Reports: Kenya

Tim Eldridge (senior paster of New Life Harrogate) and I travelled to Kitale in Kenya where, following the recent troubles, there was much tension. There are many misplaced people living in refugee camps with hundreds of people living in tents and makeshift shelters. These people are finding it exceptionally hard to survive as they have lost their jobs and most, if not all, their possessions. Many have experienced much violence and loved ones have been killed leaving them with no source of income and reliant on the generosity of others. They are often unable to return home as their homes no longer exist or have been taken over by others from another tribe. If you would like to help financially please contact us by clicking here.
The trip had a three fold purpose. The first was to minister at a two day church members conference as well as in the church itself. Following that we were to minister to leaders from churches in the Kitale area as well as ministering at crusade meetings for three nights. On arrival we had a warm welcome from the church members who were excited to see us.
During the conference we ministered on the importance of every member being complete in Christ and the need for each person to find their giftings and function and to start to minister within them. In addition to this we also shared on the importance of living a forgiving lifestyle. After the recent troubles there is much mistrust even within the churches as people became divided along tribal lines and nobody knew who they could trust any longer. Please continue to pray for the people of this nation which although is more peaceful, the people are full of fear and mistrust.
During the time with the leaders we shared from Ephesians four about the five-fold ministry gifts as they had received differing teaching from ministries that had travelled through the town and this had left much confusion. Much of this teaching centred around question and answer times seeking to overcome confusion about the differing giftings and how they should function together. We also started to look at the whole area of family life and how important it is for anyone in ministry firstly to minister to the members of their own household. This was received with much enthusiasm and we have been asked to give over a whole day to this area when we return to Kenya next year.
During the evenings the crusade meetings grew from somewhere around three hundred and fifty in attendance to well over a thousand people. The local churches worked together to put on music and dance and people shared testimonies. Tim and I ministered from the Word as well as prophetically and in the word of knowledge. There were many healings and lots of people were touched by the Lord during these times. Over the three nights in excess of a hundred and twenty people made a commitment to Christ for the first time and on the Sunday churches were reporting many new people attending from the crusade meetings. Considering this was our first trip to Kitale much was achieved but there is so much more these spiritually hungry churches desire. Please pray for them and us as we seek to help them get the abundant life God has promised them.
 by Tim Grant

Our East African trip was to Migori in Kenya, a bustling town on the border with Tanzania. Our contact with the church was through Joel Amonde’s brother, John, who we had met the previous autumn at the conference in Kampala. The church in Migori have an established feeding programme for local orphan children and are thankful for the generosity of local farmers and other helpers who give their time to prepare and cook the meals in very rustic conditions.
Our programme was teaching the basics of a daily walk with Jesus and then to have outreach meetings in the evenings. But things don’t always go to plan! A tropical storm on the first evening sent the locals scurrying back to their houses and left the awnings we were under needing repair. By the following morning all the damage had been rectified and the people were ready to hear our teaching. All our messages were recorded onto CDs so that the people could hear them again. After the meetings we prayed for many people, some were in need of healing and others were seeking guidance and resources for their future.
One evening, after returning to our hotel where electricity and a hot shower were not always available, we were busy washing and changing before our meal when a couple of very loud gunshots could be heard downstairs in the lobby. It was an attempted robbery. Word had gone out that a party of white people were staying in the town which no doubt would bring the temptation of rich pickings, relatively speaking! The thieves fled empty-handed when the security guards arrived. No one was hurt, but it certainly made for an interesting conversation over our meal. God is gracious!
 
Travelling in Kenya is not for the weak-hearted. The roads were often no more than potholed tracks and the congestion rivalled the M25 on a bad day but we thanked God for His protection in all our journeys. This was especially true on our trip to the Masai Mara on our day off. Our minibus driver took a wrong turn on the way and we found ourselves on roads(?) that would have been difficult for 4 by 4’s. Quite often the track simply disappeared and we found ourselves bumping across rough terrain with no signs of civilisation apparent for many hours. The remoteness of our position prompted discussions among certain members of our team regarding water conservancy and pooling the Harvest bars!
At one stage we required the help of Masai tribesmen to push us out of a rut. However, on arrival at the Reserve, many, many hours later, we were rewarded by driving through hosts of wild animals and birds at every turn. The Big Game were all there and it was as if Father had placed them along our route. The guide was astounded at all we saw as it was the ’wrong time of day’ and the white rhinos hadn’t been seen ‘for weeks’. God is good!
 
The overwhelming impression is that there is a need for good basic Christian teaching in East Africa as many believers are unable to read or do not have a copy of a Bible in their own language. The people that we met and ministered to were so grateful for all that we could bring in helping them to unpack the Scriptures. We continue to pray for all those we have met and especially that they may see and witness to the power of God in their daily lives.
by Peter Stott