THE LOG CHURCH ORPHANAGE - CEMENT FORMS REMOVED

It was only last week that the builder returned to take down the braces and remove all of the cement forms from the school building. It is good feeling to have that stage of the building done. It is only one of many steps toward completion of the building, but an important one. It was a big expense that we had to do all at once.

Most of this cost is paid for, but not all yet. The builder is gracious in allowing us to pay for it as we can. However, as you might expect, it is something that we need to do very soon. Please pray for this need.

It is only one of the things that we are facing right now. The school term has begun, and as of right now, we have not been able to pay any of the school fees. The schools are beginning to say that the children will not be able to

keep attending until the fees are paid – another prayer request,

These are the two items weighing on us right now. The money that we have been able to send needed to be used for food. Such is the work of running an orphanage.

But God is faithful. He has provided for all these years, and we thank Him that he will be faithful again.

Here is the latest report from Pastor Joel:

******************

Greetings from Kenya Log family church. We thank God for the love and care you have for the orphanage in Kenya. Thank you for help you sent regularly to

support the work here in Kenya.

The school for which we poured cement now has dried. Now the metals sheets that helped the cement we were able to remove. The building company is happy that we were able to give them this work, as they are waiting us to pay. Please pray for God to supply for us to pay them.

We have attached the pictures to show the progress of the school building. Thank you for the work. Welcome Kenya.

The children and leaders are happy to each and every one who helped who are supporting the work God bless you all. Kindly join us in prayers for the breakthrough for the children to have school building, school fees, food, clothes.

By the grace of God, we request your prayers. We are praying that God will send you to Kenya and see the work you are support. Welcome Kenya all of you to Kenya to witness the great work God is doing through your prayers and help.

Thank you, and God bless you all really good. We call you blessed.

Best regards.

Son Joel and Church Leadership.

******************************

If you would like to help the children of the Log Church Orphanage of Kisii, Kenya, you may make your check out to “The Log Church” and write “Orphans” on the memo line.

Send it to:

 The Log Church

PO  Box 68

Tripoli Wisconsin 54564

We now need to pay a wire transfer fee with every payment, which amounts to $50 each time, but other than that, your donated money will be used only for purchasing food, clothing, schooling, and other necessities of living. We wait until we have $4000-$5000 before we make the bank transfer to make each transfer more economical. Nothing is held back or diverted for any other purpose. Thanks!

HOW THE SCHOOL DAYS GO FOR THE ORPHANS

Although our schools in the US are soon to be on summer vacation, the schools in Kenya have just begun the second term of their school year. I asked pastor Joel to share a bit about how each day proceeds for the kids as they go to school.

This is the report that he sent:

***********************

Greetings from Kenya family, we are humbled to God for what is doing through your love. Really, we see God Himself as we receive the blessings and support from you. We are praying daily for the work of your hands. May God empower you and all look to you. May the blessings of cover you. We love you all.

Thank God for all who have been reading and helping financially for the work of Kenya. Receive thanksgiving from leaders and children under our care by the grace of God. It's with great honor we give you the daily report of the children.

The children of Log Orphanage are schooling in three schools, Rianyakwara Primary, Kimai primary and Matagaro Secondary school. The children have to wake up at 5am, then have 20 minutes of prayer and the word of God from the one selected by the leader to prepare for a sermon. They then go to the assembly for a 20 minute church service at 6:30 am. After, this, they prepare and walk to school for about 25-35 minutes.

By 8:30 normal class begins. At 12:45pm classes break for lunch. The children then walk back to the orphanage for lunch, and then back to school. Classes again begin at 2pm and continue until 4pm. They then have some games, clean the grounds, and by 5pm they arrive home to rest and for supper, waiting for next day.

Keep praying for this children to have school completed so we can have classes here. It's our prayers that we can have school project completed because in holidays we can turn classrooms to Bible training center for maturing the saints in the body of Christ. Also some of these children have the calling to pastoral duties.

We have the challenges as we care for the children, like now we have no food for the past 3days like now new have no food. Walking to and from school is challenging some can faint on the way.

School fees are also challenging. We request your prayers.. Pray for food, to clear school building debt for last step.

We give this reports to update you, our beloved family for prayer. Once again we want to thank all who have been helping this wok we request kindly do not stop even if life challenging too on your side. We pray God to strengthen you.

Numbers 23:19: God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Hebrews 6:10: God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. May God bless you all. We pray that God will send you to Kenya and eye witness for the work you are doing. 

