HOPE NAIROBI, KENYA AFRICA

Vision for church planting

We visited Kenya for an exploration trip in 2000 and 2001. What we saw was a country that did not have a lot to offer compared to Singapore, Europe or Canada. We knew that to make a decision to church plant in Kenya, we needed to do a lot of soul searching and prayer to be level with God. In 2000, Kenya’s infrastructure was minimal: roads were filled with potholes, people were lethargic and water, electricity, salt and even sugar rationing was the norm.

[Photo: Li Chuang & Lisa in Nairobi, Kenya]

However, what caught Li Chuang and my heart was the children. We had never seen such beautiful children, they stole our hearts, and we still feel the same way now. We believed God called us to Kenya.

After four years of preparation and saving in Singapore, we reached Nairobi in 2004 with great hope. Reality soon hit with obtaining a work permit proving to be much more difficult than what we expected. Another issue was finding a safe place to stay. Each step was painful and impossible: corruption is rampant and people are keen to exploit us under the guise of helping us. We had never faced such issues before. In comparison, Singapore is a paradise to live and work in. in the first year; we spent a lot of time and finances ironing out teething issues to get ourselves settled. It cost us all our savings.

We had almost given up when God opened a little window for us to sort out our work permit situation. We are thankful to God for Hope Singapore’s prayers and ministry support. We remember Pastor Ben and Dinah coming to see us even when we had no ministry to show them. It was there we realised that in Hope we build lives, not buildings.

Starting ministry in Kenya

We knew that to develop the first layer of discipleship and leadership in Kenya, we needed to find the right kind of people. So for the first few years, we were trying to establish our reputation as teachers: violin for Li Chuang and art for Lisa and the reputation of our education program called Brain Gym. We tried to use our teaching and workshop contacts to meet people and to understand the country. What we read in the newspapers and internet are broadly accurate, but do not provide great details. Living with the Kenyan people enabled us to understand them and the country better.

Starting a ministry in Kenya and Africa in general can be very tricky. The people view foreigners as opportunities for handouts. People tended to view us as quick meal tickets than people who had something to offer in terms of spiritual growth. So for the next year or so, we started care group with many different people coming. Often we found that they were not really keen about God but were actively looking for financial or material support.

Finally, in August 2008, we knew God had given us the right fit. God led us to a group of university students who were graduating. Their spirit and heart for God was amazing. Today, we see them taking care of one another, mentoring their sheep, reaching out to their friends and taking hold of the vision for themselves.

Outreach, Discipleship and forming the core team

Today (September 2009), all of them have graduated and we see four shepherds faithfully shepherding their sheep. Each mentor and their disciple are growing in the Lord, are willing to face up to the different challenges in their walk with God and making necessary changes in their lives. Each of the guys in the care group can tell you the stories in their lives that challenge us not to take God for granted. In Africa, education is for the wealthy, not for the majority of the people. Some of these young men and women had to stop their education for a year or two to look for finances to finish their primary or secondary schooling. We found men and women who understood the goodness of God in their lives and are now looking for ways to thank God back.

In October 2009, we prayed and fasted over the decision to raise two young men to lead two care groups. These two young men exhibited Godly character in their care for others, in taking the initiative to serve, integrity, tithing faithfully and even challenging others to grow in the Lord. DO PRAY FOR US in impacting love and joy of serving God to them and the core team.

Sunday service

We are still very small but we are trying to form a strong foundation so that we can have a strong leadership before venturing into Sunday services. We hold care groups on Sunday and train one another in the basics: Holy Communion, giving testimony, chairing, leading bible studies etc.

Our young Kenyan brothers function in their roles and often offer us with new ideas and insight. Care groups are never boring. Together, we use many avenues to help each other grow in the Lord, especially in the areas of character building, servanthood and leadership skills. We teach them how to conduct water baptism ceremonies, prayer meetings, weekly core team meetings and social events. As well, teams periodically invited from Singapore who come to encourage and build us up, which were a highlight for us. It is akin to being at a church camp which we all look forward to. It is always fun and it is a time for exchanging different cultural cuisines and humour!

Prayer Requests

• Pray for protection over the two care groups and the leaders, Ernest and James K when they officially take over the care group. Pray for them to grow in God’s wisdom and anointing so that they can challenge their people to grow to love God and people.

• Pray for our evangelistic events. One is a talk from a German journalist who will teach us how to communicate. Secondly, we have a Christmas party at the orphanages where we are trying to reach out to our keen contacts.

• Pray for jobs for the graduates. A few months ago, we had a fasting and prayer session with Hope Singapore where anyone could join us for marathon fasting. We can see fruits from their efforts. Some of them have offers from great companies and others found work.

• Pray for more contacts so that we can grow numerically.

• Pray for rain in Kenya. No rain means no food. Millions are badly affected.

• Thank God for at least five of the seven members of our core team being baptised in the Holy

Spirit. They realised its importance the first time we raised the issue. They understood in their minds, but their hearts were not ready. After a second attempt, they allowed God to enter with power. Praise the Lord.

Lisa Wee
Hope Nairobi, Kenya Africa

For more information about Hope Nairbi contact Michael Raditya (Hope Church, Singapore)

• Email : bsraditya@hopesingapore.org.sg