Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered 12-step recovery program based on the Beatitudes that helps people work through hurts, hang ups and habits in their lives. It is in over 10,000 churches across the United States and approximately 30 countries around the world.
Purpose
The team traveled to Kenya to teach the CR program to a small group of key church leaders and prison officials in Nairobi that would serve as models for others in the area. Also the team held a follow up training in Mombasa for church leaders and prisons officials that attended previous trainings to encourage them and help them as they start their programs.
History
On previous trips, teams have conducted seminars in Kitale, Nairobi and near Mombasa and trained pastors, church leaders and prison officials from across Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Rwanda. CR started in many churches but not continued, mostly due to lack of senior pastor support. Based on that, we reevaluated the training process and how better to approach the churches to gain senior pastor support.
In April 2008 Pastor Rick Warren held a luncheon meeting in Nairobi with approximately 30 denomination leaders from across Kenya. At that meeting he talked about Celebrate Recovery and many expressed interest in the program.
In September 2008, a team of CR leaders from Saddleback held an informational meeting at ICM offices in Nairobi with about 75 people present, including some of those leaders from the luncheon as well as many other senior pastors from the Nairobi area. Those attending were presented an overview of the program, how it can impact their church, challenges they may face and how they can best demonstrate their support. They were invited to attend a future seminar on how to start the program.
CR Seminars
The first week of February 2009, the team conducted a 4-day residential seminar held at AIC Diguna in Nairobi with pastors, church leaders and prison officials in attendance. The seminar was limited to 75 people from 10-12 churches with men and women from each church. The course included both lecture and group meetings so the participants were able to experience the benefits of the program for themselves and can better understand how the program works.
The training partly consists of an accelerated CR step study, so the participants experienced the benefits of CR in their ow
n lives during the intensive training and saw how it can help the people of their churches and prisons deal with their hurts, hang-ups and habits. It is a tool to help them work through their past and find forgiveness, and can help them with many struggles in their lives such as abuse, anger, unforgiveness, alcoholism, and sexual addiction.
By the conclusion of the seminar, many churches had created detailed schedules of how they would train leaders and start CR over the next few months.
The team traveled to Mombasa and held what began as a follow up meeting for those attending a 5 day CR seminar in September 2008. Word got out that we were there to talk about CR and many others came to learn about the program, turning the seminar into more of an introductory meeting. We were invited to come back and hold a training seminar.
Prisons
CR has been very successful in the Kenyan prisons and continues to grow. It began in 2005 in Kitale Men’s Prison and is now in all 4 prisons in Kitale as well as many prisons across the country. Jana O’Guin was blessed with a government issued permit allowing full access to visit any of the 93 prisons in Kenya.
On this trip, the team visited 8 prisons in Nairobi, Mombasa, Malindi and Kilifi, including 2 youth prisons and death row in men’s and women’s prisons. Officials from each of these prisons had attended previous CR seminars. Three of these prisons have active CR programs. The others are in the process of starting. We brought CR materials, pens, notebooks and encouragement for the inmates and officers. We attended a weekly CR meeting at Langata Women’s Prison in Nairobi to encourage them and share our own stories of healing through CR. We visited the 43 women on death row at the same prison who are starting CR. We went to Kamiti Men’s Maximum Security Prison in Nairobi and met with 150-200 men who are on death row or serving life sentences. We introduced CR to the inmates and the chaplains have since begun the program. We were invited to attend a men’s step study group with 15 men at Malindi prison and since being there it has grown to 44 men.
Relationships
We have found that it is important to establish relationships with the churches and prisons before they are willing to begin CR. We attended churches in Nairobi and Mombasa, both of which are now in the process of starting CR. We visited with friends made during previous trips, developing long term relationships. Many of the previous CR trips to Kenya have been to Kitale but we were unable to go there on this trip. Two friends came to Nairobi just to meet the team and spend a short amount of time in fellowship.
Materials
Up to this point, distribution of CR materials has been limited to the amount the teams could carry over in tubs. Zondervan has recently granted rights for an African Edition of the CR Leader’s Guide and Participant Guide in English at a very low cost. The first printing will be delivered in 2009 making CR materials much more accessible.
