We Finally Arrived, Safe and Sound

After a year of waiting, we finally made it safely with our team to Kenya to teach computer classes at NEGST. You can read new information on our new blogsite which is http://negst2009.blogspot.com. This site will contain all new updates associated with this trip.

Please check it out and she and hear stories about our "Adventures in Africa".

ed fischer

Chet and Dolores Return to Kenya in 2009

NAIROBI EVANGELICAL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

"A School in the Heart of Africa with Africa on Its Heart"

9441 Haddington Drive West, Indianapolis, IN 46256
Tel.: 317-595-9850 Email: Chester.wood@att.net, Dolores.wood@att.net

Dear Friend,
December, 2008

ON OUR WAY TO NEGST NEW YEAR’S EVE

We are packing! We have been away from NEGST for over a year and a half and are a bit anxious about returning to a number of unknowns. We no longer have a house, furniture or car of our own. But more important than physical changes are the social changes at NEGST. Old friends have retired and left. Several new faculty members have come. There will be an almost completely new set of students except for the PhD students. We leave on New Year’s Eve and arrive in Nairobi late on New Year’s Day. Pray for grace to again make this long journey with a number of heavy bags full of books on the Gospel of Matthew.

OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY AND MATTHEW 14-28

Chester will have two sets of students for the second term which runs from January till the end of March. There will be a new cohort of students who begin with OT Survey. We are not sure just how many students there will be in this special cohort. OT Survey will be their first course. For more advanced students Chester will be doing an intensive study of Matthew 14-28 with 6-9 students, which is an ideal number for a seminar approach. The students will learn to dig into the Word of God and share their findings in class. If you have read Matthew 14-28 recently you will recall that it has some interpretive challenges such as
· Jesus’ “reluctant” healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman,
· the keys of the kingdom being given to Peter the “rock” so he can “bind and loose”,
· the transfiguration,
· the long discussion about greatness and care for “little ones”,
· the matter of divorce with the difficult phrase “except for marital unfaithfulness”,
· the statement to the rich young ruler to “sell your possessions and give to the poor” and
· Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and his temple “activity” which led to his death and resurrection and the “Great Commission”.
Pray for all of us as we seek to hear God speak to us from Matthew’s story of Jesus.

LEAVING FAMILY BEHIND

Leaving family behind has always been painful, but this time is even more difficult. Chester’s Mom, who will be ninety-two on December 20th, continues to suffer with dementia. She has been at The Forum for more than four years. Everyday, usually at lunch time, Chester’s Dad who is 95 and in good health, visits Mom to feed and care for her. We are scheduled to arrive home July 21st, 2009. Pray that Chester’s Dad will continue to have good health and be able to care for himself and Mom. We are thankful that two of our four daughters, Ruth Abbey and Elisabeth and their families, live in Indianapolis and see Dad on a weekly basis.


CHALLENGING DAYS FOR NEGST

NEGST celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this school year, i.e. 2008-2009. NEGST began with four students in 1983-84. Now with more than three hundred students and at times almost four hundred, NEGST faces a range of challenges. Over the years the most pressing challenge has been recruiting and retaining high quality faculty and especially administrators.
1. As we write this the Dean of the Faculty, an African, who has been at NEGST for only a few years, has decided to leave for a position elsewhere. Good Deans, and the one leaving was a good Dean, are hard to find! Much of the burden of recruiting a new Dean this time will fall upon Douglas Carew, the Vice-chancellor (what we would call the President).
2. We always pray that the LORD would send us high quality students who will spend their lives in ministry in Africa, especially in the difficult places among unreached peoples. A significant number of students have gone into ministry among Muslims and that number is increasing. Many NEGST grads are also involved in Bible translation among tribal groups.
3. Recruiting, training and retaining African faculty has been the special burden of Light of the World Ministries. We rejoice that a year from now the first cohort of PhD students should be very close to the finish line. Hopefully NEGST will be able to take four or five as faculty members.
4. Pioneer institutions like NEGST are always struggling to make ends meet. The last three years, which have been times of expansion of both the student body and faculty, have been difficult financially. Pray for wisdom for those in leadership.

