17th Annual Student Outreach

​This year’s 17th annual Children of the Kingdom December Outreach targeted a village named Lokipetot Arengan from November 29th- December 3rd.  Fourteen boys from the Children of the Kingdom program and sixteen girls served on the team led by John Lohoi, our Children of the Kingdom director in Kenya, along with Stanley Alem and Andrew Edaan from Share International.  There were no churches in this village and many people there had not heard the gospel before our team came.  Not only did our students preach and teach in open air meetings that included 500 people over the course of the three days, but they also went door to door sharing about God’s love, prayed with villagers, and showed the Jesus film.  John Lohoi reported that over a hundred people in the village accepted the invitation to receive Christ into their lives. 

On the Saturday before they left, the Children of the Kingdom team along with the village and their chief dedicated a piece of land to be made into a church.  The first to step forward to commit to donate funds for the new site were children from our program.  Justus Lokosowa, Chota Eregae, Jane Kutan, Zecharia Etabo, Isabella Loruman, Eliud Losususi, Gideon Eyanae, Murimi Muya, Agnes Akai, Regina Akiru, Jessica Kebo, and Janet Lolii all pledged funds for building supplies. 

Children of the Kingdom’s mission is “To share the gospel and our very lives with children in need through the gift of sponsorship for education to equip them to be missional servants in the kingdom.” These children have lived this out so beautifully on this trip, and we are so grateful for their example to us of being Christ’s light this Advent season. 
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Ann Voskamp writes, “Advent is a whole lot more than waiting for Christmas, Advent is a whole lot more than preparing for Christmas —- Advent is ultimately about preparing the way for the Light of Christ in a world dying for light. Advent is a whole lot more than passively waiting for the King — it’s about participating in the work of the Kingdom of God.”
 
James Amadon also shares some encouragement in this season: “It is tempting this Advent to see only leafless trees, falling sunlight, and a darkening cultural horizon. But this is God’s pattern: death to life, bad news to good, sorrow to joy. Lift up your shoulders, shed your burdens, and open your eyes; joy springs up in unlikely places.”
 
Giving thanks for these students faithfully participating in the work of the Kingdom of God and for the joy that is springing up in Kenya through them.