Kenya Update...

Here is a part of an email I received from our pastor in Kenya about a meeting with the Muslim guardians of the orphans we feed and sponsor in our Christian School...

Yesterday we had a good time with the guardians to lift you, pastor Noel and all the donors in prayer. I wish you could see how wonderful and amazing it was for the community to see Muslim women dressed with their full Muslim dressing praying the Lord Jesus in this matter.

Isn't it great to hear how the Lord is using us to minister to even Muslim families on the other side of the world!

Pastor Noel

Recent Tweets

My blog posts seem to be getting less and less frequent. I have begun using Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch with the online church community more than my blog. Some people don't use those tools and consequently don't see those posts. So I will occasionally just list those in this space in addition to the occasional blog post.

Pastor Noel

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Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it ... will do no good. Ps 127 ~ 5:55 AM Aug 5th

Same Scripture but different emphasis for Sunday message... New title: Final Warning: You Will Be Tested, I Will Help You... Rev 2:8-11 ~ 1:00 PM Aug 4th

Working on our prospect database.... noticed we have five people requesting to be baptized this Sunday.... Wow! ~ 12:50 AM Aug 4th

Good service and fellowship tonight with our team home from Kenya... ~ 8:30 PM Aug 2nd

Looking forward to being back in worship with my faith family... ~ 6:09 PM Aug 1st

Upcoming Message Series... http://bit.ly/bw5M9 ~ 9:15 AM Jul 31st

My 'son' in Kenya (Noel Junior) sent these keekoy's (sp?) to his 'sisters'... http://twitpic.com/c7iee ~ 10:35 PM Jul 30th

I'm home... Long day, but good day... ~ 10:29 PM Jul 30th

About to leave church to make a visit, then go to a meeting, then if time, another visit, then back to study... is vacation really worth it? ~ 4:48 PM Jul 30th

Good news... Revelation 1:3 promises that that Lord will bless the person who reads the book of Revelation... ~ 7:48 AM Jul 30th

An early start... Trying to pack a week's worth of work into two days... ~ 3:42 AM Jul 30th

Just finished the book, Eat This Book, by Eugene Peterson... Didn't agree w/ everything but I learned much... I will read this book again... ~ 1:02 PM Jul 29th

Looking forward to tomorrow, my 14th Wedding Anniversary. My wife is the 2nd biggest blessing in my life and a daily source of joy to me! ~ 11:30 PM Jul 28th

Just finished the book, 'The Purity Principle' by Randy Alcorn... Every married couple should read this book twice a year! ~ 6:31 PM Jul 27th

Preparing a four week series from the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation... I'm looking forward to preaching again... ~ 3:11 PM Jul 27th

Back in the saddle this morning... ~ 6:36 AM Jul 27th

Is praying for a great, God honoring worship service this morning... ~ 5:40 AM Jul 26th

Sitting by the pool working on an outline on my laptop... http://twitpic.com/bl7bv ~ 1:38 PM Jul 25th

Chafisi Orphan Ministry in Kenya

Well, we had another early morning Kenya meeting today... nobody should have to have a meeting at 5:00 a.m. The next time we partner with an international mission effort, we will partner with one west of us so that the meetings can be later in the day ;)...

So everyone wants to know... how are things going?

Good news! We have 42 orphans who all have uniforms, shoes, food, transportation, and paid tuition to school! We received a good report this morning concerning this ministry. I am thankful for all of you who make this ministry possible by your sacrificial giving, and I am thankful for the work of our four church members who have been in Kenya the past six months helping to facilitate this ministry. (By the way, if you would like to help us maintain this ministry or even help us minister to more orphans, contact the church and ask to speak with Carla. It costs us about $40 per month per orphan to provide this ministry. When you contact us, we can give you further details.)

The second piece of news is... our team in Kenya will be returning to Heath on July 22. They are coming back for a breather and to make preparations for a probable return in December. Pray for them as they travel and as they seek to get re-adjusted to living here.

Stay tuned for more updates in the days to come...

Pastor Noel

Pastor Fredrick Update III

I received an email a little after midnight last night that said pastor Fredrick had surgery at 10:00 pm Kenya time and is doing well. It didn't give any further details. I'm guessing that is good news.

Pastor Noel

Pastor Fredrick Update II

There has been a lot of confusion today about Pastor Fredrick's situation. He waited all day and they were unable to operate. It isn't clear why. Continue to pray...

Pastor Noel

Pastor Fredrick Update

Here is an email I received early this morning from our team on the ground in Kenya...

