Childlike faith!

One of my great joys of being in Kenya is witnessing some of the up and coming ministers of the gospel. I believe my brother Chris (pictured below) is one of the most gifted ministers of the gospel I have met in Kenya. I met him at the church I attend and learned about his ministry. He’s only twenty five but God’s using him quite a bit to reach children in Kenya. The ministry he’s a part of is hoping to share the gospel with 5,000 kids this year. He often partners with churches and schools in order to get the Word out. The pictures below show his group of ministers witnessing to youth in Kibera. I hope you are blessed!

The real emoticons!

There's some things that don't change cross-culturally, I am thinking women not wanting their pictures taken....ah is one of those things. I call this picture the 'evil eye'!

These are African Zacchaeus' ...i'm not sure what that makes me.

This is Damarias showing off her grill, i just found out her name is in the Bible (Acts 17:34)...crazy i thought i was a Bible student!

My teammate Andrew (A.K.A. Adu) with the basketball trophy we won. Don't worry he's actually joyful kid.

Who we are!

Nelly Kiberenge
Testimony: Nelly was taken to church every Sunday by her parents. In 2005 she felt her religious life was missing something. The God she claimed to follow seemed distant and not personal. She decided to join Calvary Chapel Bible college in Nairobi where she seen fell in love with her Savior. She soon found out that salvation, the greatest gift God had given her, was not based on her works, but on His grace.

Personal: Nelly is 28 years old and from the Luo tribe in Western Kenya. In Bible school Nelly was the only women. She believes because of cultural reasons it’s often difficult for Kenyan women to understand their identity in the body of Christ. This conviction has given her a greater desire to mentor and disciple women in the Christian faith.

Benidictor Emoli Amai
Testimony: Benidict grew up as a Christian, at least by name. It wasn’t until 1998 that Benedict began to understand the meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He describes himself today as still soaking up the Word and in need of His savior’s grace.

Personal: Benedict is 30 years old and from the Luo tribe and grew up in Western Kenya. He is married to Melcint and has a one son named Joshua. When Benedict first came to Christ he believed he was being called as a foreign missionary, but he soon realized he must first start in “Jerusalem” his own country, specifically along the coast, where few of his fellow countrymen were sharing the gospel.

Melcint Emol Awai
Testimony: Melcint was raised in a Roman Catholic family. It wasn’t until she was in a Christian Bible study that she finally understood that salvation was sole through Jesus Christ. The same year she found salvation through Christ (2003) she also met her husband Benidictor.

Personal: Melcint has been married to Benedict for nearly four years and has a three year old son Joshua. She is also from the Luo tribe in Western Kenya. As she has spent time in Mombasa she realizes there are great opportunities to reach women for Christ.

Aaron Michael Strohbach
Testimony: Aaron was brought up by Christian parents. It wasn’t until Aaron was sixteen that he started seriously reading the Word of God. At sixteen years of age Aaron remembers reading Philippians chapter 2 where Paul talks about Christ humbling himself and ultimately dying for him.

Personal: Aaron is 24 years old and claims to be from the tribe of Levi (the priestly tribe, lol). He desires to share Christ with “the religiously passionate but confused.” He believes there are numerous people who are ready to be brought into right worship before YHWH, but do not understand what true worship entails.

Bernard Ngatia Maina
Testimony: Bernard was brought up in a Christian family. He originally believed his parents salvation automatically meant he was saved. However in 1995 he realized salvation wasn’t something someone inherited so he decided he wanted to make a personal decision to follow Christ. He believes God is a might God renewing, providing, and sanctifying him every day.

Personal: Bernard is 27 years old Kikuyu hailing from the central province of Kenya. He sees a need in Kenya for Christians to preach Word and not the “prosperity gospel,” which is so prevalent in Kenya. He has a passion to teach and train children the Word of God. He also claims to be “single and ready to mingle.”

Kenyan Basketball!

One of the ministries the Lord has brought into my life is playing on a local basketball team. It has been an answer to prayer and blessing to be involved with a group of guys off campus and my own age. The majority of the players are Christians; however two of the team members claim to be atheist while two are Muslims. I have had some good conversations with the Muslims and atheists. It's uncommon for Kenyans to be atheist, Africans are usually known as very religious, I believe the "atheist movement" in Kenya is sadly a sign of western influence. Please pray for Ramadan, Kevin, and Humphrey when you get a chance. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Signs of the times!

