as

picaLhristlan/Vli^^ion
THE REMPEL REPORT
t c

Frank & K^ie Rempel

Nairobi, Kenya
Box 45250

Forwarding Agent
Central Christian Church
Box 8

Clovis, New Mexico

88101

''Into All the World"

JvHy, 1974

came to Kenya 5 months ago^ but it is the very first newsletter we have tried to compi e. The Lord helping us we hope they will be regular and more closely spaced
from now on. f

This is not the first communication we have had with many of you since we

A BRIEF RESUME OF OUR ACTIVITIES TO DATE,

were argely occupied with both the new situation in which we found ourselves and

^ month between the of language our arrival here During - justthat before Christ mas in 1973 - and the beginning of date formal study. time we

le peop e with whom our lot is now cast. We found both of deep interest and were
much encouraged by the outlook.

in

dybeen accustomed in India,

"Comfort-wise" it seemed a tremendous improvement over conditions to which

"Prospect wise" there were of course difficulties and we tried our best not to let the dazzling opportunities we saw blind

us to them,

I preached Lordsday sermons Muguga Green Church of Uhrist, includingmonth several specialsthe at Christman and Newat Year's; conducted Bible classes in mid-week at two different locations; visited church members; made

tried to consolidate our position in the country. Indeed the time was so fiUed wi activity of this sort that Iferie and I have not yet had time to see more of Kenya s vaunted Game Parks than just the nearby Nairobi city's skyline.
swa 111 our major concern. There are two approaches to language study. One is the sell-study method and the other is the much more systematic (usually) one of
enrolling for a well-prepared and conducted course of studies. We chose the 3^tter

friends and acqi^intances within "officialdom" (with Dean's help) and generally

^ing the period between January 26th and May 9th we made the study of

p M Language reasons excellent facilities were available for it that locally the C.M.S. andthat Orientation School, and because we were afraid we in perhaps lacked the self-discipline necessary to make a success of the former method,

^d not joimediately ento

did not mean that we abandoned church activity - mainly it meant-that-we

D\^in)7 the latter six weeks of the co\irse we did ask to be excused from many of the
hours were long, requiring an almost equal amount of time spent in'

on the projects in leadership training we had envisioned,

midv/fr-uc meetings as the burden became a bit much,

homR-Jor^^", memorizing rules of grammar, vacabularies and model sentences. We dis covered w,hat muscles involved in this kind of activity are as subject to the aging
informational input than it once did. We were however able to keep up with much younger minds of most of our class fellows, perhaps largely because of prior
experience in language study.

process as are any other and that it took more effort to retain the vast amount of

final^tests though I had sat only for the "Ordinary" level of grading, Marie did not sit for the exams though her level of class achievement was at least equal to
mine.

With the Lord's help I was able to achieve an "Advanced" grade in 4 out of 6

5.

We were a bit fatigued when it was all over, but not overly so.

Too, we

well know that in fact it is NOT "all over" but that we've only begun language study - a process that goes on and on.
UNDERTAKINGS

We have now embarked upon the basic purpose for our being here: to provide
Bible and leadership training for the national Christians,

We plan and have started to make a two-pronged approach to this matter:

Nairobi city where our people live. Systematic courses of study of a very basic nature have been established, for which purpose our new Gestetner duplicator is proving indispensible. As some of these are in progress simultaneously we will

1. By utilizing the weekly Bible studies already in (currently) 5 areas of

not of course be able to do all the teaching, though most of the time Dean goes 4^-QRe--wh-ile-^rie-and~Igo-to^anbther Bible-'study.

2, By establishing courses in Bible training of a self-study nature. The

one already in motion is a series of lessons known as the "Kqow Your Bible" studies. This involves the use of a series of lessons written originally by an

India colleague. Bill Gulick. For these lessons I prepare additional, appropriate
Enrollment in these is of course voluntary but we wiDJ.

off^ some inducements to persistence and faithfulness, such as a certificate of achievement. The enrollment drive for this course is just beginning,
CONCEIiNS AND PRAYERS REQUESTS.

programmed materials.

^e it seem that ever^hing is strai^t "go-ahead". Nothing can be farther from

the t^th and we would not want to deny ourselves the benefit of your prayers by
covering up the unpleasantness.

