Lucky, Patrick, Erica, Aisha and Laura
In the Nairobi communities of Eastleigh, Pangani, Haruma, KyaMichael, and Kariobangi, Canadian Baptist Ministries has several initiatives that are strengthening the lives of displaced Muslim groups who have come to the city to find a better life.
We are so thankful to our colleagues Laura, Patrick, Aisha, Lucky, Andrew and Alamu who make up the CBM urban outreach teach. Together they are leading adult literacy classes, self help group programs, livelihood training and children’s education scholarships. Recently, the self help group program has been distributing ceramic water filters and training households on the importance of clean drinking water. We are very appreciative of the generous contributions through the annual CBM Gift Catalogue that have provided hundreds of families with clean drinking water in the urban slums of Nairobi.
Urban ministry is about connecting with people and their stories. It is about drawing people into community where they discover identity and meaning. Over the past eight years, we have been continually blessed by the incredible people that we have had the joy of serving in urban centres like Nairobi, Kigali, Goma, Juba, Mombasa, Garissa, Thika and Machakos. These are important hubs of their societies. Places where people of diverse backgrounds gather. Places where the hope of God in Christ transforms lives.
In an urban context we work with a multiplicity of cultures, religious backgrounds, economic status, and world views. But what we bring into it is the beautiful message of grace and acceptance. We believe that if God’s love is for anybody anywhere, then it is for everybody everywhere!
Please pray for the CBM urban team in Nairobi. Everyday we face complex and overwhelming problems of poverty, injustice, and violence. Our team asks for wisdom and discernment as we seek to make the best use of our limited resources for the good of the people we serve. Please pray for the safety of our team and the communities that we serve as crime, terrorism and ethnic violence are major vulnerabilities.
We thank God that we are not on this journey alone. That each and every day we know that God is with us and that God loves the people of Nairobi far more deeply and profoundly than we could ever imagine.
"Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity.
It is an act of justice” — Nelson Mandela
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