Northwest Convocation & October Meeting
Seattle, Washington September 16th-20th, 2009
It was John’s privilege to be one of the featured speakers at the Northwest Convocation near Seattle Washington September 16th-20th. John was blessed to be able to share with between 80-150 people on the theme “Power for a Finished Work”. Pastor Dave Westbook was the other main speaker for the four-day weekend. While Pastor Westbrook spoke on the order and importance of the closing events, the four slide programs John shared were aimed at giving practical suggestions for new victories in our physical, mental and spiritual habits.
October 2009
Indianapolis, Indiana
The first week of October found Windy and John back in
Indiana preaching at the Indianapolis Church of SDA Believers
on the subject of the preparation for translation. By God’s
grace John was also able to assist a team of workers who
were putting on a Revelation Seminar on the West end of
Indianapolis. Tuesday evening October 14, 2009 he shared a
111 slide power-point program on The Mark of the Beast. The
tables in the rented building were arranged in a horseshoe
shape so that the participants could compare notes and get
to know each other.
Gazeley Fellowship Health Camp Meeting
Houghton, England August 7th-9th, 2009
Early August found the Temple Restored Ministry in the notoriously irreligious United Kingdom.
Present Truth Adventism has a small footprint in this country of 61 million people.
John's program outlined the various specific difficulties God's people will face in the last days.
They were then shown some of the scientific information which explains why proper care of the
body can make them better prepared for weariness, hunger, cold, heat, and even persecution.
It was emphasized that: "Anything that lessens physical strength enfeebles the mind, and makes
it less capable of discriminating between right and wrong...less capable of choosing the good...
less strength of will to do that which we know to be right."
Sabbath morning's study period was devoted to examining what the Bible has to say about diet;
with special emphasis on how appetite uncovers the inner condition of the heart. The 11:00
hour was a sermon entitled: "The Temple and Three Kings" which examined how the stories of
King Ahaz, King Hezekiah and King Josiah greatly help the NT Christian to understand the work of
polluting, cleansing and repairing his body temple.
On Sabbath afternoon about 100 saints were blessed to hear Windy's program: "Cleansing for
Health and Holiness. In which the biblical, historical and scientific reasons for assisting the organs of
elimination were examined. Windy employed a few practical demonstrations in her presentation
which sparked many questions during break time. Windy's presentation on cleansing was followed
by John's 90 minute slide program entitled: "Right Thinking: How are Mental and Physical Habits
Influence the Mind".
On Sunday morning the 25-30 people that stayed were treated to two 60-minute practical classes
on "Medicinal Plants" and "Things you can do to Improve Your Health".
Mid-America Sisterhood of Churches Camp Meeting
Ozone, Arkansas June 10th-14th, 2009
John and Windy were privileged to make the 14-hour drive South to a small wooded camp
ground in Northwest Arkansas where they worshipped and fellowshipped with several of
their brothers and sisters from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee.
The over-arching theme of the four-day Camp Meeting was "Shelter in the Coming Storm".
The five scheduled speakers were: Mike Bauler, Barry Mellor, Bill Hughes, Shelem Flemons
and John Skeete. Very little time was spent talking about the details of the coming economic,
political and spiritual crisis; instead the speakers focused on the spiritual preparation. The
titles of John's four meetings were: The Shelter of the Atonement, The Shelter of God's
Tabernacle (part one and two) and The Key to Acquiring Divine Shelter. Besides the quality
Bible instruction there was an abundance of good conversation, good music and good food.
Construction Begins on African Bible Training School
April 13th- May 11th, 2009 Accra, Ghana
The wonderful dream which has been on hold for three years took
a big leap forward when, on this latest trip to Ghana, construction
began in earnest on the new Temple Restored Office and Bible
Training School. The beautiful 4.4 acre piece of country property is
near the town of Kasoa, a large suburb West of the capital, Accra.
