Famine & Ministry in Kenya

January 22, 2009 – 5:23 pm

Paul Weaver, a young missionary ministering with Camp Lukenya and church planting efforts in the Nairobi, Kenya area, shares about the recent famine conditions in Kenya and what Emmanuel Baptist Church (the church with which he and his parents minister) is doing to help alleviate the suffering that area churches are enduring.

Excerpt:

We have done famine relief frequently for churches that my grandfather started between here and Mombasa. In those areas, people have already turned to eating seeds and anything else that is somewhat edible. We started a fund last week at our church to see what we could raise this year. Already, over $800 has come in. We have partnered with some other churches and are going to see how much we can raise.

Entire post.

What an opportunity to minister to bellies in order to minister the gospel of Christ to hearts/minds! It is encouraging to see physical ministry dovetailed so well with gospel ministry in the African setting, particularly as their efforts flow through existing local churches. All ministry must focus on the local church.

Unfortunately many “mercy ministries” that operate in the States and/or globally fail to emphasize the crucial role of the local church in the life of believers. American churches ought to promote this “local church-oriented” philosophy in the church planting efforts they support in Africa and other contexts.