By Jeremiah Gamba
Photos by Austine Oduor
The Bible Talk leaders in Nairobi Christian Church have been urged to focus on their mission to serve Christ.
Speaking during the Bible Talk leaders meeting at the Central Catering Unit (CCU), in the University of Nairobi (UON) in a message titled, “What is Your Mission” Evangelist Samson Monda from the Southern Bloc noted that as the Bible Talk leaders, we should emulate Paul and Barnabas who Christ set apart for the work of serving in His church.
The Evangelist pointed out that Paul and Barnabas traveled widely and achieved great successes when spreading the word of God but they also met difficult challenges that also threatened their lives.
The church must strategize on how the word of God would reach all the cities and villages across the great Republic of Kenya as well as to all other neighboring countries.
“Recording performance statistics and following up on pledges and contributions from disciples are essential roles for any Bible talk leader but the main focus should remain on the mission that God has set aside for each disciple. I have made you a light for the gentiles so that the entire world may be saved…Acts 13:47.”
The Evangelist shared a quote from John Wesley, the founder of the independent Methodist movement;
“I want the whole Christ for my savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole church for my fellowship and the whole world for my mission.”
Let us have the same zeal and determination that Wesley shared when he decided to serve God as a cleric in Britain. He further quoted,
“…It’s rare and high privilege to help people understand the difference they can make…not only in their own lives but also in the lives of others, simply by giving of themselves…” Gardner, Common Cause.
Whatever we do and believe in should always make us proud wherever we go or has to answer on the same. That’s what is important not the answer we give but our belief in it and to retain the same thought in our minds wherever we go just as Gardner and Wesley did and believed in.
The Holy Spirit directs us on the work to undertake and it’s our obligation as disciples to complete it. There is no room for spectating we must deliver what God has set aside for us. It is not easy but He has promised to be with us throughout the entire journey.
The chairman of the Church’s Board, Boniface Masila gave the update of the upcoming AGM meeting that was held yesterday, September 29th, 2019 and the legal requirements for the meeting. The chairman of the church’s board invited the various heads of different committees that the church has mandated to take care of different needs of the church.
Samson Munyuwiny, a member of the church’s Central Development Committee (CDC) outlined the vision of the church hinged on four key pillars. First, investment in infrastructure, involves land acquisition in each of the 47 counties. Secondly, investment in Enterprises – it involves the establishments of schools, hospitals and other companies that would share a common name in all the counties. Thirdly, investment in Human capital which involves investment in capacity development for skills that have been identified as necessary in the church while at the same time maintaining a database of disciples with various skills and expertise. Finally, the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and control systems providing a system of evaluating the performance of the projects and coordinating efforts of performance appraisal in all completed projects and those in progress.
The CDC has been mandated to provide vision, draft policies and guidelines on the church’s investments. The committee has also been tasked to research ways of regulating and evaluating all the investments that belong to the church. CDC seeks to find sustainable funding for the church.
Nick Omondi, the chairman of the Church’s Welfare Committee revealed that the ICOC Welfare Scheme was registered in April and has so far conducted awareness meetings in the western block and soon it would hosting a Special General Meeting after completing its awareness and registration meetings in all the remaining three blocks. The welfare organization will also incorporate the church’s funeral scheme.
William Siwa, the Chairman of the Church’s Finance Committee and the church’s treasurer, shared about the good performance of the Nairobi Church finances in 2018 but regretted that the promising future that was very positive in 2018 has not been matched by the current performance in 2019. He noted that the church has stretched its resources to ensure that all the financial statements are audited by independent certified public accountants to ensure that the church maintains the financial confidence, transparency, and accountability in all its transactions.
The Nairobi Christian Church which held its Annual General Meeting over the weekend has received less than 50% of its targeted mission contribution in 2019. God has blessed the disciples in different spheres of their lives including careers, marriages, education and in the service of God. The same should be matched with the church’s giving as we celebrate the victories that God has seen us through.
William Siwa confirmed while responding to a question that the Nairobi Christian Academy School has on several occasions financed the church’s activities and it has successfully made all the payments regarding the acquisition of the school buses while at the same time it is now paying the church a constant amount of rent every month. The school is also financing its developments. He confirmed that the church had recovered some savings that had been lost when Chase Bank collapsed some years ago. George Nyawade, from the Western Bloc, proposed that an expert on Hope Worldwide land transactions and contract agreements with the Nairobi church be appointed to follow up on issues of land registration and leasehold agreements while Michael Wambwere, from the Eastern Block and the chairman of the project to acquire New Sound and Public Address systems for the Umoja Church extended a warm invitation to all the leaders from all the blocks together with all the disciples to the October 6, Eastern Block PA Harambee.
The Bible Talk leaders meeting brought together disciples from all the four blocs of Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern. Elder Jeremiah Oginga closed the meeting with a word of prayer.