John was extremely busy on this four-week, whirlwind trip. He was
blessed to start the 26' by 50' two-story building while
strengthening a new partnership with the neighboring SDA
orphanage. While the original plan to conduct an Evangelistic series
did not pan out, He was privileged to visit and encourage four
separate congregations scattered across the country.
On this trip John was impressed to inaugurate a new Bible
distribution program for newly baptised Church members. He also
was able to make arrangements for a local Evangelist to plan an
Evangelistic series later this summer.
Weekend Health Seminar and Community Health Fair
March 27th-29th, 2009 Indianapolis, Indiana
The end of March found Windy and John back in Indianapolis for another four-part Health
Seminar. John opened on Friday evening with a 75-minute slide program entitled: "Battle for
the Body" where he traced out the ancient roots of concepts which are prevalent in allopathic
medicine. Saturday morning's two messages were on the deeper meaning of your body being
a temple and how three OT Kings teach us HOW we are to transform our polluted body
temples into clean, restored temples; and more importantly WHY.
On Saturday afternoon Windy gave a 90 minute presentation entitled: "Cleansing for Health
and Holiness" which covered what the Bible says about the relationship of an internally clean
body with our spiritual walk. She briefly explained the anatomy and function of the various
organs of elimination, as well as how each Church member can conduct their own simple
"cleansing program" in the privacy of their own home. The question and answer period was so
lively that she finally had to end the meeting with hands still in the air.
Community Health Fair at Public Indoor Mall
Indianapolis, Indiana Sunday March 29th, 2009
The climax of the weekend was a Health Outreach project at an indoor mall in West Indianapolis.
The Church was given approximately four hours of training where they were taught to man eight
stations for health assessment. The free non-medical health screening took about 20 minutes for the
participants to complete. Each brave soul carried an information sheet from station to station where
church members would give them various physical tests, information and encouragement. At the
final station the participants were offered some spiritual counseling, Christian and health literature
and prayer for any problem for which they requested.
The Free Health Fair ran from 11:00am - 3:00pm and the enemy tried his best to discourage. The
rain storm which had arrived on Saturday turned to freezing rain, mixed with snow and wind. This
kept the number of people at the mall unusually low, yet the Lord blessed anyway. The Spanish
translators were kept very busy and a handful of requests came in for written Bible Studies.
Temple Restored Teaching at M.E.E.T. Ministry School
Huntingdon, Tennessee March 30th- April 2nd 2009
Sunday afternoon March 29th, John and Windy left their Church family at the Health Fair in
Indianapolis, loaded up the van and head southwest to Huntingdon Tennessee. They
made the 6 hour trip to uphold the hands of their fellow Health Evangelists Thomas and
Laverne Jackson. they run a health ministry called "MEET Ministry" --Missionary Education
and Evangelistic Training. MEET is in the second month of their 120-day Health and Gospel
training school. They are located approximately 90 miles west of Nashville.
John conducted 12 meetings in four days on the Gospel as revealed in the Sanctuary
Message. He covered such subjects as: The Purpose of the Sanctuary, The Events in the
Plan of Redemption, The Experiences in the Plan of Redemption, What the Sanctuary
teaches about our Private Devotional Time, among other classes.
John also taught a class on the False Systems of Healing in which the students examined
secular documentation addressing the reasons why Christian health workers should not be
involved in: Guided Imagery, Acupuncture, Acupressure, Reflexology, all forms of Hypnotism
and Iris Diagnosis. He addressed --from the Scriptures-- the common fallacy that Christians
should only talk about "good things" and not expose the bad".
Part of the two hours devoted to this subject was spent examining the mistake of using
prescribed medications for every ache and pain, instead of lifestyle changes. Both the
Scriptures and secular documentation were used in this class.
John also taught a two hour class on the use of nature's products for poulticing. The
students enjoyed both the theory and lab for using charcoal, clay, onion, aloe vera, potato
and garlic for various conditions.