Apparently accenture is finding their Tiger Woods adds very relevant these days in the London airport.

Apparently someone suffocated on one of these waste bags I found on the plan.

People in London must have different meaning for "polite," or maybe Americans just aren't as polite.

Christ became poor! Reading for Advent

As I ponder this Christmas season I can’t help but reflect the beauty and mystery of the incarnation of Christ. This advent season I have been reading “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”, a compilation of twenty two writings by church fathers and modern theologians. I was surprised to find J.I. Packer’s writing similar to the thoughts I was having during this special season. I believe Packer states the splendor of Christ quite well.

“The Word became flesh”; God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises. Needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this; the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the incarnation.

The key text in the NT for interpreting the incarnation is not, therefore, the bare statement in John 1:14, but rather the more comprehensive statement of 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Packer unloads the verse nicely;

Here is stated, not the fact of the incarnation only, but also its meaning; the taking of manhood by the Son is set before us in a way that shows us how we should set it before ourselves and ever view it—not simply as a marvel of nature, but rather as a wonder of grace. For the Son of God to empty himself and become poor meant to laying aside of glory; a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice, and misunderstanding; finally, a death that involved such agony—spiritual, even more than physical—that his mind nearly broke under the prospect of it. It mean love to the uttermost for unlovely men, who “through his poverty, might become rich.” This Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity – hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory – because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.

Personally, I believe the reality of Christ becoming poor carries more significant for me today than a year ago. Living in Kenya the last three months has allowed me to understand and engage poverty on a different level. I believe poverty is the greatest disease known to man. I will not talk about the depths of poverty because poverty, or at least the affects of poverty, is among all of us (Romans 3:23). But I would like to talk about what is important, Christ becoming poor.

I believe the implications of Christ becoming poor are staggering. Growing up I have heard of the “Christmas spirit”; however I rarely associated it with more than a sentimental jollity on a family basis. But if we understand Christ’s poverty he makes it clear that the phrase should carry tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all year round. The Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor—spending and being spent—to enrich their fellow men, giving time, trouble care, and concern, to do good to others—and not just their own friends—in whatever way there seems need.

There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit. “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich.” “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. (Ps. 119:32).

My prayer this Christmas season is to know, on a deeper level, what it means that our Savior became poor.

Church plant opportunity!

I am excited to share about an opportunity the Lord has given me.

Towards the middle of October I decided to visit Calvary Chapel Nairobi. I have attended Calvary Chapels in the States, so I wanted see what the African context had to offer. To my surprise the service was similar to most Calvary Chapels I had previously attended. The main difference was the length of the service. After three and half hours the service was finally over. Customary to most African services tea and fellowship followed the benediction. After the service I was tired and exhausted; however I decided to stay around for some chi. As I continued to fellowship and sip my chi I met a brother named Benedict (pictured with his family).

Benedict is the only Kenyan fulltime staff member at Calvary Chapel Nairobi. He’s served at CCN since the church’s beginning, nearly five years ago. As we continued to talk I soon discovered we shared a similar interest; to take the gospel to Muslims. Benedict shared how he desires to plant a church amongst the least reach Muslims in Kenya.

I must say it’s extremely rare for a Kenyan to have a passion to reach Muslims for Christ. The three months I have lived in Kenya I have met few Christians who desiring to minister amongst Muslims. I do not believe the issue is directly related to Islam but rather a fundamental misunderstanding of the grand narrative of God, or their understanding of missions and evangelism. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of Kenyans who wish to be pastors. However I have observed a disconnect between what it means to be a pastor compared to a minister of the gospel. The majority of Christians want to be given the title of pastor, but few exhibit the need to perform ministry, at least the breadth of ministry found in the gospel. I believe the biblical requirements of the pastorate have been overlooked in light of the title of the position. The result entails pastors ‘ministering’ in Nairobi who never recognize or address the <1million people in dire poverty; and for this context never recognize the people in their own country who have never heard the gospel. It’s a reality check for all of us. We call ourselves pastors or Christians but who is defining our title?

However I am thankful for Benedict because he is a brother not consumed by a title, but rather concerned for a lost and dying world. Since our original meeting, Benedict and I have met several times and discussed how God might use our similar passions. We have decided to move forward and pursue a church plant along the coast of Kenya. Benedict will be traveling to Mombasa on the 16 of December to gain a better understanding of where and how we might start. He will be connecting and strategizing with local Christain leaders in order to understand where the greatest need might be. Please pray for him as he is in Mombasa from the 16-27 of December. While he’s away in Mombasa I will be working here in the States on some ethnographic research (or should I say researching people groups online). Eventually we hope to develop a strategic plan of how we envision the church plant.

