Kenya Mission
Our Kenya mission trip was a profound journey of grace, offering immense relief and encouragement to local pastors struggling under heavy ministry burdens, ultimately stabilizing their mental health and strengthening their families. Through partnership, fellowship, and intentional rest, this trip served as a conduit for spiritual renewal, reducing burnout among spiritual leaders in rural Makueni County, Kenya. In a very small community village of Kwa Matungu; our trip was in partnership with Prayer View Church (Peoria, IL), Solid Rock Apostolic Ministries (Nairobi, Kenya), and True Vine Gospel Church (Kwa Matungu).
The unrelenting nature of pastoral ministry in Kenya—often combined with extreme economic, structural, and social challenges—takes a severe toll on mental health. Many Kenyan pastors serve in areas where they lack resources while running orphanages or schools alongside their church duties. Our trip provided a crucial, nurturing environment where these leaders could, for the first time, take a step back from their tireless work and be poured into themselves. Through counseling, encouragement, and intentional networking, pastors felt their burdens lightened and their spirits refreshed.
Specifically, the "pastor-to-pastor" care allowed leaders to share their stresses openly without fear of judgment. This fellowship breaks down the walls of isolation that many rural church leaders face. By showing appreciation and validation, the mental health of these leaders was restored, enabling them to return to their communities with renewed vigor and hope. This "pressing down" of burdens allowed them to embrace the reality of God’s sustained care in their lives. Learning about secondary trauma stress for the first time in their lives helped put words and images to real life happenings and events that have been impacting pastors as they try to sustain ministry.
Furthermore, the impact on families was immediate. When a pastor is suffering from burnout, the entire household feels the strain. By providing the, sometimes scarce, resources for sustenance and acknowledging the immense pressure placed on pastor's spouses and children, our team helped foster a more stable home environment. Through specialized workshops, we emphasized that the ministry includes protecting their family's well-being and emotional health through healthy work life balance. This holistic approach helped families feel valued and seen, rather than secondary to the church work.
Our work preparation prior to the trip brought out each participant’s inner passion for people. As we talked about personal strengths and how they might benefit the mission, we were encouraged to be ourselves. Once on site in Kenya, we gathered the whole mission team in our Nairobi apartment. We were inspired by Millicent (our leader, and former Beacon of Hope student intern) and her husband Daudi. And we were told the theme – “Just Be Ready”.
We had all planned our individual parts, but we would not know for sure how it would play out until we arrived at the mission. So, just be ready – because you never know when you will be asked to do something or say something. And the something might just be completely different from what you prepared.
Case in point, day two – the word got out that the mission was in the village. School was not in session at the time and the children heard Americans were in town. This word spread quickly as each child told friends of what was happening. Soon we had a small bible school on our hands. And Miss Linda (Pastor Ken’s wife) from Peoria stepped up and served and gave these children an impromptu vacation bible school for the ages – it was amazing to see their smiles!
This continued with the youth. Day two also brought to us 56 teenagers ranging from 6th – 12th grades. Our team all looked at each other and it was decided that we must do something for these teens. Just be ready – well, I was called upon to have a break out session with these young people. God showed up in an amazing way as He laid on my heart stories from Esther and Jeremiah and we spoke about the dreams of these precious students. I was highly impressed with their attentiveness. The respect and honor they showed was extremely humbling. What a blessing it was for me to get this opportunity. I am forever grateful. Just be faithful and God will do the rest.
Each evening after our teaching sessions the church would set up in the village center (marketplace) a live stage for music and preaching. They call these ‘open air crusades’. I have been to tent meetings and revival services, but this was taking the service to the streets. The True Vine church leaders would carry the sound system each day to the center of town. And church would happen! The Spirit was present in full and all Glory to God! What a privilege to witness people getting exposed to the Gospel and making decisions for Christ. God is on the move in Kenya!
At the end of day two, Millie made an announcement to the people at the crusade that an American would be speaking the next evening. This was a bit of a hook to grab the shop owners’ attention – who would this American be? Our team was wondering the same thing. Each night we gathered at our hotel and debriefed the day and went over the plan for the next. Pastor Ken asked Millie who was preaching at the crusade and her answer was, “be ready”. After dinner Millie and Daudi came to my room and asked if I liked surprises. My answer was like sometimes. Well, she then said – surprise, you are speaking at the crusade tomorrow and walked away. “Just be ready”.
It’s not like I haven’t preached before, so this seemed doable. But still, I was very nervous – what an honor and privilege to be asked. But I was like, I am not sure – me speaking would have to be with an interpreter – and how would that go? God reminded me that this was not about me, but about His message and that Daudi and I were getting along very well in the break out sessions with interpretation – so we would be fine. Daudi admitted he had never interpreted a crusade before so we were both going in new. Well, God was already there – in fact, God knew we were going to do this before we even bought plane tickets. God was preparing our hearts – we just needed to be faithful. God showed up in such a big way it was incredible. Words cannot really explain it completely. I think there is a video floating around somewhere. If you are super interested – I would suggest maybe searching Instagram or Facebook.
Ultimately, we return home with hearts full of gratitude, witnessing how God used our meager efforts to bring about powerful renewal. Seeing pastors smile despite their immense challenges, and seeing their families strengthened, reminds us that the true mission is not just working for God, but supporting the people of God. The joy and grace encountered in Kenya not only transformed their lives but profoundly changed ours, strengthening our faith and teaching us the beauty of global brother and sisterhood and support.
Thank you for all the love, prayers and support for this amazing trip in Kenya! I can with complete confidence state that this was not a one and done. Beacon of Hope will be going back to Kenya. Be looking for opportunities to support this newest mission of our ministry! Blessings on you all – thank you so much for your support!
