This year marks the third intake of students joining the discipleship training program based in Maseno, Kisumu County. The school, Moriah School of Discipleship, has been producing young Christian leaders through a six month program.
StudentsThis year the school admitted 18 students which is up from 15 that were admitted the previous year. We target fresh high school leavers who are ready to undergo the six month training as they wait for their national examination result and subsequently join colleges/university. The whole concept is to bring change and develop mature followers of Jesus who are able to make disciples who can make disciples. This has been one of the challenges in the world Christian movement. Not many current Christian churches are making adequate effort to go out to reach the many unreached and non-believers with the word of God.
11 students have been baptized so far this year, five of whom only gave their lives to Jesus during the training.
The program commenced on 12th January and ends on 3rd July 2015, the day they graduate. They do four months in the center and six weeks in mission outreach.
Our motto this year is MAKING DISCIPLES WHO MAKE DISCIPLES. This will be made possible by modelling the program on the following objectives;
- Understanding that Jesus gave the church just one game plan; make disciples who can make disciples. Everything in Christian ministry should be measured by this yardstick for if we make disciples who make disciples, the church will succeed.
- Follow the model Jesus used in disciple making: be an intentional leader, disciple in a relational environment, and use of reproducible process.
Some of the key areas the students have been able to appreciate during the training include;
• Continuous Bible Reading (CBR) and quiet time allowing them to have a personal conversation with God
• The power of prayer and fasting. The students now pray and fast without any problems. They have set a day each week to fast.
• Mission work, particularly reaching the unreached communities
• Different skills especially in horticulture and poultry farming
Note that during the training, two alumni were brought to assist them. Various facilitators were also brought in to teach various subjects.
The daily schedule starts at 5am with exercises, followed by devotion and quiet time. The day ends at 9pm with a devotion.
17 students comprising 6 females and 11 males are currently on mission work targeting the unreached communities of Illchamus and Pokots in Baringo county. These communities still observe their traditions. Among the Illchamus, only women and children attend church as men tend to their animals or are busy taking local brews.
Youth who have been initiated in adulthood after getting circumcised tend not to listen to anybody. They feel they are mature enough to make their own decisions. Reaching them with the word of God is difficult. Our youth, who are their peers, have a way of talking to them. Female Genital Mutilation is still practiced as well as belief in witch doctors.
Some of the notable success achieved in the mission work includes;
- Planting a church in one of the high schools to be partly run by the school students who are key change agents
- Strengthening Christian Unions in many schools within the community
- Sharing the word through farm to farm movement
Challenges:
Language barrier - not all community members speak Kiswahili which is our national language. The students had to learn basic local dialects.
Insecurity - rustling is a common feature among these communities especially the Pokots. They use guns and are ready to kill during raids to steal the animals.
Health issues - the nearest government hospital is 17 kms away and there are no vehicles in the area.
Food had to be purchased in Nairobi and carried to the mission ground.
Bad terrain - the mission ground is flood prone and covered with kilometres of Procophix plant, locally known as Mathenge. It is poisonous and painfully itches for several minutes.
Kevin Odhiambo Oduor Kevin is a 19 year old boy who was orphaned at a tender age. He hasn't seen either of his parents since he was barely two years old. He was brought up by his paternal grandmother in Mathare 4B slums in Nairobi. He is the last born in a family comprising two other siblings, an elder brother called Vincent and a sister called Eunice.
He did his primary school at MCO Primary School and joined Parklands Boys’ High School for his secondary education. He scored a grade C- in his final national examination last year 2014. He received financial support through MCO under the compassion program throughout his education (KEN01b). The project also actually bought them a room (house) in Mathare where he lives together with his elder brother who took over the care of the family after the death of their grandmother. An uncle has also been chipping in to help them.
Kevin is one of the students who joined the discipleship program this year. He became a Christian in 2014 but had not been active in his faith until he joined the discipleship training. He has transformed and is now charged to serve the Lord better. He wishes to do more mission work to the unreached.
Kevin is now able to share the word of God without fear. He appreciates the importance of prayer and fasting. He was baptisted on 13th April this year.
He hopes to pursue a course in social work which he feels will enable him to interact with the community, particularly the needy.
In general Kevin is a very humorous boy and outgoing. He is currently at Longewan area in Baringo county for mission work. In the mission he has been engaged in school outreaches and farm to farm outreach. He loves football and is using the same for sports ministry.