Women at the Well

Sisters within the Africa Brotherhood Church

gathering near a water catchment at the

Eastern Kenya Integrated College (EKIC)

Mitaboni, Kenya

This past week, Aaron was away for doctoral studies with Carey Theological College as part of a joint partnership with Canadian Baptist Ministries. This has been a great opportunity to study with, and strengthen relationships among, the leadership from each of our African partner churches. It has been a rich time of reflection and examination of the ministry that our family has been a part of in Africa over the past years, since coming to Kenya in 2006.

Some of the Somali Women in the Noor Self Help Group

glazing ceramic beads for their jewelry business

Empowering women is a major thrust of CBM's ministry in Kenya. Whether through theological education, or through grassroots leadership development in projects like the Guardians of Hope and Muslim Ministry Self Help Groups, we are committed to help communities recognize the importance and value of women in society.

In the life and ministry of Jesus, we find a demonstration of God's love and esteem for women. In a culture and time where women were often viewed as little more than property, we see Jesus approaching and speaking grace into the lives women. We are reminded of the scene in the fourth chapter of John's Gospel, where he encountered a solitary Samaritan woman at a well. As it was the heat of the day and most people had sought shade, this woman (possibly in her shame) had come. Jesus asks her to draw him water to drink and enters into one of the most revealing conversations in the New Testament. It is remarkable to read how Jesus sees this woman and treats her with dignity and love. Jesus sees, he listens and he speaks into her life giving her a new identity and hope.

Isn't this an image of the Gospel, that the Church must be about bringing a new reality into existence through courageous and subversive acts of inclusion, healing and a grander vision for life in relationship with God and others. We pray that this might be your experience of the Kingdom of God. That the Spirit of God might draw all of us into conversations that bring liberation, forgiveness and wholeness into the lives of others!

In Prayer

* Please remember our friend and colleague, Henry Mwangi, director of development for the African Christian Church & Schools. Henry is grieving the death of his mother who past away on Friday evening after a difficult battle with lung cancer.

* Please pray for our friends and team mates Tim, Diane & Caleb Bannister, who are preparing for their new field assignment in Liberia, West Africa. This will be a major change for the Bannisters who have raised all four of their children in Kenya during their ministry with Africa Inland Mission and with CBM. We especially remember Diane as she completes her masters studies in public health through the University of Uganda.

* We also pray for our Laura Muema, Aisha Hussein and Patrick Ndogu as they work together in strengthen the Muslim Women's Self Help Group program in Nairobi. We thank God for the progress that we have witnessed in these groups as women support each other in bettering the lives of their families. We are thankful for the new kiln that the Noor SHG is now using and for the opportunity the group has to encourage other groups by their example and leadership.