(a recent prayer letter received from Shaun & Jeri Vance, Kenya)

January always seems to drag on forever and feels like the longest month of the year, then February seems like it is only a couple of weeks long. Most of this month has been spent around Eldoret. We were able to be at a few different churches, one of which was the first time we’ve been there and two of them are amongst the oldest churches in Eldoret.

One Sunday we attended Valley BBC. It is the church we attended in December for their building dedication. It was a “normal” Sunday service, but lasted for over four hours. We had Bible study, preaching, child dedication, prayer for the youth service, and the Lord’s Supper, followed by lunch, but it was a good day. Another Sunday we visited Huruma BBC. It is amongst one of the oldest churches in Eldoret at over forty years old. All of the churches under our mission in Kenya are broken into fellowships based on their location. The Huruma church has not been a part of the Eldoret fellowship for many years because of some disagreements between a former pastor and the fellowship along with a previous missionary. The members of the church were not even aware of the disagreements. An area which the Lord has allowed us to be involved in is that of being a peacemaker. There have been several times in the past where we’ve been able to be the mediator between pastors and help them to restore their relationship. The current pastor of Huruma, Rev. Wafula, came to see me a while back because he desires for the church to return to the Eldoret fellowship. We both agreed that neither of us were involved in the things that had happened in the past and we should work on a plan to reconcile the church to the fellowship, and we are moving forward with that plan. We had a sweet service with the church, and they were happy to show off their choir robes which were given to them by the Stirewalts nearly thirty years ago (they’ve taken good care of them!).

I was able to attend the annual banquet with the Soy fellowship of churches. This is an area that has faced its own challenges. A little over a year ago, some visitors from America, from a different denomination, came and began interfering with these churches, offering to buy land and build buildings, which are all good things, but it brought some divisions in this fellowship. Five of the pastors decided to break away from the fellowship and mission to join them, and even though we’ve tried to communicate to these visitors the problems they are causing, they do not seem to be concerned. It really shows the reality and heartbreak of a ministry made up of so many pastors and churches, and it also shows the need of being sure the truth of God’s Word is being taught and understood. But I am sure that in any ministry, there will always be those who will follow whichever group offers the most money. During the meeting, the pastors present all reassured the fellowship of their commitments to the Lord and to each other.

Jeri and the other ladies who are part of the sewing ministry are continuing on. Three new ladies have received sewing machines. For their next meeting in March, they will be electing new leadership amongst them. Almost every group here has the offices of chairman, secretary, and treasurer, and the sewing ministry is no exception. They are also working on coming up with a name to call themselves.

I have mentioned Kapsoya BBC quite a bit in previous updates. It is the place we call our home church. Visiting other churches has kept us away from Kapsoya for some time, but we plan to be with them for all of March. I do not usually share about the building needs of individual churches, because there are around three hundred churches and we do not want to cause jealousy amongst them, but this is one of the few exceptions that I have decided to make. The church has been raising funds to build a new building for around two years. The new building plan will use the foundation of the current building, but expanded, with a new structure built over the current one. They have made progress and have poured the expanded foundation and added new columns (they do the work as the funds come in), but they are now in an emergency situation. The current building is in very bad shape; the tiled roof is very heavy and has broken or warped nearly all of the wooden trusses supporting it. One of the walls is now pushing outward; even a local government official has told them they should stop meeting inside the building. Each time we attend church there, I look up at the trusses and pray that the Lord doesn’t allow the building to collapse when there are people inside. The new foundation has helped to secure the wall, but the church leadership is looking at what they need to do, especially because the rainy season will begin in about a month and it is uncertain that the building can withstand another season of rain. In the meantime, they are continuing to raise funds for the new building. The next phase of building includes finishing the columns, new metal trusses, and roofing. The cost for this is around $12,000 USD. I would like to ask you to consider two things: one is to pray that God will supply the funds needed, that He would strengthen the current building and keep safe all those who enter the building, and that He guides the church on what to do if they find themselves unable to meet in the building. Second to consider contributing financially towards this project. We believe the Kapsoya church is in a key location within Eldoret and has the potential to be a “model church” for others in the ministry to follow. If you do decide to help financially, please mark any contributions for “Kapsoya BBC” or simply send us a message and let us know so we can be sure the funds specified go to Kapsoya.

One final thing: I’ve asked for prayer for some time for changes we need to make in our Bible schools. Thank you for those prayers, we are starting to see a couple of changes go into effect. We are now also looking at some changes that need to be made in the ministry as a whole. Several issues have come up and we need clear guidance and direction from the Holy Spirit. We have already begun discussions with our sending church on how to go about making changes and we will continue to work out some things over the next few months, and I ask that you include this when you pray for us. I will share more about this in next month’s update.

Our next furlough will not be until Spring of 2026 (planning for May-October), but we need to begin planning a schedule. It has been almost two years since we were approved as BBFI missionaries, and there are some costs involved which we have not raised support for, like for health insurance. The Lord has always proved Himself faithful during our time in Kenya, and we know He will continue doing so, but we will need to use that furlough time to raise more support. Being a part of BBFI give us a great network of churches to reach out to, so please pray we are able to make the connections the Lord wants us to. If you would like for us to come and report to your church, present the ministry, or are willing to recommend us to a church, please let us know. If you’d like more info about the ministry in Kenya, you can contact us by email.