Pastor Fredrick is in surgery for appendix @ Kalifi Hop. @ 8 AM this morning. He was taken to Kalifi (was taken to Mombasa first for a good ct scan, then they sent him to Kalifi) the trip to Mombasa started between 10 and 11 pm last night, it was late before they got to Kalifi Hospital.
Mombasa is about one and half hours from here and Kalifi is 45 minutes from here. Mwatete said he will be in the hospital for five days. We will send updates.

Thank you for your prayers.
Your in Christ
John, Sandy, Lisa, and Greg

Missions Teams Update

A quick update of the status of our Missions Teams...

• Yesterday our Stowe Center team served in the soup kitchen of the mission we support in inner-city Columbus. Reports are that things went well.

• I spoke with our missions team in Mississippi yesterday. They are helping to rebuild churches destroyed by hurricane Katrina. They told me that they are working this week on the church where Adrian Rogers got his start as a pastor. They will return to Ohio this weekend.

• Our Kenya team is doing well. I hope to be able to speak with them by phone again this week. We will call them during our worship service this Sunday morning. Of course, Greg & Lisa are now there long term... John and Sandy were going to come back a few weeks ago but have now decided to stay on until mid August. I am contemplating going back in August myself. Let me know if you might be interested in going with me.

• If you would like to help support Greg and Lisa while they are in Kenya, visit Greg's website: www.GregsGarageOfArt.com. There you can view and purchase some of his great art work.

Pastor Noel

Quick Update & Surprise

I just heard from our Mission team in Kenya... all is going well...

Interesting thing happened today...

I am going to be at a conference in Washington D.C. in May, so today I called the offices of Congressman Tiberi, Congressman Space, Senator Brown, and Senator Voinovich and asked if, as a representative of our church, I could have a brief time to sit with each legislator in his office to pray with him and for him. All four said, "Yes".

I am surprised and excited!

Pastor Noel

Kenya Team Update

I received this email from our team in Kenya about 10:00 this morning...

We have arrived safe and sound. We did have some interesting experiences along the way which we will explain later.

Pass this message on to Fritz and the kids.

Pastor Fredrick, John and Sandy, Toni, Greg and Lisa say Hi! It's in the mid 90's here and very dry.

We will correspond as soon as we get situated.

In Christ,
The team


I hope you will keep the team in your prayers. I will post updates as I get them.

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I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I am preaching on a subject I've preached on many times, but I believe the Lord has given me a new insight and a new understanding to share tomorrow.

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As some of you may know, Dave Smith, a very active member of our church died on Friday morning. Please keep his wife Linda in your prayers. It has been a very difficult week for her and the family.

Pastor Noel

Surprise Meeting

The day at the church ended like most Mondays with several meetings... some in person... some on the phone. For the most part it was the usual fair.

But I had one surprise meeting!

A couple from our church (I'll leave their names out so they can make a formal announcement when the time is right) dropped in to say that they are seriously thinking the Lord may be calling them to full-time overseas missions! If the Lord confirms this in their lives, this will be the second family this year. That makes my day!

As a pastor, I talk with a lot of people every week who are struggling to trust the Lord with everyday things like jobs, money, relationships, etc. What a gust of encouragement it is to sit down with a couple who is taking such giant steps of trust and faithfulness.

This was a perfect week for this. I am preparing this week to go and speak at a church on Friday about the importance of missions and how becoming Acts 1:8 focused has changed my life and this church. Now I've got another great story to share!

Pastor Noel

Nairobi

I've finally made it to a computer that works decent. We are in the Nairobi airport. We fly from here around midnight tonight, which is 4:00 pm for you.

We've had a great trip. Some incredible things have happened that can only be explained by God's power. We look forward to sharing with you this Sunday.

Pray for our safe return. We fly overnight to London, and then after an all day layover there we fly over night to Chicago, then with a layover and a time change, we should arrive in Columbus around 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Noel

Survivor Kenya

Well, we made it in one piece... and we are all still friends...

It is Sunday afternoon here. Earlier all of the men preached in different churches. The service I preached in was three and one half hours long. Don't laugh, it wasn't my fault. I went to a home to do a baby dedication, which lasted two hours, and was able to lead the new father to Christ.

Pray for us. Things are busy. I'll try to get another update done soon.

Pastor Noel

Kenya Mission Trip

Many people have been emailing and asking if the Kenya Mission trip is still on for next week. And the answer is YES!

We are looking forward to going. I believe the violence and political unrest in the area will only make our ministry more effective.

We ask for your continued prayers as we make the final preparations.

Next week I will start a daily (hopefully) blog that will serve as a journal of the mission trip. Check back here for a running description of how God is working in our little area of Kenya.

Pastor Noel