The Self Help Group Approach

We are excited to share a recent update video by our friends, and fellow CBM colleagues, Wayne and Maureen Morgan who are spear-heading Self Help Group ministries in the urban outreach of our partner church, the ACC&S, in Nairobi, Kenya.


Dandora Self Help Groups.5 Aug 8, 2014 from Wayne Morgan on Vimeo.

South Sudan: Narus Relief Response Update

Narus, South Sudan

Since April 2014, tens of thousands of internally displaced families from the conflict areas of Upper Nile and Jonglie States of South Sudan poured into Western Equatoria State seeking refuge from the fighting that had taken many homes, livelihoods and lives. The situation is dire.

Canadian Baptist Ministries’ partner church in South Sudan, the Faith Evangelical Baptist Churches (FEBAC), have been on the front lines of response as they have shown hospitality and compassion in the conflict area of Upper Nile and more recently in the areas where many have fled. In the community of Narus, CBM has been helping FEBAC’s local church provide emergency care kits, food, and water to five hundred internally displaced households.

This morning, we received photos from our friend Reverend Saphano Riak, the executive minister of FEBAC. It was a great answer to prayer to see water running from a newly dug well and to see how the local church has been providing for the almost 60 unaccompanied children who have been taken under their care. 

We give thanks for how God is using local churches to provide care and protection for people who has suffered such loss. In simple but important ways, they are the hands and feet of God.

Children lining up for breakfast at the FEBAC church in Narus 

Through the generosity of Canadian churches and individuals, we have been able to provide much needed resources for FEBAC. Each of the emergency kits that they have distributed provide families with plastic sheeting; blankets; a 5 person kitchen set; mosquito netting; jerry cans for water; rope; soap; and food rations. The kits were distributed by FEBAC response team in collaboration with the local government. As the need far outweighed the supplies, they identified the most vulnerable households often single mothers and elderly who are caring for small children.

"According to the beneficiaries, this was the first comprehensive and meaningful assistance they had received since they arrived in Narus after fleeing from their homes.” shared Saphano. "The spokesperson for the beneficiaries thanked FEBAC for responding to their needs and CBM for the funds that were used to purchase and transport the relief supplies. The beneficiaries also indicated that these relief items will help them to cope with the difficult situation that the fighting has forced them into. The mosquito nets will shield them from the many mosquitoes at the camp and thereby prevent malaria breakout. The plastic sheets provided will shield them from the sun and rain.

In addition 150 sacks of uni-mix porridge were brought to aid in the feeding program."

Unimix brought by truck from Nairobi, Kenya

Please continue to join us in praying for peace and healing in South Sudan. As CBM and FEBAC continue our relief efforts, please pray for wisdom and safety for the relief team on the ground, and for the leaders in local churches. Saphano also asks for prayer as a lack of safe drinking water has led to a cholera outbreak in many of the refugee areas.

You can learn more about Canadian Baptist Ministries and our ongoing work in Africa and around the world at our website www.cbmin.org

Summer 2014: PEI

Confederation Bridge, Prince Edward Island

This past week, we finished our ten-day stay on Prince Edward Island. It was a great time to connect with our friends and supports at First Baptist Church Charlottetown and join the congregation at O’Leary Baptist Church during their communities’ annual Potato Blossom Festival.

Of course the highlight of our time was visiting with our family living on PEI. This was a very special visit as my (Aaron’s) parents were celebrating their 40th Wedding Anniversary. It became a great reunion for my siblings and our families. On the Sunday afternoon, we gathered with our wider family and friends at the Morrell United Church where my parents, Cecil and Marie Kenny, were married in 1974.

Ava and her cousins Livia, Elliot and Oliver enjoying a sweet treat

Aaron and Grampy cracking into some island lobster 

Emma helping out at the Anniversary Reception

All 28 of our family members at the Morrell United Church

Visiting with Great-grandparents, Joseph and Ruth Kenny, in Charlottetown

Erica and Grammie trying on their wedding dresses

-- yes they still fit!

CBM Africa Team: Pauline Kariuki

Among the wonderful members of the Canadian Baptist Ministries’ (CBM) Africa team with whom we have the pleasure of serving, Pauline Kariuki is one of the most versatile and multitalented. Since joining CBM she has served as an assistant in community development, a logistics coordinator for short term missions, a trainer and mentor in project monitoring and evaluation, and a communications   specialist. Presently, Pauline wears two important hats as she is providing leadership and project management to the Guardians of Hope HIV & AIDS project with the Africa Brotherhood Church in Kenya, and assisting our wider African partner churches with capacity building and support in the areas of project planing and management.

Along with her joyful attitude and high energy, Pauline brings great skill and experience to her ministry with the community development initiatives of our church partners. Among her academic achievements, Pauline has completed her masters degree in project planning and management from the University of Nairobi, as well as her bachelor degree in environmental planning and management from the Kenyatta University. 

Interview with Pauline

"I am the first born in a family of five siblings. In the African culture, being the first child is a challenge because you have to be a good role model and a pace setter in all spheres of life. I must confess that God has been graceful to me this far. Of course, storms have been there in my life but all the time I am reminded that I am not walking alone and I have seen God.

Matthew 25:31-46 is an important passage for me. This scripture talks about feeding the hungry, strangers, unclothed, sick and the less fortunate in the society. As a Christian I ask myself…… “What does God require of me?” And I answer myself, "to be my brother’s keeper.” And how can I be my brother’s keeper if I don’t know their well-being and even sharing the little that God has endowed me with?

The scripture also reminds me of my true calling and purpose on earth which is to do God’s will, be my brother’s keeper and obey God’s commandments. Therefore, interacting, sharing, visiting and ensuring that the orphans are faring well at home and school is my joy and passion in my ministry.

It is great when I see the beneficiaries with joyful faces and genuine smiles after a positive impact in their lives. God is also seen through the living testimonies of the beneficiaries who have experienced changes in their lives from God’s work through the church and CBM’s ministry.

I appreciate your prayers for me and the ministry that I am a part of in Africa. Please pray for all the beneficiaries that we work with so that they will always see God’s doing and not man’s. Pray for God’s wisdom, strength and for God’s will to be done in our Ministries. And pray for the communities and even those that we have not been able to reach that God will open a way for them.”