We thank God that He allows us to serve Him and represent all of you in adding to the kingdom of Heaven from KENYA, East Africa. There is much to do, and we have been very busy, but we are always desiring to do more. We have made several trips into rural areas to work with specific churches. God has allowed us to organize two conferences to teach and guide many pastors, along with their key men. At one of these meetings, we had the joy to host our sending pastor, John Wilkerson, as the teacher. Our ministry has had a part in seeing many people profess faith in Christ since our last letter to you. Greater Vision Baptist Church continues to consume most of our energy and focus, as we work to build a solid foundation in this local church. We also made a two-week trip to the States; during this time, I was honored to be ordained, and we attended our son’s wedding.
I would like to share with you an exciting new program we have just begun to increase the reach of our ministry. We are calling it the Acts 6:7 Outreach. Traveling to rural places is very fruitful in two ways: (1) We see many souls saved, and (2) we see many churches strengthened through the teaching of sound doctrine. However, I am aware of dozens who need and desire our time. The truth is, we are not physically capable of meeting all the needs in this matter.
God has brought us a national man, Pastor Jeremiah, whom we have tried to prepare wisely to be an extension of ourselves. I believe he is ready and completely capable. We have just finished our first outreach together. We had been invited by Pastor Cylas Nyanja of Mark Baptist Church to begin a teaching/discipleship program called Foundations of Our Faith. Pastor Jeremiah taught Lesson 1, “Understanding Salvation,” and I taught Lesson 2, “Eternal Security.” The day included many hours of teaching and answering questions. I have found it very needful to give an opportunity for questions, as this shows where we need to improve our teaching focus. My goal is always to provide as complete an understanding as possible of any truth I am trying to teach. The Holy Spirit then does the work of salvation or transition to true doctrine based upon what the hearers have truly learned.
At the end of this particular day, God called to Himself 30 souls to profess Christ Jesus as their Saviour. One of them was the church secretary. One man shared with us that he had been attending a Redeemed church, which is Charismatic, but he was so happy to hear the message of true salvation at a Baptist church; he shared that he would now consider Mark Baptist Church as his spiritual home. One woman also told us that she had come from a Seventh-Day Adventist church, but after receiving Christ, she, too, would make this place her church home.
I will continue to work with Pastor Jeremiah, but he will be making similar visits on his own so that we can multiply the work of the Lord. The program has lessons which we believe will be greatly used to help provide a basic and solid doctrinal foundation for a multitude of souls in many, many churches. Please pray for the Acts 6:7 Outreach, for Pastor Jeremiah, for souls to be saved through it, and for churches to be grounded and strengthened.
Earlier this year, I shared with you the story of Charles and his wife being saved through door-to-door soul winning, as well as Charles getting baptized not long after his salvation. We have regularly met one on one with Charles, going through the aforementioned discipleship program. There are 42 tribes across Kenya, each having its own “mother tongue,” meaning its own language; but most Kenyans know Kiswahili. The lessons in the program are in English. While we do our best and often use a national to translate, it is a challenging process to communicate a full understanding to those we are teaching. We explain the English meaning and then a national, like Pastor Jeremiah, explains it in their language. Charles has proven to be a genuine disciple and has been burdened to translate the lessons into Kiswahili to better help his fellow countrymen to understand salvation and much more. This project is in its infancy but will be a tremendous blessing to the work of God here. Please pray for wisdom in the effort. Much time and attention to detail will be needed to see this through to completion.
Something I am fond of saying is, “I love my job.” Thank you for continuing to make the work of God possible through us in this region of the world by supporting us in prayer and finances. Connie and I love and appreciate each and every one of you! Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and have a blessed day in the Lord!
Your servants for lost souls across East Africa,
Andy & Connie Richey
