In February, I was honored to take what will most likely be my last trip upcountry with Bro. Peter Morris. We were able to travel to several areas and visit 12 of the pastors we trained and graduated from our PPTA program last August. It was such a blessing to see these men in their ministries and the work that they are doing for the Lord! I have shared more detail in our other letter, “A Word from Our Nationals,” and would encourage you to read through that letter as well to catch a small glimpse of what we were blessed to see throughout our trip. I then caught a bus back from Bungoma to Kitengela through the night to be back in time for our Saturday outreach and for the services on Sunday. Peter, on the other hand, finished by visiting just a few more pastors before returning to Nairobi.

From this trip, we were also encouraged to see how many men these pastors were recommending for the next PPTA program, starting in March this year (next month). By the time I had returned and counted the names verbally committed, I had nearly 50 men/pastors signed up for our training! This was encouraging and shows how much these pastors believe in the training we provide for them! Praise the Lord for the growth for our next PPTA; please continue to pray for this program.

Lastly, things at Lighthouse Baptist Church keep moving forward, and the people are growing spiritually as well! We have seen a slow increase in our attendance every Sunday since we have been both encouraging people to attend through outreach on Saturdays, as well as inviting people to church! One of the ways we have gotten people excited to invite others to church is by having a prize for the one who brings the most visitors within the month. This month, the one with the most visitors wins a football (soccer ball). It’s been fun to watch God’s people bring others to church and to have those individuals hear the Gospel for the first time after church and make professions of faith!

Lastly, we had one young lady who was invited by another teen girl from our church. She made a profession of faith and started the discipleship booklets right away. Already she has finished the first 4 books out of 12 and has come forward with a clear testimony and then baptism! It has been exciting to see her growth in her walk with the Lord in such a short amount of time! Please pray that she, as well as other new believers, will continue to grow in their new walk with the Lord and stay faithful!

As always, thank you for your faithfulness in prayers and support that make all of this possible in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Your co-laborers for lost souls across East Africa,

The HESELSCHWERDT Family
Brandon, Ali, Jeffrey, Hannah, and Esther
Romans 10:14

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For this month as well, I will be giving a personal update from the pastors both Peter Morris and I visited from our trip upcountry in February. We were greatly encouraged by both the reports and from what we witnessed through these pastors’ ministries! We hope that you will be greatly encouraged as well!    – Missionary Brandon Heselschwerdt

Pastor Eliphas
Migori Area

Pastor Eliphas and his people have been meeting in a church building with no roof. They have built a small area in the front corner of the building with a temporary roof for them to meet under when it rains or when the sun is too hot, but through all of this, they keep faithfully meeting every week for church! Also, Pastor Eliphas has really encouraged and trained his people how to go out and share the Gospel of Christ with others. Through these efforts, they have witnessed several souls make professions of faith in Christ and are witnessing new visitors come almost every week. They are currently making bricks to try and finish the walls of the church so that they can one day have a finished roof over their building!

Lastly, Pastor Eliphas has also started a new Bible study in an area farther out from where their church is. He has a faithful group meeting each week with him in this new location, and he has a vision to see a church planted there in the future. Please continue to pray for these pastors and the work they are doing for Christ!

Pastor Gilbert
Bungoma Area

Pastor Gilbert has a church just a short distance from Bungoma Town. He has a beautiful building where he and the people meet each week. I know, through Brother Peter, some people have faithfully given so that they could finish some of these projects on the building, and now it really is a beautiful church! Pastor Gilbert also gave a great testimony on how he has been teaching his people how to go forth and share the Gospel clearly with the lost. Praise the Lord, he has a good number from his church now going out to tell others about Jesus Christ and how they can be saved in Him! He has reported several accounts of people coming to Christ and now coming faithfully to church!
With both of these men, it was a blessing to see how they have come to see the need for sharing the Gospel with others and been able to train their own people as well, and now they, too, have a burden to reach the lost for Christ. Through all of this hard work, they as a church are now witnessing souls come to Christ and also come to church on a regular basis; and, therefore, they have seen their churches grow both spiritually and physically!

It has been a blessing to see some of the updates firsthand from the pastors God has used us to train and to hear how God is using them to reach and teach others also. These are just two more testimonies from a dozen pastors we were blessed to visit and follow up with on our trip. It is exciting to see what God is doing here throughout Kenya, East Africa!

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Before I used to think that one needs to obey her parents in order to go to Heaven, but now I finally understand that only your faith in Christ is enough for salvation. I have now understood that baptism is not part of salvation, and we get baptized to obey the commands of God. I now confess that I am a sinner, but I gave my life to Christ my Saviour. For the Bible says we are all sinners, and no one is perfect in the eyes of the Lord.

I now know that Jesus died, was buried, and then resurrected because of my sin. God promised to give eternal life to every sinner who accepts Jesus as their Saviour. I am being baptized because Jesus set an example for us. I am ready to be baptized as Jesus was and to follow the command of God. I know that baptism is a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I know that those who are to be baptized are hearers of the Word of God who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

~ Janet