Welcome Kenya. Thank you. We call you blessed.

******************************

If you would like to help the children of the Log Church Orphanage of Kisii, Kenya, you may make your check out to “The Log Church” and write “Orphans” on the memo line.

Send it to:

 The Log Church

PO  Box 68

Tripoli Wisconsin 54564

We now need to pay a wire transfer fee with every payment, which amounts to $50 each time, but other than that, your donated money will be used only for purchasing food, clothing, schooling, and other necessities of living. We wait until we have $4000-$5000 before we make the bank transfer to make each transfer more economical. Nothing is held back or diverted for any other purpose. Thanks!

BEING DIMINISHED DIGITALLY - THE LOG CHURCH SERMON, MAY 21

In the mid 1800’s, Charles Darwin published his controversial book on evolution, On the Origin of Species. It was controversial at the time, and it remains controversial today, at least in some circles. However, one of those circles where it is not controversial is in academia. In most educational institutions, the theory of evolution is taught, or at least heavily implied, as being not merely theoretical, but as scientific fact.

The implications of these teachings are many, but the end of it all is coming to the inevitable conclusion that there is nothing special about us as people—that we, as men and women and boys and girls have no exceptional place above any other part of our world. Evolutionary thinking will lead us to believe that we are not a special creation by God. We must come to the inescapable determination that we are actually no different than any animal. We may have had the fortune to evolve in certain ways that other animals did not, but we are not loved by a creator God. We are ruled merely by instinct and random chance.

With this thinking, our value as humans is diminished. This will eventually lead to and will be replaced by a certain despair. We are merely animals.

Diminished in the Womb

In 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute banning abortion, effectively legalizing the procedure across the United States. The effects of that ruling have been that almost 65,000,000 legal abortions have taken place in the United States.[1]

At the time that this ruling by the Supreme Court was passed fifty years ago, many people were somehow able to convince themselves that the baby in the womb was less than human—that it was merely a “blob of tissue,” and that by removing it, they were not taking a human life.

Since that time however, with the advancement of medical testing equipment, we are now able to peer into the very womb of the mother and observe these tiny children as they develop. We can watch them suck their thumbs and playfully tumble around in their little homes of their mother’s wombs.

WHAT TWO MOMS DID: THE LOG CHURCH SERMON, MAY 14

I think that it was just a few weeks ago that I told the biblical story of the baby Moses—how he was put in a basket soon after he was born and placed in the reeds of the Nile River, then later to be found by daughter of the Pharaoh. But this sermon is not about Moses or about the princess. It is about the mother of Moses, a woman by the name of Jochebed.

Don’t worry if you did not know her name. It is not even mentioned in the story, and not many mothers in these days would give their little girls this name. I don’t think little Jochebed would make it through middle school. We only learn the name of the mother of Moses later in two of the several listings of genealogies of the Hebrew people (Exodus 6:20; Numbers 26:59).

Usually when we hear the story of Moses, we do not speak too much about Jochebed, but there are several reasons why we should give her some attention. When we consider the story this time, try to imagine what it must have been like for this mother of Moses.

THE SECOND TERM OF THE SCHOOL YEAR HAS BEGUN IN KENYA

The second 3-month school term has begun in Kenya. The school fees are always a challenge, but God has always provided so our kids can attend classes. When I think back to the early days of our orphanage when we had no money for their schooling, it is such a blessing to know that now they have this opportunity.

However, this last bank transfer was used only for food, since the orphanage had been out of food for a couple of days. The amount was $3850. It was all that we had. It purchased enough food to last until the 20^th. As you suppose, the school that we are building is on hold while we catch up on the payments.

Below is the report from Pastor Joel that he sent this morning. As you can see, he included some photos that he had taken during our trip there.

****************

Greetings from Kenya in the most precious name of Jesus our lord and savior. Thank to all who have send help for food.

Food report Ksh.500000

Rice=400Kilogram,one kgs=Ksh. 250x400kgs=Ksh.100000

Cooking oil =60litres,one litre cost Ksh. 450x60litres=Ksh27000

Maize =572 kilogram,

one kg =Ksh.290 xKg 572=Ksh.165 900

Omo  17 kilograms , one kg @ 150=Ksh.2600

Vegetables 160 kgs. 1kgs =Ksh. 160x160kgs=Ksh.25600

Unga ngano/baking flour 164kgs One kilogram =Ksh.160 x164 kgs=Ksh.26,300

Salt 76Kgs=Ksh.7600

76Kgs meat @500 Kh. 38000

Beans 286kgs one kilogram Ksh. 350=Ksh.100000

Transport cost Ksh.7000

May God reward you all and bless the work of your hand. We request for prayers for food, school fees and other needs. The second term began on Monday 8th May - 2023.

