— Do you know what color was the clay that Jesus anointed the blind man’s eyes with? — a Kenyan pastor asks his church. Someone replies,
— God wants to give us His righteousness and dress us in white clothes. So it was white clay that people build huts in my village where I was born.
— No! The clay was black as it is in my tribe, — shouts someone else. — For in the beginning, God shows to a person that his heart is as black as mud when it is raining. — The pastor makes a pause and continues his sermon,
— Brothers and sisters, the blood of Christ can cleanse a black heart of a person. That is why the color of the clay that Jesus anointed the blind man’s eyes with was red as in our village…
Dear friends, let’s not judge these people too strictly. Believe me, you would speak the same things if you were the pastor in the Pokot tribe.
Pastors have no theological training. And we face a similar situation not only in the Pokot tribe, but also in the villages on Mount Elgon. We wanted to help the ministers and do seminars for them.
For three years in a row Yuri Shcheglov came to visit us, and each time we trained about 300 pastors. This year we organized some work with the Pokot tribe, as well as with a group of pastors from Uganda who live on the border of Kenya.
We gave as a present Derek Prince’s books written in English and Swahili to everyone who visited the seminar. The ministers also received a book, «The Pastor» written by Matts-Ola Ishoel.
Let’s remember that each of us is like clay in God’s hands. And when we hear God’s Word, the Lord «molds» His image in us.
People speak Swahili and English in Kenya. But each tribe prefers to speak their own language. That is why 90% of Kenyans cannot read or write English.
The Scriptures have been translated into several local languages. But about 90% of rural pastors have no theological training. They also do not have any books in the language of the tribe where they work for the Lord.
We translate books and print them in Swahili, Turkana, Pokot, and Nyangatom languages. During one year more than 700 pastors received materials that would help them develop their ministries.
Since 2021 we have partnered with Derek Prince Ministries, which also translated many of its books. We distribute its books to pastors who live in western Kenya. We share the materials with people who live in Mount Elgon, the Turkana Desert and the Pokot tribe.
We also bring these books to Uganda for Swahili speaking pastors from the Karamojong and Tepeth tribes. We distribute these materials among the Nyangatom tribe in Ethiopia and we have also reached out to South Sudan.
This ministry requires a lot of finances. We would be happy if you partner with us and help us print books for Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan.
Could you tell me, what kind of dreams do you have when you look at your children? Perhaps, you think that your son will become a doctor and your daughter will become a lawyer. So, you send your children to the best school and pay a lot of money for their education.
Now imagine that you arrive at the church. And the pastor asks your children to leave the meeting hall and wander aimlessly in the street so that your children would not disturb the adults during the meeting. Hm… Such kind of Sunday School would impress both you and your friends.
But this is what is happening in some village churches in Kenya. Why? Because adults do not realize that every child has a soul that needs to be saved. Adults treat their children only as shepherds or labors.
We decided that we will not judge these people, but instead, we will help them start Sunday Schools in their churches. For several years our mission team did workshops to train Sunday School teachers.
So, when we finished training the ministers, they opened 234 Sunday Schools where there are 15,000 children studying the Word of God.
Believe me, it is not easy to drive through the off-road desert for 8 hours. But the women who live on the border of Ethiopia were able to reach the city of Lodwar where we decided to organize our meeting.
In Lodwar, together with our friends from the United States, we had the first women’s conference for the Turkana tribe. We wanted to educate those who could pass on their knowledge to others. So we invited 120 women whose husbands minister as bishops or regional coordinators.
We talked about family, children and the character of a minister. We taught the women how to properly manage their finances. We encouraged them to develop their relationship with God and grow spiritually.
Could you me, if it is possible to change a person’s life in a few days? Certainly, yes. But such a person should encounter God and experience His presence.
In the middle of 2021, our American team spent three days with youth leaders who live on Mount Elgon.
We taught them how to receive freedom from those sins that people cannot overcome for many years. We preached about how to grow spiritually and how not to return to the darkness of sin.
We prayed a lot during the meeting. And the Lord surprised us by how He changed the youth ministers, and they dedicated their lives to God even more.
We call the church in the Pokot tribe young, because the first time when this nation heard the gospel was only 20 years ago. And we can see that some people still follow their ancient pagan traditions, even though they have believed in Christ.
Do you know why it happens? People are uneducated. Just think about the fact that there were 400 women at our conference, but only three of them could read and write. That’s why nobody reads the Scriptures. That’s why nobody knows the teaching of the Bible.
Over the past three years, we have paid great attention to pastors of churches in very large areas. Many of the pastors have never been to any particular denomination, doctrine, or senior spiritual leadership instruction. But God blessed us during this time to touch more than 230 churches in the territories of Mount Elgon, Pakot and Turkana Desert. God has also blessed us to see the active growth of many of these churches. In many of them, the number of parishioners has at least doubled. Many churches became family-based: fathers and children, mothers and grandparents repented and started to attend churches. Many families, even pastor families, have re-established relationships after breakups and divorces.
And this is all team work. Thanks to Yuri Shcheglov, Eduard Denisyuk with his wife Natasha, pastor Vera Login from Chicago. They believed us, came and ministered to the pastors, and became part of missions in Kenya.
Сovid intervened in our plans, but despite all the difficulties, rising prices and the closure of cities, we are starting a new, important, bold project in the Turkana Desert — to train pastors to READ and WRITE. In main time we know about 150 pastors from different parts of the desert and part of the Pokot tribe who cannot read, write; none of them even know the alphabet, they do not have the Bible, but they lead the church.
Each course is a 30 days intensive training. The classrooms are ready, the building is equipped, the desks are ready, the teacher is there.
You can see more detailed information and updates on the project on our website GoWithChrist.org or via Facebook Instagram #GoWithChrist #GoWithMission
“I went to Africa to teach children to draw, to introduce them to art. Why, you ask? My answer is: I think feeding and dressing is great, but it’s a one-time help. You came, fed him, and after a couple of days the child was hungry again. You bought him shoes, and after a while the shoes will have holes. But, if a child is taught to do something, it will stay with him forever. If he is educated, he can feed himself and buy himself clothes. In addition, he will have a meaning in life that he will definitely want to communicate to others. Gradually, this knowledge will spread and motivate more people to live. I went to teach children to draw and introduce them to art because I believe it will help them. It will enrich their soul, awaken their imagination, and help them live better. «
Dasha Chernousik
Two years ago, in 2018, we saw a great need for Christian educational materials. A large number of urban pastors cannot read or speak English fluently, much less rural pastors and parishioners. Their language is Swahili. But the main problem is that there are no Swahili books on sale, there are no materials for the education of pastors on the Swahili.
God gave us a bold and truly desperate idea. We started translating materials, books, and sermons. During this time, in total, we have translated about 1500 thematic sermons and 14 books.
We opened the RAHISI.ORG web resource, all translated materials are posted on the RAHISI.ORG . And they are absolutely free for all users in all Swahili countries.
The next step is printing books. Not everyone has access to the Internet. People do not have smartphones and computers. This is especially evident in the villages, where the main population of these countries lives.
We need books. We need financial sponsors to make practical christian education real.
Write to us, ask questions, and become our partner to the international mission.
