LOGOS. If I ever were to doubt God s love for us here I need only to look at LOGOS Study Centre. EVANGELICAL

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1 LOGOS EVANGELICAL SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY How LOGOS Interdenominatonal Study Centre started There is a clear similarity between a Christian and a tortoise, proclaimed a good friend and theologian recently in our LOGOS Transformation Conference 2014 in Mtwapa. I am sure you can understand the somewhat puzzled look at people s faces, myself included. But he went on to explain: if you enter a church and see a tortoise hanging on the wall be sure of one If I ever were to doubt God s love for us here I need only to look at LOGOS Study Centre. thing; somebody put it there! The point being that wherever we are in life, it is God who put us there. As a tortoise cannot climb a wall, so we cannot reach where we are unless it was God who did it for us. The puzzlement was replaced by laughter. There is something very profound and biblical with this illustration. Paul tells us, By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor. 15:10; see also Eph. 2:8). Now you might wonder what this has to do with the story of our LOGOS Interdenominational Study Center. A lot! In fact, more than a lot, everything. To explain what I mean let me redesign the illustration just used: if you enter a church compound and see a container be sure of one thing; somebody put it there! What you are about to read will give you the background as to who, how and why the container with books came where it is. It is a bit of a long story so we better get started. When I graduated secondary school I had never read a real book from cover to cover (I read cartoon magazines, but they do not count as real books.). I thought reading was boring and a waste of time. I rather played games or watched TV. But when I began studying theology the study of God I realized that by reading I could reach places I never dreamed was possible. I could by reading get to know God and His word both the written and the Living. What could be a greater reward and motivation for reading? So I began to read theological books study Bibles, Bible commentaries, works on various theological truths

2 March 2010: how it all started and church history. I consumed them almost like the prophet Ezekiel who was told to eat the scroll, and equally found them sweet as honey (Ez. 3:1-3). (Well, to be fully honest with you, not all books I read were sweet as honey most were, but some were bitter as lemons). Till this day I can say that those men and women of God who formed my life the most, I have never met personally. I have met them through their writings. And some are even dead, but they continue to speak to me (in the books of course, nothing else!). So books have literally changed my life. God has used theological writings to form and shape my understanding of God, myself and the world in the same way an artist uses tools to carve out a defined and smooth elephant out of a rough and unformed piece of wood. So when my wife Emelie and I started LOGOS in 2008 we felt a deep desire to get books for our students in Mtwapa and the Kenyan coast. As our lives had been wonderfully formed and changed by reading, we wanted others to have the same opportunity. We had the dream of opening a study centre. So we prayed and waited prayed and waited. And do you know what? Nothing happened! For two long years we could not afford getting any books for LOGOS. Until one day. I was going to the bank to see how big the deficit would be on our account (we had moved to Kenya by faith without fundraising or financial support, and we had very little money). To my big surprise there was quite a large sum of money there that I would never expect. I enquired where it came from and it showed to come from a close relative on Emelie s side. We knew her very well and knew she did not have that kind of money. We thought From left: Pastor Livingstone Chrio, Pastor Elizabeth Mumbo, Emelie and Josephine Stenhammar, Lydia and Joshua Kituri.

3 something had gone wrong. But she told us that she had a bit property that she had sold and wanted LOGOS to use it for the glory of God. That was our miracle. We decided to use everything every single shilling and cent to purchase books. We sent a brother, Paul Keno, to Nairobi to collect books from a good book shop with high quality theological books (A.C.T.S. bookstore gave us nice prices). Even though I had picked every book myself, getting the cream of the crop, I still was somewhat disappointed when he came back with only two boxes just enough to barely fill one bookshelf. The money could not give us more than two boxes! But two are better than none, right?! So we prayed for a suitable place to put the books. Since LOGOS does not own any buildings or land, we had to look for someone to open their premises for us. And our answer to prayer came in the shape of pastor Livingstone Chiro in Mtwapa. He had an office at his Divine Love Mission Church that was not in use and he lent it freely to LOGOS to open our first study centre there. In early March 2010 we had the opening ceremony and dedicated it; all properly done with cake-eating and ribbon-cutting. It was a joyful day, yet I could not escape that deep down inside I was unsatisfied; yes the Lord had done more than one miracle but having one bookshelf of books does not qualify to be a study centre, does it? The dream was bigger than that. About one year later, when we were back in Sweden, I was told by my former university supervisor in U.K. that there is an organization in America called Theological Book Network that donates books to theological colleges and universities in need. So I got their application and began to fill it out. And it started wll. They asked for the name of the school, the post box, phone number, number of teachers and number of students. So far so good. But then the trouble began with questions like: What is the current library budget for acquisitions? ; Which Degrees does your school offer? ; What plan do you have for cataloging and processing the books you receive? How long will it take? ; Number of current paid periodical subscriptions ; On average, how many volumes has your library accessioned each year over the past three years? After a few questions my pen could automatically write not applicable. What started so well brought only discouragement. It felt like a joke. LOGOS was obviously not the kind of school they were looking for to support. But together with the less than complete application I attached a letter where I explained that we are a low-budget school at the June 2014: from dream to reality