May good God bless you all. We have the call to pay school fees Ksh. Kimai, Rianyakwara and Matagaro Ksh. 788000 we request your prayers for the school fees for this term. Thanks for your love. Real good we call you blessed.

Yours Son Joel and Church/Orphanage leadership

 ******************************

If you would like to help the children of the Log Church Orphanage of Kisii, Kenya, you may make your check out to “The Log Church” and write “Orphans” on the memo line.

Send it to:

 The Log Church

PO  Box 68

Tripoli Wisconsin 54564

We now need to pay a wire transfer fee with every payment, which amounts to $50 each time, but other than that, your donated money will be used only for purchasing food, clothing, schooling, and other necessities of living. We wait until we have $4000-$5000 before we make the bank transfer to make each transfer more economical. Nothing is held back or diverted for any other purpose. Thanks!

STAND AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD - THE LOG CHURCH SERMON, MAY 7

The Biblical story of David and Goliath is one that I am quite sure almost all will know. The story is even known outside the Christian community and in the wider culture. From sporting events to political competitions, everyone knows what is meant by a “David and Goliath” matchup.

It has become so well-known because it is such a compelling story. The unlikely combatant rises to the challenge and defeats the undefeatable. At least, this is the popular interpretation of this story. However, the popular interpretation of a story is not necessarily always the correct one.

THE RAVEN AND THE DOVE (WHY TWO BIRDS?) - THE LOG CHURCH SERMON, APRIL 30

What was there about Noah that caused God to look upon him with favor?

Like many saints of old, we really do not know very much about this man. What we do know is that the society of his day was extremely wicked, perhaps more so than any society which has ever lived. It must have been so to provoke such a severe judgment from God.

However, we do not know any of the particulars of the people of that day. We do not know for what reasons God declared the society to be so wicked. Nevertheless, as we read the account in chapter 6 of Genesis, God’s assessment of the people demonstrated the extreme depth of depravity to which they had descended.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

CONCRETE WORK AT THE LOG CHURCH ORPHANAGE

             Despite occasional rainy skies, we praise God that the concrete work was completed for the first story. No ready-mix or pumper truck, all the work was done by hand with two gasoline powered mixers and a power winch to lift the cement up to the floor.

            The videos are not clear, but you can get the idea of how the work was done. The photos below may help more.

We were pressed to get this stage of the building done, since all of the forms were in place.
Also, there is the fact that we must move ahead. Both the builder and the cement company were kind enough to complete this work on credit. As you can see in Pastor Joel's accounting below, after the deposit, we still had a debt of something over $11,000.

Praise God that we were given a gift of $10,000, most of which we were able to put toward the debt. However, the orphanage was

again out of food, so we used $3000 to buy food. Alas, that $3000 will not go too far in feeding all of the kids and staff, perhaps about 10 days.

Of course, food is the constant need, and despite the fact that it costs close to $10,000/month so

that all the kids and staff can eat, and despite the fact that there have been times of hunger, we praise God that for these past 6 years, we have been blessed.

Concerning the school building, we already see that God may have other uses for it. I will share more

about this in the future, but the next step now is to completely finish the ground floor, complete with doors and windows and toilet. With the help of God, this will be done to move on with what He has planned.

Below is the report from Joel:

***********************

Dear beloved Dad, Mum, Church,

and all Donors,

Greetings from Kenya church family,

We thank God for all of you for the provision towards the Log Orphanage and the work in Kenya. Be assured that what you have given is what has done this

great work. Thank you for those who sent the deposit for the cement.

We were able today to begin to pour concrete. The work began by the grace of God. Thank you for your love and prayers. Yes we have to pay the building company

for the material supplied on debt, but now we have it in place.

Please keep praying for the work in Kenya and for the provision to clear the debt. 

Praise and glory goes to God for this great work that is done by His hand through you. Thank you for

who blog readers, we are humbled for you all for hearing God and moved to help.

Sure, we wish you come all and eye witnesses the work God has done. Yes we have the great journey ahead, we have come back as one leper to thank all as a

testimony for your generousity. Beloved families we are praying for you all.

We request your prayers and help to complete the project of school to help our community to eradicate illiteracy and make gospel to reach the unreached as also this school as Godly center where people will have encounters God. Thank you once again.