CHALLENGING DAYS FOR LIGHT OF THE WORLD MINISTRIES

Light of the World Ministries, by the grace of God, continues to operate. At the close of the first fiscal year in 1986 we did finished with a bank balance of $10! God is faithful. Over the past two years we have been running a monthly deficit of $1,000 in our general fund. This fund is kept separate from grants and projects. Due to the monthly deficit and a number of major expenses such as airline tickets for travel to Kenya, and housing and transportation in Nairobi, we find ourselves about $20,000 behind. Thanks for your faithful prayers and concern! That is a great blessing and encouragement to us.

With deep gratitude we are your fellow servants in Christ,



Chester & Dolores

Gifts toward this ministry are tax-deductible. Please make your check payable to

“Light of the World Ministries.”
Mail to

Light of the World Ministries
825 S. Meridian,
Indianapolis, IN 46225.

LIGHT OF THE WORLD MINISTRIES, INC

Chet Wood Thanksgiving Letter

Dear Praying Friend Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Thanksgiving is just about here. We have a huge item of praise. Back in 1993 we sold our home in Minnesota and all our belongings. We thought that we would never again have such a cozy place. Five years ago we purchased a small, retirement house. The back overlooks a pond. This week we made the last payment on our house! Please join us in thanking the LORD for his amazing goodness to us. We want to thank you for your financial support which has made this possible. This is great encouragement to us.

We have starting packing in preparation for our New Year’s Eve departure on British Airways for Kenya and NEGST.
Sunday, Chester preached on “how can the church pass on its vision and passion for missions to the next generation” especially the post-modern generation. That sermon (audio version, mp3), the outline from the “bulletin” and a set of “notes” are all available online at http://www.faithchurchindy.org/sermons.
Yours with thanksgiving
to you and the LORD,

Chester & Dolores

Photo: Ruth, Alexander,
Rob, Deborah, Dolores

Nairobi Students Spend Time at Tyndale House

Dear Praying Friend, Below is a report taken from the recent Tyndale House email bulletin (http://193.60.91.18/Tyndale/Newsletters/TH_Newsletter_Autumn2008W.pdf). Your prayers, concern and financial support have made this visit to Tyndale House library a reality for the PhD students who are now back at NEGST and reunited with their families.

We still need $4,000 by the end of October to help Phoebe, a PhD student, with her rent.

Chester & Dolores

A visit from Nairobi

It has been a real delight to welcome a group of 10 third-year doctoral students from the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST) from 19 August to 30 September. All the students are working in Biblical Studies and four are majoring in Bible translation. Countries represented are: Sudan, Kenya, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia. While at Tyndale House, the students have been using the library (obviously!) and also attending seminars put on by staff on subjects such as Greek and Hebrew reading, paleography, and IT for biblical studies. They have also been leading chapel, and teaching us to sing in Swahili!

Ramadan at Tyndale
Ramadan Chan is one of the NEGST students and tells us a little about himself: “I come from a mainly Muslim area in Southern Sudan, where I have been involved in Bible translation
and church planting. Since 2001 I have been General Secretary of the Sudan Interior Church (over 40,000 members). My main role is to equip local churches for outreach. My PhD
focus is on Biblical Studies and Translation in order to help me teach in churches and seminaries and to be a consultant for Bible translation projects. Our current translation projects are in Dinka Padang, Mabaan, Uduk, and Shilluk. These languages together are spoken by more than 2 million people. I have greatly appreciated the hospitality I’ve received at Tyndale
House and the comprehensiveness of the library collection. It’s hard to imagine how we could do our PhDs without coming to a library like this. The visit should make a huge difference to the quality of our theses.”

Can Kenya Christians teach us how to vote?

CAN KENYAN CHRISTIANS TEACH US HOW TO VOTE?
By Paul Heidebrecht

This may seem like an odd question. After all, wasn't it Kenya that had a disastrous election less than a year ago?

Sometimes the best lessons are learned the hard way.

When I was in Kenya in May, I had many lively conversations with Kenyan Christians about their election—NEGST students, professors, local pastors, ordinary folks—they all spoke passionately about what had happened in their nation.

I felt their strong emotions of . . .

