Withstanding The Storm
As a country, the year 2008 has been the worst ever in regard to politics and the economy. The aftermath of the post elections skirmishes early this year inevitably impinged on every aspect of our lives, necessitating a current inflation rate of 29%. For the first time ever, the seemingly very united country was on the brink of being polarized along tribal lines. Ethnic animosity and propaganda took a dominant position in the livelihood of many Kenyans and to some considerable extent threatened to penetrate into the church. Scores of disciples were displaced from their native homes and many more lost their jobs due to their tribal alienation or were forced by circumstances to relocate hence lost their jobs. Financially speaking, we expected the church to suffer a big blow.
In the midst of all these chaos, we resolved to engage the church in biblical teachings that would get Christians outward focused with special emphasis on giving through evangelism and financial kindness. After going through a series of lessons based on the book ‘Treasured Principles’, that elucidates God’s heart on financial giving, the church raised to the occasion by upping the regular monthly contribution. In comparison to late last year, our regular monthly contribution giving has raised above the storm to register an increase of about 21% so far this year. We attribute this significant growth in giving to the spiritual convictions Christians developed during the ‘Treasured Principles’ classes.
In the meantime, as the church was showing impressive repentance in the regular monthly giving, our annual special contribution date was approaching. We had the highest target this year of 3.5 million Kenya shillings ($53,000) which had been decided upon before the skirmishes that rocked the country in January and February. The loss of jobs among disciples and a frail economy posed as threats to the realization of our special contribution goal. This arduous situation created a sense of despair which necessitated desperate prayers to God for intervention.
Nevertheless, I’m thankful to God to report that after our special contribution last week, the church managed to give the highest amount ever. We graciously managed to give a whopping 3.9 million Kenya shillings ($60,000) that will help significantly with the outstanding deficit in our operational budget.
Again, In spite of all these challenges facing our country, God has so far proved that He reigns beyond circumstances. The first half of this year has been the best in the history of this church. We have experienced great growth in both spiritual and numerical aspects of the church. More and more people are taking the bold step of changing their lives to follow Jesus and the general spirit of the disciples is evidently upbeat. So far we’ve been privileged to witness 115 people baptized in Christ while the number of those who choose to live the church is at the minimal. We believe the challenges that befell the country and spilt over into the church actually created an opportunity for the church to resolutely depend on God thereby experiencing a significant spiritual growth that we would otherwise not have experienced. We look forward to having one of the best years ever for the glory of our lord Jesus.
George Irungu