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 Please Pray for APF trip to Kenya: Dec 2003 - Jan 2004
 5th December: Archbishop of Kenya
6th December: Rwanda / Burundi refugees in Kenya
8-13 December: 50 Maasi pastors & Wives at Oloisonkoyo from Africa Inland Church, Redeemed Gospel Church, Kenya Pentecostal Church and Pentecostal Assemblies.
15-19th December: Pastors and wives of Anglican Diocese of Nyahururu
20th Dec - 7th January: Holiday including Mobassa
8th-13th January: Pentecostal Fellowship Church, Rongo
14th January: Cross border at Busia by Road to Uganda.
News of itinerary for Uganda to follow!
Strike!
Weve had quite a few of them over recent months havent we?! What with baggage handlers at Heathrow, firemen, postal workers and quite a few others balloting and talking about the possibility of industrial action. Its not just in UK either as we hear of lorry drivers striking in France and even the morning this is being written lawyers have gone on strike in Greece. It is not restricted to the Over-developed world either.
In Burundi recently the judges went on strike and in Kenya, at this moment university lecturers are on strike. When I did my first teaching practice in Maseno school, Kenya in 1966, the teachers were on strike and in 1968 the students at Homa Bay Secondary School went out on strike. It is a fairly well used tool for people to complain about conditions of work or study and usually at the bottom of it all is a desire for more money and better working conditions.
What about the clergy in East Africa then? Most of them receive no salary or stipend at all and those who get something can, by no means, live just on that. They live in tied houses and when they come to retire, frequently have nowhere to go.Having had so little income whilst working they have not paid into any pension schemes and few, if any, churches have one set up. Support for the work they are expected to do is less than minimal in terms of technical support such as literature and transport and opportunities to develop themselves and their ministries are very few and far between.
Why dont we hear of clergy strikes in East Africa? It is probably best summed up by a young man training to be a pastor in Burundi who, when faced up with the difficulties lying ahead responded ‘What else can we do? GOD HAS CALLED US’
These are our brothers and sisters in Gods family and it may be a little more beneficial to the whole family if we can begin to look outwards and, instead of seeing what we can do to improve our already happy lot (relatively speaking), if we could begin to say
What can we do?
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We cannot provide stipends or salaries
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Nor should we. Even if we tried to start it would be a bottomless pit. This is not the role of over-developed Christians from the West. In the long run, and even in the short term it just leads to dependency on donors rather than on God.
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Our role is to try and find ways to help pastors, and their families, including their widows, to help themselves.
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When a pastor has no other source of income he has to return to working in the fields to help provide the food needed for his family. This takes him away from the work God has called him to do. Frequently the plea is What else can I do?
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One very positive way is to help the pastor wife develop a small income generating scheme, releasing the pastor for the ministry for which he has been called.
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It is very important that we do not give too many suggestions but find ways to encourage the ideas the wives already have. Providing help for these schemes is much more likely to succeed.
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So that we do not raise unreasonable hopes, this is an area where we are moving slowly but surely. A wide range of projects continue to be suggested to us for initial funding and are being investigated. These include tailoring, buying and selling crops, water selling, health posts, tea kiosks, chickens for meat or eggs, drying fruit for sale, providing school meals and many other things.
Not all projects are viable and often major alterations have to be made before they can be got underway. There must always be a good chance of success or the resultant despondency negates any good work attempted. It is also important that the project does not take the wife away from the home too much.
Here are the details of one pastors widows project. She wrote to us from Kenya with a suggestion and request for help. She has already started and wants help to make the project successful.
When Dorcas first wrote to us her husband, a pastor in the Africa Inland Church had died leaving her with 4 teenage children. To help bring these children up and to serve the Lord at the same time she had started a
Rural Schools Assistance Programme
She described her project in this way -
OBJECTIVES
The basic objective is to introduce hot lunch programmes in rural schools especially for long distances pupils who cannot travel back home for lunch
GOAL
The goal is to generate income to sustain project initiator and later on promote the work of God.
Other objectives include:-
1. Eliminate suffering amongst children during school hours
2. Use the program to access children for counseling purposes
3. Support the orphaned children that I have.
SUSTAINABILITY
When started the profits incurred will be used for the house hold needs and the expansion of the program. Because God has called for his work I long to start this ministry because I am a trained Christian education worker and counselor. This will give me the priority to talk to the children as I serve them with meals.
