Latrobe Regional Church of Christ

Greetings in Jesus Christ’s name,

At the moment I am in Scotland having my yearly break. Prior to this I was in Western Kenya, near Lake Victoria, at the Nangina Church. This is a young church I helped start two and a half years ago. I wrote to you in one of my news letters last year about this church and told you it was struggling and asked you to pray for it. Well your prayers have been answered: the church is growing and now appears healthy.

When the Nangina church was started many people said a church could not succeed in this place for many had tried and had failed. When the church building was first erected it was revealed it had been built directly over an altar to satan. This year the locals have been opening up to Lawrence the Pastor saying they are pleased that the church has purchased this plot of land because many bad things have happenned there: animals were slaughtered and many people raped, it was a dangerous place.

One of the first converts to Christ was Joseph, a man feared by the community: he was a devil worshipper and used to call up the spirits of his ancestors. Joseph’s life was totally changed by God. This man has become an evangelist: while I was there he was continually bringing people to church for prayer so they could come to know Jesus and be set free by Him. All these people came because they said they could see the change in Joseph’s life and they wanted what he had. One of these people was his mother, she previously had been very frightened of him: Joseph would periodically chase her out of her home and around the village brandishing a panga - a large flat bladed tool and or weapon used for almost anything that needed cutting from grass to branches off trees or killing people.

Joseph’s relationship with his his wife, Praskila, has changed considerably: previously he treated her very badly and with contempt - one thing was that she had to cook his meals take them to the table and place them before him, then return to the kitchen and eat her meals there. If she took her meal also to the table and sat down Joseph would not eat or say a word but just sit there angrily glaring at her until she picked up her plate and went back to the kitchen. After 9 years she could take no more of his behavious, she left him and went to Nairobi. Praskila, a Christain, went to 2 different churches in Nairobi and both Pastors told her to go back to her husband because he needed her, she returned to Joseph. She was rewarded by his becoming a Christian! Joseph stood up next to his wife, in front of the church, and declared that he loved his wife and that they had never known such happiness. In Africa a man does not sit or stand next to his wife let
alone say in public that he loves her! Nothing is impossible with our God!

Joseph went to all the people in the village that he had been having problems with (most of the people) and asked them to forgive him for anything he had done to them; they all invited him into their houses and ate and drank with him. Joseph said that he now knew what the problem had been in the village: it was him!

Thank you for all your prayers and support.

God bless you,
Your sister in Christ,
Julia.

I have been having many computer and internet problems so its been a long time since I was able to get into the internet. Also I have spent almost all my time in areas where internet is not available, the few days I was back in Nairobi  I just couldn’t get into it. So that is why it has been a long time since you heard from me.

Last year I went to  Uganda  for a week  with Patrick a pastor from  Western  Kenya, we were invited to  speak at a  church conference.  Each day  I would speak first then  Patrick  would take over for the rest of the day while  I left to pray with people.  Patrick is an excellent speaker and  I was sorry I only  heard  him once during the conference.  The pastor of the church sent  this sms 7  weeks  after the conference: You prayed for Ben he has a job now. Florence has conceived after long time. Namulundu got healed.  Boy with head problem (mental problem) greatly improved.  Woman demonised now free her health improved no demonic attack. etc. God is so good!

From Uganda I went to Western Kenya where Patrick is pastoring a church he started about 4 years ago and is reaching out to surrounding districts starting others. He contacted me a couple of weeks after I had been there saying he now has a problem: there is no longer any room left in the initial church during services some people are having to sit out side.

From Western I went to Tseikuru in Nth Eastern Kenya, it is situated almost on the equator and very, very hot - I continually melt. The land is mostly flat with sandy soil, mostly scrubby trees and a few large ones. Water comes from the dry river bed where they dig hole until they reach the muddy water, this they scoop into 20 litre containers and when they have 4 or 5 of these tie them on a donkey to take it to where they live. This I think is my favourite place, it reminds me of the bible, so many things you see and experience are right out of biblical times. I spent almost two and a half months there and we prayed for over 300 people. People came from miles away: one lady used 5 different buses and it took her all day to get to us. A 14 yr old boy walked 10 ks with his 6 yr old  brother because he believed God would heal his brother if he brought him: God  did heal him. The boy had very bad weeping, painful and itchy sores over most of both his legs,
this started when he was just a few months old and he found it almost impossible to crawl, they had been to hospitals without any success. We prayed and 2 weeks later the pain and itching had gone and the sores were drying up. A boy of 15 came, his knee was bent at a right angle and he was unable to straighten it, he could only walk a few steps with great difficulty. He had injured his knee some time ago and gone to the doctor who put the leg in plaster, when the plaster was removed his leg was straight but he could not bend his knee, the doctor bent the knee and immobilised the leg, when he went back to have what was immobilising the leg removed his knee was bent at a right angle and he could not straighten it. Three weeks after prayer we heard the boy was now able to walk to school and his leg was nearly straight. The last week I was in the area the people heard I was finishing on Sunday so by Saturday there was such a large crowd of people  we
couldn’t  possibly pray for them all, we suggested that they come to the Sunday service and that we would pray for healing in the service. After preaching on Sunday we said we would now pray for the sick: we led all present to commit or recommit their lives to the Jesus then prayed for healing. When the service ended the pastor asked all those who had been healed to stand up - approximately 40 people stood up. We have an awesome God haven’t we?

