WELCOME WELCOME

Jesus calls us to tell others about him, and to not just tell, but to “make disciples” – to build relationships, to grow communities, to gather as “church”.

In this issue of Interact, you will read about how different people and groups are “making disciples”. In Nairobi, a mission project is reaching street children with good news. It is meeting their practical needs while also welcoming them into the church community as new disciples. You can also read about how 23 years of Pavement Project continues to help children meet Jesus, about how Ninefold Path empowers us to go deeper in our faith, and about how our Christmas outreach can be the start of making new disciples as we share good news with others.

Thank you for your partnership with us in helping people discover Jesus and continue on their journey with him. We hope you enjoy reading about all the different ways we can lead people into a relationship with God and help them deepen their faith, so they might also share good news with others

In Nairobi, a community is making disciples as it brings God’s healing, restoration, and welcome to street children. At the heart of this network is a group of people – pastors, church members, street children – breaking down boundaries, spreading the word, and opening up the church to all.

“This is a place where everyone is important,” says Pastor Mary, talking about Maisha Poa, the project and church where she serves as a social worker and pastor to street children and their families in the Kawangware area of Nairobi. All the children they serve are precious, no matter their status or how they appear. Mary likens it to finding something valuable –no matter the condition it’s in, its inherent worth doesn’t change: “If you have $1 and it drops in a sewer or is dirty, it doesn’t lose its value.”

Changing Lives

Pastor Mary and the team at Maisha Poa rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate children, providing counselling, educational sponsorship, vocational and skills training, literacy programmes, and practical support such as food, washing and laundry facilities, and accommodation. They use Lifewords resources and counsel young people using Pavement Project.

Jonathan is one of the children that Maisha Poa has helped. “I was a thief,” he says. “I was a street kid and I used to fend for myself from the dumpsites. I used to sleep in makeshift shacks. At night, the police would beat us and tell us to go home, but they never used to understand our challenge of not having a home.

“But when I came to Maisha Poa, they changed me. I never used to like education, but they gave me a chance and they took me to school. I used to run away from school, but they were persistent with me. I’m now changed, and I love Jesus.”

Passing It On

Jonathan is now the one who offers help to street children as he encourages his friends from his old life to come to Maisha Poa. “Right now, when I see street boys, I give them the same message that the pastor used to tell me, and I motivate them – I tell them God loves them, because my pastor told me that God loves me.”

One of these boys is Wicliffe. “Before I came to Maisha Poa, I used to collect food and other stuff from the dumpsite in Kawangware,” he says. “I used to do this to feed my family. Everyday my sisters and I used to sort out trash that could be sold for recycling. I used to run away from home and sleep on the streets. One day my friend Jonathan told me that Maisha Poa helps children like me and that I should go there. So, I came here, and they promised to help me. Pastor Mary also counselled me and told me that the bad stuff I was doing wasn’t pleasing in the eyes of God. I started coming with my mum on Sundays to worship and serve here.” about a community that is waiting to welcome them in. “I ask the street kids, have you been stopped from going somewhere just because you’re a child?” says Jonathan. “And they say, ‘Yes, I was chased away. Firstly, because I was dirty, and secondly, because I was alone, I didn’t have a parent.’ The children who go to church are the children who are being taken there by their parents. Those who don’t have parents are chased away.” But these children are invited in at the church that is part of Maisha Poa. “It is wrong to build a big church, and then lock it with a gate, and put guards outside,” says Pastor Mary. “We welcome the children to our church.”

Give thanks for Maisha Poa and Pastor Mary –for the welcome and restoration they offer street children.

Praise God for Jonathan and Wicliffe –pray that they would grow in their faith and in their compassion for others.

Motivated By God

The practical help and welcome are undergirded by the Bible’s values of love, forgiveness, and restoration. Through the church community, and ongoing discipleship and counselling, young people are discovering new perspectives and new ways to live. “I felt welcomed here, because the very first time I came here, they prayed for me, then taught me using stories from the [Pavement Project] green bag,” says Jonathan. “The Bible has been really helpful to me and has motivated me a lot.”

Pavement Project is helping these children know that they are accepted by God, and that they are invited into God’s kingdom. “Pastor Mary showed me a card from the green bag that had a picture of a child carried in Jesus’ arms,” says Wicliffe. “She then told me that even if I go astray, Jesus still loves me, and he’ll still take me back. Right now, I even go to the streets and invite the other street kids to church.”

“My life has changed since I came to Maisha Poa,” says Jonathan, “it has given me an education, it has given me motivation. Before I came here, I was everything bad –I used to smoke weed, I have used all kinds of drugs. But ever since I came here, I’ve changed. I don’t do all the bad things I used to do. What made me stop doing all these bad things was the green bag. The Bible motivates and gives good advice. Pavement Project teaches stories about God and once you know about God everything is possible.”

Praise God for how the Bible is motivating and guiding these young people.

Banging the drum for NINE BEATS

In May, Lifewords was at Big Church Festival showcasing NINE BEATS and Ninefold Path. An electric drum pad with nine different beats allowed visitors to drum out their own nine beats, and a listening station gave them the opportunity to experience the album from NINE BEATS Collective, Nine Beats to the Bar.

“The stand stood out in the exhibition space, and it attracted a lot of people,” says Elizabeth King from Lifewords. “The listening station was very popular, and the people who listened to the CD loved the music and appreciated the eclectic style – one woman bought the album and took it back to her tent, and later told us that she had spent all evening listening to it. The drum pads were a hit (pun intended!) with a lot of people and created a bit of a buzz. Ninefold Path garnered a lot of interest as a different way of engaging communities around the beatitudes, with one visitor telling us that ‘Ninefold Path is the best thing I have ever done’.”

Life Changing Words is 20!

This year Life Changing Words (LCW) celebrates 20 years of the email and app service that connects users all over the world with a daily Bible verse that they can respond to and share.

The email service was launched in 2003, followed by the app 10 years later, in 2013. Now, in 2023, a new version of the app has been created offering a new look, more features, and a faster user experience. “People can share Bible verses using attractive graphic backgrounds,” says Jarek Jankowski, Global Bible Resources Director. “It is already attracting more people. In just three weeks, we recorded 5,000 new installations on Android and iOS driven devices. In comparison, 2022 saw 17,000 new installations for the whole year. This is encouraging – it means that thousands of people are reading Bible verses every day and sharing them with their friends and relatives.”

“We have to figure out ways to deliver the truth, the ways and teachings of Jesus, in ways that people can hear it today –because that word still heals, it still saves, it still guides, so we’ve got to get it into people’s hands and we’re committed … to find as many artistic means to deliver the message of Jesus Christ to as many people as we can.”

Eric Leroy Wilson, NINE BEATS Collective