Since then there have been many e-mails discussing budgets, work plans and so on.
Since then there have been many e-mails discussing budgets, work plans and so on. The current situation is that Dorcas feeds 80 children each day and charges them 15p per meal. Without this they would have no food all day. She employs 3 people and works herself and gets a profit of 1.50 per school day. Her request is for a grant which will help her buy bulk food supplies while the price is low (Now) to increase her efficiency.
£35 would provide enough maize to keep her supplied for the 2 terms while the prices are high. Another 30 would buy and store 1 sack of beans (she needs 6 sacks).
This is one pastors widow who can be helped in this way. There is much that wecan do to help, Dorcas, and the very many pastors wives, who want to help themselves and their families. Pastors who know that their families are being well provided for are able to concentrate on their service for the Lord much more effectively.
There are many pitfalls on the way, so please pray for pastors wives and for Jane as she seeks to positively help and encourage them.
Thanks for praying
From comments we have received from a number of folk, it is clear that many people were praying for the Durham East Africa Focus Day and so we thought we should say Thank you and let you know a little of what went on.
Groups involved
African Pastors Fellowship - Pastor Etienne (FECABU) Burundi; Ralph and Jane Hanger
CMS - Rev Paul Korir Diocese of Eldoret, Kenya; Karen Graham
Kilimatinde Trust (Tanzania)- Rev Ernest Ndahane (Kilimatinde)
Zambezi Mission (Malawi) - Jim and Jean Hasnip
Programme
One session each was given
over to thinking of
- Tanzania (Kilimatinde)
- Kenya/Uganda (CMS)
- Malawi (Zambezi)
- Great Lakes (APF)
Methodology
Each participant and group was free to use whatever technique they chose. These included powerpoint, Overhead projection, 35mm slides, group discussions, straight talking and prayer.
See elsewhere in this edition for some of the content.
Responses
- fellowship was good and times of prayer very valuable.
- good to have spread of mission interest in East Africa.
- involvement of East African nationals, excellent.
- speakers and presentations were clear and helpful in content.
- possible overload of information, especially for newcomers.
So - Thank you for your prayer. We have learned a lot of lessons, which we hope to
put into practice in the future. Watch this space!
Please pray for Derek and Jill Blundell and family. Most readers of this News and Prayer will know that it was Derek and Jill, who, whilst on Sabbatical in Uganda in the early 1970s saw the conditions that African pastors were serving the Lord under and felt that something could be done to improve them. This led to the formation of the African Pastors Fund, which became the African Pastors Fellowship, which they both served faithfully until retitrement in 1998.
In mid- November Derek was taken into Walsgrave Hospital for investigation of persistent pains. These have been diagnosed as being caused by cancer of the pancreas with possible liver complications. Please support Derek and Jill in your prayers. Ring the APF office for more up to date news.
Kenya
At the Durham East Africa Focus Day, Rev Paul Korir, who visiting UK to help the Sunderland Committee of One World Week produce a programme for asylum seekers, gave us a word picture of Kenya and of the work of the Anglican Diocese of Eldoret..
He pointed out that Kenya was home to people from diverse ethnic groups. There were 4 main groupings, (Coastal Waswahili, Bantu, Nilo-Hamites and Himites) with over 42 tribes apart from whites and Indians. According to the 1999 census the population was 30 million people. Missionaries from Europe started to evangelise in Kenya in the mid 19th century and the Church has continued to grow since then.
Since gaining Independence in 1963 and becoming a Republic in 1964, Kenya has enjoyed relative peace and stability, which has led it to become a haven for more than 300,000 refugees from many countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Somalia, DR Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia. In Eldoret Diocese there are 70,598 refugees in one camp.
The introduction of multiparty democracy in the early 1990s divided the people into tribal groupings which resulted in tens of hundreds of people being killed, property destroyed, thousands being internally displaced, bitterness and deep hatred. This was a challenge to the Church. Eldoret was one of the areas most affected by these clashes.
The Anglican Diocese of Eldoret was started in 1983, being carved out of the Diocese of Nakuru, and in 1997, the Diocese of Kitale was carved out of the west of the Diocese leaving the current Diocese.. There are 4 Archdeaconries with some 11 deaconries. The Bishop is Rt Rev. Thomas Kogo.
