By Bethany Sanderson

In August, I had the opportunity to go to Kenya as part of an LMI overseas ministry trip with the Youth & Schools Outreach (YSO) Team and my husband Josh. We visited LMI’s partner for Kenya and East Africa, Pastor Eric Ngala Mutumbi, and spent three weeks in Bumala, where Pastor Eric is based, seeing the work being done there and leading several different events.

While we had heard all about the work in which Pastor Eric is involved, it was so special to see it in person. We got the opportunity to visit Africa Inland Church Bumala, where he is the pastor. We also looked around Reformed Theological Seminary, which Pastor Eric founded, visiting the library, classrooms and seeing the ongoing building work.

In addition to witnessing Pastor Eric’s ministry, the main purpose of the mission trip was to participate in schools ministry, four youth conferences, leadership training, women’s conferences and church services. One of my personal highlights was leading a two-day youth conference in Bondo. The level of poverty in this area was high, with many young people relying on the youth conference to provide their only meal of the day. In spite of these difficulties, the young people were filled with so much joy. They were excited to learn from the Bible, take part in the games, and always had huge smiles on their faces as we taught them songs. They also participated in small group discussions throughout the conference, in which they would chat about the Bible and how it was relevant to them — what an encouragement!

During the trip it was great to meet a number of pastors who have benefited from the ‘Applied Agriculture for God’s Glory’ training which Pastor Eric leads. We were able to see how they have developed sustainable agriculture on their land, growing a diverse range of food and raising baby chicks, which can be used both for eggs and eventually to sell. The impact of this programme has been twofold, as the participating pastors have been able to provide support, not only for their families, but also for those in need in both their churches and communities. Crucially too, it is a key component of Pastor Eric’s strategy for combating prosperity gospel teaching, which is rife in Africa. LMI has actively supported him in this work through sponsoring the provision of chicks for pastors.

Alongside this, we were excited to be part of an ‘LMI Graduation’. Pastor Eric, Jennifer Omemo, and several others are involved in leading a teaching hub on behalf of LMI, so that individuals can study one of our courses together and learn as part of a group. One of the classes, after six years of intermittent study, had successfully completed our ‘Biblical Foundations Course’, which covers topics such as Discipleship, the Church, Prayer, Persecution and Mission. It was so encouraging to speak to the graduates, hearing how much they had benefited from the course and learning of the incredibly hard work they put into their assignments. The student leader, Salome Adhiambo, gave a speech on behalf of the class, thanking LMI and requesting that more courses be sent out!

It was a blessing, therefore, to be able to present the students with our ‘Dynamics of Discipleship’ resource, as a gift for graduating. This eight-lesson Bible study was translated into Swahili and LMI recently sponsored the printing of 750 sets of the material. The need for good, biblically sound resources in Kenya is great. So, it was all the more encouraging to see how the Bible Teaching Ministry of LMI is having an impact on people’s lives and helping them as they lead churches, women’s ministries, Sunday schools and much more.

Giving Thanks

We’re so thankful to God for the great work that took place during the YSO Team’s visit to Kenya. Investing in our partners by sending LMI teams for training and equipping purposes is a key element of our Overseas Ministry Programme. It also plays an essential role in strengthening relationships, understanding more comprehensively the challenges faced by our fantastic partners and enabling us to consider more fully how we might develop our joint endeavours moving forward.

These ministry trips are incredibly important from our perspective, as a mission working in various nations around the world. However, we know too that they are greatly valued by our partners themselves. Pastor Eric, when writing to thank our Mission Directors, Thomas and Yvonne McClean, said the following about the YSO Team’s visit:

“I take this opportunity on behalf of myself and the Kenya and Eastern Africa LMI Hub to sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for sending us the Youth & School Ministry team. It was a time of great refreshment and working alongside one another, the local groups were so blessed, and many youths are asking when the team will come back again!”

Pastor Eric Ngala Mutumbi,

LMI Coordinator for Kenya and East Africa 

 

If you would like to support our Overseas Ministry Programme, you can do so here.