JUPITER, FLORIDA – Beacon Baptist Church, a long established and faithful congregation in the Jupiter Farms community, recently began their Missions Month 2025. Throughout October 2025, a different missionary family will be featured each week, giving Beacon Baptist members the chance to meet and know them and to hear about their incredible ministries.

Daniel Simonsen, a missionary on deputation to Kenya, kicked off Missions Month 2025, speaking before the church on October 5. He was introduced during the 10:00 am Sunday School hour, and he also preached later that evening. He shared greetings from his wife Mary, who unfortunately was unable to be with him as her visa is still in processing.

Daniel was excited to share the country and culture of Kenya with the congregation, calling it “…a wonderful place to live in.” He was especially excited by the more than 40 game parks and vast wildlife of the country – truly God’s creativity on display throughout the land. He remarked that anyone visiting Kenya should avoid the two most dangerous animals in the country – the first being the hippopotamus which can run at up to 19 miles an hour, and the second, of course, being the mosquito – this last receiving quite the chuckle from the audience.

He described the weather in Kenya as beautiful and mild – for most of the country the weather is between 70 and 80 degrees all year long. He was also eager to report that the people of Kenya are very friendly and open to the gospel. The current president of Kenya, William Ruto, is very favorable toward Christianity and this has opened a wide door for missions – something that is not the norm throughout the rest of Africa.

Kenya is one of 54 countries in Africa and home to 56,000,000 people. According to Daniel, Kenya is slightly smaller than Texas. There are over 40 tribes in Kenya with 70 different languages and dialects spoken throughout the country. English and Swahili are the two dominant languages of the country. Though many profess to be saved, this is based on their being baptized as infants. Others see their salvation as tenuous – though they think they have it today, it could easily be lost tomorrow due to some sin on their part. As Daniel put it, “Many people [are] confused about what salvation really is.”

Catholicism and Pentecostalism are prevalent throughout the country – as is the heretical Prosperity Gospel. As Daniel reported, “False teachers, like Benny Hinn and others, have been there many times deceiving thousands upon thousands of people.” Cults like Mormonism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses also have a foothold in the country – to say nothing of all the Kenyans who visit witchdoctors and other satanically inspired deceivers. Daniel said, “We feel burdened to reach Kenya out of [false] religion and into a true relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Daniel’s own story began with hardship. As a new born baby, he was abandoned in a hospital in Nairobi and then taken to an orphanage. Nevertheless, the Lord proved faithful, as always, and eight months later he was adopted by a missionary couple. As of this year, Daniel’s adoptive parents have been missionaries in Kenya for 36 years. Daniel shared his gratitude for being raised in a Christian home, and he received salvation at the age of seven.

Despite being raised by missionaries, Daniel had no initial plans to become a missionary himself. This all changed when he was 15 and visiting the United States on furlough. He went to a teen camp his church put on. Though he was excited to spend time with his friends, God soon proved to have different plans. The evangelist at the camp spoke on the importance of God’s will. Daniel recalled the man saying, “As a Christian, there is nothing better than knowing you are at the center of God’s will.” This brought extreme conviction to Daniel, and he surrendered his future to Christ at that time and became willing to go and do whatever the Lord had in mind for him. A few years later, his call to missions work in Kenya was confirmed by the Lord.

While he is in the work of planting independent Baptist churches, the goal is not to stay too long in any one place. Rather his hope is that the Kenyan’s will become so “fired up” for the Gospel that the churches can be turned over to local leadership as soon as possible. His burden, in one sentence, is “Church planting through discipleship.”

Via a ministry video created by both Daniel and his wife Mary, the Simonsens asked for continued prayer for passion for the gospel to be stirred in the hearts of the Kenyans, for their needed support to be raised quickly, and for many more faithful churches to be planted. Right now their ministry goals are to plant churches beyond Gatukuyu, disciple and train others to serve and reproduce that effort, and that whole families would be reached with the Gospel.

Daniel concluded his time during the Sunday School hour with a Q & A session with the congregation. Many asked questions about life and the culture in Kenya. Several were interested in the cost of living and how transportation works in the country. One congregant asked, “How do Kenyan’s perceive Americans?” Daniel said they perceive them very well, but urged anyone visiting the country to learn the language of the area you are visiting. The Simonsens earned a great deal of respect for being able to speak Swahili when starting a church in an area where that was the dominant language.

Daniel has been in the states since February traveling and raising support. Currently his ministry is at about 56% of the total funds needed – with an average of about $6,000 needed each month to cover living and ministry expenses. Though he will return to Kenya soon, the plan is to return to the U.S. next year with his wife to finish raising the rest of their needed support.

It is always encouraging to hear what the Lord is doing through faithful missionaries like the Simonsen. We pray that Christ will continue to be glorified through their work and that the Gospel of Salvation through true faith in Jesus will be magnified across all of Kenya.