Thank you so much for responding to our year-end appeal for support for the exciting (but unbudgeted) opportunities that arose for 2019. Your generosity is making it possible for us to reach hundreds, and literally potentially millions, of people.
Empower President Dr. Carrie Miles and Empower Minister Donell Peck leave for Kampala, Uganda, on Thursday morning, where they will meet with African Program Director Frank Tweheyo. Empower Minister Pamela Frohreich will join them when they move to Nairobi, Kenya, a few days later. The team will be returning to places we’ve visited before, but also visiting an important new venue for the first time. You have made it possible for us to say “yes” to some pretty exciting opportunities.
The biggest new opportunity was completely unexpected but very exciting. For the first time ever, Empower will be working in partnership with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). A chance meeting in Tustin, CA, between Empower team members and Rev. Rob Ngugi, director of missions of the PCEA, resulted in an invitation to train the top leaders at the PCEA.
The leaders of this denomination of 4 million people are concerned about family deterioration, and were looking for creative solutions to bring biblical truth to families throughout East Africa. New Man, New Woman, New Life seemed the perfect solution. They plan to follow our train-the-trainer model, training the key leaders first and then taking the program down to the grass-roots level themselves.
Empower has agreed to contribute toward accommodation and meals for the participants, printed materials, and travel for the facilitators. The total cost is $20,000 and we are still stepping out in faith that contributions will cover these costs. (If you’d like to be a part of making this happen, click here to access our secure donation page.)
Carrie, Donell, and Frank will begin the journey in Kampala, leading a Master Class (advanced training for those who have already participated in the basic seminar) at the Kampala Evangelical School of Theology (KEST). Last May, Donell and Frank led the second New Man, New Woman, New Life seminar there. Those attending included many community leaders, pastors (one couple are the lead pastors at Watoto, a megachurch of about 25,000), students, and even television personalities!
Our team will also be working at St. Paul’s University in Limuru, Kenya. We have been conducting one seminar and one master class a year there, but demand is growing so rapidly that we added a second seminar in December. (Thank you for making that happen!) Dr. Zablon Bundi, the director of the Soteria Center that hosts the program, suggests that we conduct two Master Classes at the same time in order to accommodate all those graduates. One program at St. Paul’s costs $4,000, about $100/participant for the three-day, resident program. Your support helps bring the exciting and transformational truth of biblical equality to leaders from all over Kenya, who take the message home.
A late-breaking need/complication has arisen with the St. Paul’s master class. Part of the reason for scheduling two master classes was the need to train people who attended the NMNW seminar at a university in Kilifi, which is down by Mobasa, something of a distance from Nairobi. Empower does not usually provide money for transport, but we need to help this particular group. We can bring them up on the train for a modest sum. Can you help? (Click here to donate.)
Carrie will also be speaking at Presbyterian University in Kikuyu, Kenya, and conducting a couple’s breakfast at Africa International University. Pam and Frank will lead a seminar at Teen Challenge, where we have also visited in the past. (Read about it here.)
Every time we go to Africa, we’re blown away by the impact Empower seminars has on families. For example, it is common practice for a man to not help his wife in any way with children, household chores, etc. On top of this, many women work outside the home as well.
After attending our seminar, our friend Ivan (he works as a librarian at KEST) decided he would help at home, and began pounding and winnowing maize (a labor-intensive food prep chore typically done by women). All his neighbors thought he had lost his mind and gone “crazy.”
Ivan told Frank about the incident and reported that he replied to his neighbors, “I am not crazy, I am empowered!”
Ivan is just one example of how we are changing lives and families and entire communities with the truth of God’s word. We hope we can count on your support as we say “yes” to more opportunities in Uganda and Kenya!
The need in Africa is immensely great. We need to reach so many families that still live in the old mentalities that women are to serve men. Empower training is helping to create a balance for men and women to work together as empowered equal partners in the service of God and humanity.