Around the World: Church growth in the Bahamas, Syrian refugees in Germany and more quick takes
Around the World is our monthly rundown of news briefs,…
Around the World: A Kenya church plant, Philippines disaster relief and more quick takes
Around the World is our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ all over the globe. Got an idea for this column? Email Erik Tryggestad at [email protected].
Featured image (above): Richard Rono, left, a member of the Siomo Church of Christ in Kenya, welcomes fellow church leaders to a recent gathering in Kipsinende, site of a new church plant. Speakers included David Tonui, administrator for the Nairobi Great Commission School.
“For the purpose of spearheading church growth … churches come together and choose leaders to oversee their plans and to raise funds together toward a given project,” Tonui told The Christian Chronicle. “On this particular day … we raised funds for purchase of a church plot. The target was $3,000 U.S.”
During the gathering, Tonui thanked the leaders “for the sacrifices you are making for the expansion of God’s kingdom and to his glory.”
PHILIPPINES
OLANGO ISLAND — A medical mission team from Churches of Christ in the Philippines traveled to this island in the Central Visayas to assist in recovery efforts three months after Super Typhoon Odette.
In addition to helping with rebuilding efforts and conducting checkups, volunteers with MARCH for Christ distributed New Testaments written in the local dialect, vitamins and health food supplements. Team leader Chito Cusi preached about God’s love. Jhobert Sabang, a preacher in nearby Lapu-Lapu City, and his wife Jessica assisted the team.
Cusi described the team as “a happy bunch, serving people blessed with the love of God.”
Evelyn Ignacio consulted with 80 patients during one day of the mission. trip.
SENEGAL
DAKAR — A Church of Christ that formerly was meeting under a tent has a new, albeit temporary, home as the rainy season approaches.
The Zac Mbao congregation, which meets in the capital of this predominantly Muslim, West African nation, recently completed construction of a small meeting place, said missionary Arnold Dzah. The church had begun construction of a larger facility a few years ago, but “rainfall and the insurgence of unpredicted COVID-19 distorted every plan,” Dzah said.
Although the new facility will be a temporary home for the church, it will be used for the church’s long-term plans, Dzah said.
“The room shall be used as training center,” he said. “We want to open a tailoring, hair dressing and computer training center for the youth — both within and outside the membership.”
ZAMBIA
ZIMBA — “Every life matters,” even the lives of the incarcerated.
That was the theme of a weekend lectureship on prison ministry hosted by the Zimba Church of Christ in this southern African nation. Three graduates of Daybreak Bible College conducted the seminar.
Rodrick Maambo, right
“When you know God you will have the energy to serve him, boldness to share him and contentment in him,” said one of the graduates, Rodrick Maambo.
Daybreak Bible College also hosted a prison ministry workshop on its campus, about 20 miles south of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka.
“This is a much-needed ministry as prisoners in Zambia live in overcrowded prisons and must be fed by their families,” according to a recent Zambia Missions newsletter. “This puts an enormous strain on the family. … Many families are not able to provide.”
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