RUTHER GLEN, Va. — After a March visit from a prominent Kenyan Baptist pastor, several churches in Virginia are hoping to host another exchange this October with additional pastors from the East African nation.
Elijah Wanje, president of the Baptist Convention of Kenya, met with Virginia pastors to say “thank you.”
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Elijah Wanje, president of the Baptist Convention of Kenya and pastor of Ridgeways Baptist Church in Nairobi, called his visit a “thank you tour.”
“Churches in America have been a blessing to the world and we would like to come to say thank you and to encourage them,” said Wanje, who started Ridgeways Baptist 25 years ago. The congregation has more than 1,000 members and has started 19 other churches.
After speaking at a March conference in Silver Spring, Md., Wanje met with church leaders from Virginia’s Dover, Fredericksburg and Hermon Baptist associations to discuss bringing a team of pastors from Kenya to Virginia this fall.
The Kenyans will speak in churches, thanking them for mission efforts which have contributed to Baptist work in their country, said David Upshaw, pastor of Concord Baptist Church in Ruther Glen, Va., which has agreed to serve as a host congregation. Upshaw met Wanje in the mid-1970s while serving on a two-year mission project there.
“The fundraisers and prayer circles that have been held for the ministry of the gospel in Kenya are bearing fruit,” said Wanje. There are close to one million Baptists in Kenya today as a result, he said.
The number of pastors on the Kenyan team will depend on the number of churches that participate, said Upshaw. Interested churches may contact Larry Boone at Concord Baptist at 804.994.2884 or concordbaptist@gmail.com.