“The week of training was instrumental in fulfilling my call to spread the gospel,” said Charles, a young man in his 20s. Margaret wrote how the teachings, “changed my perspective on sharing the gospel of Jesus.” And Josephine reported, “I have learned a lot, and my ministry has been equipped.”
Over 80 students from across Kenya gathered at Manna Bible Institute (south of Nairobi) for an intensive wee
k of classes and outreach. Among them were young and old, men and women. Some were bishops, pastors, church planters, full-time evangelists, police and prison chaplains, youth workers and more.
Thank you for sending Gabe and I to Kenya to equip these members of the African church, and to join with them in going out to preach the gospel to the lost. We praise God for all He did, “Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!” (Ps. 150:1)
Laying Burdens Down
One session, “Lessons on Following God’s Call,” is where I taught on the rigors of persevering in the ups and downs of ministry. Students discussed their burdens in small groups, then I ended the time with an opportunity for students to co
me and lay their burdens of life and ministry down at the cross. God did above and beyond what I anticipated. Nearly all the students came and sought the Lord in an extended time of prayer. Afterward we had a testimony time. One minister shared how after he turned from Islam and to Christ, that he had seen God do great things through him. However, the evil one would often come at some point, and begin to try and destroy what God had done. So when the man attended the classes, he was extremely discouraged, and had decided within himself he would return to Islam. But praise God, he responded to the Spirit and sought the Lord with tears, laying his burden down. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” There were other testimonies as well of how God led students to lay weights down they were carrying.
Trying Something New
In another teaching, I spoke on “The Message of The Evangelist.” I questioned from a biblical perspective, the long-standing use of the sinner’s prayer. Instead, I proposed a different method while asking, “It is normal in areas of Christian ministry to pray over people for various needs one has. But when it comes to salvation, why do we switch that and ask people to repeat a prayer?”
After students would share how a lost person can be saved through repentance and faith, then I taught them how to pray over the lost person, instead of praying with the lost person. Then I instructed them to urge the person themself to cry out to God with a desperate heart for their salvation, in their own words. The Scriptures say, “And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD.” (1 Sam. 12:10)
The goal is to increase our trust in the Holy Spirit’s work at stirring the sinner’s soul toward repentance and faith, and to release the person into His care, that they might call out to God themselves, and also reduce potential false conversions.
The Children Prayed!
This was all new to the students, and during the week I modeled it before them in preaching and personal evangelism. In one case, God moved powerfully.
Each evening, following the classroom teaching, we held open air meetings in areas around Manna Bible Institute (MBI). This is a common form of evangelism for the students. In one location, we were there for two days, and drew curious children from the neighborhood. This led Erik, one of the students, to draw the
children in for singing and dancing. On the second day, I felt God wanted me to make a change and speak to the children, instead of the adults. Erik helped gather the children, and then we sat down and I preached Christ to them. During the response time, I explained and urged the children to turn to Christ. Then prayed over them, that they might be saved. Then invited them to call upon Jesus themselves. And they did! Many of the children clasped their hands together, while quietly moving their lips in prayer to God. Erik, one of the students who was translating for me, witnessed this, and watched in amazement. What a glorious move of God!
Visiting Kibera
We traveled to visit Kibera, it is the largest slum in East Africa with estimates of 1,000,000 people living within 2.5 square miles. We visited a local church, PEFA Kibera church, and learned about their incredible ministry. The pastor used to live in Kibera for 20 years. They also gave us a brief walking tour of the slum. The government provides no education, security, water, electricity, healthcare, and no one owns their property – including the church we visited. Among it all are great amounts of poverty, with many homes built of dirt, sticks and corrugated steel panels.
While there we donated supplies to help in feeding people, as part of the church’s ministry. For we agree with Paul’s words, when he said, “They asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (Gal. 2:10)
Gabe’s Introduction to Missions 
This was Gabe’s first international mission trip and was given many opportunities to explore his call to ministry and did an incredible job.
His first speaking opportunity came less than 24 hours after he got off the plane. On Sunday morning, he was given a few minutes in two services to introduce himself. He had never spoken through a translator before, so there were several starts and stops and laughs. We were not really sure how much the translator, nor the congregation understood.
During our time he gave several more introductions, a personal testimony during an outdoor evangelistic meeting, provided daily devotions for the evangelism class, was a guest speaker at a youth seminar, went out daily engaging in personal evangelism, taught a young adult Sunday School class, and preached the following Sunday.
MBI’s Administrator and Manna Church’s Associate Pastor, Stephen Kinuthia, said this about Gabe, “Come the second Sunday when Gabe was preaching in the service, he exceeded everyone’s expectations. He had prepared his sermon well about the story of the lost sheep and Zacchaeus. I had expected him to preach for only 10 minutes, but he ended up preaching for 35 minutes with clarity and articulation. I saw a confident young man who has a heart for missions, focused and a love for Christ.”
Serving Law Enforcement
One morning we left early to travel to Kabete Police Station, one of many stations in and around Nairobi, the nation’s capital city. I was invited to come by Police Chaplain Rev. Jeremiah Cool, who was one of the students. The station has regular chapel services for the officers, and I was asked to speak to them. I briefly preached on Matthew 11:28-30 and invited the officers to lay their burdens of sin down at the foot of Jesus’ cross. This was the first time I had ever spoken before law enforcement. It was a joy to serve them, especially at a difficult time. Following the chapel, some officers were dispatched to respond to deadly protests around the capital buildings.
Person to Person
Following classes each day, students went out to engage in personal evangelism. I went with them on one occasion and came upon a group of young men, that were taken by a little too much alcohol. However, I did get in a good conversation with David, a young Muslim. There are a growing 
number of Muslims in the area. He was very familiar with the Bible, quoting Scripture and articulating Bible doctrine very well. However, after a lengthy conversation, I was able to finally understand His biggest obstacle to Christianity. He strongly objected to the need to believe in Christ, for he refused to accept that Jesus was more than a man. At the end of our conversation, I prayed for him and quoted Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
The Future
Our partnership with MBI continues to grow. In 2020, we supplied funding to build new bathroom facilities. We also helped them financially through difficulties with Covid, as the school was shut down for a season. Then in 2023, we made our first trip, ministering to 100 students. Then our second trip this year. And next year, the dates have already been set following conversations with MBI Principle, Bishop Dr. Geroge Muguro. We will return July 28-August 1st, 2025.
Servant of Jesus. Servant of Yours,
Clint Decker
President
Great Awakenings, Inc
