Indigenous Leaders

Evangelism Training

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Reagan Simiyu

Then Jesus came to them and said, “ All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Being part of the Lord’s disciples, especially during our time, is exciting for the Kingdom Driven community. We are very much committed to training and equipping the saints in the great task of preaching the gospel, making disciples, baptizing those who surrender to Christ’s Lordship and Commands, and above all teaching them to obey what our Lord commanded. Initially this was the work exclusively of the foreign missionaries who transplanted to East Africa, but now it is the work of the indigenous folks themselves. Exciting, indeed!

For some time now, our young teachers-in-training have met with disciples from different fellowships every Thursday and Friday, equipping and preparing them for the Great Commission: to reach out to the lost and proclaim the good news to the poor. We follow the basic missions/discipleship practice of Model, Assist, Watch and Let go. This can take from one to three months depending on aptitude of the student.

Last week the training was led by a young evangelist, Silas, at the KDM office. Four brothers sat for the teaching of the Kingdom, to hear Silas go model the teaching so that they could repeat it. Silas shared with them our four field tracts: (i) Two Kingdoms,(ii) Surrender, Repent, be Baptized and Receive the Holy Spirit, (iii) …and Teach to Obey ALL that Christ COMMANDED!, and (iv) What the Bible Teaches about the CHURCH. (These are all available for free download here.)

149 Among those present were brother Wafula from Western, brother Simon (visiting from Kenya’s Maasai land), and our brother Gabriel, from Saboti house church. Is our prayer that the Lord will strengthen these men as they prepare to go out as sheep among the wolves, to shine the light of Christ to the nations and all people.

Kingdom Driven Ministries welcomes Reagan Simiyu as a contributing author to the blog.

A Father to the Fatherless…in Bidii

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Reagan Simiyu

Bidii is a Swahili name that means effort. It’s a good name for the fellowship in Bidii, since it is a small community of believers that has been bonded together through great effort by our brother, Lazarus Lordia. As they live and work together, it is also with great effort that they are seeking to live out the teachings of Jesus and be a supportive community of brothers, each helping the other to succeed and to earn their “daily bread” as they follow Jesus together. The church in Bidii is a group of poor and needy folks, but they have a burning zeal and unquenchable thirst for the kingdom of God and righteousness.

In their beginnings, they encountered much pain and sorrow under a false shepherd and self-seeking man, but the Lord helped them to stand firm and strong in the narrow path, remembering what the Chief Shepherd said about the narrow road to the kingdom: it is not easy and it was not meant to be easy; rather, it is by much travail and tribulation that the gates of the kingdom can be entered. We thank God for the man Lazarus, who has been a strong anchor and support to the brethren of Bidii.

Lazarus is a strong brother in the LORD, an evangelist with zeal and passion for God’s kingdom. This man’s life story is a fascinating and captivating one, a story that reads like a movie script. His father divorced his mother when he was six, and he was raised by his alcoholic father. He felt alone and struggled through the many ups and downs of his young life, feeling largely unsupported and without guidance. Yet, God used this for good, as a preparation for his future mission in the kingdom of Christ. How could this man know this from the onset? In fact he felt the opposite, he felt neglected and forsaken by the Lord.Twice he contemplated suicide and termination of his life. It is amazing what man can hold in his mind when he is ignorant of God’s will and love for him; indeed, His thoughts are different from our thoughts and His ways different from our ways.

Yet his background gave Lazarus a great empathy for those young people who were growing up vulnerable and disadvantaged. He turned his attention to the youth in his community, serving as a football coach and mentor. His life found some purpose and meaning, but he still felt something missing. Before he meet with Marc Carrier, a missionary in East Africa, who unveiled the hidden truth of the Kingdom to him, Lazarus sold drugs and trained in martial arts, even while he invested in the local youth as a coach. Yet in his sincere seeking of the Kingdom, he has found freedom from his past and experienced death of the old man of sin. A new man has been born again by the power of God. The truth was given unto him, and now he is on fire, fighting a noble and royal fight of the Kingdom, a spiritual warfare, the battle between good and evil. Using his worldly experiences as a football coach, now he is coaching the little community of Christ of Bidii. He is leading many souls to the Lord, both old and young. Among his personal disciples are those of his own household: wife, children, and father.

