2021 Annual Newsletter, Continued
Women’s Ministry in Disciple Making Movements
Tiru Aila - DMM Women’s Ministry Coordinator
Empowering women is something Lifeway Mission International takes seriously. Women play significant roles in the ministry. We want to empower women within our networks, but also within the community. This is important for disciple-making, especially in communities that are strongly patriarchal.
One example: Teresia Nyawira leads our micro-finance department. Teresia spoke with Disciple Making Movement leaders who come from communities where women have limited opportunities. She encouraged them to mobilize women for a time of awareness in Disciple Making. The leaders were skeptical. Women have not been part of training. They are relegated to the sidelines in this important work.
One elderly woman said, “I led my pastor to Christ but didn’t know I was meant to continue doing so. I thought it was for the pastors to do it.”
That pastor said that if women were fully involved in the movement much earlier, there would have been great advancement. He acknowledged that women are highly social and can easily start Discovery Bible Studies, which lead to movement.
Even with the disruptions of the pandemic, our women leaders managed to visit the Samburu, Turkana and Borana people groups. It was exciting to see more than 100 women listening to the plan of God. After the two day meeting, the women said they wished for more time.
In 2022, we are planning an in-depth teaching of DMM with 200 women from targeted people groups.
Pray for those who will facilitate this program and the women who will participate. Ask God to supply the resources needed.
Leadership Development
Developing leaders is imperative for Disciple Making Movements. Without leaders, the movements will not continue to grow.
Last year our pace for leadership development was slowed by the pandemic. This year we were able to do more as restrictions around the country were lifted. Using Covid - 19 safety protocols helped us manage some in-person meetings at the Lifeway Centre in Nairobi.
Training took place in other places as well. Southern Sudan is a region devastated by was.We have a missionary who has been among the people for more than three years. That missionary graduated leaders he had developed in the process of disciple making. The graduation was spectacular. Government leaders were present, along with religious leaders from other faiths.
Today, as the missionary prepares to return home, he leaves behind disciples who make disciples.
Other countries where leaders received more training this year included Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania. Making disciples who will make disciples and then developing leaders remains the focus.
Care for the Sick
A local doctor embedded with our partners examining a young girl
The nomadic peoples of Northern Kenya are often marginalized and lack access to clean water and basic health care. Alongside our partners, and accompanied by local doctors, we reached into the interior of the desert and interacted with the Garre people group. The terrain where the Garre live is sand and stones, interspersed by thorn trees. The medical camp we offered was a great help to them, and more than 1500 people were treated this year alone. Through this ministry, some have become disciples of Christ.
Drought Relief
Drought has plagued the coastal and northern regions of Kenya for three years. Subsequent food shortages have led to famine. Some schools have closed as they cannot feed the children. Through prayer and the leading of the Lord, Lifeway disciple makers reached out to the affected communities in these areas providing them with food relief. This provision demonstrated the practical love of Jesus to over 7000 families, more than 40,000 people. Further, this ministry helped disciple makers form relationships, locate persons of peace and initiate Discovery Bible Studies.
Business & Disciple Making Training
A Malawian trainer shares how his small business has made him more effective in ministry and helped financially sustain him, his family and a disciple making ministry.
Sustaining Disciple Making Movements requires creativity. As things on the mission field change, movement leaders want to remain in one place for as long as possible so they can grow relationships. So disciple makers who start businesses can offer help and services of value to their host communities. These businesses become springboards to Disciple Making and movement. Lifeway introduces disciple makers to various business models and provides systematic business training. When disciple makers start a business, it becomes their source of income and a means to support the work. The businesses to be set up will both be a source of income and a means to support the work.
Spotlight on Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country strategically located in the Horn of Africa. This country has suffered calamity both man-made and natural – drought, famine, and the rise of insurgent groups.
Currently, the country is at war with itself, which means destabilization of normal life, displacement of people, and the hardship that comes as an aftermath of war. Please join us and pray for Ethiopia.
Lifeway Mission International’s strategy has been to not only make disciples in Ethiopia, but to work alongside our networks and partners to take the gospel beyond Ethiopia to the north. Since more southern regions of Africa have had a greater Christian influence we continue to believe that it is from the south we will see Disciple Making Movements move into North Africa. However, the simmering civil war is threatening to derail this effort.
According to our Ethiopian network coordinator, no one can freely travel to the west of the country. Even now, among more than a thousand DBS groups, believers have continued to meet and share the word of God in these challenging times.
Pray for challenges to unity among DM leaders in western Ethiopia. Pray for adequate food relief, and resources needed to support DMM activities in this region. Pray for rain.
Grow in a Disciple Making Lifestyle in 2022!
PRAY WITH US IN OUR WEEKLY GLOBAL ZOOM PRAYER GATHERINGS
Weekly prayer meetings are every Wednesday, beginning Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Contact John Dibah or Ken Morris for more information and the Zoom link.
LEARN PRACTICAL DISCIPLE MAKING LIFESTYLE HABITS IN LEVEL 1 DMM TRAINING
Begins Monday, January 24, 2022
Click here to get more information and register: Level 1 DMM Training
LEVEL 2 DMM TRAINING - Begins Friday, February 11, 2022
Level 2 is for those who have completed Level 1 DMM Training and are practicing what they learned.
Contact John Dibah or Ken Morris for more information.
DMM GLOBAL CATALYST CAMP – June 14-17, 2022 - In person at the Lifeway Centre, Nairobi
An annual gathering of DMM practitioners from around the world. The focus is on case studies, workshops, networking and sharing best practices.
Contact John Dibah or Ken Morris for more information.
CONTRIBUTE RESOURCES TO ACCELERATE DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENTS HERE: GIVE
For more information on the above opportunities contact:
John Dibah, dibah@lifewaymi.org (Africa)
Ken Morris, ken@lifewaymi.org (North America)
Mother with children at a Lifeway Mission International health screening
Contact us:
Lifeway Mission International Centre and Headquarters
Embakasi District, Ruai, on Eastern Bypass, Kagundo Road, Nairobi, Kenya
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 35032, 00200, Nairobi - Kenya
info@lifewaymi.org | www.lifewaymi.org
Ofc. Phone; +254-202-2451921 | Cell: +254-728-587089
Lifeway Mission International North America Office
5428 Reagan Run, Antioch, TN 37013
ken@lifewaymi.org | +1 615.496.7753