4 Unpacking the boxes of blessings Kenyan coast giving pastors and church leaders on the ground almost free theological training. We have very few books but those we have are a blessing. If you have any to spare, have mercy on us (I did not write that exactly, of course, but that was my meaning). With that I signed and submitted it. I must admit feeling a bit shy to write founder and director under my name. At that point I felt like neither. Time went one as it usually does and I forgot about the whole thing as I usually do. Till one day, more than two years later, around Christmas 2013 I get a reply that almost shocked me: the application was approved! LOGOS was going to get a shipment of books. However, there was only one small problem as there usually is. They wanted us to help paying part of the transport cost which amounted to 2,000 USD (a lot of money for an organization that does not have any!). But they promised to supply books of greater value than that. So now, LOGOS has the chance of getting a shipment of books; we are so close to a dream come true, but there is that one obstacle of the money. We just did not have it. And to make matters worse, LOGOS never fundraises. We only pray. This time I thought that now I will break that pattern and fundraise. Or if I cannot, I will sell a kidney (yet I am not sure my kidney would be worth that much!). So I prayed and realized that even this time we must trust God and leave the matter to him. It was not easy. Especially as there was a time limit to send the money. One day I spoke to a person in Sweden who asked what was going on in LOGOS and I explained about the possible shipment of books, leaving out all details of money. Finally the person got it out of me that there was a cost involved to which she directly answered: I will pay it! And so she did. I rejoiced; not only could I keep my kidney (just joking!) but our students would get resources that I could never have wished for. And can you imagine how my joy went into overdrive when I came to realize that in return for helping to pay some of the transport costs, LOGOS would get roughly 3,500 books; 75 boxes altogether! If you have a hard time picturing how many books 3,500 books really is, let me help you. Imagine that you will read through a book in three days. If you did that, it means you would roughly read 100 books per year, meaning that it would take you at least 35 good years to finish the LOGOS Study Centre. (This is just a mind game to get a picture, as many of the titels would take much longer than 3 days to finish and a number of titles are in duplicates). I think that you now get an idea of the magnitude of the collection. And the titles are not just any kind of low quality, nonsense books, with beautiful covers and unbiblical content, but top of the line, Christ-centered, Bible based theological resources. That was LOGOS best Christmas gift ever! (Now I am wondering what we will get this coming Christmas. If we got 3,500 books last year, surely God cannot do less this year, right?). When my senior pastor Marcus Sönnerbrandt and I came for a short visit in March this year, the books were already on their way coming, due to arrive in April. Sure we were all excited and happy, both in Sweden and Kenya. Yet there was only one small problem as there usually is. Where would we put them all? You remember that LOGOS has decided not to purchase land or buildings.

5 Completed despite one bad tire So we are stuck. We need a strategic location where people can easily access them and an environment conducive for studies. That is, a place not too far from the main road but at the same time not too noisy. The location is very critical. Because if the books are not read, they do as much good as antibiotics that we never swallow. The very aim of having books is that they would be used. But not just the location, we also needed a secure place to keep them and a type of contained structure to keep the humid air out (the Mombasa air destroys books quickly, as we all are painfully aware of). On our last evening in March, Marcus and I were sitting at the dining table with Joshua and Lydia Kituri in their home the couple who have been the anchor of the LOGOS ship since our voyage begun. While taking about the upcoming shipment Joshua said, why don t you use a container? And went on to explain how it would fit the purposes of a study centre perfectly. We could cut out windows and doors, fit it with panels and bookshelves inside. A container is easy to secure and to keep the air dry. And the beauty of it all; it is movable. To use containers LOGOS does not need to own land or buildings. We all rejoiced at the idea, knowing in our hearts that this idea was not just a good idea it was a God idea. (Thank God for fellowship around dining tables!). But there was only one little problem as there usually is. Where would we place the container? Who would offer a strategic place of land for us? Especially in a land where nothing comes free. I am often reminded of a tradesman who came up and put a cap on my head; I thanked him because I thought it was a gift but he replied with a smile: nothing is free in Kenya. But as we presented the idea of a container to the board, pastor Elizabeth Mumbo of Jesus Celebration Base (JCB) responded almost immediately: you can put it for free at my compound. Again we all believed that this was God s doing. But there was only one little problem as there usually is (sorry for being so repetitive, but it is true to life, isn t it?). Where would we get the money for this God-ideacontainer-project? In Sweden we have a saying, that one person s death becomes the other person s bread. And this proved true. One person in Sweden came to me and said that an old relative of hers had passed on. That relative had left an inheritance and now LOGOS would be beneficiaries of it. She wanted it to be used for the glory of God. So with her permission we put the money to use in the container project. It was all used every shilling and cent to finance the purchase of two containers and construction of the foundation, roof, the bookshelves etc. Isn t God amazing?! With the help of my multi-talented wife Emelie, we made blueprints and plans for the building project. We visited the church compound and marked out the foundation. Before I continue let me quickly share the story of how the containers came from the container yard in Magongo to Mtwapa. Our dear coordinator in LOGOS, who, by the way, has the worst job description any person could have, namely to coordinate all LOGOS projects present and future. I can only say that may God give Meshack Muthoka grace upon grace. Very early on a beautiful June morning, Meshack went to oversee the transport of the containers. They were properly put on a tractor, yet