Lazarus has found many challenges as a follower of Christ in his village community. He has been scorned and ridiculed, and church leaders have directly threatened him because their traditions are being challenged. As the leader of a growing church with many struggling for their “daily bread,” he is looked to for support when he has his own household to keep in order. Yet, he accepts this challenge with strength and views it as an opportunity to live the Kingdom of God in a community of brethren who can support each other through their times of need.

Daniel Miteti, another disciple in Bidii, grew up as a fatherless young boy. Raised by his single mother until the young age of four, when the mother also passed away, he was left under the care of the family relatives. Did his relatives viewed him as a poor orphan who needed attention and love like other children? Of course not, they viewed him as a source of cheap labor, someone who will look after their cows, goats, and sheep while other children were in school seeking a better future. This is a normal case with many unbelieving families here in Africa. Do we still remember what the Psalmist said?, “Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked.They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable.”(Psalm 82).

Daniel being weak and having no one to protect him, was frequently mistreated. One of his relatives ended up beating him badly and even threatened to cut off his hands after he lost the rope which was used to tie the cow. Eventually he was pushed out of the family and ended up in the street. Without any form of education, the only work he could secure was that of a herdsman; he was employed to look after the animals, and there is where he met his wife-to-be, Sandra Nelima, and they wedded.

Our evangelist Lazarus met with them and shared the gospel with them, and both of them repented and were baptized two months ago. Now they are among the body of Christ, those who are called by the holy name of the Lord. Brother Lazarus did not just baptize them and abandon them but instead he gave them his little barber shop, which he also was given by the one who baptized him. Daniel and his wife now earn a little money to sustain them. (Their daily earning is approximately Ksh 200 [$2 per day]). And still life is a big challenge to him, being a husband and a father, a young disciple. His faith and love for Our Lord are very strong and the only reason to keep on moving.

Brother Charles and his wife Lydia are among the brethren who meet in Bidii, the fruits of Lazarus. He also had a background like that of Lazarus and Daniel. His mother died when he was still an infant of two weeks old and he was raised with other family members. His father became negligent of the young Charles after he remarried. He never got any education, just like his other siblings. Being orphaned and poor he was an object of oppression and abused. He was falsely accused of stealing and was jailed fora few months. Though he was eventually released, his freedom was not long lasting. He was once again accused with another false accusation of rape. Thank God for His divine intervention; Charles was released due to lack of sufficient evidence against him.

How did this man came to the knowledge of God? How did he came to learn about the message of the Kingdom of God? Praise God for the work and obedience of Lazarus, who shared with him the gospel and led him in repentance and baptism. Now he, too, has a Father in Heaven who cares for him.

What is so impressive about these little ones, the brethren of Bidii, is their obedience to the teachings and commandments of Jesus. Yes, The two newest disciples are are poor and needy and they cannot yet speak loudly and boldly about their faith. Yes, they are illiterate and unenlightened and they cannot preach a beautiful and colorful sermons. Yet, they can live and practice the Kingdom. Their true love and obedience to Christ is their sermon to the world. The world marvels and wonders, “What makes these poor and uneducated folks so happy? What is the secret of their happiness?” It is their obedience to the great law of the Kingdom; they love the Lord their God with their whole hearts, souls and minds, and then they love one another as the LORD loves them.

The secret of their strength is their similar life experience, their common background, and their love for God. The Lord himself declared that the world will know we are His disciples by our love for one another. We pray that their love will grow stronger and stronger, and that more will join this faithful little group as they follow Christ in true unity.

Kingdom Driven Ministries welcomes Reagan Simiyu as a contributing author to the blog.

The Wisdom of the Aged

Posted on January 19, 2016 by KDM Admin

[Note: this post was written by Cindy Carrier, with approval by her husband, Marc.]

