Braman Foundation of Charities (BFC) successfully conducted Discipleship 1 (What is Discipleship) seminar in Mogoon in Nakuru County, Kenya. The seminar took place at Mogoon Praise Centre church and brought together 14 pastors from different denominations and church branches. (See attached attendance sheet). Mogoon, in general, is a rural set-up at the periphery of Nakuru city. The Nakuru pastors are the newest partners in the ministry to promote deeper discipleship teachings and challenge the church to undertake effective discipleship programs within their churches and communities.
Seminar
Day one of the seminar saw the participants introduced to BFC’s history, programs, objectives of the seminar, and future seminars. Participants were also encouraged to go through the BFC website to better understand the organization. The pastors shared their current discipleship practices and were challenged to reflect on their current practices to what is expected at the end of the training. Indeed, a good number confessed to not undertaking discipleship classes and other said they only talked to new converts as they did not have a discipleship curriculum.
All topics, apart from end times, were covered. We dwelt more on the following topics:
What is discipleship – The discussion included the never-ending process of discipleship towards spiritual maturity and intimacy with Christ.
The holy spirit – One of the most misunderstood topics.
Sanctification – Some agreed to lag behind on progressive sanctification.
Forgiveness and Reconciliation – This was a heavy topic as some confessed to harboring unforgiveness. We had a prayer session and agreed to seek and communicate forgiveness to those we had wronged or those who had wronged us.
Trials and tribulations – Most shared their trials and tribulations with ministry work.
Spiritual Warfare – Always a hot topic within the diverse Kenyan setup.
The seminar ended at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Participants committed to adopting the BFC booklet in their discipleship classes and always update BFC on the progress. All participants promised to conduct discipleship classes every Sunday afternoon.
During this seminar, BFC provided the participants with booklets, ten o’clock tea, lunch, and four o’clock tea.
Challenges
Kenya is currently experiencing harsh economic conditions that have significantly increased operating costs due to an increase in fuel and commodity prices.
There is an increase in demand for Discipleship booklets from our partners in Nairobi, Ndhiwa, and now Nakuru. A good number of churches in Nairobi have already graduated their first discipleship classes after training, therefore, the subsequent classes have no booklets.
Most churches continue to follow up on Sunday school teachers’ training to boost their capacities. This is a challenging area for most churches.
Recommendations
Let us find a way of addressing the challenge with access to booklets. A consistent supply will sustain the curriculum. BFC has already put in place measures to ensure that every booklet is utilized as intended in Nairobi.
