Ministry in the village

Since settling in , we have built so many new friendships and started a women’s group and a children’s ministry. These groups were all created out of necessity.

We want to learn English!

As new member of the community, so many women visited our home daily to give me a warm welcome and comfortable stay in the village. They were so loving and hospitable and this opened a door for friendship and fruitful fellowship. On so many occasions, they wanted to speak to Ashton in English but could not because of the language barrier. This prompted them to want to learn English and they asked that I would teach them the English language. And just like that, a literacy class for the women began at our home. Later on, a bible study developed to give the ladies more than just an opportunity for literacy learning but to know and encounter the love of Jesus. We then began incorporating trainings to empower the women with skills for income generating activities.

The kid’s ministry

Children are truly a blessing from God. They have been our biggest fans and closest friends since our arrival in the village, and obviously, Ashton being the only White man living in the village has for the most part been their center of attention. Sometimes his white skin would scare the toddlers and children who had never seen a white man before but, with time, they got acquainted and we started to play, sing songs, and spend time telling stories together. Soon enough we formed a strong bond with the village kids and this helped us to know what they truly needed in their lives, Jesus Christ. We began teaching them English and stories from the Bible. In no time, the group grew bigger and it became difficult to teach such a large group by ourselves. Even with these challenges, we kept teaching the kids about Jesus. We now have about 100-200 preschool and elementary children gathering at our home to learn about Jesus through the Bible lessons. God has sustained us and the children’s ministry and it continues to blossom every Saturday. At the end of every class, we ask questions and carry out a creative activity to engage the kids. It’s amazing to see how active and eager these little ones are to learn about Jesus and it gives us so much joy to see them happy and feeling loved. We pray that God will touch their hearts and they will continue to be filled with His love; then as the children grow they will transform their families and communities.