Many Kenyans outside of the Nairobi area have difficulty with English. The senior chaplain of Kitale Main Prison has translated the Participant Guides into Kiswahili by hand. Per our request, ICM is in the process of turning that into an official translation which will be published and made available within the next year or so.
Next Steps
A follow up trip by a Saddleback CR team to support the churches that participated in the Nairobi seminar is scheduled for August 2009. During this trip, the team will be holding an introductory meeting for senior pastors and prison chaplains in Rift Valley to lay the foundation for a future seminar in that region. They will also be conducting a 4 or 5 day training seminar in Mombasa with those that attended the introductory meeting on this trip.
The first week of February 2009, the team conducted a 4-day residential seminar held at AIC Diguna in Nairobi with pastors, church leaders and prison officials in attendance. The seminar was limited to 75 people from 10-12 churches with men and women from each church. The course included both lecture and group meetings so the participants were able to experience the benefits of the program for themselves and can better understand how the program works.
The training partly consists of an accelerated CR step study, so the participants experienced the benefits of CR in their ow
n lives during the intensive training and saw how it can help the people of their churches and prisons deal with their hurts, hang-ups and habits. It is a tool to help them work through their past and find forgiveness, and can help them with many struggles in their lives such as abuse, anger, unforgiveness, alcoholism, and sexual addiction.By the conclusion of the seminar, many churches had created detailed schedules of how they would train leaders and start CR over the next few months.
The team traveled to Mombasa and held what began as a follow up meeting for those attending a 5 day CR seminar in September 2008. Word got out that we were there to talk about CR and many others came to learn about the program, turning the seminar into more of an introductory meeting. We were invited to come back and hold a training seminar.
Prisons
CR has been very successful in the Kenyan prisons and continues to grow. It began in 2005 in Kitale Men’s Prison and is now in all 4 prisons in Kitale as well as many prisons across the country. Jana O’Guin was blessed with a government issued permit allowing full access to visit any of the 93 prisons in Kenya.
On this trip, the team visited 8 prisons in Nairobi, Mombasa, Malindi and Kilifi, including 2 youth prisons and death row in men’s and women’s prisons. Officials from each of these prisons had attended previous CR seminars. Three of these prisons have active CR programs. The others are in the process of starting. We brought CR materials, pens, notebooks and encouragement for the inmates and officers. We attended a weekly CR meeting at Langata Women’s Prison in Nairobi to encourage them and share our own stories of healing through CR. We visited the 43 women on death row at the same prison who are starting CR. We went to Kamiti Men’s Maximum Security Prison in Nairobi and met with 150-200 men who are on death row or serving life sentences. We introduced CR to the inmates and the chaplains have since begun the program. We were invited to attend a men’s step study group with 15 men at Malindi prison and since being there it has grown to 44 men.
Relationships
We have found that it is important to establish relationships with the churches and prisons before they are willing to begin CR. We attended churches in Nairobi and Mombasa, both of which are now in the process of starting CR. We visited with friends made during previous trips, developing long term relationships. Many of the previous CR trips to Kenya have been to Kitale but we were unable to go there on this trip. Two friends came to Nairobi just to meet the team and spend a short amount of time in fellowship.
Materials
Up to this point, distribution of CR materials has been limited to the amount the teams could carry over in tubs. Zondervan has recently granted rights for an African Edition of the CR Leader’s Guide and Participant Guide in English at a very low cost. The first printing will be delivered in 2009 making CR materials much more accessible.
Many Kenyans outside of the Nairobi area have difficulty with English. The senior chaplain of Kitale Main Prison has translated the Participant Guides into Kiswahili by hand. Per our request, ICM is in the process of turning that into an official translation which will be published and made available within the next year or so.
Next Steps
A follow up trip by a Saddleback CR team to support the churches that participated in the Nairobi seminar is scheduled for August 2009. During this trip, the team will be holding an introductory meeting for senior pastors and prison chaplains in Rift Valley to lay the foundation for a future seminar in that region. They will also be conducting a 4 or 5 day training seminar in Mombasa with those that attended the introductory meeting on this trip.