May God bless you all, kindly pray for the food and other needs. We love you all and treasure you in our hearts. Thank you. God bless you all really good, we call you blessed.

Best regards.

Son Joel and Church Leadership.

LIFE AFTER FAILURE - THE LOG CHURCH SERMON, APRIL 23

Moses knew what it was to experience failure. He endured several. In thinking about these times of disappointment that he experienced, we probably primarily think about his first attempt at leading his people while he still was part of the palace life in Egypt. Who else, if not he, would be the logical choice to lead the people? After all, he had connections with all of the important officials of Egypt.

One day, as Moses journeyed out of the palaces of the Pharaoh of Egypt to see how his Hebrew people were living, he saw a slave being beaten by an Egyptian. The aggression of the Egyptian enraged Moses. Coming to the defense of the man, Moses struck and killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

Mistakenly thinking that this act would be commended by the Hebrew people, the very next day Moses tried to intervene in a dispute between two Hebrew men. To his probable surprise, instead of recognizing that Moses could be the person who could lead their people to freedom, one of the men chided him, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?  Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

This failure in what Moses saw as his noble attempt to help his people hit him hard. He fled Egypt and retreated to the distant and isolated land of Midian. In his desire to free his Hebrew people, Moses may have been correct in his assessment of the value of what he tried to do, but incorrect in how he tried to go about doing it. It was a failure from which it took him forty years to recover.

Moses tried to put that catastrophe of the rejection of his people behind him by fleeing, but he found that he could not escape. A failure of this magnitude will always follow one wherever he goes.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE LOG CHURCH ORPHANAGE

The school calendar in Kenya is set up differently than the way it is generally done here in the US. In Kenya, instead of having one long school year with a single summer vacation, their school year runs throughout the year, separated by shorter two-week breaks in between each of the three terms. There is also usually a mid-term break of about three days for each term.

When we were in Kenya last month, the kids were on their mid-term break for the first term of the year. Now, at the end of this week, this first term will come to an end. They will then have two weeks of holiday, starting again the 8^th of May.

The Covid year of 2020 played havoc with the

school year. In that year the schools were mostly closed. For the past two years, 2021 and 2022, it seemed like the school ran the entire year through with hardly any break whatsoever (or just a couple days now and then). The Ministry of Education did this to “catch up” for the lost Covid year. This year is closer to the normal.

This year we have four of the orphans who will be completing their secondary education at the end of this school year. They will be our first graduates. Two of these would like to go on to study and prepare for ministry, either as pastors of other Christian workers.

We are at the moment checking on local Bible Universities, but I have also been in contact with

some former colleagues of mine when I worked in various countries in setting up Bible training centers in areas outside of major population centers.

Please pray for these possibilities. Pray also for the use of our own school building in this. We are praying that this building can be used for multiple purposes.

Concerning the building of our own school at the orphanage, we also are on a bit of a hold right now. As you can see in the photos, the forms are all set, the rebar is wired together, the conduit for the wire runs are all in place, and all is ready for the concrete.

But we have no funding right now to

continue. We are praying that God will provide this soon. It is not good to leave all of the prepared forms exposed too long to the weather during this rainy season.

Thanks for your prayers!

******************************

If you would like to help the children of the Log Church Orphanage of Kisii, Kenya, you may make your check out to “The Log Church” and write “Orphans” on the memo line.

Send it to:

 The Log Church

PO  Box 68

Tripoli Wisconsin 54564

We now need to pay a wire transfer fee with every payment, which amounts to $50 each time, but other than that, your donated money will be used only for purchasing food, clothing, schooling, and other necessities of living. We wait until we have $4000-$5000 before we make the bank transfer to make each transfer more economical. Nothing is held back or diverted for any other purpose. Thanks!

Report of last bank transfer below:

PERSEVERANCE - THE LOG CHURCH SERMON, APRIL 16

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NAS)

In the woods in back of the farm where I was raised are the ruins of an old farming homestead. The house and small barn of the old place have now long since collapsed, leaving nothing but the rotting logs of the buildings.

When I was a boy however, the shell of the old log house was still standing, shaded by tall hemlock trees by its side. The roof of the house had mostly fallen in, and the floor had been torn up by some kids who had heard the boyhood tale that the family that once lived there had buried some treasure under the floor boards. There was no glass in the windows of course. I am sure they were the first things to be broken. Nevertheless, despite this early vandalism, the log walls of the house still stood straight.

