5 January 2012

After giving insights about cell church principles at a conference at Malindi, Kenya, SIM's Colin Holtum met a young Samburu pastor who was completing training at Moffat Bible College. The pastor had responsibility in his denomination for overseeing discipleship amongst widespread nomadic Samburu and Maasai communities. He had been wrestling with the challenge of how to help new nomadic believers flourish in their faith when they do not regularly attend one church.

Pastor Patrick saw that Christian pastoralists could be taught cell church principles and given cell discipleship materials to practise in their family groups as they roamed in search of grazing for their cattle. They could meet after the cattle have been brought into the safety of the manyatta for the night and learn together, even inviting their transitory neighbours to join them.

Please PRAY with us for Pastor Patrick and for Colin as they spend time together developing this model, seeking the Holy Spirit's wisdom for the best ways forward. Pray that the hearts of many Maasai and Samburu would be prepared to receive the message of the Gospel in culturally appropriate ways.

It is not unusual, given the highly developed telecommunication network in Kenya, to come across a Maasai moran (warrior) in the remote bush chatting to friends on his phone. This provided the answer to a problem Patrick posed: ”How can I keep in touch with the people I'm trying to equip in the faith through cell?” “That’s easy” we said, “use CELL phone!”

Thank you for your prayers and support of the cell church movement in Kenya. For more information, visit Cell Church in Kenya and Insight for the Blind.

Recent conference of Christian pastoralists in East Africa: Shepherds Still Seek the King