The SEED – May 2023
May 2023
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with His own blood.”
– Acts 20:28
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).
– Sammy Murimi
You may reach Sammy Murimi, SHARE Founder, at sammymurimi@shareint.net.
There are 35 active churches in Lorugum Zone served by 8 Motivators and 5 Evangelists and 33 Lighthouses with 257 disciples attending. In April, the SHARE Team traveled from Lodwar to Logogo Village to hold evangelistic services and plant a church. The Team also did outreach ministries in two surrounding villages: Kobarach and Lolupe. The last time an outreach happened in this area was 2018. About 350 villagers attended each day, with 219 accepting Christ and 64 believers baptized! Motivator Abraham Lokuwom will oversee the shepherding of this new church. Fifteen new Champions were also identified and are being trained to lead Lighthouses. They were provided with Audio Bibles.
There are 10 villages that have been identified as unreached in the Zone. Plans are underway to reach them next year.
Lomil Lometo’s Testimony
My name is Lomil Lometo. I am from Logogo Village. I have done many diabolic things like theft, alcohol intake, chewing tobacco, among others. I used to indulge myself in such activities. Now God is my everything, and I have truly accepted him. I really mean it! I am waiting to be baptized tomorrow.
I pray God to deliver us from the challenges of this world, because we live in a daunting world, full of wicked things that are detestable before God. I am happy because God now is in control, and I keep praying to Him to cleanse me from the things of this world.”
Members of the new church in Logogo Village
In March, the 15 Missionaries returned to the villages that they have been reaching with the Gospel. Right now, the Team is focused on 36 specific villages, with each missionary responsible for 2-4 villages. They are living in the homesteads with the people, fulfilling the mission of SHARE ‘…we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our lives as well’ (1 Thess. 2:8). Their relationship with the Toposa people is growing. The Team’s goal this year is to become more intentional in training Champions who in turn will share their faith stories with their communities and disciple new believers. A total of 45 people accepted Christ as Savior this month, but no baptisms were done as the riverbeds are still very dry.
In April the Toposa Outreach Iniative (TOI) Team visited 15 new villages, in addition to the 35 villages that they have been ministering in over the past year. The team has remained focused on training the 50 Champions who will continue to share the Gospel in the reached villages. That has been going well.
This past month, 63 Toposa men and women gave their lives to Christ and 31 were baptized! Weekly visitations and follow-ups with new believers continue to happen. A total of 90 Audio Bibles, 4 hard copy Bibles, and 20 DMM signage bookmarks were distributed this month. The team is in the process of identifying leaders that can be responsible for forming a prayer network as the team itself focuses on reaching new villages. The Team is looking forward to the commissioning of trained Champions Elia Lomot and Albino Lomilo to join the TOI Team. They will replace Stephen Lobolia who returned to Kenya last year.
The Team would covet your prayers for the new believers, that they would become bold in their faith, spend time listening to the Audio Bibles, and attend screenings of The Jesus Film in nearby villages. Pray also for strengthening of relationships with like minded churches and organizations in the outreach region that will help take care of the birthed
Lighthouses/Churches. As outreach expands and more villages are reached, the need for more Audio Bibles, DMM Bookmarks and projectors for screening The Jesus Film becomes critical.
The Toposa people are grateful for the rains that have finally come! Planting of crops has now begun.
Kalobeyei Zone Chair, James Echarait, addressing the village elders at Nakuk Village
SHARE Team and the Village Elders view the proposed site at Lokiding Village
WAPET VILLAGE: Classes are being taught by Sammy Lokir. The students were excited to have had their desks and supplies delivered this month. There are currently 106 students attending classes. The children are able to count from 1-100, recite the alphabet, identify and write letters. They are also starting to learn to add and subtract, and read simple words. They have learned to recite John 3:16. They are learning how to share their testimonies, but are shy about sharing it in front of adults. They have learned the importance of cleanliness and are working at keeping themselves clean. One challenge at this Center is that there is no water nearby.
(The completed Sending Centers are marked in red.)
PRAISES
REQUESTS
Most decisions about the clan or community are made in meetings attended only by the men, traditionally held in the dark hours before the dawn.
Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers and support!
