Background
Margaret and Miriam had been separately training Children's Workers throughout Kenya for some years before training together at a Sunday School teachers in Coastal region for Anglican Church through the invitation of the late Peter Amukhale. 190 children’s workers gathered for a week of intensive training in Kilifi. The fire began there. Miriam & Margaret met and connected. God had put them together and gave them a burden for children all over Kenya. God opened the door to Western Kenya where over 3 years, hundreds of Children's Workers from different churches were equipped. The ministry was already established in the Coast of Kenya and Rift Valley.
The beginning for Afri-Lift’s Trainers
In 2003 – Fanie Richter from Petra went to Gabon and met Jane Jilani from Mombasa. Jane felt that what Fanie was presenting was needed in Kenya. Jane invited Miriam to attend the first Petra training in Nairobi. Miriam in turn invited Margaret for this training which changed the whole approach to the way of doing trainings. They both got the opportunity to attend the Mentorship course in White River, South Africa. From there Petra took them to Ethiopia and Tanzania as mentors-in-training. Petra now endorses Miriam and Margaret to facilitate the Petra model of training. Training has now taken Miriam and Margaret to Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique and Sudan.
Miriam’s Profile:
“A heart for Children.”
Mark 10:15 ‘Let the children come to me, for the kingdom of God belongs to them.’
God called Miriam; ‘it was so clear and as I look back on my life I have done nothing but Children’s Ministry. Children’s Ministry is my lifestyle.’ Miriam gave her life to Christ at 9 years old. She was raised in an Islamic/Christian family but found Christ through the lifestyle godly testimony of her grandmother. After finishing high school Miriam met a Children’s Worker, Patricia Parrot, who introduced her to preparing and presenting a Bible lesson to children for clubs and outreaches. Miriam served in Mombasa Pentecostal Church for 17 years as a volunteer and a full-time Children’s Pastor. In 2007, the church sent her as a Missionary Training Facilitator for Children’s Ministry. God has used her to empower many Children’s Workers and children in different countries in Africa and in her own country, Kenya. This was as a result of training and mentorship from Petra College for Children’s Ministry in South Africa.
Miriam has been trained by many Children’s organizations but Petra College has transformed Miriam’s way of training others and reaching out to children. She appreciates Petra College for transforming her life and her way of training which has also transformed many leaders, Children’s Workers and children.
Margaret’s Profile:
“Serving Children”
Isaiah 42:6,7 ‘I have called you to demonstrate my righteousness…. a light to guide the nations…to open the eyes of the blind …to free the captives from prison.’
Margaret is a New Zealander serving God as a missionary in Kenya with her husband, Robin. As a student in university she began teaching church children which continued into married life until the New Plymouth Assembly of God sent Robin and Margaret to Africa. When exposed to the churches, Margaret saw the need for training Children’s Workers and it became a burden. Once their children left home, Margaret had more time to dedicate to the children of Africa and the opportunity to go to South Africa for the mentorship course at Petra College led her in a more focused direction in training Children’s Workers. Giving the opportunity to trainees to hear from God excites her and seeing them grow in their personal walk with God, which also spiritually benefits the children, makes her feel that the promises of God are being fulfilled in her life.
Edith Kathure's Profile:
‘The voice to the voiceless.’
‘True salvation is taking care of the widows and orphans and the fatherless.' James 1:27
Birth of Children’s Worker Training in Kakuma
Edith started feeding the children of the Kakuma Turkana area in 1998. She was teaching the children the Word of God and literacy though they couldn’t understand each other since Edith didn’t know their local language and the children didn’t know Kiswahili or English. That’s when she looked for help from the local people … BUT… they were not teachers so Pastor Namuya of Full Gospel church and Pastor Tito, a pastor in the refugee camp advised her to train people ‘to teach like you!’ April 2004 was the first class of Children’s Workers Trainings for pastors and workers in churches. The text book was the Bible. The training has continued every school holidays and in 2009 she invited Afri-Lift to facilitate the Petra training process. From this group, churches have been planted. The trainees in the program are from both the local Turkana Community and the Kakuma refugee camp churches.
One of Edith’s highlights is to see young men from remote areas of Turkana change by the power of the Word of God; joined school and have now completed High School and joined colleges and even now working. All of these young people are now responsible church workers who are reaching out to the Turkana children and the many different nations represented in the Kakuma Camp. Some are pastors who are known to have a heart for children