The current batch of MEET Ministry students come from such exotic places as Canada, New
Zealand, Indonesia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, New York and Alabama. There were local
students from Tennessee also. John and Windy were happy to assist at M.E.E.T.
The Church in the Wilderness Sanctuary Seminar
Feb. 13th-14th 2009, Eatonville, Washington
On Friday evening Feb. 13th John was in Eatonville Washington (approximately 45
minutes south of Seattle) beginning the condensed version of the "Soldiers of His
Sanctuary" seminar. Approximately 25 precious souls came out to hear the
introductory message: "False Temples and Lying Priests".
About 50 saints came out to hear Sabbath morning's message as we march
through two lengthy programs on The Events and then The Experiences of the
Sanctuary. After lunch, John shared a new Sanctuary power point program
entitled:"Golden Boards and Living Stones: Sanctuary Lessons on
Character Development.
Mission News
NW Convocation was highlighted by numerous testimonies of mission projects currently being carried forward by the Camp meeting attendees.
This evening I was able to share the historical, biblical and archeological evidence which explainsthe Mark of the first beast of Revelation 13.
This Revelation Seminar was one of five conducted
simultaneously city wide. For several weeks this group and others studied the book of Revelation and its importance for the times if which we live.
Here is Windy standing in front of the Queen
Victoria memorial just in front of Buckingham
Palace. Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years
during an era of industrial, political, scientific
and military progress.
Windy is here sharing her Sabbath afternoon
lecture on cleansing. She had some interesting graphics on air pollution in London as well as instructions on three different programs that could be done in the privacy of your own home.
Here two motivated sisters assist Windy in her Herbal Applications Class. The limited time was employed in making a comfrey liniment, an onion cough syrup and some yarrow suppositories.
Besides conducting five health lectures John had an initial planning meeting with Marley, Reggie Wright and John Noel to organizie a 30 day Present Truth Health and Gospel school in
London in the spring of 2010.
Sunday morning John conducted a class entitled: "Twelve Things You Can Do to Improve Your Health". This class was loaded
with practical suggestions on how to improve
nutrition, sleep habits, exercise, back pain etc.
The students were up out of the chairs swinging, twisting, stretching, high- stepping, trampolining and ...in various other ways... perfecting their faith by their works.
The weather alternated between beautiful sunshine and heavy rain. Here a few of us are avoiding the rain under the eave between meetings.
These are just some of the over 70-80 people
that attended the spiritual retreat. John and Windy had never done meetings in Arkansas before and were delighted to meet new family.
John's emphasis was on the experience we all must have to be ready for the coming storm. The key text for all of his meetings was Isa. 4:2-6. The cleansed Church will be protected.
The enemy was busy as usual. A severe thunder storm knocked out the power cancelling power point programs and sending us outside for lack of lighting. A tornado even touched down not far away.
Healthy, yet tasty vegan meals were made available for the entire weekend in the cafeteria. Meal time was employed in meeting new friends.
The meals were prepared by Tina, Laurel, Sheri
and Mary from a local Bible-based Health Ministry called "Wellness Secrets".
Here officers from Mid America meet with reps.
from other Churches to see how they can work
more closely together to advance the truth.
Here is a view of part of the property. It is on a gentle slope overlooking the distant city. It has a few banana and papaya trees already growing there.
Friday evening April 17th, John was able to visit
Akaporiso Church where he conducted his first
Evangelistic series five years ago. The Church is still going strong. Here John is being introduced to several new baptismal candidates who are currently taking studies at the Church.
The following day, Sabbath April 18th, John and brother Gabriel drove several hours in order to preach and teach at the Church in Sefwi Bekwai. Temple Restored was able to surprise the Church with a gift of Bible children's felts for the Sabbath school class. Before this gift the children had absolutely nothing to help them learn the Bible.
The bulk of John's time was spent securing materials and working on the foundation. Here one of the local workers sets down one 6 inch block. They are made by pounding a mix of sand, cement and water into a metal mold that
looks like a large bread pan. They are then cured in the sun for three days before using.