There is danger, in a report of this kind, especially if one can draw atten tion to a number of baptisms, that one will tend to overlook all difficulties and

eal of heartache and can be solved only with the Father's help:

Some of these matters have caused us a great

v^th a considerable sum of money in order to gain control of the school and then
It does not seem we could accomplish what we had hoped we could. This does not mean we have closed the door on the project, but that until further openings we
ave decided to concentrate efforts on the Nairobi work.

Karatina, of which we'd often spoken.

1. We have had to abandon, at least for the present, the school project at

It turns out that we would have to come up

once assured, since has slipped outalso of our grasp. the This is a nia++ er ofChurch ^ave land, concern especially losing it involves defection

o one on whom in the past we had depended. Indeed, he is one of those who ccompanxed Dean to the West last s-ummer, Pius Nganga. It is not yet totally c ear o me how it could have happened, but apparently the land title was put in

we s all have to purchase it as the construction of a centre both for church and
mission IS an inaperative for the future.

government. Recovery of the same plot of land is a remote possibility only. i ere is considerably more hope that other land may be made available. If not,

lus s name as at that stage the church in Kenya was not yet registered with the

4.V, 4. there tends friendly and responsive the national are, I am that to be a as shallowness ofas character whichpeoples reqiiires that oneafraid culti-^
and on -thPi .rplU:&--s-id;& ltoldr-up"a^' -wtwoei'vafeeAm

vate and nurture Christian faith persistently and carefully if one is not to lose the gams made in conversions. It is of course always dangerous to generalize in
ness in the faith is an inspiration. But we've been disappointed and discouraged
on many occasions too. Your prayers will surely help very much]
^

4. By contrast with countries such as Uganda, Kenya as a nation stands tall. Our experience in India of listening to rumour upon rumour of the imminent doian fa]J. oj. the nation and the consequent closing down of al 1 mission work tau^t us to pay small heed to them. This does not mean it can't happen - merely that one
cannot afford to waste time in hesitation and fearfulness while the work comes to

a standstill. It has always been best to forge ahead in the work of Kingdom building. Anyway, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta shows no signs of losing his benevolent grip] We make it a point, privately and publicly, to pray for him. Will you
also do so?

5. Thank God with us for two more things: our sea luggage has finally arrived in Nairobi (only one of the pieces broken into) and our 5 year "work

permits" (residential permits) have been approved by the Lmnigration department.

- ''-'WE ARE NOT ALONE.

Needless to say (but permit us to say it anyway) Marie and I are very grate
ful for the amount of backing we have received in this undertaking. Financially we are better off than we ever were in India, The fact that we have quite a good number of people actively at work in behalf of the mission - apart from our two forwarding agents, God bless them - probably accounts for this, Irene Shaw and the Florence congregation started us off. When our account was transferred to the Central Christian Church, Clovis, those good folks took over masterfully and will ingly. One could not hope for better co-workers than folks like Mary Hecht and

those at Clovis whom she's chosen as her special helpers. In Northern Alberta we now have a back-up committee composed of selected

elders of the Avondale congregation in Grande Prairie, together with some from the
King Edward Park Church of Christ in Edmonton, Not all the details on this are

available to us as yet. Perhaps more can be added by the editor at home,' Sharon Kuykendall is the forwarding agent in the north country and it is quite apart from the fact that she is a niece of ours that wft tlrinV an b-ighly nf her.
And just look at the list of our supporters, to each of whom we say a heart felt "God bless you,"

Receipts from U.S.A. sources. Oct. 1, 1973 to May 13th, 1974

Mrs. John D. Myers Council HiU Christian Church

Lloyd G. Wendell

Florence Christian Church, Ore. (received by them from various sources) Central Christian Church, Clovis, N.M. Jeromesville Christian Church, Ohio

$ 529.42 1613.17 54.0S

43.3^ 25.00
10.00

Offering, Nat. Missionary Convention Mr, Harvey Herman

25.00 50.00

Burlington Ch. of Christ, Missionary Society First Church of Christ, Painesville, Ohio
Byron H. Reploge and Mrs. Reploge Co-Workers' Class, Amarillo, Texas First Christian Church, Jacksonville, 111. Itoshall Produce Co., Wymore, Neb. Waterford Church of Christ, Mt, Gilead, Ohio
Friendship Class, Ceres, Calif. Marvel D. Dunbar, Ceres, Calif. Mr. &Mrs. Carl Morrow R. G. Mitchell
Mr. &Mrs. Loren Davis Refund: air fares to Africa
Mr. & Mrs. Marvin Carr

West Seattle Christian Church Lord's Reapers, Ozark Bible Church

225. 644.00

65.00 25.00

Central Christian Church, Boise, Ida.