Next week I’m going to Western Kenya to speak at a women’s conference over Easter and then a week of teaching at a leadership training course. Following this I will be spending a few weeks in a church in the area and another trip to Uganda.

Thank you all for your prayers and support,
May God bless you and keep you,
Your sister in Christ, Julia.

NEWS LETTER OCTOBER 2008

After returning to Nairobi from my rest in Scotland I was straight back into work preaching on Sundays at the local church and praying for people. People often come long distances for prayer one came from Kisumu which is in Western Kenya next to Lake Victoria.

At the beginning of October I was invited to preach at a church in the Northern suburbs of Nairobi where people again came for prayer. One man who would have been in his late thirties came because he was sick, the Lord revealed that this man had TB throughout his body - he had pain everywhere. We prayed for healing and the pain lifted but he was still stooped and looked very unhappy; we discovered that he was attending a church that had a satanist as its bishop. We led the man to totally commit his life to the Lord and leave the church he was attending; with further prayer the Lord set him completely free it was amazing the difference in him he stood up straight and couldn’t stop smiling. That’s our God!

The Last week in October I traveled to Nyeri Nth which is in Central Kenya, Nth of Nairobi. This is a beautiful area, very fertile with a high rainfall growing the type of crops you see in cooler climates such as carrots, cabbages, onions etc. It is situated in the Aberdare Range and on the one cloudless day we could see Mt Kenya to the East of us. This was my first visit so I only spent a week there speaking at 2 home cell groups and on the Sunday at the central church. The Bishop has oversight over 17 churches which were spread over the surrounding districts; when I preached on Sunday 5 of the nearest churches had come together. Every where I’m going I’m finding that the presence of the Lord is getting stronger and stronger: at this church there would have been approximately 250 people and at each of the cell groups approximately 30 - 40 people; all these people either recommitted or committed for the first time their lives to the Lord. Reports
started coming through just before we left to return to Nairobi of miracles happening in peoples lives during the meetings: one lady whose relationship with her husband had not been good, he lived and worked in a town 17 ks away, she on the farm, said when she returned home after the cell group meeting her husband rang her and told her he loved her (the first time he had ever said this) and asked her to go and live in town with him! An elderly man in his 90’s who had been feeling very weak became strong and walked 4 ks (through the hills) to some shops and then 4ks back! I had not prayed for these people it was through the Lord’s presence in the place that these miracles occurred.

Nyeri Nth is very hilly and physically this was testing. Traffic can only use the roads, which are all dirt, when they are dry. On arrival in the area we were able to get in by car so that was easy, but from then on it rained almost every day and this meant that all the roads and tracks became very slippery. The first cell group was only 1 ½ ks away so that was only a 3 k walk, however the second cell group was 4 ¾ ks away, 9 ½ round trip. To get to the 2nd group we had to go cross country as the road would have been a lot further; cross country meant you go straight up a steep hill across the top and down the other side, and there were a number of steep hills to go over. A complication was that the ground was very wet, therefore it was very slippery! Twice my attention drifted from where my feet were and the ground came up to meet me; one advantage of mud is that it gives a soft landing. I wondered if I would have the strength to complete the return journey to where I was staying, but God had promised to give me strength when I need it and He did! I still felt strong when I got back to our accommodation. Sunday was 2 days away and we had a 5ks round trip to the church where I was to preach; so I prayed that it would not rain again so that the tracks would be dry. It didn’t rain, the tracks were dry and it was so much easier. Praise God! I praise God for His abundance of blessings and the privilege of serving Him.

On 10th November I’m heading for Busia District, in Western Kenya, to help start 2 new churches and then across the border to Uganda for approximately 2 ½ weeks; expecting to return some time in mid December to Nairobi. I value your prayers.

Thank you for all your prayers and support,

God bless you Julia.