6 Opening day October 11th, 2014 somewhere on the way they were stopped in a traffic police check point because of a worn out tire on the trailer. The owner of the transport company, a madam with some hidden strengths, arrived on the scene and created a proper scene; in raging fury at the police she knocked off the rearview mirrors of the police car. The police, doing what was most logical at that point, put her in custody overnight. But with her, our two LOGOS containers! It was only the next morning that the driver could be free to bring them to JCB. So when you enter the container, you can feel sorry for it, knowing that it has spent a night in police custody. (Not all of them did; IVP for example, was very generous). So I was in a dilemma. I could still go ahead and make copies and these publishers would most probably never find out. But that would not be right before God. I would be breaking the eight commandment. So I told the Lord that I will not make copies, but that His people are missing out on wonderful and important truths because of it. And I left it with that. Now, what brought the tears to my eyes was when realizing as I am unpacking box after box, that almost each of the books I wanted to photocopy from we now have in the study centre. And some of the titles we have not only one copy, but several. In the summer of 2014 I was able to go through each book and catalogue them. And let me tell you, it was a fantastic time. There are so many books I really want myself and I have never been so tempted to break the eight commandment as that time. My fingers were literally itching to help myself to just a few of the goodies. Once the containers were released from the police, it was a joy for me and Emelie and the rest of the LOGOS team to witness how the containers were placed on the foundation by a large crane. For onlookers and bystanders it might have looked like an ordinary crane for me it was the hand of God (even if it was yellow!). One thing that almost brought tears to my eyes was when I remembered something that I need to share. About two years ago as I was writing the LOGOS Cornerstones teacher s guides (Cornerstones is one of our Bible study programs). I wanted to make use of some chapters from various honey-sweet theological books. I wanted to photocopy them so that our students could benefit from the edifying and enlightening teachings. However, since they are under copyright I needed to ask the publishing company for permission. So I did. But to my sad surprise most of the Christian publishers denied me the right to copy a chapter or two, even though I explained that it was for students on the ground who would otherwise not afford getting such materials. One publisher offered us to copy the chapters at a fee of I think 5 dollar cents per word! That amounts to huge sums, something we did not have. I was very upset at the companies who acted that way. Well on the ground, the work remained of modeling the containers into office and library. That proved to be a more time- and money-consuming task than we first thought. At the end of September the work was completed. Everything was ready, the bookshelves in place, the windows and bars done, the floor tiled and so on. But the books could not yet be placed on the shelves. There was only one little problem as there well, you know. The money had been spent and we still lacked an air-condition unit. Without it the books would spoil quickly. It felt like running and long race but then stumbling at the finish line. But we prayed that God would once again show his faithfulness. And once more He did. One day, a person in Kenya comes and says that God had touched their heart to buy a brand new a/c for the study centre. With joy the 75 boxes could now be unpacked and put on the shelves.

7 Celebrating what God has done And after three months of hard work, finally everything was ready. We were able to have the opening ceremony on October 11 th, 2014, with cake-eating, ribbon-cutting and the whole works. It was a wonderful day that I will never forget especially being fed with cake. That was the first time in my life (and I liked it!). It was a time of celebrating God s faithfulness. And as one pastor in Mtwapa said, if I ever were to doubt God s love for us here, I only need to look at LOGOS Study Centre. With this story in mind, I hope that you now know the right answer to the question of who put the container in the church compound. When you enter the JCB compound and find the containers there; be sure of one thing Someone put them there. And that someone is no other than God! Not any organization, a mzungu or the like. If you have time for one more twist of this story, that perhaps means more to me than most of the others, let me quickly share it with you. In 1999 I served as a dean of a Bible school in Mombasa. At that time, as many of you already know, I was a hardcore preacher of the prosperity gospel. Having graduated the school of the father of this different gospel, Kenneth Hagin, I was sent out by his ministry to Kenya. To help spread the message, Hagin s ministry in the U.S. sent a shipment of his health-and-wealth oriented books to the Bible school where I then served. As an appreciation we took a photo where every student held a copy and we sent it to the donors. Now, having done a radical theological journey to a Christ-centered and cross-formed gospel it was a precious moment when fifteen years later, almost on the day (!), I could kneel down and together with my Bible school students and take a photo where each is holding a book in our hand to send back to the donors in the U.S. This time not holding any nonsense theology, but the kind that leads us to know get to know God through Christ. What a wonderful moment! That is the story for God s glory. Mikael Stenhammar, founder and director Top: Mombasa, April/May Middle: Mombasa, May Bottom: LOGOS Kenya board with pastor Marcus Sönnerbrandt (left) LOGOS Kenya P.O. Box 339, Mtwapa, Kenya info@logoskenya.org