What is a bird-feeder for? Monkeys!
These characters are regular visitors at our home.
Staff of VSM Africa
“Every August the pre-adolescents in my church disappear. It is the time of the year in which circumcision takes place,” explained Edward, pastor of the Vineyard in Kitale, Kenya. He sighed, “Families get a better bride-price for a girl who has been circumcised “(female genital mutilation – FGM). This discussion took place as we were developing the curriculum for Edward’s course in Genesis.
The family dynamics and challenges in Genesis have numerous parallels in African culture. Rite of passage and circumcision is one parallel and presents a dilemma for pastors who want to remain Biblical while not discounting their African traditions. Whenever something of value is taken from a culture it must be replaced by something of equal value. This has not typically happened in African churches so people revert to traditional practices.
The discussion then moved to focus on how we might equip Kenyan pastors to develop their own rites of passage that is both Biblical and preserves some of old traditions.
“My faith as an African is not an empty receptacle to be filled by a superior faith or religion; it is a dwelling place of the word Who has become flesh and now lives among us.” Agbonkhianmeghe E. Obobator
We are celebrating here in Kenya because
- our Memorandum of Understanding with Daystar University has been signed
- we are offering 4 new courses in the month of April
- the new Vineyards in Uganda have asked us to start offering Vineyard School of Ministry courses in Uganda this year.