With the help of an architect a wooden perimeter was staked out. Strings were then stretched across this frame to pinpoint exactly where the foundation walls would be laid. The architect used the measurements of the Pythagorean triangle to insure that the corners were 90 degrees.
After mapping out where the foundation walls would go, we then began the difficult job of digging the trenches (with pick axes and shovels) which were 1.5' wide and 3' deep. All of the interior walls for the bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms required foundation trenches as well.
After the trenches were dug and several inches
of gravel and cement were poured and leveled, the footer walls were built up with courses of solid 6" block. These 40 pound blocks were carried over in 90 degree heat on the heads of workers who were paid roughly a dollar an hour.
On the weekends in between working on the building site, John continued to preach and teach at different Churches. Here the local Temple Restored Director Gabriel Brew translates as John prays before his Sabbath Sermon at Dansoman Church in Accra. The subject this morning was on Psalms chapters 4 and 5.
The last Church John ministered to was a new congregation in a town outside Accra called Dodowa. Here the Elders (and wives) are receiving 28 Bibles (wrapped in white paper) which were presented to the Church by Temple Restored Ministry. It is very common for these small impoverished congregations to have 50-75% of its members attending without owning a Bible.
Brother Chuck actively recruited people who
were shopping in the mall to come get their free health testing. He was enthusiastic and
very persuasive.
Sister Cheryl (with clipboard) Courtney (seated) and Brother J.R. recorded height, weight, BMI, and other basic information.
Here Brother J.R. takes both the waist and hip measurement. Studies show that their proportions are related to the incidence of specific diseases in men and women.
At the next station the participants did a maximum push-up test (men's style and women's style). They were then rated by sex and age against a national average.
After tests for flexibility and hand grip strength, the participants used a spirometer to test peak flow of forced exhalation. This test gives a general rating of lung function.
Some participants did very well when compared to national averages for sex, age and height. We also had a lung test with difficult balloons to blow up. Few could do it.
At the next station folks were treated to a sample of vegetarian sausage, chicken and barbecue ribs. They were also challenged with a test of correctly naming the body organs.
A very popular station was the free chair massage. It included, stroking, kneading and percussion. Surprisingly there were more men who wanted massage then women.
Our male and female body-workers massaged old, young and in between. Some were treated to the sensation of an electric vibro-massager.
There was active participation by several of the young people at the Church. Here Katelyn practices percussion.
Here Brother John identifies their challenges and interests and gives advice, literature and
prayer. Here Sister Loida translates for John.
This last station confirmed that our communities are filled with people who will accept spiritual aid if they are sought out.
In this program we explored the process of how the OT workman transformed a thorn covered, crooked-limb shittah tree (acacia) into a tall, straight gold covered board. The golden boards that formed the walls of God's Tabernacle are actually rectangular pillars which represent those particular spiritual soldiers who enter into the Holy and Most Holy Place experience. This study examined how the rigorous process of re-fabricating these boards parallels the spiritual work that God has to do in our souls (Isa. 40:3) in order for us to abide in His presence. We looked at many Bible texts that show that Christ our High Priest is now our Master Builder. After the 40-minute slide program, the congregation immediately divided up by families and filled out a Character Assessment worksheet where each person evaluated themselves according to 16 different character traits. There was group discussion on how the gold of Christ's character is to completely cover us so that there is no wood (humanity) seen, just the lovely character of Jesus.
November 9th through December 9th, 2009, Patrick Jones and John Skeete team up to hold a
Daniel-Revelation-Sanctuary Prophecy School in Blantyre, Malawi and Kisii, Kenya.
