Mwangi November Update for Prayer

To get the full prayer letter with photos go here: https://www.crosslinks.org/people-and-places/africa/gerald-and-louise-mwangi/november-2019/

Otherwise, here’s the text:

‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.’ Deuteronomy 31:6

We have found this verse very encouraging as it reminds us no matter where we are, whichever country or place, the Lord is watching over us all and will never leave us without his guidance.

We had an enjoyable time in Belfast in September and October. We visited six churches around Northern Ireland and were able to introduce the twins to many people! It was also great to spend a good amount of time with Louise’s family, including new niece Zoe (see photo).

Family life

The boys are growing well and it’s so exciting to see them learn new skills and make each other giggle. Unfortunately they have several allergies and some not yet identified. Louise is on a strict diet to avoid known allergens and we’re being very careful with weaning, so please pray for that as it is quite stressful.

Louise is hoping and planning to host a ladies’ bible study for new mothers from church using Psalm 139 over a few sessions. This is a new venture but we hope it will be a useful opportunity to reflect on motherhood and the creation of new life as well as the ladies growing in faith, friendship and community.

CrossCamp and TransformD

As TransformD programme is for gap year students, we have felt the need to get involved in the lives of those who are still at high school. The intention is that we will teach them the word of God as we use a week-long camp as a ‘taster’ of what TransformD Discipleship Programme is about. We had our first ‘CrossCamp’ in December 2018 (see photo of team building session) and we have three lined up before the end of the year: one at the iServe Africa premises in Nairobi, one in Nyeri (three hours away) and one in Mombasa (12 hours by bus). We thank God for the TransformD staff team that comprises of Mariam, Duncan and two ministry apprentices, Lewis and Everlyne, who are with us for a year. They are energised for the work ahead and this means Gerald won’t need to do a lot of travelling at this time.

Recruitment for TransformD 2020 is ongoing and we are working on a target number of 30-40 young people, four of whom will be joining us from the UK. This will be a leap from the previous team of 27 and a lot needs to be done in terms of planning and recruitment. We are grateful to God for what we have been able to accomplish in the previous years and pray for more grace and wisdom in the coming year as the team grows. We also have had requests from the coastal region of Kenya to go and help run some lessons from our programme there.

New role

In the photo above you can see the iServe staff team. Gerald has been asked to now oversee all iServe Africa programmes, which means being a line manager for:

1. TransformD programme (and also directly involved in the day-to-day running of this) and CrossCamp (which is organised by the TransformD staff team).

2. Ministry apprenticeship programme – for people who have graduated university and want to serve for at least one year in ministry.

3. Utumishi course (Swahili for servanthood). A bible-training course that runs one day per week over a year for pastors or church members who want to learn more about the Bible and sharing faith.

By God’s grace and his people’s giving, iServe Africa has built a large two-story building on the land they own. In the second half of 2020, after TransformD finishes, they hope to build two more floors. This is to enable the work to increase as the centre will then have more facilities, and allow more than one programme to run at the same time. The projected costs for the further building is £160,000. We will keep you updated on the progress of this building project.   

Prayer points

• Please pray for Jeremiah and Daniel, for their health and wellbeing and that they will grow out of these allergies without any serious incidences along the way. Pray also for accurate identification of other food causing reactions.

• Pray for Gerald as he balances managing other areas of iServe with leading TransformD and their staff team. For the three camps happening before Christmas, for the word of God to be preached faithfully and for people to grow in faith.

• Pray for the work of iServe Africa generally, as it works to train leaders in different places and aims to faithfully proclaim the word of God through all it does.