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HE WHO THE SON SETS FREE IS FREE INDEED! JOHN 8:36 |
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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM KENYA - WHERE THE NATIVITY SCENES CAN BE SEEN ALL YEAR ROUND!
The Nyeri Tent Conference was a great success! Thank you for your prayers! Over 300 souls decided to follow Jesus. Hundreds more were empowered by the Holy Spirit and encouraged by the dynamic messages that were delivered by Pastor Wachira and the team from the United States: Jesus Frees Ministry Team Mike and Cheryl Freese and Sharon Bergen, Pastor Sherry and Ezra Cox and Ministry Coaching Team Greg Salciccioli and Dave Makala. Services began at 6:30 in the morning and lasted well after dark.
The focus for the last meeting in the tent was WORLD MISSIONS and 50 people from Kenya came forward to accept the call to be missionaries!!!
The host church in Nyeri was completely full on the Sunday following the Tent Conference! There were 18 new people at the Tuesday prayer meeting. The new converts are being placed in cell groups and in the special “Excellence Class” for 8 weeks where they will be taught Bible fundamentals. The U.S. Team was able to visit some of the church plants and encourage the pastors and congregations.
One young Pastor and his family in Kakawa, about 3 hours from Nyeri, lost their mud house when it collapsed and he was trying to rebuild. Mike, being a general contractor, had to do a little building. The Pastor’s wife gave us one of their chickens as a gift. It is now living with other chickens out on the property where the Chaka High School will be built.
JESUS FREES MINISTRIES FOCUS PROJECT: Chaka High School Building Project. Praise God we were able to pay the money needed to begin drilling the Well and also for the environmental impact reports and well permits for the permanent Chaka High School.
Our next project is the large water pump and system tanks needed to supply water to the school, dormitories and surrounding people who lack water. Currently these young men and women are carrying their water for over a mile to their dorms. The estimated cost for this next phase is $20,000.
This school is giving education to young people who would otherwise have no chance of going to high school. Our goal is to see this permanent High School completed in January 2009 when that new school year begins. Any donation you give to help these less fortunate children be educated will be greatly appreciated. Please remember all donations are Tax deductible and any donation over $5.00 will be receipted. GOD BLESS YOU! HAVE A WONDERFUL CELEBRATION OF OUR SAVIOR’S BIRTH MAY YOUR NEW YEAR BE BLESSED.
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JAMBO! HELLO FROM KENYA and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We are so thankful to be back in Kenya! God has directed our steps in amazing ways! The Team has had opportunities to evangelize in the streets, to preach, to teach Sunday School, to encourage the High School students and the children at Kenya Kids Home and to fellowship with our Kenya brothers and sisters. We even attended a Kenyan wedding where we saw the bride carried by the women into the church and the groom carried by the men!
HIGH SCHOOL REPORT: STUDENTS We are rejoicing that 24 seniors from the school have just finished taking their national exams for entrance to college. Funds were raised by the Local Church for the fees and transportation, but the students had no money to eat during the 4 weeks at the testing facility. Jesus Frees Ministries was able to provide food and also the needed supplies for the chemistry and science lab exams for the 24 students. Praise God! We will be able to report the test results in our January Newsletter.
FUN TIMES “GOOD MEAT”: Team Member Sharon goes out for lunch.
A few days after Sharon arrived we stopped for lunch. It sounded like Pastor Wachira told her we were going for “good meat.” What he was actually said was “Goat Meat.” When we arrived at the little place, written on the wall above the door was “Goat Meat.” Sharon was quite surprised! For one who isn’t normally a food adventurer, Sharon became a Kenyan during lunch.
UP COMING TENT MEETING The theme of the upcoming Tent Meeting is “Back To The Upper Room – For Such A Time As This”. It will be held in Nyeri, Kenya November 25th – December 2nd at the Kamukunji Stadium Grounds. President Kibaki will also be holding rallies next to us on some of the days of the conference.
THANK YOU FOR PRAYING FOR US… PRAYER IS OUR GREATEST WEAPON!!! ANSWERED PRAYERS TO LAST MONTH’S REQUESTS:
REPORT ON THE 1st TENT MEETING:
The theme of our first Tent Meeting, which was held in Sagana, Kenya was “Second Touch.” The last two nights of the Tent Meeting the attendance had grown to the point that many people had to stand outside.
Before the tent meeting began our host Pastor William had empty seats in his church and since the tent meeting he has been forced to purchase 75 more chairs because the Lord has added to his congregation, and the growth continues.
Many people were saved. Many people made commitments to serve the Lord. About 500 people came forward to be filled with the Holy Spirit. There is still revival and much awareness of the Lord Jesus Christ in the town of Sagana because of the tent meeting.
