FREE PENTECOSTAL FELLOWSHIP IN KENYA
FPFK General Secretary
"Let´s realize that the Gospel remains unchanged, but the medium of sharing the Good News has to change. "
FPFK General Secretary
General Secretary’s Report
LET US STAND ON GUARD
(Eph.6:10-18)
Preamble
The Presiding Bishop and the National Board members, our dear distinguished delegates, my fellow servants of God here present, ladies and gentlemen and all other protocols duly respected, I salute you all in the name of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Do allow me to welcome you all to our AGM 2021. Indeed, it is great to see you again on this very important day in the life of our Fellowship having missed the AGM 2020.
The Pandemic experiences
The year 2020 did bring with it considerable challenges heightened by the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It was and is still tough for every one of us. But through it all, God has been on our side. Many people had positive predictions saying that 2020 will be a year of completion, year of great blessings and many other positive things. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the most difficult and challenging years in recent times. Our AGM plans were underway; in fact, it was just one week before we could gather when suddenly the news of the first case of coronavirus was reported in the country. Everything came to a standstill and panic gripped the entire Nation. The government ordered for a lockdown in Nairobi, Kilifi and Mombasa Counties and imposed strict regulations including a ban on congregating in places of worship. For three months, churches were closed and we could not hold our Annual General Meeting. The 2021 AGM has also been postponed from the original date to a new date due to the pandemic leading to lockdowns in the five counties of Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu, Machakos and Nakuru. This has had a negative impact on the operations of our Church organization. Many pastors have been left in great financial difficulties. Despite the government ordering a phased reopening of places of worship, most of our churches have not recovered from the financial shock.
Bishop Walter O. Andhoga
FPFK General Secretary
"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40: 30-31 NIV)."
Biblical reflection
Do allow me to reflect briefly with you on a similar event in the bible about King David in 2 Chronicles 21:1-16. He gets agitated and Satan uses him to take a census of all the people of Israel. So he instructs Joab, the commander of the army, to take a census of all the people of Israel. Joab in his adamancy asks why? “But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this? Are they not all your servants? Why must you cause Israel to sin?” David is still insisting and the process is started as Joab travels throughout all Israel to count the people. Then he returns to Jerusalem and reports the number of people to David. There were 1,100,000 warriors in the whole of Israel who could handle a sword, and 470,000 in Judah.
What happens next? God is very displeased with the census, and he punishes Israel for it. Then David admits his sin and asks for forgiveness. The Lord responds to him through Gad, David’s seer. He is given three choices. He may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the LORD brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. He chooses three days of severe plague. So the LORD sends a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people die as a result. He then sends an angel to destroy Jerusalem. As the angel is preparing to destroy it, the LORD relents and says to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough! David looks up and sees the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. He and the leaders of Israel put on sackcloth to show their deep distress and they then fall prostrate on the ground. What a scene! At such a time, when we are facing unprecedented challenges with the coronavirus pandemic, may we turn to God in prayer so that He can relent from destroying the whole of humanity. “Stop! This is enough!” I pray that this pandemic should stop and everything gets back to normalcy in Jesus Name. Furthermore, l pray that the Lord intervenes in our economic hardships and open the floodgates of Heavenly provisions for us. Beloved, there are three lessons learnt:
- Pride in leadership; This can take us so far that we no longer have a vision of the people we are called to serve. We only see them as subjects to be counted and used for our own selfish ends. We see them as people who must obey our commands. We no longer see them as people of God. What have I learned about my leadership through this pandemic? May I not fall into the trap that David fell into and caused great suffering to the people of God. May the Lord help me view the ministry in the way God would want it to be and not lose focus. David did not seek consent from the Lord before he ordered for a census. He did not take heed to the advice of his army general and ended up plunging the country into great distress. We may not know the cause of this pandemic but we know that our God is able to bring it to a complete halt. As we navigate through these rough terrains, may we seek God’s wisdom and direction so that we remain in good standing with Him. May we be able to do Kingdom business without compromising our faith.
- Perceiving our people as statistics rather than creation of God; This is a blunder we make almost every day. Very often we stop to see the God who sees more than figures. We are his creation and he values every one of us. We are not just statistics. We cannot afford to be proud of our achievements as they are all the Lord’s doing. What do I hope to take with me and hold onto from this experience? We need to show genuine love and concern for humanity and see them as people who are lost and in need of salvation. For those who are born again, we need to nurture them into mature Christians. We should avoid making rash decisions without clear direction and reflections. If King David had weighed carefully the decision and action of carrying out the National census, he could not have plunged the nation into that kind of a crisis. Census in itself is not bad, but the motivation of carrying out that census was ill timed. David wanted to demonstrate that he had a strong army not knowing that it was the Lord God who was their protection. Sometimes when our so-called “ministries” are financially strong and established, we tend to forget about relying on God instead of relying on our own financial capabilities. In the end we find ourselves shipwrecked in our faith.
