With much joy and gratitude, the Lord God Almighty has granted us peace that surpasses understanding. The bond of unity we have in Christ gives me more happiness when I think of the "mana from heaven," which is the support from God through Brother Rod Myers and the Central Missions International family. God is the source of everything within its initiative.
Receive greetings from my family in Kenya and the Rageng'ni Church of Christ. We've been doing well. 2023 was full of struggles and a lot of learning experiences for all of us.
My wife Mercy always tells me to say hello and passes her thanksgiving to you through me. Please keep her in your prayers. She's struggling with stomach ulcers. Our son, who we named after brother Rod, is doing well. He's beginning to stand up alone and tries to walk alone or with something to hold onto.
The congregation at Rageng'ni is also doing well. We have 29 members in the congregation,16 adults and 13 children. We had eight baptisms, 32 gospel campaigns, and restored two people to the fellowship. We have Sunday School Bible classes for the children and a Ladies Bible Study class. The ladies rotate the class in nearby congratulations. Recently Rageng'ni hosted and fed 30 women from different congregations.
Partnership with Nearby Congregations
Rageng'ni works closely with two other congregations. The Ndwara church and the Wagusu church. This unity helps us conduct gospel campaigns with funding provided by all three churches. Therefore, we call upon our dear brothers to join us in this with prayers and also help in organizing the campaigns three times a year, God willing. This is a young congregation that must invest in active community outreach to grow as God wills, as do we.
Another program that keeps us going is our midweek fellowship. We study the books of the Bible and some topics that seem to be a bone of contention. This has really been of great help to me and, I believe, to the church family. We invite neighbors to the Bible studies, and we hope this encourages them to give their lives to Christ and join us in our church.
We are fortunate that one of our sister congregation's hosts monthly preacher's training. Through that, we've handled issues concerning elders of the church and their qualifications. Currently there are some men who will become elders after a lengthy study to prepare them for this responsibility.
We appreciate our brother Rod's visit to Kenya. It was of great importance to us to listen to him speak words of encouragement and exhortation to us. May God bless you and CMI abundantly. Let's strive to make it to Heaven and rejoice together as we will be looking back at how far God has brought us while serving Him on earth and be grateful. May God be praised forevermore!
Let me leave you brethren with the words of Paul to the Thessalonians in his second epistle, which says, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. (2Thessalonians 2:15-17)
In His service for the sake of the Cross of Christ,
David Odhiambo Odawa
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