320.00 - ZjBO.OO 10.00 200.00 100.00

256.88 63,00 25.00 40.00

10.00

10.00

Mr. &Mrs. Gerhard Stavney Reel Ave. Christian Church, Vincennes, Ind.
Mrs, Nada Schweyer

100!00 50.00

35.00 335.00

100.00

$5413.*91
The part of May we borrowed $712 at 6% interest for six months to pay for one 01 the repatriations bonds needed by Frank &Iferie as they were granted their residential permits in Kenya. This was done in order not to deplete their regular
on contributions. .70-

living fimd. Anyone desiring to contribute towards payment of loan may so designate

Receipts from Canadian sources up to April 15th, 1974

Deeper Life Camp: Faith Promises Avondale Church of Christ, Grande Prairie, Alta. Yellow Grass Church of Christ, Sask. Dick and Botty French
Church of Christ, Portage La Prairie, M^. Mr, & Mrs. Howard Rash King Edward Park Church of Christ, Edmonton, Alta, Denise Lariuniraari Vulcan Church of Christ Ladies
Cambrian Heists Church of Christ, Calgary, Alta.

Pieter and Jacoba Groot

Ed and Maiy Benoit

$ 128.00 1529.06 266.95 50!00

qq 17.50 300.00 478,54 25.00 10!00
200.00

75!00

Mrs, Penna Moore Mr, &Mrs, Donald Stewart Church of Christ, Wrentham, Alta.

Parkhill Church of Christ, Calgary, Alta,

50!00 25*00 6O.OO

99,75

$335^*80

^)0eM^^^fl^il3Sit3r^^^
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astAjJt^LC<tChrUtlaTiA\i^^ion
Forwarding Agent
DEAK P. RBMPEIj P.O. Box 45250 Christian Church P.O. Box 306

Florence, Oregon

97439

Nairobi, Kenya

September 20, 1974

Hear Friends,

It does not seem

reasonable

or even possible

that more than

eight months

have flown

by since the^^arrival of my parents at the airport.

I suppose this is

the price one pays for being

busy and of course you all know about that.

We "house hunted" twice since returning to Nairobi, two of the rented houses
weWe had have been sold
Westlands area. you above.

from under us.

does Jiot

The

current one is by far the most adand I've given it to

eqiiate both from the standpoint of its facilities and location to our work in the

Our box number

chapge, however, had paper

Nairobi has never in its history

routes, mail deliveries,

street or house numbers.

The last of July,

We are now living on Waiyaki Way.

we had planned with some other friends to visit the

Bangoma area, then we

had a

letter

from

four

school

teachers

from Edmonton,

Alberta, desiring to visit us while they were here on safari. Kimbo Travel Agency
on the side.

They were with the they were in

with Kimbo

which

we

could

not find.

After knowing
asked and

Kenya for two weeks we went down for our mail and followed a big van

As it stopped at the New Stanley Hotel, Frank They came

about stayed

David fovir

Nattress and it was he to whom Dad was speaking.

days with us and we had a very enjoyable i;ime^

David_spoke" "irr chuEch-for us on

Sunday.

So the people in Alberta are getting a good report about us.

some very exciting news to tell you in this letter. Samburu We've had 9

We have

baptisms in the last three weeks,

.took to be a Masai. Now we

including a young

tribesman whom we
Tartoia

find he is from

the North near the fierce

. area.

He is bringing four others with him and their wives.

Martin Wafulla,

chairman of our board, was one of our first converts having His wife Jane has been a very faithful worker service was announced and she stepped
fQr-.al3

come over from the Catholic faith. for these years.

Last month a baptismal

6wt"t-A?e-bapti-d^-It was a-thrilling--eaq^erience^-not only for her-but

of us.

