BACK IN THE SADDLE
Sunday, March 3, 2024—Tent Church, Kitale Town, Kenya
The time Teresa spent on the injured reserved list sure didn’t show Sunday morning.As she stood in the tent church in Kitale, Kenya to give her testimony, there was not a sound to be heard except the soothing Southern drawl oozing
from the pulpit. The story caught our Kenyan crowd off guard. They have never heard Teresa’s testimony. They only know her as “Momma Teresa”—the sainted woman who puts up with “pastor Mike”. As Teresa told of her childhood “conversion” in the small Mississippi Baptist church, her relatively good life as a girl, and then her marriage to an evangelist, the congregation found no surprises.
A wonderful, Godly woman, who served God all her life, married a preacher, raised a beautiful family, and lived happily ever after. Except, that is not Teresa’s testimony. Her “God-encounter” as a child in Sunday School was indeed a step toward God. But, in a religious culture where going forward and praying the “sinners prayer” was all that was required for membership in heaven, Teresa thought she had checked all the boxes God required. It was only later as she began to study the Word for herself and try to serve God with her own strength that she realized she needed help. Lots of help! She needed a savori.Kenya. One night at an evangelistic crusade, she made her true step toward God. This time, she knew she was a sinner in need of a savior. Worse, she knew that she had lived a lie for years now. She had been wearing the mask. The Bible word is hypocrite. (The church is full of them, thus all the problems in the church.
Dr. Billy Graham once said he believed that as many as 80% of the members of the American church might be lost.) As Teresa finished her testimony with a clarity any child could understand, the table had been set for this old white-haired evangelist. I took the Gospel baton from Teresa and did what God has allowed me to do for over 45 years now…I invited sinners to come to the savior. Specifically, I invited lost church members and pretenders to take off the mask and stand naked before a Holy God. I explained that in Christ, we are clothed in Him. No need to “dress up” sin, or put lipstick on the pig that is our lostness. The response was immediate and overwhelming. Over a dozen stood in the tent church in Kitale indicating their need for Christ. The church is well equipped
for immediate follow up on decisions and then the essential discipleship of new believers. I can’t wait to what God did today in Kitale. But one thing I know God did today. He confirmed to Teresa and all who were present that He was certainly not finished with her yet.
After a short break for lunch, we returned to the church for an afternoon of training with the pastors and their wives. Over 30 pastors came with their wives. Teresa took her group to the small “Sunday School” tent where the breeze made the afternoon equatorial sun more bearable. I sat in a circle of plastic chairs with pastors and church planters as we opened the scriptures and our lives. I have never taught in the “big tent” while Teresa was teaching just feet away in the “Sunday School” tent. It is an image that is now burned into my memory and my heart. God was good to His people today. He saved the lost.
He honored Himself through His Word and our worship. And, he saw one of his faithful servants return to the battle for souls. We collapsed into a puddle of tiredness after dinner. But, even in the dark, I could see the smile on Teresa’s face. This…this is what we were born-again for. The scheduled ministry is complete here in Kenya. A short flight back to Nairobi Monday and few days of rest and restoration before the hop over the big pond home. I am looking forward to the days of conversation and reflection on all God did on this trip. We truly
have seen His power and provision in ways that are unexplainable. Some call that…a miracle
Your prayers = our fuel.
By, grace, your brother,
Mike Curry
Eph. 6:19-20