Our vision encompasses salvation, new creation, new birth, new future, new life, new hope and the spreading of scriptural holiness across the world, our parish.
This is a vision consistent with the vision God gave Abraham and Sarah when God said,
“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12: 1).
It is a vision that continued with Moses when God said to him,
“Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward” (Exodus 14: 15).
It is a vision that continued when God said to Samuel,
“See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle” (ISamuel 3: 11).
It is a vision that continued when God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones and say,
“O dry bones….I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live” (Ezekiel 37: 4-5).
It is a vision that continued when God told Habakkuk,
“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2: 2-3)
It is a vision that continued when the angel Gabriel said to Mary,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1: 30).
It is a vision that continued when Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5: 4).
It is a vision that continued when Jesus said to the twelve,
“You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last….” (John 15: 16).
And it is a vision that continued when Paul wrote to the Romans,
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12: 2).
For Victory Fellowship, at this time and in this place, the vision is very intense and very specific. God is engaging us in the ancient vision, and the questions God is asking are straightforward:
Will we focus on institutional survival, or will we release the resources of the institution to reach the least and lost? Will we stand by while our churches wait for the end, or will we insure that our witness is born again in every place? Will we resign ourselves to being a church in decline, or will we seek the second birth that comes only from the Spirit? Will we continue to minister primarily to church people, or will we cast our nets among the unchurched? Will we stay in the land that we know, or will we go to where God is calling us? Will we choose despair and death, or will we choose hope and life? Will we be a resurrection people, or remain in the tomb?
This is the vision we have entered, begun long before any of us were born, but now engaged around very specific proposals;
Fill empty church buildings with people; Plant new churches; Establish new centers (facilities) of worship; Re-align our finances; Re-focus our efforts on spreading scriptural holiness and Re-position our ministry for missions in the 21st century.
This year “rubber hit the road” and our very existence has exploded. We have enacted major changes that
Relocated our ministry center; Re-defined the role of Victory Fellowship; Re-structured our leadership team and Re-structured our funding pattern.
I must admit I had fear when time came for change. I questioned,
Will God be with us in the chaos of creating something new? Are we absolutely sure we have chosen the right path? What is the cost and have we counted the cost accurately? And,Have we accurately estimated the benefits?
Through it all, God used this time to expand our vision, expand our risk-taking, expand creative thinking, expand our mission and expand our stewardship.
Erick Chepkwony, TH.D 