September 2016 We Praise the LORD for Dr. John and Loice Mondi!! Pastor, African Community Fellowship CRC Part 2 Dr. John and Loice, Samuel, Josiah, and Joyce Mondi As you listen to members of African Community Fellowship CRC blessing and affirming their pastor and family may your heart be touched in a way that inspires you to do the same with your pastor and family.
My name is Daniel Mutuku. Pastor Mondi is a good pastor. I like the way he teaches from the Bible. Everything is based on the Bible. Sin is sin in the church. The whole church is a community and everybody is welcome. We accept anyone. We don t discriminate. People come from different countries and all are welcome. Jesus is my Savior. He died for my sins. When dying on the cross He saw me and went through with suffering and death to make a way for me to God. He paid a good price for me and I use His righteousness. He is my friend. My name is Jackson Ndolo. I ve been a member of this church since 2006 when I moved from Kenya to the U.S. We ve had our ups and downs and challenges in the church. But God has seen us through. We had a location on Hall and Eastern. Then we moved to Madison and 36th Street. Recently God has blessed us with this new facility. And we thank Him for what He has been doing in the church. Our pastor has been a volunteer pastor for the last almost five years. The church has been able to grow through his leadership and bring people together. Not only Kenyans and Africans in general, but also people from the U.S. And we thank God for it. Pastor Mondi is a wonderful man. He is a great family man. So we thank God for everything he is doing in our church. Jesus is my personal Savior. I love Him! He has walked with me through the journey of life since I was a young kid. I was raised in a Christian family. So I learned the values of Christianity as a little boy. And I attribute everything I have done so far to God s grace. I also serve as an Church Elder and I am the Church Treasurer. So I thank God for the opportunity to serve His people through that position that He has given me. My name is Kojo A. Quartey, Ph.D. I was born in Ghana. I grew up in the DC/Maryland area. I did all of my college education here in the United States. I moved to Grand Rapids ten years ago from Missouri and I looked in the Yellow Pages and saw African Community Church. I thought, well, let me try it. I have been a member ever since. I left this area in 2011 and moved to Chicago. But I still came back every other week to go to church here. I m on the Council. Then I moved from Chicago to Monroe, MI. Which is almost three hours from here. It is south of Detroit, almost to Toledo. I still travel those three hours. This is my tithing church. I love Pastor Mondi. He is our spiritual leader. He drove three hours to come visit me about three weeks ago, just to sit and visit with me. He is a good guy and he has encouraged me quite a bit. He is a good man and he has a lot of humility. I love him. Jesus means everything to me. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I accepted Jesus Christ when I was in high school. He has never failed me ever since. I am who I am and what I am because of Jesus Christ. And I give all the glory and honor to Jesus Christ.
Our names are David and Millicent Mbuta. One of the things I [David] like about Pastor Mondi is that he is the Pastor of all the people. Pastor Mondi has been a blessing to the African community. Aside being from Africa, he knows what most people need when they get here. Sometimes when people come it is not easy to connect in the larger American society. So this is one of the stepping places where people are able to tap in and experience African culture as well as American culture and that integrates them very well in their community. That is one thing I see as having Pastor Mondi and this church here. Pastor Mondi started as a volunteer pastor. Not being paid or getting anything out of it. Just committing himself to be able to feed the flock of God. We thank God for what he has done and I would say he is a real pastor. The church has grown and he needs to know where his people are when they don t show up. Any celebration or anything involving this congregation will find Pastor Mondi there. I am from Kenya, just south of Nairrobi. Several things I [Millicent] love about Pastor Mondi is that he is very gentle, caring, and loving. I appreciate following him as my pastor. And I love Pastor Mondi together with his family. Jesus is my [David] person Savior. He died on the cross for my sins to be forgiven and I accepted Him as my personal Savior. I continue to seek Him more and more so He can lead me in my life and with my family. In all that I do I always thank Jesus. If Jesus was the one confronted by a situation, how would He respond? And to know that I look in His Word and what His Word says in such situations. He is my day to day