Patrick and I flew into Nairobi Kenya, and was greeted and housed by Pastor Benson Nganga and his wife Florence, the directors of The Fiwagoh Mission Orphanage Home and School. The orphanage is located in Nakuru, the provincial capitol of the Rift Valley with a population of about 300,000. The name Fiwagoh is not Swahili, but the first two letters of the words Final Warning Gospel and Health. In December 2009 Benson had just short of 100 orphans living in close quarters on a property they were renting, while waiting to move to a new and larger facility that was under construction. While at the orphange we observed that the orphanage program was well organized and punctual in its activities. While the staff were knowlegeable and friendly, the most impressive thing was the children. The young people --who ranged in age from roughly 2-17-- were happy, well-mannered, orderly, educated, and most of all spiritual. In the middle picture below, you can see them lined up for morning worship outside in uniform. We were impress with how every child knew their place, standing in order according to their ages.
Sometimes the morning or evening worship was led by one of the young people. We was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly impressed with the spiritual knowledge and insight of these children. In the picture below on the right, the class was being taught by Nahashon who was 12 years old. I was determined to meet the people responsible for the fruits revealed in these young people, and I did. Along with Benson, there is a Bible teacher at the school named William Mbagaya. Patrick Jones and I were so impressed with the young people that we decided to challenge some of them to see if they could handle the six-day Prophecy - Sanctuary School. Four of Fiwagoh's active students were chosen to be a part of the seminar we held for the Pastor's and Bible workers in Kisii, Kenya after we would travel and return from Malawi..
Patrick and I stayed at the Fiwagoh orphanage for just a few days, trying to adjust to the different time zone, then we boarded a plane for the Malawi portion of our trip which would last from November 13th to November 25th. Our plane landed in Lilongwe and we took a bus to the financial center of Blantyre. We stayed in the home of a wealthy Adventist brother who is sympathetic to the cause of True Reform. The brother allowed us to use the boarding High School he owned without charge to conduct our Prophecy - Sanctuary school. We had approximately 45 plus students from both Malawi and Zambia ranging in age from mid-teens up to their 60's. (Picture on left below.) Both Patrick and I were eager and ready to teach the class through written handouts and power point presentations, but problems with electricity would hamper our computer work. Although Blantyre is the most modern city in Malawi it suffers from daily "rolling brown-outs". We were constantly battling with our computer batteries running down and not being able to use the projector. With a blackboard on one end of the room and a white wall behind (used for our screen) we would often have the students face the white wall when the electricity was on, then turn their desks around and face the black board when the power failed. They got much exercise moving their heavy one piece desk-chair furniture back adn forth. After two days of this we purchased a small generator to operate our computers and projector, only to find that it was not powerful enough to run all of our equipment. In Africa, once you make a purchase like that there is no returning your item, nor any exchanges. Because of this continual trial Patrick developed an excellent technique. When the power would fail in the middle of his lecture, he would continue teaching his class by walking up and down the aisles with his notebook so everyone could see the pictures and illustrations. (Center picture below.) The rain was often a major problem falling so hard on the metal roof, that even when shouting as loud as we could, the students could not hear us. This would force us to wait for the cloud to pass. Some of the local home Churches joined us on Sabbath providing rousing music. (Pictured below on right).
Despite the trials the school was a big success. In the end we had a total of 48 students receiving certificates, including several young people who were from a local Presbyterian church. Near the end, one 17 year old young man came forward to dedicate his life to Christ.
After arriving back in Kenya Patrick and I taught a few classes to the children and staff of the Orphanage. As we prepared to depart for the second prophecy school in Kisii, the children gathered around the car to say their goodbye's to us and their fellow students that would be attending us. We placed the four students on the front row so they could be watched over as they were among a group of people that we did not know, and also so we could give them special attention. The schedule was grueling for them as well as for the adults, but they were troopers and hung in there with the adults. Their understanding was better than some of the Pastors and Bible Workers in attendance. The Pastors were impressed with their serching questions, and comprehension. William and the teachers have done an outstanding job with these children!
