Slums See 200 New Churches in Five Months

Just a few weeks ago I wrote some of our leader-friends in Nairobi about our upcoming time together and said, “I would love to see some church planting movements begin to take place in the slum areas.”  This has been on my heart for some time! The slums of Nairobi are some of the most desperate in the world: street children abusing drugs, crime, sewage and garbage decorating the streets, and people trying to make ends meet taking the most menial jobs available if possible.  I couldn’t imagine a better place to see simple house churches multiplying and meeting both spiritual needs and providing some true empowerment! Little did I know that one of these friends I emailed, who had joined us for training in another part of Kenya last year, has already begun to see an explosion of new churches started in these slum areas since the first of this year! After our meetings today, I sat this friend down and had him outline all of the different areas where new churches had begun and describe them to me.  Most of them involve women, often widows or single mothers who are HIV positive.  With little hope in the natural world, they are finding tremendous strength by joining together in worship and spiritual growth and even reaching out to their own needy neighbors.  Many of them are already giving birth to new churches in their area.  At this moment, at least ten different slum areas have new churches bringing new life to many! I always want to remind you guys who are reading this that this is as much about you who walk with us from home as it is about anyone else!  I am amazed and grateful for what God is doing!