Paul emphasised that the Diocese has always aimed at church planting, through mission and evangelism, improving peoples health through curative, promotive and preventive services, formal and informal education, training in sustainable agriculture, animal husbandry and entrepreneurship. The work of the Dioceses CCS (Christian Community Services) in many areas was highlighted, as was the Dioceses determination toempower women. In the middle of this Paul said that the Church was rich spiritually.
The Church is also active in grassroots peace building and development initiatives. (The former Archbishop of Kenya, Rt Rev David Gitari was at the heart of much of the Constitutional reform which is gradually coming to fruition in the country. In spite of all this activity, pastors often did not receive their salary. Paul said that he had received his April salary in September.
All of this background should lead us to pray for the Bishop and clergy of Eldoret Diocese as they seek to fulfil a varied and full ministry for the Lord amongst the people of Western Kenya.
Burundi
It was good to have Pastor Etienne, general Superintendent of FECABU with us at the Durham Focus Day. FECABU is one of the major Pentecostal groupings in Burundi and he was able to share much of the situation in Burundi with us.
Have you heard what is going on in Burundi at the moment from the news? Probably not because there is hope and good news around. No,difficulties are not all sorted out and there are still problems, but for once it seems as though things are going in the right direction. We do need to pray that the negotiations which are nearing completion will actually produce peace this time.
The largest of the Hutu rebel groups FDD, has at last entered negotiations with the Transitional Government and plans have been agreed to bring them into the Government, the army and the police force, enabling the prospect of peace after more than 10 years. Do pray for successful implementation of this. Since agreements were signed at the end of October, FDD and army interaction has not been so violent and civilians in most places are getting on with life better.
Around the capital, Bujumbura, a smaller rebel group is still intent on causing death and mayhem. Most of the recent fighting has either been between the army and these FNL rebels or between the FNL and FDD groups. Everyone is jockeying for power in the new Burundi. Pray that the right people will get positions of influence to lead the country in the right direction. Pray for church leaders of all groups as they seek to advise and even get involved. Pray for pastors as they seek to help folk settle back into a normal pattern of life. There are still tens of thousands of Internally Displaced People, not yet back in their homes as well as thousands of Burundi refugees in Tanzania, DR Congo, Rwanda and other places. Think how you would feel in these circumstances and then pray for each one of these folk, that God would speak with them and lead them in His way. The return of refugees is a major problem and needs much prayer. In Tanzania there are a number of refugee camps full of Burundians. Whilst we were in Kibondo Tanzania in September we were alerted to the need for Bibles for pastors and others and left money with Bishop Sadock for this purpose. His e-mail this month said :
“I managed to get enough Kirundi hymnbooks for the money you left. But since we have 5 parishes in the Refugee camps, the books were not enough. They still need more Kirundi Bibles. I got them in Kigoma. There are many hymn books and Bibles both written in the Kirundi.”
Bikes for Gitega
During November we have also been able to send money to the Anglican Diocese of Gitega to help purchase a further 22 bicycles for pastors, whom the Bishop feels are in great need of them. Continue to pray for Gitega. It is one of the towns which has been most affected by rebel activity.
A Request for help
Whilst this News and Prayer is being written, a letter has been received from Burundi, containing a number of requests. It is from a group we have never heard of before and so there is quite a bit of research needed before we can promise any help. Nonetheless it gives something of a feel for life in Burundi today. I enclose an extract from the letter.
THE BROTHERHOOD AND SISTERHOOD
CHARISMATIC CHURCH OF BURUNDI
I have got your address from a friend we studied together at ALL NATIONS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, fourteen years ago.
Our 25 pastors and 35 catechists are poverty stricken people in rural areas serving without any salary whatsoever. They just obey Christ and serve His people. They climb mountains and valleys day and night with very long distance on foot.
So my application for grant would be as follows:
1. Bicycles (priority)
2. In service training
3. Children’s story books for Sunday schools
4. Second hand suits, clerical shirts or anything that can help.
5. Another crucial need is school fees for children. Our country is at ethnic war since 1993 and so many people have become internal displaced persons while others fled the country and rely on hand-outs by NGOs and Christian chairities.
