Whole Communities Get Swept Up in Transformation
When the gospel begins to transform individuals, whole communities can get swept up in the change.
Support of this ministry empowers indigenous church planters and have a profound influence beyond the walls of their own congregations. In Kenya, where there are more than 40 tribes, some of which are fierce and brutal rivals to each others, our courageous partners watched the peace of the gospel of Jesus Christ build harmony and restore fractured communities.
Pastor Felix is thrilled to have seen the inter-tribal crime rate drop 93% this year in the months since he implemented a strategic evangelism and discipleship outreach. (READ MORE HERE)Felix, a member of the Luo tribe, lives close to the border of the Kalenjin tribe’s lands. He witnessed firsthand the preponderance of cattle theft, property destruction, and even frequent murders that occur between the rival tribes. Often, the perpetrators were children and youth who were paid by shameless tribal authorities to commit the crimes; the adults exploit the naive and impoverished youth. This prompted visionary Felix to focus on youth initiatives. In addition to his regular church ministry, Felix established a dual-tribe sports team which developed character and fostered healthy relationships among the tribe’s youth. As he gained credibility among the Kalenjin, the tribe welcomed his efforts to launch several Good News Clubs across their villages in which he taught the Bible to children and teens in creative and relevant ways. A few weeks ago, he also trained 70 adults from the two tribes to launch even more Good News Clubs!
Between his church planting ministry and the clubs, Felix has led two dozen people to faith in Jesus Christ so far in 2022. Those whom he has trained for evangelism and discipleship have introduced a further 840 souls to new life in Jesus Christ. Felix reports a pair of teen friends who placed their faith in Christ as fruit of the Good News Clubs recently shared their love of Christ with 10 families in their Kalenjin village and led 7 other teens to place their faith in Jesus Christ. “The light of Christ has broken my boundary of only recognizing tribal ties,” reports one of the adults involved in Felix’s training sessions. “Now I have a responsibility to stand in the gap for lasting peace in our community and propagate love to all, no matter the tribe, language, or skin color.”
Ministry growth, similar to Felix’s is mirrored in FMI’s other countries of partnership too. At the end of 2021, FMI set a goal of launching support for 40 new churches across Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkiye, and Kenya in 2022. That goal has already been surpassed as FMI established support for 55 new churches by the end of the third quarter of the year! The number continues to rise even as we head in to the last few days of the year. By God’s grace, as the fruit of partners like Felix, more than 10,000 people have discovered new life through Jesus Christ so far this year. This number also continues to climb.
FMI’s board of directors recently approved a 2023 budget which leverages the expansion we have seen and prepares for more. To get there from here, we need your help now more than ever. Will you empower these partners to walk through open doors of opportunity to share the gospel and transform whole communities? Support positions our distinctive ministry to meet and exceed our 2023 goals, helping to facilitate, mobilize, and inspire nearly 90 indigenous church workers. Partnership encourages and empowers church planters and disciple-makers in so many places to explore what’s on the other side of doors that the Lord opens for them.
