In 2018, I moved back to Kenya after spending all of my adult life up to that point in Kansas City. I knew beyond any doubt that the Lord had orchestrated my family’s move from Kenya to Kansas City; he used it to answer my prayer for a church after I got saved in a remarkable way. But my move back home was fraught with uncertainties. By this point, I was operating in a weird hybrid culture situation and I wasn’t sure how the reverse culture shock would play out. In my heart I trusted the Lord with this move back home, but I questioned how the details would fall into place: what would church, ministry and life in general look like?
Mark 6:4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
I didn’t know what it would look like to minister at home, but I knew that “Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country” (John 4:44), with ‘prophet’ in the sense of declaring God’s word. So how does one spread the gospel after leaving their local church and returning home? For me, the answer is more of a testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness in how he has led and prepared me and opened doors of utterance for his word
1. The Commission
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
I always viewed my home church in Kansas City, Midtown Baptist Temple (MBT), as a Jerusalem-like missions epicenter and Antiochian ministry hub. I may have been born and raised in Kenya, but I grew up spiritually at MBT. It was there I learned my own personal responsibility to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and his word. Evangelism was a lifestyle. I remember constant exhortation to preach the gospel at Sunday services along with attending Sunday school and LFBI classes on how to share the gospel. I also remember putting that into practice during Saturday morning invitations, evangelism outings and other events. As someone who had been an international student myself, I was involved in the Friends of Internationals ministry at my church as my field. I saw God’s power in reaching different individuals from different cultures with the gospel. My home church was a rich training ground for learning how to share the gospel. Looking back, I realize that if I wasn’t laying hold on the gospel sharing and ministry opportunities in my local church, then I wouldn’t suddenly start to do so when I moved back home.
2. The Equipping
In missions seminars, I remember hearing: “a call to missions is a call to preparation,” and “you’re chosen if you choose to prepare.” I knew that wherever I was in the world was my mission field, so I needed to prepare. I joined the Living Faith Fellowship’s Bible Institute with the first crop of students. I remember agreeing with my pastor that because there was a possibility that I wouldn’t always be in Kansas City, I should take every class that I could each semester, which I did. The way God worked it out such that I did end up moving home shortly after four years of Bible school, and he had prepared me to have something to share with my country, kin, and house.
Studying the word of God prepares you for the work, and I thank God for the pastors and teachers that he gave in my local church and its Bible institute to enrich that study.
2 Tim. 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Eph. 4:11-13 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Though there is much exposure to the gospel in Kenya, bad doctrine is also rife in churches all over the country. I found the content in the four years I took at the Bible institute absolutely relevant for the spiritual atmosphere I found at home. In my own observation and experience, many church denominations at home don’t really emphasize studying God’s word, and that was something to call people to. Around 2012, our church started using Bible study as a means of evangelism, and the discovery Bible study method in particular, which encourages interaction with God’s word for all the attendees. I got a chance to learn how to be a part of and lead a discovery Bible study over several years, which has been something the Lord has used to help me share the gospel at home.
3. The Sending Forth
Acts 8:1 And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles.
Acts 8:4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
The church members scattered in Acts 8:1 didn’t choose to leave Jerusalem. Great persecution drove them out, but wherever they went they preached the word. These Jerusalem saints were steeped in the apostles’ doctrine according to Acts 2, and the word is what came out of them wherever they landed.
Circumstances also compelled me to leave my local church, and the pattern the Lord established in these verses was to preach the word wherever you go. For me, that was home. Initially the field was hard, but eventually God opened doors to share the word through discovery Bible studies with friends and family as he had already equipped me to do. Living in my home country and not having the comfort of the local church I spiritually grew up in drove me to the word and to prayer, in essence, to abiding in the Lord. So often I’ve seen the Lord use passages that he gave me to study and tarry in to also share the gospel with those he brings my way.
4.The Prayers of the Saints
Though I physically left my local church, my local church did not leave me. I still got to join mission trips and mission conferences with MBT after I left and witness them praying for me and others who were “scattered” as I watched services online. We also began to have regular zoom meetings with a ladies’ group and a missions team from MBT which have been times of encouragement and prayer. When it comes to sharing the gospel, especially in a field made hard by a lack of honor, my testimony is that God answers the prayers of the saints and uses them mightily to open doors of utterance.
Eph. 6:18-20 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Col. 4:2-4 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
2 Thes. 3:1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:
After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, my brother called me and asked if we could start a Bible study. I was in awe because we had always clashed on Bible doctrine in the past. My other siblings also asked to join shortly thereafter. A childhood friend also called me up the same week as my brother and began to ask me Bible questions, which turned into a season of biblical counseling followed by a discipleship relationship with her and her sister. In the months that followed, my father, uncle, cousins, and the neighborhood kids also asked for direction in Bible study. Bible questions from friends and family members also led to regular Q&A Bible study sessions. The church prayed for me, and God answered those prayers. Staying connected to my local church after I left for home is something God used to work in my life. I could begin to employ the principles of Bible study, discovery Bible study, biblical discipleship, and all the equipping that God had given me in a once hard field, softened by the prayers and tears of the saints.
5. Scattered Like Me
My fellow former international students that got plugged into a local church wherever they are/were can probably relate to my testimony. Much of the work to spread the gospel at home happens before one ever returns there: learning to own the great commission, getting equipped, and allowing the Lord to fitly join you to your local church that can continue to be a support when you return home. This sounds a lot like missions from a local church at home to a foreign mission field!
Jeanette Bichage is an LFBI graduate and a valued leader and teacher of women in the Living Faith Fellowship.
