Looking back to move forward

It was the first day of the new VSM Africa term and students were coming from all over Kenya. The public transport workers were on strike and students were trudging through miles of muddy streets. Dodging downed power lines that were being pulled off the road by school children, I (Doug) picked up several of the students and drove them to campus. However, washed out roads forced us to dart through back alleys and still we covered the 7 miles to campus in about two hours. Just like the 405 Freeway!

 Soon after arriving on campus I was introduced to the new students. One fellow, Constant, is from a rural village and told me he has Tuberculosis. This is after I had shaken his hand and stood close to him as we spoke. Tuberculosis is a highly infectious airborne disease. People in Africa still die from TB.  For the next hour I called around trying to find a doctor who would be willing to exam him and some get medication. By now, we are three hours late for our opening class and I still have students trudging through muddy streets in an effort to reach the school. When all was said and done Constant's TB was treatable and the rest of us were not infected. In the back of my mind I am wondering if the children who had picked up the electric power lines are still alive? Education is an adventure!

Maureen, Dorcas and Janet

According to recent gender reports, women's political representation in Rwanda is 56%, in South Africa it is 42%, Tanzania 36% and Kenya stands at 9%. Clearly Kenya has a long way to go. Africa is a paradox when it comes to women in leadership. On the one hand, the contintent is still strongly male-dominated and yet, in many contexts women have greater leadership roles than in the West.  At the recently conlcuded Vinyard School of Ministry's two week intensive we added two new ladies - Maureen and Dorcas. Both are leaders in their churches and have great potential.

Tim and Pat Corcoran, friends from Vineyard Community Church in Pomona/Claremont, led two seminars on the topic of Blessing Muslims. The picture to the left was taken at a seminar for the Area Pastoral Coordinators who oversee different regions of the country. The Corcorans challenged the assumptions that many had regarding reaching our Muslim friends.   




The picture to the left was taken during a seminar done by Tim and Pat at the Ngong Vineyard Church which is a church plant led by a Maasai Pastor.  Leaders from five Vineyard churches met to learn how they might more effectively relate to their Muslim neighbors.

As we reflect back on this year we need to catch our breath.

Sue spent months in preparing and organizing for an international conference in August. It was a mammoth undertaking. The event itself was historic, as AVC Kenya has now become only the second nation on the continent of Africa that is "released" - a fully self functioning, autonomous Association of Vineyard Churches.



Doug leading a session at our annual church retreat in October

Sue in group discussion at the retreat








We are thankful for all that we see God doing in our midst. . .

As the church, Karen Vineyard,  has doubled in size and other initiatives have grown, we feel a sense that the wind has finally blown into our sails and we are moving. At the same time, as is usually the case with growth, the work load also increases. Please pray for us as we seek a healthy balance in ministry and life together.

                                                         

for the kingdom,

                                                                      Sue and Doug

Influencing the Influencers

In the past twenty-four hours Sue has spoken to two people who are leaving Kenya. One has been in the country 3 months, the other 3 weeks. Both are frustrated and stressed by life in Kenya.

Westerners often come to Africa believing they can "fix" Africa. This mindset is accompanied by the assumption that the Western world-view is the best and applicable everywhere. When there is the inability and unwillingness to listen and learn from Africans, we from the West miss an incredible opportunity to grow. 

As a result we may dismiss the "poor African" as having nothing to contribute to our lives. Africans are aware of this dynamic and often do not entrust themselves to Westerners because of this attitude.

With the awareness that this Western mindset lurks in the background, we have been deliberate when developing curriculum for the Vineyard School of Ministry, Africa, so that it might speak deeply to the leaders we are working with.  It is important that the people on the grassroots level contribute to the learning process so that the learning is locally-driven and learner-driven. Sue and I (Doug) are richer because of this posture and have learned a tremendous amount in the last four and a half years. Learning requires a certain humility and we have learned more that we have taught. 

 Ultimately, it's about what Jesus is doing with people.

Janet holding baby, Elvis behind

About eighteen months ago, Doug did the wedding of Elvis and Janet and they now have a baby boy. Both Elvis and Janet are enrolled in VSM Africa and both are leaders in a Vineyard church located in a slum in southern Nairobi. They took in a young woman who has had a very hard life. During the last VSM courses this young woman served as their nanny. Several days into the course, the young woman confessed to one of the pastors that she had had a child out of wedlock, the man had abandoned her, and she had murdered her baby. She broke down in tears when several of the pastors prayed for her and was subsequently "retired" from her duties as a nanny. 

 

For us, this was a marvelous example that there is nothing theoretical about the equipping we do at VSM Africa. All training is connected to real life and the challenges of doing ministry in Kenya.  We are influencing the influencers - those in their communities that bring transformational change through the kingdom of God.

 

We both value and need your contributions to this work through your prayers and financial support.  As we begin our December courses, we realize we cannot continue this work without additional financial resources.

We would ask you to consider making a financial gift to the work of VSM Africa as you make your year-end gifts, and consider ongoing support in the future.

To make a gift, send your check payable to:

Vineyard Community Church

2801 N. Towne Ave Unit E

Pomona, CA 91767

In the memo section write: Browns VSM Africa

If you prefer to send a gift for our personal support, in the memo section write: Browns Kenya

For the Kingdom,

Doug &Sue