seiko, it looks like we have the funds necessary to complete the buildings!
Our main need currently is $6,000 to ensure we have the needed curriculum and supplies to open MCA in January. If you can contribute towards this need, please click here for ways to give.
Thank you for your prayers and support of the work being done here.
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
The Eaton Family with the Mercy Home Family