Pastors like any other rural peasants sed to get some little money form produces from their ancestral land and this was done by wives and some grown children. The sale could help the little school goers in terms of uniforms, books and school fees. This is no longer the case because homes have been taken over by rebels or become a fighting field hence children can no longer go to school and the popeulation is internally displaced. Therefore, please pray and help if you can. We shall be very grateful
Yours in His service
Did we mention that Simon Guillebaud, of SU Burundi, got married in August and that he and Liz are spending this year studying at All Nations? Continue to pray for them both.
Uganda
The problem the North and East of Uganda caused by the so-called Lords resistance Army have continued although attacks have come in spurts rather than in an organised fashion recently.
The effect has however been very much felt as the following extract from a letter to Reg Hughes, one of APFs Trustees, from a Baptist pastor known to APF relates.
Dear Reg and Christine
My family greets you in Jesus name.
We want to thank you all for your prayers that the Lord has kept us safe from the LRA In-cursion, Several killings have taken place since June this year and we have now missed the following church leaders.
Pastor Esaigu Michael killed on 12 th September 2003
Pastor EnyaguRobert killed on 29 th October 2003
Deacon Emagu Joseph killed on 23 rd October 2003
All the above Church Leaders were students in Orungo Bible School. We ask you to pray with us that the Lord may comfort this families which had been left helpless. Orungo now has a camp of 35,152 people living conditions of the people is very bad as we are faced by food shortage, poor hygiene and outbreaks of diseases has also caused the death of many people.
I have tried to write to my friends in F but they have not sent their letter to me. Orungo people would love to read letters written by the brothers and sisters in (UK) themselves. My children are NOT in good health as you know the condition in the camp [in Soroti abut 47 miles South of Orungo]. I am praying that the malnutrition could not affect them in the Soroti camp.
My next writing to you will include photographs of Orungo Camp.
Our hearts are always comforted by your prayers
From your brother Ebulu Johnson.
Bishop Francis Atwau of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God in Soroti, with whom we had a training course for pastors and wives earlier this year. Wrote the following to us.
Dear Ralph Hanger,
Christian greetings in Jesus' Name. Thanks for all your services for Christ. You could have got my e-mail that I sent informing you about the situation in Soroti. Kony rebels from the North came down to Soroti. They killed people, burnt houses and abducted children. People from Katakwi and part of Soroti district are now living in camps in Soroti town. We have now over 119,000 displaced people in Soroti town. The major problem is food and treatment. We also try our best to help to maintain their spiritual life but the problem is that most of them lost their Bibles as they ran away from rebels. Our Church workers and Christians have no Bibles. So pray for us that God may meet this need. .
Rev. Francis Atwau.
The following is an excerpt from The East African a secular weekly paper, earlier in the year. It clearly points to the spiritual battle involved, in which we can all engage through prayer.
The war against the rebels of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), in Northern Uganda has taken a spiritual turn with the government engaging born-again Christians to reassure its troops that they have a superior force backing them against rebel leader Joseph Konys voodoo practices.
Military sources said morale among soldiers had flagged because of a wide spread belief that Kony was using unassailable magical powers to elude defeat in the 15 year war. It was said that Kony often visited a spring at Awili in North Gulu to offer sacrifices to the spirits.
Kony got to know about the mission of the born-again Christians and trembled since he realised that his spirits were now being destroyed by Gods people, siad Lt Ankunda, himself not a born-again Christian but a believer.
It is reportedly a common belief among soldiers fighting the LRA that Kony, a former RC altar boy, has survived this long because he has spiritual powers which have shielded him from the firepower of the UPDF (Army)
Sources said that some Uganda army commanders were awestruck when the army of born-again Christians, armed only with Bibles went into areas where many soldiers dared not venture..
The Christians were given heavy escorts and visited several places that have been no-go areas for the UPDF as they were thought to harbour rebel spirits. The pastors went and prayed at this place for several hours after which they said the soldiers were free to use the water. The pastors themselves had to drink the water to prove that it was safe, said the source. Some of the soldiers thought that the pastors would die immediately upon drinking the water, but when they did not, many of them said they believed in the power of God, said a source among the team of pastors who went to Gulu.
