Seeing the Finish Line!
SEEING THE FINISH LINE!
WHAT NEXT?
Sustaining a Healthy Church in Turkanaland
I have participated in the Texas Senior Games’ 1500M and 5K Power Walk races in San Antonio the past three years. Even though the inevitable aging process alerts me the energy level I had three years ago has diminished to some degree, I have had to learn how to stay healthy, develop some walking techniques, and strengthen certain muscles, all-the-while following the strict Power Walk rules, in order to sustain a winning momentum each year. There are times I’ve wished I had a “professional” trainer to teach and challenge me to do even better so as to continue winning within my age-group category for as long as the Lord gives me life this side of heaven. I know a fundamental requirement to do so is to sustain
a healthy body by eating right and getting out to exercise. There’s no shortcut!
The SHARE ministry is energetically and joyfully gearing towards the “finish line” in the evangelistic outreach and church planting endeavor in Turkana County (now with 702,852 of the just over 1M Turkana population reached with the Gospel, 99,234 of them saved, and 17,947 baptized since 1997). The next critical step is to ensure we sustain healthy church bodies of the 500 congregations that SHARE has facilitated planting in Turkanaland the past 26 years. What will it take to ensure they don’t become weak, stagnate, and gradually wither away over time? What will it take to ensure a “timeless growing and winning streak”?
That’s what the upcoming Teaching/Training Summit in Lodwar Town (capital of Turkana County) between June 23rd and July 1st, dubbed “Sustaining A Healthy Church in Turkanaland”, is all about. The Lord has called and put together a team of skilled American and indigenous Turkana teacher-trainers that will join hands and use the “Sword of the Spirit” to train about 300 existing and potential Church leaders across Turkanaland. There will be about 20 sessions altogether covering the primary Attributes of a Disciple-Making, Disciple-Nurturing, & Missional Church.
They will learn how to grow and sustain A Healthy Body of Christ that will withstand the wiles and darts of the enemy for generations to come. The team will teach/train our church leaders to eat healthy spiritual food, exercise/practice, and to replicate the same in their respective churches on a consistent basis in order to stay healthy and keep on winning the race (1 Corinthians 3:2; 9:24-27; 2 Tim. 2:5). I invite you to pray for the team as it undertakes this most significant task.
Financial Stewardship
Each of the 8 Americans on the team has raised his/her own international airfare, and the Lord has graciously provided funds through a single church for all the domestic expenses in Kenya during the summit. We thank and praise the Lord for this provision. Subsequently, in preparation for the summit itself, I am currently devoting more time organizing and preparing the lessons and not-so-much-time raising regular financial support for the entire SHARE ministry. So, allow me to request you to help me raise the $190,000 by the end of June to cover the remaining ministry’s budget for the 1st and 2nd Quarters of this year.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support for the SHARE ministry. I hope the monthly “SEED” bulletins have provided you with information you need to stay abreast with what the Lord is doing through his servants in Turkanaland, Toposaland, and now Nyang’atomland. It’s all His doing, and it’s “marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:23).
Serving the King of kings with you,
Sammy Murimi, SHARE Founder