- One man’s mistake can make a whole community of people suffer; As leaders we need to weigh carefully our actions and inactions. David’s action of carrying out a census led to the death of 70,000 people in one day. Quite unfortunate! Must such a large number of people die simply because of one leader’s mistakes?
Leader legacy
What legacy am I leaving in this ministry when I will no longer be in leadership? May the Lord have mercy upon us and help us do His will as we serve Him in our different ministries. Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians 6:10-13 says that we should be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. We should put on the full armor of God so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes. Beloved, we should not lower our guard for our battle against the powers of this dark world is still raging. We need to stand on guard at all times so as to avoid the pitfalls that befell those who were before us. We have many giants fighting against our lives and ministries. Many of our people have lost their jobs and are in economic difficulties. Many are facing serious health challenges due to Covid-19 and other related diseases. Others have lost their dear ones who were the breadwinners. Our health care systems are performing below the expectations. The church is really struggling with a depressed revenue base as members giving has nosedived. There is so much fear in our midst as restrictions on gatherings continue. The Covid-19 pandemic is still killing many people across the globe and ravaging economies. The cost of medical care has gone through the roof. The level of poverty is worsening and many are feeling socially excluded. The impact of devolved governance structure, does not seem to be felt on the ground especially in view of the persisting corruption in some of our county governments. The National Government is equally going through numerous challenges as corruption continues to spiral hence pushing the cost of living to go beyond the ability of many people. These are times of great desperation and hopelessness.
Even so, Covid-19 has taught us that all is not lost as we see many families continuing with family altars. Such altars have become sources of great learning as our children learn how to read the word of God. Many family members have learnt to preach the word of God within their own family circles. In order to curb the spread of the virus, meetings have been organized remotely and these have saved on costs and time. This practice is assisting in saving on the scarce financial resources. In addition, COVID- 19 has brought considerable discipline in matters of funeral and wedding arrangements. We ought to be optimistic in life and ministry because challenges will come and go. Our faith will be tested beyond measure but we should not coil back and say that we are not advancing to our God given destiny. Let us be the “Calebs” and the “Joshuas” of our generation to advance the course of the gospel in the middle of this great pandemic. Let us go at once and take possession. Let us stand on guard.
Our global and national context
The pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems and the world of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating: tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people, currently estimated at nearly 690 million, could increase by up to 132 million by the end of the year. Today, millions of enterprises face an existential threat. Nearly half of the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce are at risk of losing their livelihoods. Informal economy workers are particularly vulnerable because the majority lack social protection and access to quality health care and have lost access to productive assets. Without the means to earn an income during lockdowns, many are unable to feed themselves and their families. For most, no income means no food, or, at best, less food and less nutritious food. Here in Kenya, the situation has never been any different. Who would have ever imagined that the church would one day be closed? The disruption was abrupt and precise – nobody saw it coming, no one was prepared for such an eventuality, and the clergy and Christians alike agreed on this. In a hyper-religious country like Kenya, religious activities, like going to church or praying in a mosque or temple, had been taken for granted so much that when the coronavirus crisis happened, it created a sense of confusion and panic. Many people are still wondering how the new order of doing things will continue. Indeed, these are trying times.
The political landscape is not promising either for already we are witnessing tensions beginning to build around different political formations. With the general elections slated for the year 2022 drawing closer, the country is most likely going to be balkanized along ethnic lines. This is not healthy because it is a recipe for chaos and tribal clashes which has been witnessed in the past. As a Church we need to be alive to these realities and stand guard to be counted as peace ambassadors. At the same time, we will also be heading towards elections of different leaders in FPFK in the year 2022, both at the National and Regional levels. We need to be vigilant and prayerful to God to guide us in the whole exercise so that our Church can remain united.
Coming home to our FPFK church today
The church online is here to stay. During the pandemic, we have increasingly discovered the power of technology to connect with people through worship services, small study groups, pastoral care conversations, council meetings, access to families and meditation groups. We are seeing more people watching our services and engaging in our group calls than ever before. COVID-19 is opening doors for us at the FPFK to awaken ourselves to the ways that we can offer good, wise theology into a world that needs it. We have
realized that we can still remain connected. Our members that wish to stick in old ways of doing ministry may find themselves trampled upon the whole stampede.