everything. Jesus Christ is my [Millicent] personal Saivor. He saved me a delivered me and I really follow Him. He is my guide in everything I do. I trust in Him. He is my stronghold. He is my refuge. I love Jesus. My name is Joseph Habineza. I am so blessed to be part of this church. I remember three years ago when I joined the church we had about twelve to fifteen members and there was no sound system at all. I happened to lead the worship back home so I brought some ideas and we started a worship team. And here we are with a good worship team and a sound system. Then we were not here in this new location. This gives us more room and I have seen progress upon progress. Now we have a bigger place and church and we are thankful for His grace. I am from Rwanda in East Africa. I have been in America about six years. I have a family with me and kids. I am thankful for His grace. I am thankful for this country. It is an amazing country. We pray for our people and keep supporting our people back home. Jesus is the Lord and Savior of my life. Without Jesus, I m not sure where I would be right now. When we passed through personal crises and challenges in Rwanda in 1994, I remember praying to Jesus. I was young but I knew who Jesus is. If you can protect me, I m going to serve You for the rest of my life. He has been providing for myself and my family. And He mad everything possible for me to be here. So I believe in Jesus.
My name is Mitchelle Limo (on left). I have been in the church for the longest time over ten years. I have known Pastor Mondi that whole time. I was with him when he was at Calvin College. After he became a pastor I continue to be part of his church. He is a really good pastor. He was a way of captivating his audience, his flock. I enjoy being part of this church. I love singing and I love being part of the praise and worship team. I m really glad I m under the leadership of Pastor Mondi. Jesus is my personal Savior. Jesus is everything to me. He is my Father. He is my Creator. He is the way to God. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Without Jesus, I don t even know where my life would be right now. I am glad that Pastor Mondi has fed me spiritually inside the church and visiting outside the church. I am really glad that he has fed me with the word of Christ. I am glad to be called a daughter of Christ. Jesus is everything to me. He is my protection, my Savior, my healer. He is everything to me. And He is my personal Savior above all. My name is Linda Mungai (on right). I joined the church in 2012. And the reason that drew me to the church was my friend had just lost her Mom and I called Pastor Mondi. I did not know him and he answered my call right away. I told him what had happened and he said, Where are you? I am coming there now. And I was so surprised by that. He dropped everything and just came over to spend time with us. We had a wonderful time of comfort and fellowship. And from there, that s where the story began. He helped with leading the service and just helped us through that time of mourning. Then I thought, why shouldn t I be at this church where this pastor just dropped everything and came to help us. So from there I joined the church and I m actually one of the Deacons in the church and I love worshipping in this church. Pastor Mondi s teachings draws on past experiences and they draw on your life. They are just words that resonate with you. He is a great guide and teacher and he leads us through the right paths. Jesus is my Protector and my Guide. He is my first love. He is just everything to me. When I wake up in the morning I think of God and and I think of Jesus. I say thank you to God for this day. We are blessed to have so much in this country. Me being from Kenya and coming here is such a blessing. And so I attribute all of that to Jesus. Without Him I would not be here. Above all He is my personal Savior. I love the Lord and I just want to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. My name is Margaret McKenzie. I have been involved with the African Community Church since 2002. When we were at a location on Eastern and Hall years ago, I started off as a Youth Leader. Then I went on to do the children s program. Since then I have also served as a Deacon and as a worship leader liturgist, and different things. I just love the church, especially because of its outreach to the African community in the city, because it is a real need. We have a lot of students who come from different countries in Africa. People have come as immigrants and refugees. There is always a real need to reach out to them, especially in the languages they are able to understand. So we use Swahilli, especially in the songs. It really makes a difference and a big impact. It s been wonderful! I come from Kenya, the same country as Pastor Mondi. I come from
