Building Bridges

CBM  Ministry  with  Muslims 

Project Officer’s Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya

William, Josephine, Erica, Aaron, Laura, Geoffery, and Yattani

We had the joy of gathering this week with the key leaders in Canadian Baptist Ministries’ integral mission program in the Muslim majority communities of Kenya’s North Eastern Province and Eastern Nairobi. Together our team members are working to build bridges of healing, trust, and cooperation among Christians and Muslims. 

“We face many challenges,” shared our friend Yattani. “Continued insecurity and radicalization. And of course fear because of the terror attacks. But there are many successes that we have to celebrate. The cross and crescent conference was not only strategic, but it was timely, significant and appealed to the needs of the Christian communities in Garissa. The need for bridging Christian/Muslim relations and also understanding what the Muslims believe is paramount.

The feeding program has not only increased enrolment of the students in [the villages of] Bakuyu and Buula Pamoja, but has provided nutritious lunch for the students and has challenged the parents to own the need of educating their children.”

Over the past three years these ECD schools have had explosive growth. So much so, that the Buula Pamoja school has become a major feeder school for the Korakora primary school where this past year 20% of the children are now coming from Buula Pamoja. These are over one hundred children who had never had the opportunity to attend school before.

“We are building bridges through farming as well” shared our friend William, who has been mentoring Muslim and Christian farmers each week in the Farming God’s Way conservation agriculture project in Garissa District. Currently six of the local churches are meeting weekly with their Muslim neighbours in each other’s gardens and farms. “We don’t just sit and have tea together,” laughs William. “We are in the fields every day working together, talking together and sharing our hopes. This is integral mission."

Please join us in praying for this important ministry and for these young leaders who are serving in such practical and important ways.

“The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake.” 

Basil Hume