2011 - Reformed Family Conference Report

Dear friends,

Biblical Reformation in Kenya has a long history. Our gratitude will forever be to God and to the missionaries whom He has used thirty plus years to introduce and propel the Reformed Faith this far; this is no small or mean chapter.

December 6^th to 8^th 2011 will remain engraved in our hearts and minds as yet the beginning of another chapter. This will be so for a number of reasons. In February this year, pastors of three churches with their wives met to pray and begin to plan the way forward in seeking to see how Biblical Reformation may be carried forward in Kenya and beyond its borders to its neighbouring regions with the locals leading from the front; thus a vision was set. Four subsequent meetings for prayer and planning were held with countless consultations in between. One of the aspects of our mission is something that has not been done before within the Reformed circles in Kenya. There have been profitable Pastors’, Men’s, Women’s and even Youth Conferences over the years but it was our first time to hold a Family Conference. During the preparation, there were moments when the reality of holding the conference became seriously doubtful as we faced numerous challenges. These challenges drove us back to God in prayer and He graciously and mercifully answered and energized us to move on. The official registered number of participants stood at 85. These men (including many pastors), women, boys, girls and babies came from different parts of the country and from various church back grounds.

The main conference speaker was Pastor Victor Kanyense of Mt. Makulu Baptist Church, Chilanga, Lusaka, Zambia. We are sincerely grateful for the brethren who facilitated Victor’s trip. The conference theme was ‘Your Family God’s Way’ from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This is a very urgent issue since the Christian family is under serious attack. Victor began by first laying the very necessary foundation by demonstrating God’s work of salvation for us (chapter one), then God’s work of salvation in us (chapter two) and finally God’s work of salvation through us (chapter three). He then moved to the final three practical chapters of Ephesians and with specific attention to chapter 5 verse 22 through to chapter 6 verse 4, he very faithfully and ably expounded and applied God’s word to our hearts. He addressed wives from the passage but from hitherto a new perspective. He stated that what makes submission difficult for a woman is experiences before marriage. He then demonstrated that a woman before marriage lives a life of independence but upon marriage, she begins a different life with a new reference point. The preacher concluded that ‘willingness to prefer another will over my will’ is the key which is only possible in a marriage context. He then spoke to the husbands and laid responsibility squarely at their feet showing that ‘Husbands, love your wives’ is Biblically the heaviest responsibility with Christ being the yardstick. Finally he addressed fathers and children showing from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ what is and how obedience works.  There were six main sessions and all these were seasoned with plenty of relevant life illustrations.

The key note address was delivered by Pastor Michael Otieno of Bethesda Baptist Church Nairobi. He spoke of ‘The foundation for a godly living’ from Paul’s letter to Titus chapter 2 verses 11 to 15. He called our attention to four points: 1) manifestation of God’s grace, 2) training of God’s grace, 3) expectation of Christ’s return and 4) reason of Christ’s return.

There were three workshop groups: Adults were divided into two groups. One group was led by Pastor Sam Oluoch of Grace Baptist Church – Kisumu handling the topic on ‘How to succeed as a Christian.’ The aim was to dissuade our people from the unbiblical view which charismatics have propagated that success is in worldly measure. The group began by looking at the life of Jesus Christ from his birth, ministry and death to see if there was any sign of material wealth/success, which of course there is none. They then looked at the life of Apostle Paul crowning it with a study of Psalms 73. By the end of it, Sam laboured to press upon the people that success in our life is ONLY in the pursuit of the Gospel purity so that by the end of our life we can say with Paul, 'I have fought the fight, and finished the race'. This really is what we should all be concerned about to succeed. However, the group also saw that God promises material success for His faithful people in this life (Psalm 1). Nevertheless, that should not be our primary focus but the Gospel success in our lives. The point was driven home that if a family lives in the fear of God, there will be ‘success’ in this world. Our focus must be to seek to live not for our own but for God's glory alone.’

The second group was led by Pastor Naphtally Ogallo of Grace Baptist Church – Eldoret on the topic ‘Living godly in a sinful world.’ Temptation to compromise our Christian faith is a daily reality. So often Christians give in to sin and later wonder why they couldn’t stand. The group learned that it is only by constant practice of saying ‘NO!’ to ‘little temptations’ that we will dare to defiantly stand against greater temptations. The Old Testament book of Daniel chapter 6 provided the basis of the discussion. Stuart Olyott’s book ‘Dare to Stand Alone’ was of great help in preparation.

The third group was led by Brother Lawrence Muiruri of Injili Bible Church – Kawangware, Nairobi. It was specially designed for our young people (up to College level) in attendance and dealt with a very relevant issue of ‘How to choose your celebrity.’ Lawrence is exceptionally good with the issues affecting the youth. The group defined a celebrity is ‘a famous person who is known widely and whose fame lasts only for a while.’ They then identified their celebrities. Not surprisingly secular musicians made the bulk of their celebrities! Others were drawn from different spheres of life including politics, entertainment and sports. The discussion was guided by the instruction in Proverbs chapter 4 verses 25 to 27. To make choices one needs to find their purpose/end goal; determine the available options and settle for the best option informed by the goal. Celebrities occupy every aspect of life; they have a significant influence (+ve or –ve), and command large following. The distinction is not always clear for many young Christians as was evident from the celebrities they identified. Many of the celebrities share similarity with the description in Psalm 73 which was also discussed. But the eye opener in verse 15 makes clear the only option. Finally, the group shifted focus on the hall of fame in Hebrews 11 as the exemplary celebrities of all time yet even these were not equal to Christ whom to know is life. Christ was thus commended as the ultimate celebrity. The younger children in attendance were also given special attention by a group of very able ladies.

In terms of the logistics, the unity and dedication of the Conference Organizing Team ensured that the conference did not just run but ran brilliantly well. Food was not just enough but excellent. The Conference was held at Grace Baptist Church – Kisumu. Sleeping accommodation was a few kilometres away from the conference venue so there were hired matatus (public vehicles) at hand

to ferry participants to and fro.

All who commented spoke of how delighted they were to have been present and how much God’s word was shown to be relevant to their family life. However, their only regret was that the Conference days were very few!

It is our sincere prayer that though these are the days of little things, the Lord may be pleased to open windows of heaven and to shower us with many more blessings. It is fitting in closing this report to loosely quote from the ‘father of modern missions’ William Carey: ‘we will attempt great things for God for we expect great things from God.’ So as the Lord enables us, we hope to make Reformed Family Conference an annual reality.

Finally, brethren, many of you have and continue to be sacrificially involved in the spread of Biblical Reformation in our needy country; we beseech you by the mercies of God to rejoice with us at what God has done and to stand with us in this vision and mission. To all who made this Conference a success, we thank you so much. Please pray on. 

Written and sent out on behalf of ReCFoK by Naphtally Ogallo

 NB: photos will be uploaded in due time!