GCW Church Mobilization | United Methodist Church-Meru District
GCW Church Mobilization | Event Held at United Methodist Church-Meru District
by Minister Isaiah Kimani, GO! Kenya Director
MERU (KENYA)
June 28, 2022
On the 25th of June, Global Orphan Relief-Kenya, in conjunction with United Methodist Church-Meru District, held a Great Commandment Workshop at Meru Primary School.
In the spirit of ecumenism, the event brought together the United Methodist Churches in Meru and other invited churches from the Meru region to deliberate on how the Church can be deployed and be more focused on serving orphans and vulnerable children.
We were expecting 200 people but over 360 showed up. We had to scramble for more foodstuff at the supermarket. We thank God for the increase
Firstly, as a commandment from our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 22:34-40) and secondly, as informed by the government policy of child protection and care reforms championed by the Directorate of Children Services. The Great Commandment Workshop is leading is Church Mobilization and stakeholder involvement in addressing the crucial issue of the orphans and vulnerable children. It is a subject that the Church has sadly forgotten or been ill-equipped to handle.
It was a wow moment, God-honoring experience to see over registered 376 people attend the workshop amidst others who attended but didn't register. It was a massive attendance that surprised all of us. We had planned for about 200 people in a medium-size hall at Meru Primary School. The harvest was immense. Many had to sit outside and follow through via the sound speakers because of the lack of space.
Rahim Dawood, MP for Imenti North constituency speaking to the participants
The workshop started slightly after 9 AM and ended at 4 PM. Various speakers from the government, Church, and the community spoke and encouraged the participants to take it as their responsibility to serve the orphans and vulnerable children in the best way possible as the Lord guides and provides resources.
Lunch Break at Great Commandment Workshop in Meru, Kenya
It is heartening to see The Great Commandment Workshop debunking the myth that one needs lots of money and resources to help the vulnerable children and other needy groups in the Church and community. The leaders learned the importance of crafting a vision, sharing it with their congregants and pooling resources together as a corporate body, and encouraging individual Christians to GO! out and serve by utilizing their resources by supporting an orphan or two in the way that the Lord leads them.
We hope that the lessons learned, the insights generated, and the vision cast will bear fruit, bringing on board many orphans and vulnerable children who had missed out on the Church benevolence programs. All for the Glory of God in obedience and adherence to (James 1:27).
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Church Mobilization is our newest initiative launched in February 2022. We are currently working with local area churches to co-host Great Commandment Workshops where we bring together multiple subject matter experts to discuss the why and how to serve the poor generally, and orphan children specifically. We will track the impact of children served through this effort to justify continued investment; however, we have no plans to be funding the care of children through this initiative. We have held nine Great Commandment Workshop events since our launch in February 2022:
Beyond the financial commitment of the workshops, this effort is to be indigenous, self-propagating, and self-supporting. Our objective is to engage local churches to expand our GO! network, mobilize the church body to serve orphaned children, and to advance the Kingdom through demonstrating the Gospel to others. Through these workshops we are:
Minister Isaiah Githinji Kimani is currently the Director designate for the Global Orphan Relief’s Church Mobilization Initiative in Kenya. He coordinates and leads Great Commandment Workshops throughout Kenya. Like minded churches are enlisted to co-host these events under the Global Orphan Relief nonprofit organization based in Colorado, USA. He is leading in championing the rights, interests, and well-being of orphan children by deploying the local Church to be more focused on serving orphaned children in their communities.
Isaiah is a graduate of Nations University-USA with a Master of Theological Studies degree and Christian Leaders College with a Bachelor of Divinity Degree.
He is active in the Church and his community. He currently serves as a volunteer Dean of Students and a Global Minister for the Christian Leaders Alliance based in the US. Isaiah is an ordained minister of the Word with Christian Leaders Alliance and a member of Parklands Baptist Church Westlands in Nairobi. He also serves as a Director in the Kenya National Congress of Pentecostal Churches (KNCPC). Isaiah is the husband to Ruth Sheen and a father to Gracious.
Global Orphan Relief (GO) has been serving orphaned children since 2005. We have accomplished this work through local partners in each country that provides oversight and distribution of care. As of May, we serve 2,479 orphan children in DR Congo, Kenya, Pakistan, South Sudan, and Zambia within our Home-based Care, Scholarship, Nutrition, and Church Mobilization Initiatives.
You may send support or other correspondence to Global Orphan Relief, 16352 Prairie Farm Circle, Parker, CO 80134 or you may give also give electronically at Church Mobilization or give on this website at the upper righthand corner under ‘Donate’ and select Church Mobilization | Great Commandment Workshop under the Fund designation.
Movement of FAITH | Voice of HOPE | Act of LOVE
Global Orphan Relief (GO!) is a Christian relief agency serving vulnerable children and is a recognized U.S. public charity, tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3). All donations to GO!, or any charitable contribution processed through Network For Good Donor Advised Fund, are tax deductible to the extent of the law. If you prefer, you may provide gifts of support by sending via mail to the address above.