Before we leave we hope to buy underclothes and shoes for the “Kids”. A special offering was taken on Sunday, November 17th and the church raised enough to care for the needs of the Children for one month. Praise God for His provision! In November Please Pray For:
Personal Prayer Requests
Closing Thoughts We believe Kenyan Christians are going to have a powerful effect around the world in these last days. We pray that as development comes to their country they will not be pulled away from their dependence upon the Lord. When a person has money and things, it is so easy to put faith and trust in those things instead of in God. We must continually fight to keep our faith where it belongs--in our Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Mungu Akuberiki Sana = God Bless You So Much!
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Greetings from College Station, Texas (where they take their A & M Football Very Seriously!) When we pulled into town the trip gauge read 7,000 miles since leaving Bend, Oregon on August 10th. From the first day of our trip the Lord blessed us with divine connections. We saw some old friends and met new friends in Oregon, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas. One of the new friends is Leslie, our 1 year old granddaughter. We were able to see her for the first time when we stopped in Southern California to meet with the Jesus Frees Ministries Board. We were assured once again that God has a great sense of humor when we connected with an awesome Christian couple at the “Flying Saucer RV Park” in Denver Colorado! They caught the vision for Kenya and are on board and excited about what God is doing through Jesus Frees Ministries. So many powerful events transpired in Denver, really too many to tell. Our main purpose for going to Denver was to begin the process for getting wells and water treatment for our next project, the proposed High School in Chaka, Kenya. Our meeting with CH2M Hill, a water company in Denver, was very productive. We also met with Water For People, Engineers Without Borders, Engineer Ministry International and Berle Taylor, a man whose team has been digging wells for many years. We connected with a ministry which supplies Musical Instruments for 3rd world countries and we visited several churches and shared the Vision of Jesus Frees Ministries. All along the way God has answered prayer for the sick and we witnessed His miraculous healing power! Glory to God! Kenya’s presidential elections will be held in the next two months and one of the candidates, Raila Odinga, “just happened” to be in Denver at the same time we were. We talked with him and made tentative plans to meet when we are in Kenya. We believe God will give Jesus Frees Ministries great favor in Kenya and that many lives will be transformed for His Glory. Crusade Tent Update: We are so happy to report that the Jesus Frees Ministries Crusade Tent is set up and ready for the opening crusade in Kenya. It will begin on Sunday October 7 and last for 10 days. We will arrive in time for the last five days of this exciting event! Sheep and Goats: When we go to Kenya in a few days we will often be eating Sheep (lamb) and Goat. They roam around with the people on the streets and paths. Last year when we were in Kenya, we arrived back at Pastor Wachira’s home after the evening service and I left the front door open for Pastor and Mike. After a few moments I turned around to see that two goats had come into the house. I was expecting to turn and see two “Men of God” but what I saw did not belong in the house at all… so I kicked them out! The Bible has many passages that reveal God’s heart toward the impoverished, some of them are gentle pleas and other passages are strong warnings. Matthew 25:31-46 contains both of these as Jesus discusses Sheep and Goats. The Sheep and the Goats: A Tough Word From JesusTo the Sheep Jesus says:
37-40 Then those 'sheep' are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?" Then the King will say, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me." To the Goats Jesus says:
44 Then those 'goats' are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?" 45 He will answer them, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me." (The Message) There is a great lack of help for the Indigenous Pastors of 3rd world countries. These men and women are serving and laboring for the Kingdom of God and helping the impoverished. We can’t do it all, but we can do something to help them. We fly out of Bush International Airport for Kenya, Africa on October 10th. We will be joined in November by Jesus Frees Board member Sharon Bergen, Pastor Sherry and Ezra Cox from Valle Vista Assembly of God and Greg Salciccioli and David Makela of Ministry Coaching International. Please Pray For: * A safe flight to Kenya and health for the JFM Ministry Team * Many souls to be saved at the October and November Crusades * Many Converts as we evangelize the Kenyan Indian Community * Favor with the Kenyan Government as we register JFM * Funds for the Christian High School Building Project and Wells * Favor with the Municipal Council of Nyeri (Building Dept.) * Increased Support for the Kenya Kids Orphans Thank You and The Lord Bless You, Mike and Cheryl Freese and the Jesus Frees Ministries Team
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are so thankful to report that the FIRST JESUS FREES MINISTRIES MISSIONS PROJECT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED by the leading, directing and provision of our Mighty God! The Crusade Tent which seats up to 2000 people was purchased from an evangelist in South Africa in May 2007. It arrived safely in Nairobi Kenya two months later. It was a very happy and emotional time when Pastor Wachira called with the exciting news! We were given great favor with the air freight saving us several thousand dollars; in fact the donations we received were just the amount needed. Glory to God!
