Kenya
‘Hey, you messed up, but we still love you’
Since his first visit to a Dallas County jail in…
Sowing (and sewing) the Gospel in Africa
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LODWAR, Kenya — Women in Kenya’s drought-stricken, impoverished Turkana region need Jesus. They also need a means to support themselves.
Sarah Amani
Sarah Amani helps them find both. The Nairobi native is a trainer for NewLife Behavior International (NLBI), a ministry supported by Churches of Christ that has trained Christian leaders in 30 countries.
“These local Christian trainers own the work, lead the work, do the work and start and grow new churches,” said NLBI president Mike Biggers. They use a 15-course, Bible-based curriculum — the same one used by NewLife Behavior Ministries, a U.S.-based prison ministry. H.M. Motsinger founded the prison ministry three decades ago and launched the international ministry in 2008.
In Turkana, Amani is training women to sew, allowing them to sell their creations. NLBI purchased 10 sewing machines to launch the program.
Amani recently began working with women in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, believed to be the largest refugee camp in the world. NLBI funded a sewing project for the women there to help them with vocational training.
“Although NLBI does not pay salaries to these trainers, the organization pays for the costs related to their volunteer mission work and provides resources to help them grow their ministries,” said Jo Umberger, NLBI’s vice president. “The trainers make the decisions as to how best to use these provisions. God is blessing their obedience to Jesus’ command to ‘go and make disciples of all nations.’”
