Introduction
The church was began in 2002 by Pastor James Omito. They used to preach salvation and prepare people for heaven; but later on they realised that they needed to meet other needs of the people in the community. They started thinking of what other areas of ministry they needed to get involved in.
They therefore began an Income Generating Activity whereby they were making dolls and selling through a middleman; but he was not faithful so the church did not benefit from this business. “I went through Samaritan Strategy training together with six other members of my church,” says Pastor Omito.
Seed Projects
Income generation
They learnt they needed to use what they had to meet the needs of the people in their community and since some of them had skills in making soap (both liquid and bar), fruit juice and candles, they thought of beginning a Seed Project that would help the people in their community meet their needs. They are now making soap, juice and candles.
School
After the Samaritan’s Strategy training they thought of other things they could do in the community and came up with an idea to begin a school. They began very small with two children in 2006 and one year down the line the school is now having 13 children. The lady who teaches in this school, Beatrice Mosera, also went through the Samaritan Strategy training and is very passionate about what she does.
They charge $2 per child per month; from this they prepare some porridge in school for the children. Since the community is poor it is difficult for them even to pay this amount and so the church is forced to dig deep into its pockets to meet the needs of these children. Most of these children are from single parents.
Of the 13 children, only three have both parents. These parents are unemployed but have micro-businesses where they make and sell liquid soap and juice. The people involved in this work include five people from the church and three people from the community.
Challenges
- Parents are poor so it is difficult to get stationery and school equipment.
- Finding a market for the soap and the juice
- Some people take their products on credit and refuse to pay.
Church Membership
The church membership is comprised of 40 adults and 30 children who come to church every Sunday.
Pastor Omito had this to say about their ministry within the community:
“The members of my church are happy since we started the Seed Projects. New people from the community have also joined our fellowship because of the love they have been shown by the church members. We are grateful to God because the people in the community see Christ embodied in our church as we meet their needs.”
Another Seed Project they had organised before was a seminar on small-scale businesses and through this others have began some businesses. |