'

'
Ten acres in Kahawa on the , north-east

We have good news to share with you.

side of the city and two acreas in Westlands have been allotted to us by the city

council.-' The building ri^t across from'the land

Church building begining September 15. the people used to going into this direction which further into town.

in Westlands will "serve sis our

get is really only a few blocks The site

This move, we feel, will be good to

The area at Kahawa is a few miles out of the city.

already contains a school, they are willing to erect

a school and medical clinic

if we will build a church near by. We would have to erect temporary buildings and install a full time evangelist. So please pray for all these projects before us.

7
r-

\:.A .'a'
Musa, our new choir director, just
Jane Wafulla
rival of their

is waiting the ar
sixth child next

returned from

his home town in 1(7estern

Kenya, Kitale, with a list of names and signatures of a group there who seem earnestly seeking the New Testament Way.

month.
ond son.

They are hoping for a sec man,

Mr. Wala, pharmaceutical

and one

Our blind telephone

operator at the

of the elders has lost his

Kenyatta hospital reports

a very

good

30b.

The medical clinic he was in

We meet in his home

meeting of the blind in West Germany. The church sponsored his trip. Disma Jacobs and Bilbert Marunga ran for City Council and both lost. David Karengo has gone to Karatina to visit his wife Margaret and son, who have been visiting his mother.

has closed.

every Tuesday night for Bible study. We have tried everywhere to find him a ;job. Sunday School under the direc tion of Mother and Ben Masonye is in a Mt. Kenya Climbing contest with points for attendance, visit ors and memory vvork. The last con test was won by Lumimba's group with the yellow car coming in fi2rst. Dad and I have had to have some den

The three of us are as well as can be.

tal work dene. nail-.

Mother had to have the help of Dr.. to have cy&t removed from her '
up its abode under a toe

finger and also to dig out a "Chigger" that had taken

It was our first experience with such a spider, but I understand they are
Spoken or not, I feel deeply grateful for such interested friends as you.

common in the U.S.

You've had a hint

that we'd like to hear from more of you.

I do appreciate the

numerous letters from Irene* and your continued financial support,

' Kindest regards to all,
Yours faithfully, Dean Eempel

*Irene Shaw is on'the four member "Dean Eempel" Oommittee at the Florence Christ
ian Church, the Sponsoring Congregation. She is the treasurer for the Dean Eempel
Fund.

Others on the Committee are Esther Young, Newsletter; Fred Jensen, Elderj Bernard
Plumb, Local Minister.

,\ ^

. . A

'.'f-

..
'

-1

1.

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tret's?

THE

HEMPEL

REPORT

Frank & Marie Rempel Nairobi^ Kenya

Box 45250

Forwarding Agent
Central Christian Church
Box B

Cloyl8> Nw Mexico

88101

Sharon Kuykendall
Box 455

Iiit All 8li< World"

October, 1974

Grande Prairie, Alta.

Canada T8V 3A7

This is a nice sunny day foUovdng two and half months of rain. We hear it wdMI continue to rain throu^ August, but this monsoon is not as hard as we have experienced in the past years in India, Thousands of jungle animals perished .'Cor W8.nt of food and water because the rains have not been heavy enough the past few years. Now, as is the way, the people are complaining that there is too much rain.
Of-tside of church work there have been two interesting events: July 1 and

July 4. On the first of July, which actually turned out to be a nice, dry, fjunny day, by invitation to all Camdians, we were invited to Canada House, the home of the Canadian High Commissioner, Mr. Olivier. The celebrations took place from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Everything was held outside on the beautiful spacious lawns in front of the mansion. On the East was a canvas pavillion with drinks. Directly behind this was the police band playing rather fast modern music. They even did. quite well playing the National anthem. Sometimes you wonder what tune is being played, but they did rather well that day. On the South of the grounds was placed
the one long table laden with food with all of the small tables and chairs around

it. On the West was another canvas pavillion for drinks,.soft and hard. alter l-unch we returned into the city to work.

