God Dots – Idaho Church Still Helping African Church 

By Jim Day 

 Hey there, God Dot fans! I hope that you remember the articles I wrote about the little church in Africa. Wycliffe Ouma is the pastor and he and his small congregation were renting a building in Rongo City, Kenya. 

Their landlord decided to sell the property but wanted too much for it. Actually, Wycliffe and his church couldn’t afford it if it would have been offered for one quarter of the price. They had no money and very few options. 

There are around 24 adults and 38 children in the church. They are mostly poorer folk who don’t have the means to buy property for themselves, let alone a church. God spoke to Wycliffe and told him to find an evangelical church in the U.S. to help. 

The name of our church in Hazelton is Evangelical Valley Presbyterian Church. When Wycliffe searched online for an evangelical church in the U.S., he found us. At the time, we were a church with 28 adults and no kids, and the average age of our congregation was probably around 70. 

Now for the cool part… 

We prayed and really felt that God was calling us to help this little church in Africa, so we committed to come up with enough money to pay for a piece of property that we could give them. We did it! Or, I should say, God did it. Now, I’m not bragging or boasting about us. The fact is that we were just being obedient to what we thought God was asking us to do. I am boasting in the Lord for what He did. God bought them a piece of property! 

After we had stepped out in faith and sent the funds to buy the property, we had a contribution-only dinner, with an auction after. In other words, folks could eat for free if they wanted (and that would have been okay), and the auction was no-reserve, so if they bid a dollar for something that was worth $10 or more, they would get it for the dollar. 

It was a huge success. People from as far away as Rupert and Twin Falls showed up, and God raised almost enough to replace what we sent to Africa. 

And, that got me to thinking… 

God is going to complete this blessing. He is going to build a church for these folks in Africa. Here is an update on Wycliffe and his little church. Their landlord had told them that they had to vacate by the end of October, but he has allowed them to continue using his property. Please join us in praying for this landlord to continue to allow them to meet there until they can get a shelter built that they can meet in. And pray for God to provide the funds needed to build a church on their property. 

We have been asking God if He wants us to continue to raise and send more money (and we will). We definitely want to be a part in getting this church built, and our own church has grown. I believe that is because we’ve been faithful to what the Lord called us to and that we teach truth from the Bible. We now have 40 members and eight kids and will be having another “new members class” in the near future. God even sent a young couple to us to lead the youth programs. That’s what God can do! 

Whatever money we raise will be sent to Wycliffe every month until his congregation’s church is built. It’s amazing to help build a church for an underprivileged community in Africa! 

I will keep you updated on the progress. Be blessed! 

Jim Day is the pastor of Evangelical Valley Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Hazelton, Idaho. He may be reached at [email protected] or (208) 409-0063.