Saturday, September 1, 2012

Saturday

I spent the morning visiting the Athi River Prison Celebrate Recovery ministry. The second group had completed a step study group and today was their graduation. The whole prison yard was invited to the ceremony. A representative from prison headquarters attended along with the CR leaders from Deliverance Church Kitengela located nearby.
The 25 graduates were distinguished by their beautiful bright blue choir robes which they wore proudly.  There was great singing and then a skit performed by some of the men in CR about a man who struggled with anger. He was imprisoned because of fighting then continued to have problems inside because of his anger.  Someone invited him to CR and it transformed his life. It was very creative and funny while capturing the essence of what CR is all about. They sang a song that they wrote about the 8 principles of CR. I was privileged to present their certificates of completion of a step study. The 3 hour ceremony was really nice and many are excited to join the next group.  It was a pretty amazing experience.
Later I met with the CR leaders from DC Kitengela.  They have been meeting as a leadership team and familiarizing themselves with the materials as they planned how to begin.  They will launch the Large Group meeting and Open Share groups next Sunday. They will have their meetings on Sunday afternoons. We had some great discussions about how to launch and they are excited to begin it church wide.
I had afternoon chai at the home of one of the CR leaders from DC. Carolyne and I met the last time I was here and she has been driving me around. It was great to spend time with her and her family again.
Praise report – I had great sleep last night so thanks for your prayers. Pray for Deliverance Church as they launch their CR. Pray for Athi River as they start their third step study group. Pray for travel mercies as I fly to Kisumu Sunday afternoon after attending church. Bishop Moses will meet me at the airport then we will drive to Kakamega for the 4-day seminar that begins Monday morning.

1 comment:

  1. This was the one Event that we spoke about befor you left - I am jealous! What a great opportunity to see the faces of the men as they graduated. This reminds me that there are men here, in prisons and in aftercare programs who have never graduated from anything, including school. They will cherish this event for the rest of their lives and will be "the cornerstone" of their recovery as they move forward with "tools" for the rest of their lives, that they will never forget, because of God's placing you there for this particular purpose!

    God bless you as you continue to be an encouragement to so many and as you plant seeds of hope in Africa!

    John & Linda

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