Shock . . . that a predominantly Christian nation like Kenya could come so close to total collapse.
Shame . . . that Christians had failed to prevent the violence and in a few places had even contributed to the violence.
Concern . . . that the national and international media had not reported the whole story and actually distorted what really happened.
Resolve to not let this happen again and to do better as Christians in Kenyan society.

I heard their explanations. They believed Kenyan Christians had swung from one extreme to the other. For many years Christians had avoided politics because it was seen as corrupt and compromising. The only thing that mattered was "getting saved" and "getting ready for heaven." But eventually Christians realized that government can't be left to people without integrity. They had to be engaged. The past few elections saw many more Christians running for office and voting. But church leaders identified themselves too closely with particular parties and their political tactics. This left them without a credible voice when the crisis struck. In some areas of the country, the church was part of the problem, not the solution.

So what lessons did they learn?

Christians need to be careful with politics. They need to find the right balance. They need to hold firm to higher principles of justice and righteousness. They must ask, What is good for the nation? and not, What is good for me? Nor can they pin their hopes on one party but rather they need to be independent enough to speak respectfully and credibly to all parties.

Pastors especially have to be careful. In most cases, they should avoid endorsing candidates and parties, especially if their congregation has divided loyalties. They should challenge their members to vote and participate in public affairs. They should preach and teach what the Bible says about citizenship in heaven and on earth.

I met several pastors who did remarkable jobs preparing their people to vote. In hindsight, some of them wished they had spoken more directly about tribal identity and the need for Christians to put their identity in Christ first above all else. Clearly, devout Christians can be quite immature and even ethnocentric in their attitudes toward other groups of people in their nation. From time to time, pastors need to confront these attitudes within their own congregations, not just from the pulpit but also in private.

One Sunday morning the church I attended invited a well-known Kenyan politician to appear on their platform, talk about the election and the future of Kenya, but also to listen to the church challenge him and then pray for him. It was a striking example of how the church can engage politics in a proper and positive way without compromising the Gospel.

Don't expect too much from government was another lesson learned. Don't be naïve about politicians. Many are corrupt or susceptible to corruption. The pressure to take care of their supporters and family members is tremendous. Those who have absolute integrity are easily marginalized. Christians must keep calling upon their government leaders to act justly and for the good of all even when it seems hopeless.

But at the same time, churches must tackle the social problems that government leaders won't face. This means empowering those who live in slums, assisting refugees from other nations, resolving conflicts between antagonistic groups of people, establishing schools, clinics and small business enterprises.

The real story the news media missed in Kenya this past year was how local congregations responded to the humanitarian crisis that followed the election violence. Despite their sense of failure for the crisis that should not have happened, churches and pastors stepped up to lead and in many ways they restored the reputation of the church in Kenya.

The NEGST community as well as its graduates who live in Kenya were a large part of this unheralded but effective response in a national crisis. The campus took in refugees, collected food and clothing and visited refugee camps, spent hours in prayer and reconciliation efforts, and spoke in churches about issues of ethnic and Christian identity. All of us can be very grateful to be associated with such a community. We are supporting a powerful witness.

I came home impressed with the wisdom of these Kenyan believers and their journey to a better form of political engagement. North American evangelicals are on a similar journey. Check the outstanding document produced by the National Association of Evangelicals in 2004.
We are all learning from our mistakes and from each other.

For an amazing story of Kenyan pastors leading a prayer march for spiritual cleansing, visit http://www.listeningtoafricanchurchleaders.blogspot.com/

In Christ,

Paul Heidebrecht

Christian Leaders for Africa

P.O. Box 1642

Indianapolis, IN 46206

clafrica@sbcglobal.net

P.S. Contributions to the NEGST scholarship fund can be sent to the address above.

NEGST PhD Students travel to Cambridge

Dear Praying Friend, Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Years ago when the PhD program at NEGST was just a dream, a key part of that dream was that the students might be able to work in a world-class library for an extended period. Today, the PhD students arrive in Cambridge, England, to begin six weeks of intensive research, data gathering, writing and consultations at Tyndale House Library which is located in the heart of Cambridge. It is without doubt one of the very best biblical libraries in the world and has an excellent staff.

