Dear ITEM Friend,
Sunday was a day off and today, Monday, was a travel day. But also a special day because it was my first chance to see Jim and Amber Glasscock, first-sent ITEM missionaries who are now living on the Uganda side o the Uganda/Kenya border. Tomorrow, Tuesday, I will meet with the combined teams from Kenya and Uganda.
SUNDAY: CHECKING IN WITH DR. CHIROMA
Most of Sunday was sitting around Mayfield Guest House saving energy or one last push to meet with the teams from Kenya and Uganda, then the long trek home beginning Wednesday morning.
Nathan Chiroma came by the guest house to discuss ITEM ministry, especially around Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya. Nathan is a strategic thinker and seems to always have a new contact and a new idea about expanding ITEM’s reach. It I always a great encouragement to me when we sit and talk.
If all things work out, we might be breaking new ground in three locations in Kenya in July. These are areas where we already have contacts. And in one place, we are looking at the possibility of having close to 300 pastors from one ministerial group whose leaders met with Nathan a week ago. The other two locations are located along the east coast of Kenya, one in, one 40 miles north of Mombasa.
You will be hearing about these more in upcoming newsletters. IF YOU DO NOT GET OUR NEWSLETTER AND WOULD LIKE TO KEEP UP WITH ITEM EXPANSION, LET US KNOW. Send an email to item@iteministries.org and put “subscribe to newsletter” in the subject line. If you would like a hard copy, you can put that into the body of the email with full address and phone so our records will be complete.
MONDAY: ANOTHER TRAVEL DAY
I was up at 5am, at the airport at 6:30am for my 9:30 flight from Nairobi to Kisumu (see map in photo album). Then after completing some tasks around town and having lunch, we headed for Busia, Uganda on the border with Kenya.
JIM AND AMBER GLASSCOCK
Jim went to Africa with me in 2011. He was touched and returned a few times on his own after that. Then God called him and Amber to continue the work as full-time missionaries. For the past couple of years they have been raising support and planning to move, which they did in December 2019.
They are settling in. I was encouraged to learn that the adjustments haven’t been overwhelming. And they’ve had a lot of people from church and the area helping. They are living close to ITEM Uganda Coordinator, Pastor Hillary Wafula.
Jim is already building a ministry here. You will hear more about this also in upcoming newsletters. SIGN UP IF YOU DON’T ALREADY GET IT.
TUESDAY’S STRATEGIC MEETING: PASSING ON CONVICTION
A few years ago I read a book by Dr. Albert Mohler, The Conviction to Lead. One thing that grabbed my attention was his chapter on transitions. He said the leader needs to pass on conviction because if he doesn’t, when a new leader comes in, the priorities could change. ITEM is on the front edge of mapping out transition to new leadership when God tells me it’s time to hand it over and having someone ready with similar convictions is critical.
Tomorrow I will be restating, with passion and conviction, ITEM’s priorities and non-negotiables.
Our goal is simple: With the African church being described as a river a mile wide and an inch deep, we are passionately committed to being a tool in God’s hand to bring spiritual transformation to as many churches as possible.
Doing seminars is not what ITEM is all about. Funneling thousands of pastors through ITEM seminars is not the end. The bottom line is transformed churches.
The means to the end is expository preaching, we believe. For followers of Christ to grow spiritually they must be fed regularly from the Scriptures (1 Pet 2:2; John 17:17; Col 3:16ff). And every one of our ITEM team members must be committed to and practicing Bible exposition in their ministries and persuading and training others to do the same thing.
Our strategy includes seminars but more importantly, mentoring.
PRAY
- Pray for the Tuesday meeting.
- Pray for my long trip home: a three hour car ride followed by four flights.
Thanks for praying and for giving.
By His grace,
Steve
CLICK HERE FOR THE PICTURE ALBUM WITH MANY NEW PICTURES AND STORY LINES IN THE CAPTIONS