Western politicians and media have been slow in catching up with the tragedy attacking so many in Uganda. Gradually they are waking up to these horrors. If you would like to encourage your MP, or other influential friends you may have, to get something done about this horrific situation where children are being abducted and forced to become killing machines rather than be killed themselves, we suggest you contact Roger and Margaret Stevens at the Teso Development Trust, who can give you up to date information and details. Their e-mail is roger@stevenspain.fsnet.co.uk and their address
-25, Ravensthorpe Drive, Loughborough LE11 4PU.
Most important of all let us be praying for a swift conclusion to this problem for the rehabilitation of the children who have been caught up in this affair, who now no nothing but violence by which to live their lives.
Next APF trip
APF visits to Kenya have taken a different complexion during this year, as the Hangers eldest daughter, Ruth, is now living with her husband and son in Nairobi. Stuart is a pilot with MAF (Missian Aviation Fellowship). As a result, in the middle of this next trip, which starts on 3rd December, Ralph and Jane will be taking a three week holiday over Christmas in Nairobi. This means they will be out of the office for quite a long time, so please pray for Dave Gorman as he not only holds the fort but keeps things moving.
Before that Christmas holiday, Ralph and Jane will be working with three different groups of pastors in different parts of Kenya. During the week 8 - 13 Dec. They will be working with.50 Maasai pastors and their wives at Oloisonkoyo Church on the borders of Narok and Nakuru Districts. These pastors will be from:
Africa Inland Church
Redeemed Gospel Church
Kenya Assemblies of God
Pentecostal Assemblies of God.
This will be with David Kereto of the
Maasai Evangelistic Band, with whom we worked in 2001.
Over the weekend 13/14 December they will be with pastors of the Nakuru Pastors Fellowship. The key contact here is Bishop Meshak Maina of the Faith Victory Centre
From 15 - 19 December they will be with clergy and wives of the Anglican Diocese of Nyahururu Here the Bishop is Rt Rev Charles Gaita After that Christmas break, Ralph and Jane will be with pastors and wives of the Pentecostal fellowship Church at Rongo in South Nyanza from 8- 13th January with Pastor John Omallo. From Rongo we aim to travel by road, through the border at Busia into Uganda on 14th Jan. In this S E corner of Uganda, Jane is involved, partly through APF and partly through BMS in a sustainable agricultural project in which a number of pastors are participating. Two or three days will be spent here, where we will be joined by Matt Peak, a Youth Volunteer, from Queens Road Baptist Church, Coventry, who will be spending some of the next three weeks with us and some with the Baptist Union of Uganda Youth worker learning a bit about Uganda!
The first week in February 2 - 6 we will be working with the new Anglican Bishop of North Kigezi, Rt Rev Edward Muhima, running a course for his clergy and wives. In between times we shall be involved with courses for Baptist pastors through the Baptist Union of Uganda and the Proclamation Task, although details are not yet clear.! Alongside all this, there is a lot of work to be done concerning the distribution of the Safari books and posters and the Swahili commentaries. Please pray with us.
Patrick Ferguson
We are sorry to have to let you know that Patrick Ferguson, a very staunch supporter and activist of APF, from Formby, Merseyside died after a short illness in October this year. Patrick was a keen cyclist and used this interest to help pastors in East Africa as he raised awareness, financial and prayer support for those in need. We are grateful that the thanksgiving offering at his funeral was shared between MAF and APF. Thank you to all involved. Patrick was fully committed to His Lord and his involvement with APF will be sorely missed. Our prayers are with Sarah, Heather and Derek and their families.
During the year we have heard of a number of other friends of APF who have moved on to their reward in glory. We are thrilled for them, but our condolences go to those who are left behind for a while. Thank you to all who have kept us informed of these events. Every now and then we get News and Prayer returned to us with a comment that the intended recipient had died several years ago. We do apologise to those who are upset by this. We can only act on information given to us.
APF events in 2004
These are gradually being pieced together. A number of week-ends are already booked in the Spring and early summer with Day conferences, invitations to preach and displays at Assemblies of different kinds.
The SW Day conference is booked for Sat 25th April at St Chads Patchway. We are planning Day conferences for the NW, South and East again although dates are not yet fixed. Details will be coming with the next News and Prayer. If you would like to have an APF presentation at your church or fellowship group or house group, please contact us as soon as possible to fill in some of the gaps.
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