Jamila had gone to church for 47 years but had never held a Bible.
She’s actually in the minority among residents of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, in that she even attends church. While 80% of Nairobi’s residents identify themselves as Christian, only 12% are engaged in a local church regularly. Sadly, of those who do attend church services, many still may never encounter the gospel. In many churches across this nation, church-goers are more likely to hear about how “Jesus gives business breakthroughs” or how Jesus suddenly opens “financial doors which had been closed” than they are to hear about a gracious Savior who pays the debt of sin for those who place their faith in him. (Sadly, these are actual quotes from promotional flyers from a church in the capital.) The church Jamila attended never bothered to ensure that God’s Word was bringing life to her spirit. Nominalism is rampant.
Then Jamila met Caleb, an FMI-supported disciple-maker, who introduced her to Jesus.
Caleb was distributing Bibles and sharing his own story of how he met the One who forgave his sins, empowers him now for godly living, and buoys him with the assurance of a home in heaven that far surpasses the fancies of this world. She was intrigued by the good news of Christ’s sacrifice on her behalf as she had thought her regular church attendance obtained God’s favor. Caleb was glad to disabuse her of such errors and place a Bible in her language in her hands. In its pages, she encountered for the first time the Savior who accepts any of us just as we are but loves us too much to let us stay that way. Caleb continues to meet with Jamila to disciple her and evangelize around her neighborhood.
The gospel’s appearance in sub-Saharan Africa traces its roots back to the royal treasurer of Ethiopia who was baptized by Philip and brought a fuller knowledge of the Scriptures to the region (Acts 8:26-39); church tradition also indicates that the apostle Matthew preached in Ethiopia following Jesus’ ascension to heaven. Subsequent generations of followers of Jesus Christ spread across eastern Africa, most likely even into the lands that now make up Kenya. In 2023, Caleb and FMI’s other partners in Kenya distributed about 2,250 Bibles in 7 different languages. They also trained about 5,000 of their church members for evangelism and together, the church planters and their disciples, were privileged to lead nearly 18,000 people to place their faith in Christ.
You can have a role in fortifying the ministry of Caleb and other church planters across Kenya — from the slums of Nairobi to the shores of Lake Victoria to the Muslim-majority Somali population living along the frontier border. Your gifts and prayers launch these indigenous missionaries to herald the truth and transformation of the authentic gospel to thousands of people like Jamila.
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