Greetings to you all,

March and April were spent in Australia catching up with family and friends, making new friends, and also some time in ministry.

On return to Kenya, after 2 weeks in Nairobi, I went to Western Kenya to a place called Nambale, which is near Busia and close to the Ugandan the border. It gave me great joy to see the progress this church had made; I was there 2 years ago and the church had only a few members, it is now a vibrant church with 160 adults and 70 children and many of the members showing strong growth in their walk with the Lord. They have just started another church about 10 ks away. This new church is in a shop, one of a row of shops in a small village. I ministered in the there for 1 week and saw a number of people give their lives to the Lord: all the people in the row of shops committed their lives to Jesus and also the government chief over the area. The 2 motor bike riders who taxied us to and from this church both gave their lives to the Lord on the last day when they dropped us off at the house I was staying at.

Following 3 weeks in Nambale I proceeded to Nangina, about 35 ks South of Busia, to a church I had helped start early last year. Here the church was struggling due to strong spiritual opposition; it was said when the church was started that a church could not succeed in that place. I spent one month with them and the church is again going ahead, praise the Lord! We saw some wonderful miracles there: A lady in the church had 2 children who were very sick in hospital, one about a year old and the other, who was in a coma, about 9 yrs. Pastor had rung me just before I was due to go there asking me to pray for the 2 children, which I did: the youngest was healed straight away and the older one, a girl, came out of the coma but was still very sick. The pastor and I visited the hospital a couple of days after I came to Nangina. When I arrived I was just in time to see the child (Mercy) lifted from one bed to another, she was just like a rag doll giving the
appearance of being unconscious but I was told that she had spoken. I prayed asking the Lord what was happening and He told me that the Mercy had been dedicated to satan when a baby by someone in the village and that he was stopping her receiving healing. Mercy’s mother was a member of the church but the father was in one of the sects. The youngest child who was healed straight after prayer had been dedicated to the Lord, Mercy hadn’t. Mercy was then dedicated to the Lord by the parents and we prayed again for healing. Two days later Mercy was sitting up supported by her mother drinking from a cup that the mother held, another 2 days and she was able to hold the cup herself, 4 days later she was discharged from hospital and 10 days later in church testifying to what God had done! I was told that Mercy loved God and always been keen to go to church. Three days after leaving hospital, a Sunday, she was in tears because her parents would not take her with them to church; they considered it too early for her to go. During Mercy’s illness her father gave his life to the Lord: all things work together for good to those who love God (Rom 8:28)! After Mercy went home the father met one of the hospital’s laboratory technicians who said “You have a very powerful God, to us she was as dead, there was nothing we could do for her”. The people in the village also found it very hard to believe what had happened and they had made all necessary preparations for Mercy’s funeral.

The hospital bills were high and Mercy’s father was a farmer and therefore had very little money; he tried to sell his land but no one wanted to buy it, if he could not pay the bill the children would be kept in hospital until it was paid the bill continually getting higher. Thanks to your gifts I was able to pay this bill for them.

Another family your gifts were a blessing to was one that had a boy in his last year at university, the mother’s brother died and the money that should have paid the boys fees had to go for funeral expenses. The boy had to drop out of university but I was able to pay his fees for him and he was able to resume his studies.

A lady came with severe chest pain saying she could no longer work because of the pain. It was revealed that she had lung cancer caused by her inhaling the smoke from the fires they dried the fish on that were caught in Lake Victoria. They burn anything they can lay their hands on and frequently this is plastics. She was prayed for and 5 days later testified in church that she had been totally healed.

A number of ladies came with very young babies saying they had been prayed for last year for infertility. One man who had aids and was infertile a year ago was now fit and well and his wife had a baby daughter while I was there.

People in the Nangina area are saying that the drinking of alcohol has decreased substantially in the area since the church started.

TRULY WE HAVE THE MOST AWESOME GOD!

I met a very interesting animal while I was in Nangina. It was a bit bigger than a mouse, but did not look like a rat nor was it rat size. It was night time the light in my room was on and I was standing about 9 meters from the door when through the door, like a cartoon character, shot this little creature; it almost collided with me, jammed on the brakes, did a rapid about face and shot back out of the door. It was greyish in colour with a tail that looked like a bottle brush, a bit like a squirrel’s tail, hairs of the same length but no where near as many. Five minutes later I heard it above the ceiling busy doing whatever these creatures do in such places. It was a frequent night visitor, I think I had taken over IT’S room. It seemed to have only one speed: flat out, and it was therefore difficult to get a really good look at it.

God bless you and keep you, Your sister in Christ, Julia.