David Archer

In June a Rooted in Jesus team travelled to Kitale in Kenya, led by Revd Richard Morgan from the US, along with UK team member Ben Jarvis and joined by Diocesan Bishop Emmanuel Chemengich.

The Diocese had an initial conference in 2020, just before the pandemic. Within weeks of the conference the world shut down and so the initial Rooted in Jesus groups were unable to meet. A follow up conference took place in 2022 and it was encouraging to hear of groups that were being led in parishes and of parishes which had completed all four books and were starting new groups. But given the challenges of the launch in 2020 a request from Bishop Emmanuel for an additional conference – to re-ignite enthusiasm for Rooted in Jesus in the Diocese and to train additional new leaders – was well received. The 90 participants were drawn from across the Diocese, half lay people and the rest new clergy and seminarians from St Paul’s seminary.

Conference delegates

Bishop Emmanuel is a keen advocate for Rooted in Jesus in the Diocese. He has spent much of his life as an educator and seminary leader and so was naturally involved in the delivery of the training conference.

Richard Morgan writes,

“Having seminarians as part of the conference was a great idea. There are about 100 full time clergy in the Diocese across 72 parishes with a little over 200 churches between them. There are 38 seminarians which gives you an idea of the rate of growth of the church in Kenya. To have most of those at the conference was excellent. They were enthusiastic about learning a new discipling course in a way in which clergy who have been in ministry for a long time rarely are – and they will be the ones who push forward Rooted in Jesus within the Diocese.

Bishop Emmanuel; Delegate small groups; Kitale cathedral church

Several of the St Paul’s seminary participants shared how the content had encouraged them and raised their expectations of themselves and their ministry – so that was encouraging to hear. In our final session of the second day on Repentance and Renewal there was a very tangible sense of God’s presence in the prayers. It was clear that the experience of the conference had become more than just information – that God was also directly touching people’s lives and ministering to them.

On the final day of the conference the worship after the practice groups was very powerful and at that time someone asked to come forward to receive Christ. So we had something of an altar call with two participants coming forward to receive Christ or dedicate themselves to Christ. Not what we’d been expecting – but a powerful testimony to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the worship.

I’m encouraged by the conference and the potential of so many new leaders within the Diocese. Do keep Kitale, Kenya in your prayers – and pray for these leaders as they now go out into the parishes and begin new Rooted in Jesus small groups.”

We are particularly grateful to those who prayed for the team while they were away.

Rooted in Jesus is published and supported by The Mathetes Trust.

In April a Rooted in Jesus team travelled to the Diocese of Kapsabet in Kenya in the North Rift and was led by Revd Dr John Eldridge with members Steve Marriott, Revd Capt Joshua Opondo and Andrew Whysall. The Diocese was established in 2016, has 47 parishes, 96 clergy, 50 secondary schools and 150 primary schools.

Delegate participation!

John Eldridge reports,

“The residential conference was held at Aldai Girls School, a few miles south of Kapsabet and was attended by 190 delegates. These were predominantly Lay Readers; two or three from each of the parishes in the Diocese. This worked well, as each of the Lay Readers came expecting to take back the training and begin discipleship groups in their local churches.”

“Each of the seven archdeacons in the Diocese attended the conference and committed themselves to support the Lay Readers in their implementation of groups within the churches in each of their archdeaconries. One of the archdeacons, Ven. Japeth Sugut, was the Diocesan Coordinator for Rooted in Jesus and he very competently organised both the conference and the arrangements for the follow up and implementation of groups as the conference came to a close.”

Conference delegates

“The team came together and worked very hard, especially given the large numbers in the sessions and workshops. It was particularly valuable to have Revd Joshua Opondo with us, himself a Kenyan vicar from a neighbouring diocese, as this gave an important local representational feel to the team. As Bishop Korir explained: “we were delighted to receive a Rooted in Jesus team from the UK, but relaxed when we heard Joshua was to be a member of the team.” There were a number of healings at the conference including a lady healed of fibroids and a man of his addiction to betting. Joshua says: “the report that I got from the Diocese is that this was one of the most inspiring conferences ever, they got new ideas not only in discipleship but for personal and family growth.”

The Diocese had prepared well for the conference, under the encouragement and leadership of the Bishop and his team – recognising the importance to the Diocese to maintain the emphasis on discipleship moving forward, and the opportunities that exist for diocesan personnel to help in future Rooted in Jesus teams.

Rooted in Jesus team

This training conference was well received by the Kapsabet Diocese and met a felt need of helping local churches grow in discipleship. The delegates participated well, even running around the playing field during breaks – this area is famous for their Kenyan runners!

The team themselves were warmly welcomed, extremely well fed and looked after by their hosts, thoroughly enjoying mountainous quantities of fruit and vegetables! They returned to the UK thanking God for the opportunity to serve Him among such loving and responsive Christians!

We are so grateful for all those who faithfully prayed for the team and the conference.

Rooted in Jesus is published and supported by The Mathetes Trust.