PCEA Mabati Church Construction - December 2017 Update
Kenya
Dear friends and partners,
Gandini Church was dedicated on October 12. This church is unique in many ways. Located about 90 minutes north of Mombasa one hour off the Mombasa highway in the bush, it is in a heavily Muslim area. Quite remote! So far not too unusual but here comes the uniqueness. The four-acre plot that the new church sits on was donated by a Muslim, Mzee Piro, and his wife who are now church members. Piro said he wanted to have an altar that his people could go to. Also unique about Gandini Church is that half of the members came from the Islam faith and 97 percent are from the Duruma tribe. This is the first Duruma church with PCEA.
This church started in 2004 under a tree until a mabati structure was built. The original structure blew over once before their new church was built. In 2012, they began building their new church. I received a call from the Moderator of the General Assembly last June asking if we could help with the cement floor. We agreed to help, and when I visited and learned the story about Muslims being converted, we decided to find funds to help complete the church with the assistance of the Pwani Presbytery.
Today, the Gandini Church membership includes 51 adults and over 100 children. The minister, Rev. Ethan Ndambiri, is a real missionary and the reason for the church's success. He badly needs a school but will be using the old church in the meantime. I hope we can help him with a school. The school will be used by the children and also for adult vocational training.
As we shared above, children make up a large part of the Gandini Church. We were touched to hear the story of one of the young boys there who gave 50 shillings (about 50 cents) and said he was so thankful for what has happened.
We recently dedicated PCEA Mithiga Church. The church is located in Laikipia Presbytery, about a four drive from Kikuyu. The area of Mithiga has suffered much from drought conditions over the last three years and is still suffering. There is a lot of hunger in this very arid area. This is one of the reasons we decided to assist them with finishing their church by completing the roof for these folks. Now they have a beautiful church where they can worship. Rev. Paul Wahome, the Past Moderator of Laikipia conducted the service. He is a very mission minded minister. We have done seven churches with him over the years.
This is the end of a very busy year. We completed 36 churches with four that couldn’t be dedicated due to time constraints and will be dedicated in 2018. We appreciate all your support, prayers and help during 2017. We are now returning to the U.S. to celebrate and enjoy the Christmas season with friends and family remembering our Lord and our Savior.
Blessings to all,
Stu and Annie Ross
East Africa Mission Consultants
Read more about PCEA Mabati Church Construction in Kenya HERE.
THE NEED
The Outreach Foundation is seeking $8,000-10,000 for each new church building and $80,000 for school classrooms and equipment.