Praise the Lord, we made it back safely to Kitengela, KENYA (Home)! It was a blessing to see many friendly faces and family while in the States, but we are also excited to be back home and doing the Lord’s work here! It felt like most of this month was spent trying to catch up with where we left off in November and trying to get back into the routine of things. It has taken some time, but we are thankful that it seemed easier this time around compared to our first furlough.

A big highlight from this month was that we got the landlord for the church building to meet us in the middle of the rental price, and now we are renting the two rooms as one large space for more room to grow! Yep, that is right; we started by knocking out the middle wall, and then cleaned and painted. After all the painting was done, we had the electrical work redone and had ceiling lights with two fans installed—Ali is thankful for the ceiling fans! Then we rearranged the chairs and benches. Now, we are praying that God will allow us to grow more to fill up the space! We look forward to what God is going to do throughout this year!

We also praise the Lord for two new teenagers who started coming to church. They were led to the Lord through two other teens in our church! Also, we had a woman stop by the church asking for financial assistance. After meeting with the church members, we decided that if she would at least go through the Gospel with someone, then we would assist where we could. I’m pleased to report that she has come to profess Christ as her Saviour and is now meeting with another lady from our church for discipleship after the services! We also had another young lady come to put her trust in Christ, and she is meeting with Ali for discipleship after church. Please pray for these new believers to become faithful to church and to grow in discipleship!

Lastly, both Missionary Peter Morris and I are making final preparations for our PPTA (Pastors’ Practical Training Academy), starting the second week in March. We have a praise, but also a plea! The praise is that we have, at this moment, a verbal commitment from 45 men to begin the training in March. This shows us that the pastors we have trained believe in the training and that it works to prepare them for the ministry. We are thankful that it looks like our second training has such a high increase, but with that comes a definite financial need. We just want to encourage you that if you want to have a special part in this ministry, any amount you give will help to make sure that these men receive the training to go forth and reach people with the Gospel, disciple new believers, and plant growing churches across Kenya for the Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you again, and God bless.

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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Before, I thought that one needs to obey and respect his or her parents to go to Heaven, but now I understand that only your belief in Jesus Christ can. I also understand that the wages of sin is death. Truly, I was a sinner, but now I opened my heart for Christ and for the Lord to be my Father. I believed that only baptism can lead you to Heaven, but I now know that baptism is not part of salvation, for only your faith in Christ is enough. I thank God Almighty for the gift of eternal life He gave to me.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) I now believe in Jesus Christ as my only Saviour and the gift of eternal life I was given by my Lord Father. I also know that baptism is not part of salvation, and only your faith in Christ is enough. I now open my heart for You, Christ, and believe in only You and You alone. I now turn my life to Christ, for I have understood that the wages of sin is death. I am a child of the Lord. I have happily accepted the gift of eternal life, which is everlasting and cannot be taken away from me.

I thank God for saving me from the Lake of Fire. I know if I died five days before. I would have gone to the Lake of Fire, for the wages of sin is death. I now turn my life to Jesus Christ my Lord and open my heart for the Holy Spirit to live in.

Winnie Friend Mumbua

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For this month and next month, I will be giving a personal update from the pastors both Peter Morris and I visited from our trip upcountry. 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 William
Bomet Town

Pastor William just recently moved to a new location right in the heart of Bomet Town. He has an apartment space that they are renting for a place to meet for Bible study and church on Sundays. It was a blessing to see that he had two men who are grounded in the Word of God and serving alongside him to lay the groundwork of this new church plant. They have seen several people come to Christ and have a core group of believers who are growing in their new faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! Please continue to pray for this new work and that God will continue to build His church in this well-populated area.

Pastor Lawerance
Migori Area

Pastor Lawerance is in an area about 45 minutes outside of Migori Town. Since finishing the PPTA program, he has taken soul winning and discipleship very seriously. He gave a great report on how several people from the area have come to put their faith in Christ alone over the past few months! He finds those who boast about being saved and knowing their Bible, yet when he teaches them the Bible, he finds that they really don’t know the Word of God. In one way, he kindly stated, “These people claim to be smart in the Word of God and in some respects prideful about what they know, but then you find they really don’t know their Bible.” After that statement, he then reported that those that he has been able to reach with the Gospel and realize that they don’t know anything when it comes to the truth of God’s Word then become eager to know God’s Word.

These new believers begin discipleship and Bible study and become solid believers in the Word of God, believers who know the difference between truth and error. Pastor Lawerance put it more this way, “You find that you reach people with the Gospel. These new believers realize they don’t know much when it comes to the Bible. Therefore, they are humble and not prideful in what they know. They go on to grow in their walk with God, and even though they don’t claim to know so much from the Bible as the others do, you can see that they are now grounded in the Word of God and actually know their Bibles. They know what is true and what is error from those false teachers in our area.”

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 testimonies from a dozen pastors we were blessed to follow up with and visit on our trip. It is exciting to see what God is doing here throughout Kenya, East Africa!