I am excited for what God is doing, I hope you are too. In the coming months I’ll be working more behind the scenes, mainly because I‘ll be in Nairobi busy with school. However where I am studying presents great opportunities for researching and preparing for a church plant along the coast. In fact, two of the professors at NEGST did their PhD’s among Muslim people groups along the coast.

I would also like to ask you to join me in ministry by praying for the church plant. We are looking for more people to physically join the church planting effort. We want to find like ‘minded people’ (preferably Kenyans) who share our desire to see Muslims come to Christ. You can also be praying for Benedict’s financial situation. Traveling to and from Mombasa can be expensive, may God’s blessings rest upon his service. Thank you for the prayers you are going to offer, they are truly needed and felt.

In His Grip,

Aaron

Fifa South Africa here we come!

I wanted to share some photos of the 2009 NFTC Football Champions! Yes, that's right, after a 25 + year drought NEGST has brought home the championship. Every year all the Christian colleges and seminaries form teams to play in the NFTC soccer competition. In the past NEGST has claimed to spend more time in the library than the soccer field; however this year has changed their identity ha-ha. No longer does NEGST only promote Christain academic excellence in the African classroom, but also on the soccer field.

I can't do justice in explaining the excitement the players shared after the game. After we brought the trophy back to campus we celebrated by marching around the campus shouting various soccer chants. Growing up in a country where soccer is not that big a deal I found the entire day quite humerous. The day really busted the spirits of people on campus; I thank God for the joy that it brought.

The Joys of Finals Week!

Hello Friend,

Sorry it’s been a while since I have written. I have thought about writing a few times, but for whatever reason I have not. The lack of writing is not because I haven’t been experiencing new things; in fact just the opposite. There’s so much going on I’m not sure where to begin. I’ll just use this entry to inform you about the interesting dynamics of finals week at an African school.

Currently it’s the second to last week of the term, which means most of the students are in panic mode. However, compared to the majority of the students, I have little to worry about. My greatest fear is over booking myself as an “English tutor.” Native English speakers here are a hot commodity. I’m probably asked to proof read (dare I say write) two papers every day. I guess if I was at another school my help would be classified as a job, here I look at it as a ministry. I see helping my fellow classmates as advancing Christian education and ultimately the gospel across the world. It’s exciting to think about where my classmates will be and have already taken the gospel. Let me briefly tell you about two of my friends serving the Lord.

Anson A. Titus (picture) comes from South East India (Kerala). His father pastors a small church in one of the poorest parts of South East India. Before Anson arrived in Nairobi he had never left Kerala. The longest he had been away from his home was two days. He’s now been in Nairobi for three months. He’s the only Indian student on campus, so as you can imagine life is not always easy for him. He’s hoping to receive his MDiv in theology before he returns India to do ministry. His current plan after school is to do children’s ministry in Orissa, one of the neediest places in India. Please pray for Anson as English is his third language. He’s also not sure where the finances will come from the duration of his stay.

The other friend I wanted to mention is Joshua Lasattu (picture) from Tanzania. Joshua, like many students at NEGST, has to leave his wife of two years and baby daughter at home in order to attend school. The financial cost is just too high to bring his family along. Once Joshua is done with school he’ll be going home to be with his family and continue in ministry. Joshua is in his late thirties and has plenty of ministry experience. He’s looking at doing ministry in one of poorest parts of Northwest Tanzania. He’ll most likely be engaging Muslims, as 50% of the Tanzanian population is Muslim. This term has been difficult for him as he’s been fighting malaria on and off. Lift him up in prayer too as I know he misses his family a lot.

That’s all I have time to share, I hope you are doing well.

Aaron

Ministry Update

Hello Friends,
I was able to visit two ministries last weekend just south of Nairobi. Just click the play button and you'll get some pictures and commentary. I'm doing well; school is starting to pick up as I head towards the final stretch (only about a month left). I am growing a lot inside and outside the classroom. If you have the time you can lift me up in prayer. Last weekend I was sick, so please continue to pray for my health. You can also pray for two brothers I have been ministering to. Humphrey is an atheist with a lot of doubts, the other one is a Muslim called Ramadan. Thank you friends, I look forward to catching up. Aaron