Soon

July 4th took place in Jamhuri Park. A friend wanted us to attend who is in charge of affairs there. She arranges all of the fairs, shows, and East African Fodiibitions at the Fair grounds. V7e arrived at noon in time to eat New Hampshire hot dogs, American ketsup and pickle relish. There may have been 300 in attendance. There was a discothegue for the young people, races for the children and a ball ^ame for the C.I.D. men and A.I.D. The Marines raised the Kenya flag which managed

to stay closed and the American flag went up upside down and had to be hauled dox'fn and /igjited. But j.t was an American who not trusting a band with the Anthem, brought his tape recorder, and we enjoyed U. S. National Anthem. Hy duty today is to write a news letter, and I had better gt at it. We are off^ii'ing to all a home study course covering subjects ranging from The Bible, on to a Christians responsibility and duty in the Church, in the hom, and in the' CGn^niuriity, -Jlhe study is to be-done- in their^ homesy and t4ien tuniedH.-Tir-fcr^c:orrf3i:r:=tion-. 39 have enrolled ai\d are doing Vcjry well. They arfi within three leseons of

c.viiiploi-.ing their course and I'm designing an "accomplishment certificate'' to av/ard them. This series of letssons v^as prepared by Bill Gu.lick in South India and (.-sed
bj' Frank there.

Somo of the recent baptiti^.-s have resulted from the home study course, had throo V7<=>-iks in a vow with baptisms.

Vfe

We have ordered a fibreglass baptistry from a Nairobi firm which has been supplying them to Assembly of God and Baptist churches in Kenya. We will set it up in our yard pending its installation at the permanent site at Westlands, It will cost us approxjjQrJtoly $450. We will put it at the new site in a garden sot ting, rather than inside a building somethdjig very possible in the even climate
of this area.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights we have Bible study the homes of Mr. Wala, Mr*. Mboya, and lie, O'Jera - Coiirses are taught on Bible Survey. We have fitiished the Gospels, Acts and the first page of Romans. We will try and get pic
tures of these meetings in the homes to send.

It seems to manage to rain very hard ri^t at church time, but the attendance

has held up rather well w.th people walking many miles to get there. The young
people have their meetings every second Sunday bringing their lunch to church and
holding their meeting in the afternoon.

Since Marie has been working with the Sunday School manning a contest of rac:mg cars, the attendance has come up from 10 to 30.
wo expect many more to attend.

As soon as the rains are over

o send greetings to all our brothers and sisters in Christ and thank you for
your continued interest in us,
Ifeirie and Frank

News & Receipts from Canadian sources;

April 15th - August

$- 1448.44
110.00

Avondale Gh\irch of Christ, Grande Prairie, Alberta Gertrude McGowan, Delburne, Alberta

Ednn Hunt

King Edward Park, Church of Christ

Calgary, Alberta

Edmonton, Alberta

425.44
10.00

Wniiam Rash ' Taber, Alberta Waterford Church of Christ, Ohio

Deeper Life Camp Faith Promise

Chrp.stian v:omen's Circle

Nanton, Alberta

58.55
100.00

Mrs, !Pyke Pioneer Lodge Grande Prairie, Alberta CAEibrian Heigihts Church of Christ Calgary, Alberta
$

71.00
20.00

300.00 .
450,30

2993.73

We th^ all those involved in the DEEPER LIFE FAITH PROMISE for their faithful

support, dwing the camp year Aug. 1973 - Aug. 1974 funds received were $57S.30. e praise God for the faithfulness of these dedicated young people.

6 received letters from two new sources - one from the Waterford Church of Christ

- s. Dan Sjodin who has chosen the Rempels for her missionary family for the year.

wno TOJJ. support the Rempels \n.th 5% of their Faith Promise and the other from

Receipts from United States sources:

May 14 - Sept. 26
$ 1197.27'^ I36 19 3O.OO 500.00
1^0 00

Central Christian Church, Clovis, New Mexico Friendship Class, Ceres, Calif, Marvel Dunbar Ceres, Calif. First Church of Christ, Painesville, Ohio
Byron H. and Mrs, Replogle

Beth Doerr Long Beach, Calif. Jennifer A. Mitchell

West Seattle Christian Church

B\irlington Church of Christ Oo~Workers Class Amarillo, Texas Central Christian Ch\arch Boise, Idaho

R. G. Mitchell

loo'oo 20!00 T^i37hr~

6o!oO . 340.00 60.00 90!00

^^0 00

* $280.70 of this ajnount was applied on note in amount of $712 borrowed in

Clovis for Frank's repatriation bond.

Frank Rempel
Box S

Ce'^trcil Christian Church

Non-Profit Org,
U S POSTAGE

Clovis, New Mexico S3101

Clovis, MM SaOl
Permit No. 49

'paid