We are also grateful to report that Pastor Joseph Clifford from Chennai, India has come to Nyeri, Kenya to minister to the converts, Raju and Rashmi, who are living in the Jesus Frees Mission Home. He arrived on August 1 and will be staying for 2 months. Please pray that many others from the Indian community will open their hearts and their homes to Jesus. "He who the Son sets free is free indeed" John 8:36 We continue to thank God for the sale of our home in Bend, Oregon. We are now traveling in the 5th Wheel raising support for the next mission project, a permanent High School Campus for nearly 300 disadvantaged students meeting in a primitive, temporary structure. We will be returning to Africa in October to begin the leg work for this project and to prepare for the U.S. teams coming over in 2008. We will be sending out update emails of our journey. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support in helping Jesus Frees Ministries spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Jesus Frees Ministries is God's idea and we have only just begun to see what He is going to do!!! The days ahead are going to be exciting as we watch MILLIONS come to the SAVING KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS! May we all continue to be faithful servants until we see His face and He says, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:23 We love and appreciate you all! Mike (Mungai) and Cheryl (Wangui) Freese and the JFM Board ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Baptistery Turned To Security Wall Matthew 6:20 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." The Kenya Kids Orphanage sits on the edge of the church property. One Sunday morning during service, some thieves stole all the food that was being prepared for the orphans. A wall needed to be constructed to prevent further break-ins, but there wasn’t money at the time to buy cement blocks to build the wall. Pastor Wachira decided to tear down the baptistery and use those cement blocks to build a security wall. So for one year the church had no baptistery tank. Money had been raised to rebuild it and there was a special baptismal service planned for New Years Day 2007. However, Pastor Wachira received a report of churches in northern Kenya experiencing critical financial problems because of famine, illness and disease. The Lord led the congregation to send the money reserved for the new baptistery to the needy churches up north. Without knowing the story, God put it on our hearts for Jesus Frees Ministries to provide the money for the baptistery. When we called on New Years Eve to tell this to Pastor Wachira, he started crying and praising God! He was so excited because the Holy Spirit put it on our hearts to ask about the baptistery at just the right time! A large number of new converts were baptized the first week in February. Below is Pastor Wachira’s email response when he received the money for the new baptistery tank! Thank you for helping Jesus Frees Ministries help the Lord’s work in Kenya! GLORY BE TO GOD!! Hello esteemed Board members of JESUS FREES MINISTRIES. It is with great joy we acknowledge the receipt of the 700 dollar wire and work on the baptistery commenced today for we have already began bringing in the materials. GOD BLESS you and may the joy of the lord, joy unspeakable fill you. May the power of the holy ghost break forth on you mighty and big.
Bishop Wachira Karani.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I’ll go where you want me to go Dear Lord o’er mountain or plain or sea” Pastor Wachira, heard the call this month saying, “GO TO THE UNITED STATES!” You are going to love him! Thank you for praying and seeking the Lord for what He has planned for Pastor Wachira while he is ministering in the United States. If you would like us to come to your church you can contact me at cfreese@jesusfreesministries.org . He who the Son sets free is free indeed! John 8:36 Rev. Wachira Karani came from the most unlikely beginnings. His maternal and paternal grandfathers were both witch doctors. One Easter Sunday he followed some little children to church where he was given an Easter card which he cherished throughout his childhood and teenage years. In his early twenties Wachira gave his heart to Jesus and continued to pursue his education. He was then hired to work for the Kenyan Government as a telecommunications engineer. God began calling him into pastoral ministry in his thirties and he attended Bible College in Nairobi, Kenya. After completing his studies, God directed Rev. Wachira to start a church in Nyeri, Kenya. At first the church met in a hotel, but it quickly grew under his anointed teaching and preaching. Since the church’s inception in 1994, Kenya Assemblies of God, Nyeri has started 34 additional churches throughout Kenya. Rev. Wachira is the regional presbyter pastor, overseeing all the churches in his denomination. He is also chairman of the Nyeri Christian Pastor’s Fellowship. Rev. Wachira holds a prominent position on the Kenya Government’s National Church Board and is instrumental in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Kenya. Rev. Wachira and his wife, Margaret are burdened for the Kenyan children who have lost their parents to the A.I.D.S. virus. On the church grounds is the first of a three phase project that houses and cares for 14 orphans. They have also formed a high school that is educating 110 disadvantaged young people in a bamboo style rented building. Rev. Wachira has blue prints and has begun to purchase the land needed to build a school to accommodate several hundred students. He also has a vision for a health clinic on the property next to the church. There is no greater need than the salvations of souls and Rev. Wachira has a tremendous anointing for evangelism. He holds crusades in areas where God directs and then plants a church using a qualified pastor from the Bible College. He has been blessed to plant several churches in Muslim territory. One such church has 700 converted Muslims. Rev. Wachira will be in the United States from Feb 15th – March 27th. We know God wants to use this man from halfway around the world to touch our hearts and kindle the fire in our spirits to be reapers of the harvest! We hope to come to share this precious brother with your congregation. Whether it is the main Sunday or Weeknight services, the college or youth group or the men’s or women’s Bible studies, God will use Rev Wachira Karani’s poignant message to transform lives for the Kingdom of God and His glory. We would also like to share with your director of Missions the opportunity for short term missions projects to Kenya. We look forward to serving you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Mike and Cheryl Freese.
