[ACGC under construction] ...................................... [Africa Inland Church worship service]
From Thursday, April 1st to Sunday, April 4th, Integral Mission Alliance (IMA) held a forum at NEGST (Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology) housed in Africa International University in Nairobi, Kenya. Kristin and I attended the forum together. It was a great blessing to both of us.
IMA was started by a handful of Christ-followers a couple of years ago with a concern over fragmented mission activities, losing the holistic and integral perspective of the gospel and His great commission.
All sessions were inspiring, challenging, thought-provoking, assuring, educational, encouraging, equipping, empowering and uplifting. More than anything else, the fellowship among all participants was priceless. We all shared the issues with which we deal in our day to day ministries and received group consultation from other participants. A couple of participants focused on serving the Muslims and they received great encouragement from each other. A participant is a member of the senior leadership team for a renowned international miaaion agency and shared what the organization is going through to renovate the corporate culture to be holistic and integral.
The session included a visit to ACGC (African Center for Great Commission) run by a missionary from Korea Lee who has been living and ministering to Kenyans for the past 15 years. The missionary is also a member of IMA. He has recently relocated to an unfinished new building where he provides existing local pastors with holistic education/training for more effective ministries. The building construction is expected to be completed in three weeks.
On the Easter Sunday, all participants attended two services at a local church, one in English and the other in Kiswahili, ministering to the inner city residents in Nairobi. One of the participants in the IMA forum is a professor at NEGST and serves this church as one of the part time volunteering pastors. Two of the IMA forum participants preached at two services with each service lasting three hours. The praise was lively and the messages were powerful. Despite the tin roof and unviting environment, the church has been growing with its members, particularly young people, now totaling approximately 1,500. We praised the Lord who blesses the churches that are worshiping Him genuinely, following His footsteps authentically, serving His people holistically and witnessing His love to others through integral life.
The IMA ended its official session Sunday evening with evaluation and plan for the way forward.
We praised the Lord who has been at the center of this alliance and all that have been developing in several countries among those who are like-minded. May this alliance grow and spread among all genuine Christ-followers with the commitment to loving and serving Him through authentic faith, holistic approaches and integral life in their ministries! - Jeffrey
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