Eldoret, which is toward the West, a few hours to the Uganda border. I like Pastor Mondi s vibrancy and the way he has been able to lead the church and really bring everything together. He is a very strong leader and we appreciate his work. As a theologian he really teaches us. We love his preaching. We appreciate his family and we love them very much. Jesus means everything to me. He is my personal Savior. I grew up in the church. My Dad is a retired minister of the Reformed Church in Kenya. I appreciate my Christian upbringing with my parents. My name is Grace Cherono. I come from Kenya and I joined this country six years ago. Margaret was the one who encouraged me to the church, because she is our neighbor back in Kenya. When I came here I didn t have a church and I didn t know where to go. She showed me the church and I m so glad. I ve been with them for the last six years. Pastor Mondi is a great pastor! I have been growing spiritually. When we came here I like the way he was preaching because he is from Kenya too. The way he was teaching and all of the upbringing I love it! He is a great pastor! Jesus is everything to me. When I am discouraged and really down, I go to prayer. I knew he is there to help me through it. I love Jesus because He has saved me. He brought me to the way I am and I am a Mom now to my children. My name is Rael J. Mutai and I am visiting from Kenya. I came to see my two children who live here. I have a daughter here in Michigan and a daughter in Ohio. I come to visit them and I have my grandchildren here. I have five grandchildren here and two at home. I love this place, because when I come to see my children, they love God. I see my grandchildren growing. I love these people and Pastor Mondi. I have come here several times. I tell him please take care of my children. I want to see my children growing in the Word of God. Even my grandchildren. Jesus is everything to me. Because I have seen so many things through Jesus. He has done a lot, even back in Kenya. In my local church I have seen Jesus doing mighty things, even doing mighty things through children. Jesus is everything to me. Joy Simei and Gloria Simei (Rael s Grandchildren from Ohio)
My name is Sharon Maiyo and this is my son Shane. I am from Kenya. Pastor Mondi has been a really good pastor. He has been helping in the church doing some marriage counseling if we have any problem. He has been really communicating to get to know how you are doing and how was your week. He and his family are there wherever you need any help, they have been there helping. It was been really good. I have been in this church for eight years. I have tried to commit in the Sunday School with kids, with women s Bible Studies, and even helping with some small activities in church. Jesus is my personal Savior. I have known Jesus since I was so little because I am coming from a Catholic background family. So he has been there for me since I was so little until now. My name is Diana Kangogo. I think this church is a really nice church. It is like a family to me. I came here last year in the Spring as a student. And they have been like a family to me. It just made me feel at home. My home country is Kenya. I am a student as Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. I am studying electrical engineering. When I graduate I want to pursue my Masters degree because my ultimate goal is to work for NASA. Jesus means to me a close friend. He is more than a friend to me. He is always there when there is no one there for you. In low times or in high times, He is always there for me. My name is Pastor Bryson Masiboh and this is my wife Jael Bryson. We are from Kenya. I like this church because it is a church of Africans and it gives Africans an identity away from home. We praise God in an African way, but it is the same Jesus because Jesus is about all cultures. When we worship here we worship in an African culture and we invite Christ to be with us and we get out identity away from home. Jesus is the Savior of my life. He saved me when I was a teenager. On that day I made the best decision of my life. My life has never been the same again. Jesus is everything for me. My name is Jael. The church is nice. It is a good sanctuary to worship in. When I come I feel the presence of God. Worshiping here with Africans is a blessing. I am from Kenya. Pastor Mondi is a great guy. He is a good pastor. When he preaches he touches my heart and I like it here. We find so much joy in blessing and honoring Dr. John and Loice Mondi and their family. Thank you for making it possible for us to continue through your prayer support and financial contributions. Please make checks payable to: PastorCare West Michigan PO Box 2938, Grand Rapids, MI 49501. Online contributions are safe and secure through PayPal on our website. Dr. John and Sue Smith, Executive Director, PastorCare West Michigan Mobile: 616-304-8543 Email: jsmith@pastorcarewm.org www.pastorcarewm.org