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Mike and Cheryl Freese Wish You A Merry Christmas and A Happy 2007! The Christmas story begins with a call. It was a call to Mary asking her to be the mother of the Son of God. She could have said “No” to this call, but she said, “Yes.” Mary sacrificed her plans, risked ridicule from her family and friends and faced the possibility of losing her future husband, Joseph. Can you imagine the questions she had for God; Why would You choose me? How can this possibly happen? But the angel told Mary not to be afraid, that nothing is impossible with God “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) She was to name Him Jesus which means “The Lord Saves”. He will be great and of His Kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:32) Mary became a handmaid of the Lord and she sang a new song, a song of one who answers “yes” to the call of God…. “My soul does magnify the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” She was blessed because she believed that the Lord would do what He said! (Luke 1:45) Mary began a time of expecting and awaiting His birth … then Jesus was born. When the shepherds found Jesus in a manger, they recounted to Mary the words the angel had spoken to them, “The Savior, the Messiah, the Lord has been born tonight in Bethlehem.” As Jesus grew, Mary quietly pondered in her heart, Savior, Messiah, Lord; and once again she was expecting and awaiting the fulfillment of the angel’s message. The Christmas Story ends with the Son of God giving his life to buy back mankind and setting us free! JESUS FREES!!! Unless a seed dies and falls to the ground it cannot bear fruit. Dying to ourselves is the hardest part of responding to God’s call. He is calling ALL of us in one way or another, so this Christmas let’s respond as Mary did and say, “Yes”. For Mike and Cheryl 2006 has been an exciting year of being called by God and saying “Yes!” to God. We are amazed by what He has done and we want to share it with you: 1. We met on Christmas Morning 2005. 2. Cheryl said, “Yes!” to Mike in January and we became engaged. We then began praying the prayer Isaiah prayed, “Here we are Lord, send us.” Being called and sent by God to perform a task can be alarming, even when one is praying in that direction. 3. We said “Yes” to each other and were married on April 7th 2006 in Bend, Oregon. 4. The call to birth Jesus Frees Ministries came on April 28th at the Azusa Street Centennial Convention in Los Angeles, California. It was there, among 45,000 people, the Lord brought to us Pastor Wachira Karani from Kenya, Africa. Neither we nor Pastor Wachira had previous plans to attend the convention. It was only with the Lord’s divine orchestration that the three of us came to be in L.A. 5. We had only been married three months when we made our first trip to Africa. It was there the Lord revealed to us His plan for our ministry. With our eyes we saw, in our hearts we felt and upon our spirits did the Lord impress the four major focus areas for JESUS FREES MINISTRIES: Salvation for souls, care for orphans, education and health care. 6. Upon our return from Africa the Lord created order and established our ministry. JESUS FREES MINISTRIES is now recognized as a Non-Profit Organization in Oregon. Our tax exempt status with the IRS is being processed and the Lord has chosen a board of seven directors. Each of these directors said “Yes” to the call of the Lord. 7. Our first ministry task is to raise funds to purchase a 2000 person tent. With the purchase of this tent, Pastor Wachira will no longer be restricted to preaching a limited number of crusades. Kenya is ready for Jesus, time is short and we have been called!
At this time, God has call Jesus Frees Ministries to support the fruitful work being done in Kenya by a man who has said “yes” to the called of God. There are four Focus Areas in this ministry: 1) Salvation of Souls 2) Expanding the existing orphanage, “Kenya Kids” (currently 14 orphans) 3) Expanding the High School for the disadvantaged (currently 110 students) 4) Beginning a Health Clinic on the church grounds If God is calling you to partner with us in one of these Focus Areas by praying, giving or going, please say “YES”! If you would like to learn more about this exciting ministry, please contact us at: mfreese@jesusfreesministries.org cfreese@jesusfreesministries.org
or by mail: Mike and Cheryl Freese JESUS FREES MINISTRIES P.O. Box 5685 Bend, OR 97701 Glory to God! Good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people! Peace on earth, goodwill toward men! (Luke 2:10) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year because JESUS FREES!
Mike and Cheryl with Resting Ronnie
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Jesus Frees Ministries PO Box 5685 Bend, OR 97708 |
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