Sunday was a huge day for the work on the coast not to mention for the group. It was the first ordination that we were to have here on the coast. It represents a step forward in our vision for what God wants done here and what he brought us to do. We loaded up the buses and headed down to Jimba. We arrived around 9:00am we were suppose to start at 9:30 but there was no one present but us, Daniel was not even there yet and he is the pastor and the man being ordained. Slowly people started to arrive and even Daniel himself made it. We ended up starting the service around 10:30.
We had a couple songs before the
Presbytery left and went outside to prepare for the ordination service. We had eight
ordained ministers present so it was a great presbytery. Brother Scott, myself,
Ryan Copico, Darren Clements, Ben Higgenbotham, Aaron
Luper, John Stiech, and
Aaron Johnson.
We went outside
while the singing and worship time continued. We selected a Moderator, Clerk,
someone to introduce the candidate, someone to question the candidate, someone
to pray over the candidate, someone to present the Bible that we all signed,
someone to present the certificate, someone to preach, and someone to pray over
the offering.
The presbytery rejoined the church
services and the services were turned over to the presbytery. We started by
explaining that we had no authority as a body but that the elders had been
welcomed to help the church determine if the candidate was ready to be
ordained. It was explained that we would question the candidate and make a
recommendation to the church but that the church would make the decision as to
whether to ordain or not. We then proceeded with the service by introducing the
candidate Daniel Mbuvi and having him stand before the presbytery and the
church for questioning. The questions were asked in swahili and I translated into English, Daniel
answered in Swahili and I translated his answers. After the questioning was
concluded the brethren recommended that Daniel be set aside for the gospel
ministry and be ordained. The church members were asked to stand and to vote as
to whether to accept the recommendation and proceed or not. The church voted to
accept the recommendation of the presbytery. Daniel was asked to kneel on a lesso that was spread on the ground while all the Brethren
gathered around him placing their hands on him and the one selected lead out.
After the prayer together each individual minister laid hands on Daniel and prayed
with him one on one. Daniel was asked to stand and was presented with a Bible
that all the brethren had signed along with some encouraging words. Then Daniel
was presented with an ordination certificate followed by a message from God's
word by John Steich from Seattle, Washington.
We concluded the service with an offering taken up for Daniel and his family
and prayed over by one of the ordained brothers.
It was a great service! Daniel did
a good job with his questions and it was just a blessing to be a part of. We
all rejoiced together and fellowshipped for a few minutes but not too long
because we had to jump on the bus and head to the next ordination at Magangani
LBC. Our day was not even half over...
We loaded up and headed over to
Magangani LBC with our newly ordained brother Daniel and his family. When we
arrived in Magangani they were singing and ready to go. They had rented a sound
system and had torn open the back of the church so everyone could see in. They
were ready to go when we arrived so we jumped right into things.
After a brief
introduction the presbytery was formed outside again with one new member added
to our number. We remained with the same positions as before adding in Daniel
and changing the one that would preach to Aaron Johnson. The presbytery
returned in time to listen to the choirs sing before the services were turned
over to us.
We followed the
same pattern as in Jimba with the exception that Aaron Johnson preached the
charge. After the ordination service we stayed and had lunch with the Magangani
church. They prepared Beans and Ugali for us. It was a long day but we had done
a good work! God was in it all and it was beautiful!
We spent a while just visiting
with the folks at Magangani and enjoying the meal they had prepared but we had
to get on the road back to Malindi. On the way back to Malindi Brother Scott
took a detour and went by to pick up Gertrude for the evening cultural class
with the group. With every group
Gertrude usually takes a few hours to teach them some words, phrases, and basic
culture before we start up our camps. This Swahili orientation is always a
highlight of the trip. Gertrude is
a gifted teacher. We got back to the compound and the group had time to run
wash up, it was time for classes with Gertrude.
While the group had class Brother
Scott and I loaded up the van with the number of Bibles, juices, cookies, and
waters that we would need for day one of the camp. Brother Scott's dizziness
kicked in while we were working so he went to lay down while the group finished
up in class. After the class we had some supper then it was back to Brother
Scott's living room for some strategic planning for the basketball camp. Ryan
had his team broken up into smaller teams so they went over there jobs and those
that were going to be involved in the special needs school met with Missy also.
There were a couple guys that put goals together and by the end of the night
the plan was in place and our equipment loaded. We went to bed praying for the
camp and ready to make an impact on eternity.
James Taylor
East Kenya Missions
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