Here in Kenya, unlike in the West, “youth” are identified as those under 35 years of age, whereas wazee (older men) are 40 and over. (As far as I know, there is no name for those in the nebulous 35-40 year-old age range.) The wazee are often leaders in the community, functioning as local/village elders. They are sought for advice and are patriarchs of their families. I love our wazee and am incredibly thankful to have so many in our network of house churches! They meet together on a weekly basis to fellowship, share teachings on the Scriptures, pray, discuss current community or church happenings, and sing. There is nothing like hearing a room full of wazee praising God!

Don’t get me wrong, the wazee are…old…and have their cantankerous moments. They are often frail in health and in need of medical assistance. But they are also awesome sources of wisdom and encouragement and they take seriously their role in the church. A large number of wazee tends to be an anomaly in Kenyan churches, as in many areas (such as the slums) there is a strikingly disproportionate number of women, particularly widows. As well, here in the village, it is the women who tend to go to church regularly (often for social reasons more so than religious), and the men don’t seem to be as involved. Thus, we are blessed to have them among us.

In this part of the world (unlike the West—according to our observations, at least), there is a healthy respect and honor for the wisdom and life experience of the elderly in all areas of life. An African proverb states the reason quite succinctly: An old man sitting down sees farther than a young man standing in a tree. The Bible is not silent about the value of the aged and the necessity of listening to their wisdom: “’You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:32, as just one example).

Even the Early Church (Ante-Nicene) writings speak of the honor that is due to those in positions of leadership who serve well. To our modern ears, Ignatius’ teachings sound a bit over-the-top, but he says, “I exhort you to study to do all things with a divine harmony, while your bishop presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in the place of the assembly of the apostles, along with your deacons.”

This wisdom and life experience of the wazee should be leveraged and respected in the Church. The Scriptures identify overseers [or bishops], elders [or presbyters], and deacons, all of whom are expected to be proven in their maturity, with older children and households in proper order. (It is important to note that these terms identify roles rather than titles, as they are commonly used today.) A proven elder is both honorable and worthy of honor, as no accusation against an elder is to be entertained unless it is brought by two or three witnesses (1 Timothy 5:19). Elders not in positions of church leadership are still influential in the life of the church and should be valued for their contribution. In no area is this quite as important as that of church discipline (per Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 18). We have seen first-hand the power of a meeting of wazee as they listen intently, ask thoughtful questions, and come to a wise consensus in matters pertaining to the life and health of the Church body. It is the role of such elders to be a persuasive influence on the congregation.

Happy wazee, having reached a consensus after a challenging, 8-hour church discipline meeting. — Happy wazee, having reached a consensus after a challenging, 8-hour church discipline meeting (some present for photo shared testimony during the meeting)

Though the Apostle Paul admonished his protégé Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity,” (1 Timothy 4:12), he also warns him “not to rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father” ( Timothy 5:1). First Peter 5:5 says, “you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders,” and Hebrews 13:17 echoes that sentiment: “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” First Thessalonians 5:12-13 says,

But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

Unfortunately, the role of elders and the respect due them, particularly in the realm of Church leadership, has largely fallen into disrepute in many of our modern churches. This seems to follow the general trend of young people being in rebellion in many areas of life over recent decades. Youth have dishonored and even usurped the authority and influence of the elders. At the same time, there have been some recognized as elders who have not met Biblical qualifications or who have abused the honor of their Biblically-sanctioned roles. This has often led to the general disdain for Church leadership in general. Even the valued wisdom of the older men of the Church has been disregarded. The advancement of youth and the degradation of the aged have worked together to bring a host of negative consequences to the called-out people of God as they assemble and serve in local congregations, often without the valuable leadership and influence of wazee.

Of course, our observations and opinions cannot swing the pendulum back into a healthy balance, but we hope to offer some constructive criticism for growing churches; as they seek to honor God and His Word, may they also value the wisdom and experience of their wazee.