We arrived safely to our Secret Church event on Monday afternoon. I say this because our enemy’s arrows were shot all around us to stop our efforts for this conference. Many things happened over the course of the day, but two of the arrows came through the traveling process.

In the years I have been serving here and traveled into Kenya, I have never experienced what my driver and I experienced that day at the police checks along the roads. We were accused of violating Kenya roadway laws and told we were being taken to court. At another police check we were accused of not having the correct paperwork we needed to be in Kenya.

At first I didn’t realize what was happening. But slowly as we were trying to convince the police we had not violated any laws, it became so clear that the enemy was at work. While the officer was standing in my window telling me he was going to take my driver and I to court (which means take us to his superior) I began to pray and immediately the officer changed his mind and let us go.

The second time it happened I was better prepared. As the police was insistent that we didn’t have the paperwork they wanted to see .I sat there just saying the name of Jesus, over and over again and all of a sudden they saw in the paperwork we had what they needed to see!

By this point I was so excited! I knew God had great and mighty things planned for this conference since the enemy was battling to keep us from getting there.

My translator, Tom was not able to travel with us and met us there. When he arrived he was stressed because of the challenges he faced in his own journey that day. We went into the hut where I was staying and went to the Lord in prayer, surrendering everything to Him and asking Him to renew us and use us to accomplish the work He called us there to do. God listened and answered our prayers!

Before we left the hut to walk over to the church, I had Tom check the hut for chickens. I was so happy there wasn’t one setting on its eggs under the bed like last year. The chickens were everywhere outside and would walk in and out of the hut if I was there, but they didn’t sleep there.

This time it wasn’t chickens I had to sleep around it was rats. At night when I first went into the hut, there wasn’t any to be seen, but when I would turn off my lantern, I would hear them coming in from the outside wall sliding down the mudded walls. I was miserable, the first two nights were so long. It is a difficult thing to speak of such things to those around me for fear of offending, but by the third day I shared with Tom how I hadn’t been sleeping and why.

Tom told me the rats of course come in at night to feed. They wait until the light goes out, then come in. I was so glad I shared with him, because I realized if I left my lantern on, they wouldn’t come in. That night I tried it and it worked! Now I have a great plan for such circumstances, I just take extra batteries for my lantern and let it burn all night!

Although those first couple of nights were miserable, the joy and excitement of the days during the Secret Church sessions made up for it. On the last day we took pictures and they shared about how much they learned. Once again, I was overwhelmed with the goodness of our Heavenly Father that I get to witness such a change in the lives of these men of God.

Maybe a good illustration would be this: imagine that the only ice cream you have ever had is vanilla. You love vanilla ice cream and eat it every opportunity that arises. But then one day, someone takes you to an ice cream shop and you are introduced to more varieties of ice cream than you can count. Your world has been expanded and you will never be satisfied with just plain vanilla anymore.

Most of these pastors have never had any type of bible training. The only times they’ve heard the bible taught is when a preacher from another country comes through and preaches. Because these villages are so remote, that hasn’t happened often in their ministries.

As they begin those first hours of Secret Church, their range of bible knowledge begins to expand and by the last day they are hungrier than ever for more. They are no longer satisfied with just a little knowledge. They hunger to know it all!

We had a wonderful team of women once again serving the pastors by walking for water and cooking for them.

What I didn’t realize until the last day was, that as they were cooking, they were listening to Pastor Platt teach. Their hut for cooking was beside the church, but I hadn’t realized they were listening. On the last day when the pastors were sharing what they had learned, I was thrilled as the women also shared what they too had learned!

If you’ve never experienced a Secret Church session, please go to their website and look for a location near you where a simulcast of the April 6^th sessions will be held. You will not want to miss it! http://www.disciplemakingintl.org/secretchurch/

Love to all,

Joy Breedove

Missionary-East Africa