Of course the students took the cheapest flight to London which goes via Dubai. This means an extended stop overnight. So here they are sleeping on the floor in the airport!

But sleeping on the floor in an airport is something that many students know about! They are a hardy bunch.

Pray for them as the first few days entail adjustments to a new culture (English, not Kenyan!), new foods, new attitudes, new perspectives and a marvelous library. Tyndale House staff have gone out of their way to welcome the students. The Lord has opened doors for the students.

More later,

Chester & Dolores

Christian Leaders for Africa Newsletter

July, 2008

visit the NEGST blogvisit us online at www.clafrica.com

Look at the Missionaries Coming Out of Africa
By Paul Heidebrecht

We’re starting to get used to the idea that Africa is no longer our mission field but instead is becoming a continent sending missionaries around the world. So what can we expect of these African missionaries? What unreached people groups will they evangelize and how will they do it? One way to glimpse this rising missionary force is to meet the students of Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology who are in the Missions department. These are men and women preparing to be career missionaries.

This past May I had a chance to sit and talk with some who are currently enrolled and several who have graduated and are on their mission fields. I was immediately impressed with their strong sense of call to obey the Great Commission and their willingness to go to very difficult places for the sake of the Gospel. They seemed particularly attracted to unreached tribes and communities in Africa which often are also primarily Muslim and therefore potentially hostile to Christian missionaries. I was pleased to discover indigenous African mission agencies ready to send out these men and women. Local churches are starting to challenge their people to consider the missionary call and to support these missionaries financially. Patrick and Violet have lived in several African countries among unreached people groups and trained believers to take over the missions they began. Some of their methods are familiar. Radio may be the most effective way to reach the populations of Africa. Only a small minority have access to television but everyone listens to the radio.

Refugee camps and slums are great places to meet people who have fled Muslim-dominated countries. A ministry of compassion paves the way for the Gospel. Likewise, prisons provide opportunities to speak with men and women who might otherwise be unapproachable.
The great challenge for African missionaries is to deal with both an increasingly aggressive Islam and the deeply entrenched animist religions of African cultures. The Missions faculty at NEGST specialize in Islamic Studies and try to help their students become wise and discerning missionaries among Muslim people groups.

As I listened to these men and women speak, I wondered if they are not exactly the kind of missionaries we need for the century ahead. They are moving into villages and neighborhoods of unbelievers with considerable cultural awareness. They don’t have any of the baggage Westerners carry when they enter Muslim contexts in most parts of the world. Harun and Judy have settled in a remote village of northern Kenya where theybear witness to Muslim neighbors and nurture a fledgling church. Furthermore, they enter their mission fields with strong relational commitments and skill. Hospitality and appreciation of local customs and a desire to serve the community characterize their mission strategy.

Perhaps most striking to me was the ways they are funding themselves as missionaries. The usual support-raising approach of Western missions doesn’t work well in African societies where most people live near or below the poverty line. Tentmaking is not only necessary but also very helpful because it allows these missionaries to enter a community without arousing suspicion and resistance. Far better to be a teacher or government worker than an outsider representing a different religion. Spouses are often the main breadwinners for a missionary family.

Esayas spends his time among immigrant and refugee groupsin Nairobi while he continues his studies. And, like many African pastors, African missionaries accept upfront that the missionary call is also a call to simple living, if not poverty itself. This means a missionary can expect protests from his or her own family. They will truly live by faith and with daily perseverance.
And for those entering Muslim communities, there is also the expectation that they will actually encounter some persecution. Muslim leaders will not tolerate their presence in many communities. Converts to Christ from Islam will be ostracized and even attacked by family members.

There are 247 Muslim people groups in the world (with populations over 100,000) that have no significant Christian presence in them. I suspect we will need these African missionaries to enter these communities and plant churches. I’m optimistic that some of these African missionaries will be supported by North American churches and that someday we will view them as our missionaries. That’s why I keep urging you and others to invest in the students at NEGST because it’s all about the next generation of African missionaries.

In Christ,

Paul Heidebrecht

Christian Leaders for Africa
P.O. Box 1642
Indianapolis, IN 46206

clafrica@sbcglobal.net

P.S. Contributions to the NEGST scholarship fund can be sent to the address above.