The fields around the house were grown up in poplars and alders. The fence rows of stone that once had surrounded the fields had also long ago toppled, and trees grew through the stones. The farmstead had a look of total abandonment.

As a young lad, I would often meander around this old farm site and wonder about this family who lived there before I was born.

THE BRONZE SERPENT - THE LOG CHURCH SERMON, EASTER SUNDAY, 2023

Some of the stories that come to us from the time that the Israelites wandered for forty years in the wilderness are really almost incredible. To some people, they are indeed incredible—so much so that they dismiss of the stories down as legend. One of these is the story of the Bronze Serpent.

I do not. I see this as something that actually happened. It was something that God brought about for our instruction.

The story goes like this: The Israelites were complaining. This, at least, was not new. The entire forty years that they were in the wildness after the exodus from Egypt can be chronicled by the times that they were murmuring or complaining about something. We fault them for this, but I wonder what many of us would have done under similar circumstances. Every day the Israelites got up to a day much like the previous one—wandering over a hot and dry desert with seemingly no real objective in mind.

But if you remember the entire story, this situation was really of their own doing. It was just because the people had complained so much and had exhibited such lack of faith that their trip through the wilderness was almost directionless for so long. The Israelites had witnessed God’s miraculous interventions on their behalf in the Exodus from the land of Egypt, and yet they continued to doubt and to try God’s patience.

I DIED ALONGSIDE OF JESUS - THE LOG CHURCH GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE

The Anguish of "Good" Friday

We call the day “Good.” — “Good Friday.”

I suppose that we call it good because it was on that day, the day that Jesus died, that the price was paid for our redemption.

But for the disciples of that day, it was not good. It was not good for the apostles, and it was not good for the other followers of Jesus. It was not good for Mary, the mother of Jesus, nor for the other women who were his followers. It was not good for the several others who, after Jesus had been crucified, retreated behind locked doors out of fear of the Jews.

The day for all of these people was not good. It was the darkest of all possible days.

These people were not only followers of Jesus, but they had placed every hope that they had in him. They did not have an option number two.

And now, Jesus was dead.

******************

Of course, before he died Jesus had told them that they should wait for three days, after which he would rise from the dead. But these words of Jesus were for them, too difficult to grasp. Despite the very clear meaning of what Jesus said, they had put these words into the same category as other enigmatic sayings of Jesus. They either did not take what he had told them literally, or perhaps they simply did not understand.[i]

The only thing that was clear to them on this day was that Jesus had died. It was the worst form of death. They saw him die. No one ever survived the cross.

It was not “Good Friday” for them. It was the darkest of all possible days.

*************************

Today we celebrate Good Friday almost without thought. We color our Easter eggs and we hide baskets of candy. Most years there is a feeling spring in the air and we are in good spirits. Friday is the day for us to plan our happy weekend gatherings.

For very many people, Good Friday is no different at all from any other Friday. It is a good day for them because it is the last day of the workweek. The weekend is here. TGIF—Thank God It’s Friday!

But we cannot know the joy and the deeper meaning of Resurrection Sunday if we miss the agony of Good Friday. On this Friday, try to imagine the despair of the disciples on that day some 2000 years ago. They saw every hope in their lives dashed to pieces. Every single good thing had been taken away.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, this is exactly our own despair without Christ. Hope itself is dead. There is no option number two. If Christ is dead to you, you are among the most miserable of creatures and of all people most to be pitied.[ii]

It only when we come to full realization of our hopeless condition without Christ that we can know his resurrected life. Friday will pass. Sunday is coming.

---

[i] Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; John 20:9

[ii] 1 Corinthians 15:13-19

String Symphony No. 12: 2nd movement Felix Mendelssohn (composer)

I Died Alongside of Jesus

A Monologue

I don’t have a name that you would recognize, but it was a name many people in Jerusalem once knew. My name was one that they hated.

I was a robber, but not just a typical thief. My partner and I became notorious for the terror that we exacted on the people of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. We prided ourselves for escaping capture for so long. I held great disdain for the law and for the people. I actually enjoyed terrorizing the people. It made me feel powerful and invincible.

However, in the end, my partner and I were caught. The courts tried, convicted and sentenced us. So hated were we that the sentence was the worst one that they could possibly give us. Not only was it execution, but it was execution by crucifixion, the most excruciating kind of death.

I almost did not care. I hated these people so much! I was almost glad to be taken away from them. My hatred for these people had grown so much that I also had come to hate my own life. I hated even life itself. I was glad to die! I loathed life!

But crucifixion is not a quick death. It sometimes takes days to die.