“
Let´s realize that the Gospel remains unchanged, but the medium of sharing the Good News has to change.
-Walter O. Andhoga
”
Beloved, let’s realize that the Gospel Message remains unchanged, but the medium of sharing the Good News has to change if we are to stay true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Indeed, as more of our members are getting connected to your ministry, online preparation and quality of worship will be important. Otherwise we run the risk of our members moving to other churches where they feel welcome and listened to more.
Retooling our ministers
FPFK is developing a digital platform that will enable us to manage our data and all the information from our churches. Pastors and leaders will be guided on how to use this platform so that we can keep our data and be able to use it at our convenience. I want to appeal to you to embrace this technology and use it to key in relevant information that pertains to the local church, regions and head office. Integrity in giving correct
information is key in this platform. Whereas in the past we have struggled in getting our statistical forms from our Churches, this platform will ease the time in filling the forms and sending by post box to Head Office. We should be aware that data protection is also paramount lest we fall victims of online scammers who may hark our information and use it for a wrong reason.
Our key milestone events in 2019 & 2020
We are aware of the growing reality of financial loss in giving in many of our congregations especially those in rural areas where online communication remains a major challenge. For congregations with inability to gather for worship without technological capacity to do on-line worship/giving, this is already a major challenge. Some members from some of our congregations may stop worshipping and not be able to return to doing so in the months ahead. This is a setback that we have to strategize on how to address. We would like to urge Churches that do not have the capacity to accept M-Pesa, to do so as they are likely to face challenges with member giving as people may no longer be used to handing in cash.
Covid-19 has changed the world’s economy. We are now witnessing negative oil prices; planes are grounded and production has stopped in factories around the world. Will the world’s economy recover? Will there be a transformation in globalization and supply chains? What are the opportunities after the pandemic?
Here at home, pandemic has greatly impacted the way we work and live. We empathize and condole with families that have lost their dear ones through the pandemic. We pray for resilience and restoration. We take this opportunity to encourage you to take heart. I want to thank our Pastors and leaders who in spite of the extreme challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have continued to stand firm and serve the Lord. Many churches still managed to send their 15% contribution to the Head Office. That was commendable. May you continue doing so without ceasing because the Lord God will reward those who diligently serve Him without reservation.
Nurturing Member giving will be key
Do allow me to reflect on our journey so far. I am delighted to report that the Pastors and Leaders Conference held in Ukunda was well attended. I now encourage pastors and leaders to be attending such meetings in the future for spiritual nourishment.
The Men’s Fellowship Conference was held in Karen Christian College in October. Though the attendance was not impressive, it was good to hold such a meeting since the previous year the meeting was not held. New officials were elected at the meeting.
The National Women Conference was held at Karen and was well attended. We congratulate the Women leadership for being in the forefront in organizing the meeting. We look forward to many such meetings in the future.
The National Youth Conference took place in December in Narok and attendance was quite good. We congratulate the youth leadership for the good work.
In the year 2020, the operations of the Head Office were greatly hampered as it was not possible for the National Board members, Trustees, Mission committees and many other groups to meet. We did not hold any national meetings like the National leaders’ conference, National Women or National Youth conferences. Few activities did take place in the various regions across the country.
Completion of the Kindaruma Hotel is still a challenge and the contractors have threatened moving to courts to seek for payments of their outstanding debts. We need to put our minds together to look for a solution to this difficult situation.
I would like to encourage our churches to work hard and ensure that they plant more churches and also send their contributions to the Head office. The Great Commission by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is still our priority and we need to be steadfast in fulfilling that mandate. We need to work hard to regularize the title deeds and the lease agreements of your respective properties. Different Churches in our Regions need to come together, raise money to enable our trustees move and get the title deeds for them. We are witnessing a lot of Court cases rising up on our properties. We have a number of title deeds that are wrongly written and others are still in the individual people’s names. This poses a serious danger as we are most likely to lose those properties to fraudsters. Going Forward, we should ensure that our light is shining and that we remain focused in our various ministries.
May the Lord bless FPFK and all her members.
FPFK Kindaruma Guest House (Nairobi)
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Phone:+254-20-3870126
Fax:+(020) 3874596
Email: hoffice@fpfk.or.ke or info@fpfk.or.ke