March 3, 2003

Dear Friends,

Greetings to you all from Kenya.  We do trust this letter finds you all
doing well.  Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and, even
more importantly, praying for us.

It has been a blessing to be able to use the new building the Lord has
provided for us here at Jumapili Baptist Church.  Our dedication Sunday went
well.  Now we are looking forward to the first baptismal service to be held
in our new church building.  We built a baptismal tank in the church
auditorium.  We have several people who have been saved and are now desiring
to be baptized and join our church.  The baptismal service is planned toward
the end of this month.

Some of the people planning to be baptized are: Nelson and Jane Mairura,
Vincent Kapenda, Magdaline Wanjiru, Patrick Kamonde, and Nicholas Muriithi.
Please remember them in your prayers that they will continue to grow in
their faithfulness to Christ.

In January we also started an adult Sunday school class.  It has started as
a new-members class, and after the baptismal service it will continue on as
a regular adult Sunday school class.  All the people mentioned above, as
well as several others, regularly attend the class.  We now have three
Sunday school classes - one for younger children, one for youth, and one for
adults.  Tina, Sue Simonsen (our co-worker), Conny Akuche, and Magdaline
Wanjiru work each week with the young children's class.  Conny and Magdaline
are Kenyan ladies being trained to be Sunday school workers.  Conny already
has been doing a lot of teaching in that class.  Our youth Sunday school
class is taught by Duncan Akuche (a Kenyan man who had some Bible college
training).  Rick Simonsen (our co-worker) and Michael work in the adult
Sunday school class.

As neighborhood children come to play with Ashlyn and Taylor in our yard, or
as they walk down the road in front of our house, it is always a blessing to
hear them singing the good Bible songs they learned in Sunday school.  We
hope and pray that many of these young people will continue to serve the
Lord with their lives.

Our co-worker has had a desire for some time to start a Bible college
ministry here at our church.  One of the reasons for building a two-story
church building was that the upper floor could be used for classrooms and a
library in a Bible college.  We are now in the process of trying to purchase
two plots of land (50' x 100') to be used also by the Bible college, most
likely as a place to build a dormitory-type building for students who may
come from far.  Please pray for wisdom in planning and purchasing these
plots.

There are numerous areas in our district that could use good Bible-preaching
churches. We hope to train men to start and pastor these churches.

As we had mentioned in our last letter, we are planning to be in the U.S. on
furlough from the end of October 2003 to the beginning of July 2004.  We are
looking forward to the opportunity to see many of you again during that
time.  For any who may not have heard, Tina is expecting our third child.
She is due sometime around the beginning of August.  She would greatly
appreciate your prayers for a good pregnancy.

Sincerely,
Michael, Tina, Ashlyn, and Taylor Rains

P.O. Box 38
Thika, 01000, Kenya