"After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them TWO and TWO before His face into every city and place whither He Himself would come." Luke 10:1
Patrick Jones
Three Angels Publishing
John Skeete
Temple Restored Ministry
2009
During the prophecy school we learned of several hard-working Pastors and Bible Workers who attended the school that were in need of financial help.
I rode several hundred miles in John Kamau’s overly loaded small car. The potholes made the bouncing and rocking back and forth terrible. The massive crack in his windshield gave the policeman at the multiple checkpoints pretense to harass John for bribes. He calmly apologized to the various officers and patiently allowed them to hold him up at the side of the road, promising to fix it, before they begrudgingly let him go. I asked John how much it would cost to replace the cracked glass with a used windshield; but the $50.00 amount might as well have been $5000.00 because he has so many pressing needs and so little money. John’s gentle spirit and steadfast devotion to the 20 plus members of his little Church has earned him much respect.
You will remember Patrick Kiama who I bumped into on the streets of Nakuru attempting to sell Bibles all day in order to feed his wife and four children. He had given out a couple of tracts and answered impromptu Bible questions, but by 3:00 in the afternoon, hadn’t sold one Bible. Patrick told me that He could make a little more money selling clothing, but that he was determined to devote 100% of his time for the Lord’s work. I visited Patrick’s small home. It was neat and clean and decorated with a huge banner from a previous Evangelistic series. When I pressed him for information on his financial status he confessed that he struggled, and was currently two months behind on his $50.00 rent. Yet he never complained or asked me for one dollar. He has done so much preaching on the street corners of Nakuru that he is affectionately known around town as “The Bible Man”.
Stevenson Maranga was the Pastor who allowed me to stay in his two-bedroom home with a yard full of mud, a primitive outhouse and a smoke-filled kitchen. He coordinated our Prophecy-Sanctuary school and is currently doing the monthly follow-up meetings with 11 Pastors from different demoninations. I sent him funds to purchase 15 KJV Bibles with center column references for these Pastors; and we all see huge possibilities if we remain faithful.
Jadiel Mwangi is a 6’4” soft-spoken Pastor of a small self-supporting Church in Nairobi. His Church is affiliated with five other small Churches who are standing stiffly for truth. While in the market we bumped into two of his Church members and I noticed one of the young ladies was reading –not a novel or newspaper-- but Early Writings. Like the other Gospel workers, Jadiel is doing a faithful work pasturing and evangelizing while struggling to meet his basic needs.
William Mbagaya is a dedicated brother who the Lord is using to work a miracle in the lives of the 95 students at the Fiwagoh Orphanage. As the Bible Teacher at the orphanage school, William also has the responsibility of giving Bible studies to all of the non-Adventist staff members. Over a period of several years, he has led several of his fellow teachers to accepting the message and becoming baptized members of the Church. He has been selected to spearhead Temple Restored’s efforts to train the orphanage’ best young men and women to transition into fulltime Gospel work. In addition to providing the best written materials we can find, we will pair the young people with Pastors John Kamau and Patrick Kiama as they go out into the community.
I had to smile at William’s library which consisted of about ten books and promised to stock his shelf properly. Although William is a fulltime employee of the orphanage, his monthly wage cannot properly cover his needs. I was impressed to discover --like the other workers—that William was cheerful and uncomplaining. After seeing the dedication and the severe self-denial I determined that I would do my best to do something about it.
TR began a Bible Worker program in Ghana 4 years ago, where we raise funds for their monthly support. It has been very successful and the work is going forward there. We are wanting to expand the program by helping these faithful workers in Kenya. Patrick Jones and I have found support for these Bible Workers, and Pastors, but they are not getting enough. If you would like to make a comittment to help so we can give them a raise, please contact us by phone or email for more details. Or if you would like to send a one-time donation that we can give where the need is greatest in Kenya would be a great help as well. We'd like to encourage our readers to keep these workers along with other workers in difficult places in prayer.
John Kamau
Patrick Kiama
Jadiel Mwangi
Stevenson
Maranga
William
Mbagaya
