Reaching Nairobi for Jesus

Written by David Zavala

I caught Wes’ vision for Africa while I was serving at FRM’s outreach to Kiryandongo, Uganda. Shortly after my wife and I were married in May 2002, Wes asked us to pray about moving to Kenya to help with a new church plant. We felt God confirmed our call and moved to Kenya in 2003. In May, 2006, my sending church, Calvary Chapel Saving Grace, ordained me and I began leading Calvary Chapel Nairobi. Our church is located at Dagoretti Center, in the suburbs of Nairobi, on the 2nd floor of the Gnong Road Professional Center. Our church body is made up of families living in the Satellite Slums directly behind the church. I am humbled and amazed to see lives being radically changed. Most of the families come from legalistic backgrounds. They quickly cling to God’s grace and shed legalism as if it were an old worn out garment. These brothers and sisters have no material wealth but they are rich in love, faith and good works. When our short-term teams visit their humble homes, (tin shack houses) they are blown away. The love and hospitality given are such a stark contrast to the physical poverty. We keep the church open as much as possible, giving the saints a place to gather and to be encouraged. On Sunday mornings usually more than 100 adults attend church service and at least 200 children attend as well. Afterward we serve tea and cookies to encourage fellowship among the church congregation.

We are known for being a church that has more children than adults. The local children come in masses to attend Sunday school! We have had upwards of 600 children at a time. Only a small number come with their parents and the rest come alone. They love Jesus. They want to hear more about the Bible and the Holy Spirit draws them to a safe place where we have the privilege of serving them. The children wear tattered old clothes and some come carrying a younger sibling on their hip. About 200 children are consistently attending each week. Sunday School is divided into age appropriate classes starting with the Baby Bible Class teaching children six months to three years of age. We have classes all the way up to the late teen years. Please pray God will raise up more teachers for us. We need men and women with a heart to disciple these kids.

My wife, Twinkle, disciples the women of our church. The women’s Bible studies are held every Saturday afternoon. After the lessons they have a time of prayer for one another. The women are part of Rabuna Fi (which in Arabic means God is here), an income generation program developed by Far Reaching Ministries Aviation. After Bible Study and prayer the women can stay at the church and work to earn money for their families.

Our church is healthy and we are busy sharing our faith. Every Monday we go out to different areas of Nairobi and share the Gospel, evangelize, hand out tracks, and pray with those in need. We want to see the lost saved and the dead made alive in Christ. We also offer a new believers class every Sunday after the main service. Phenias, a young brother from the church, teaches the foundations of Christian faith to anyone who is eager to learn.

One Sunday a month we host an outreach called The Freedom in Christ Convert. We target the youth of our city. God gave me a burden for these young people who just wander aimlessly on the streets without hope. The focus is to present the Gospel message, and we invite the young people to share their talents and gifts. They are given a chance to perform music, dramas, drimes, and poetry that is glorifying to the Lord. We see many unsaved youth join us each month. Lives are being surrendered to Christ during the concerts. Praise the Lord! Please pray that the Lord would draw more young people into the kingdom through this outreach.

Last fall we opened a Calvary Chapel Bible College at the church. This February we are offering 11 classes and have 28 students enrolled. Pastor Eric Ceaser and his wife Sheila, have come from Calvary Chapel Kampala to help run this program.

Our church is also reaching out into slum areas of the city. Kibera is one of the largest slums in Kenya and it is reported to have over 1 million residents. Our missionaries and church body are reaching out in two schools: SODA, which is located in Kibera, and BiDii, which is located in Kangemi.

Zakayo and Doreen are a wonderful godly couple that have given their lives to serve God. We love having them as a part of our church family. They live in Kibera slums. As Doreen saw the suffering of the children who roam aimlessly around the slums she felt she must do something. The slums are a dangerous place in many ways. There are crowded shacks with rusty broken corrugated roofs jutting out at eye level ready to cut you if you are unaware. Open sewers flow freely through the dirt pathways and broken glass and condoms litter the way. Small children with rags and broken flip-flops play unattended in piles of stinking trash. Doreen saw all this and her heart was broken. As she prayed, God laid on her heart to open a free school for the children where they would be taught and also fed two meals a day. Zakayo confesses that he doubted Doreen’s vision and wondered how they could provide for other children when they had children of their own to feed and clothe. However, Doreen stood strong and in June 2005, Support Orphans and Destitutes Academy (SODA) was launched with the sole purpose of serving orphaned children. They started small but today 360 children attend the school. The children meet in two small shack-like buildings with fragile dividers separating the classrooms. The ground is an uneven dusty mud floor and the outside area is a pot-holed main thoroughfare for passers-by. Teaching in the classroom is very difficult. The children are cramped, noise from the other classrooms is completely audible and an old train track runs alongside the school deafening the students when it’s in use.

Last year, our children’s ministry teams started a weekly discipleship at SODA. The children go through the Bible using flashcards, a Betty Lukens’ flannel graph, and inductive Bible study lessons. Our teams from America brought them a full Vacation Bible School program last year too! The children love having the teams come because they enjoy making new friends and the teams are profoundly affected by their experience in the slums.

All the visitors, especially the Americans, have caught the attention of the criminals in Kibera. Zakayo and his family are their new targets because they believe that the visitors bring money with them. Violent crime is common in the slums. Zakayo and Doreen have not wavered in their resolve to have Calvary Chapel Nairobi and FRM teams come and bring the Good News to the children. Please pray for Zakayo, Doreen, and our team members to be guarded by the Lord as they server in SODA.

Doreen and Zakayo needed to finance the school so Doreen opened two hairdressing salons near the schools. Doreen felt the salons could provide an opportunity to help single mothers learn a trade as well. She began training these single moms the art of plaiting, or as we call it braiding hair. Last fall, the Lord opened the door for Hannah, one of our missionaries from New Zealand, to begin a Bible study at one of the salons. Now, about 30 women show up each week and they have all been given a Bible in their own dialect.

Abel is another faithful saint at our church. He works in a school called BiDii Self Help Primary School in the Kangemi slum. Abel invited some FRM missionaries to visit the school. It was evident that the Lord wanted to open a door for us to reach the children on that first visit. The school was founded in 1997 and many of the poorest children in the area attend. Most of the children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Unemployment is high and many people resort to brewing and selling alcohol to survive. There are over 300 children attending the school and they are squeezed into small dark classrooms separated by thin metal sheets. The children are delightful and get so excited each week when we arrive to teach. Some of the children come from Muslim homes and are hearing the Gospel for the first time. What an incredible opportunity that God has given for these children to hear God’s truth and grow in their faith! The teachers often stay with the children during their Bible lesson. This year the teachers asked for a Bible study for themselves! Now our team ministers each week to both the children and the teachers! Please pray that God will fill the teachers to overflowing so that they can pour the truth into the children everyday of the week.

God is great and He is in the business of doing great things. I invite and encourage each one of you to come and join us in reaching Nairobi for Jesus!

Pastor Dave Zavala

© 2009 Far Reaching Ministries