From Shambles to Shelter: All hands on deck!
Tearfund brings sustainable development through churches, providing food, shelter, and much-needed hope.
Driven by an unwavering commitment to her struggling community, Pastor Helen's church in Kiboko, Kenya, brings profound, comprehensive transformation.
Through Tearfund’s timely training in Church and Community Transformation (CCT), new life is breathed into this struggling, rural community.
Pastor Helen, previously a beloved educator in the local school system, now spends her time pastoring the Kyale Good News Church of Africa (GNCA) church. Through her time here, she has observed an acute desperation within the church and without. Her concern grew greater, but she felt hopeless to help.
Plagued with drought due to the inconsistent rains and the gnawing hunger from the lack of harvest, this Kenyan community was in deep need of relief. Pastor Helen felt a deep calling to address these needs, and, seeing the capabilities within her church, recognized a significant potential for change. However, the challenge lay not only in alleviating immediate suffering, but in creating a sustainable path toward lasting transformation.
Pastor Helen learned how to bring sustainable development through her church using Tearfund’s Church and Community Transformation program.
Her fervent prayers and pleas for change were answered when she was introduced to Tearfund’s Church-based Community Transformation (CCT) program through its partner organization, Fadhili Trust. CCT training program offers a holistic, restorative approach that trains and equips churches and their leaders to effectively support their members and the larger community. It emphasizes entire restoration across all aspects of life and teaches ways such as agricultural and financial techniques that the church can teach others, thereby demonstrating God’s love while helping with physical and emotional needs too.
The root of this training is succinctly stated by Pastor Helen when she explains how they tackle the broken relationships that are at the root of poverty: “We are trained on how to relate to each other, to the environment, to God and to ourselves.” This comprehensive approach allows her and her church to address the complex factors contributing to poverty and to implement strategies for complete transformation in a God-honouring way.
“We managed to construct a house for an elder,” Pastor Helen says eagerly. Because of CCT, the life of Jehoshaphat Kassim was dramatically changed. Jehoshaphat had lived alone on his property for close to three decades. Over the years, his home had fallen into disrepair, and the crumbling state of his roof meant that he would often be jolted awake by pieces of it collapsing onto him. Without family left or outside support, his situation grew increasingly desperate.
“Resources required were provided by the church members and the church community. This involved contributions in purchasing of the material needed, and labour was provided by the church and community.
When she learned of Jehoshaphat’s dire circumstances, Pastor Helen and several church congregants immediately offered help, using the CCT training they had been given. “Resources required were provided by the church members and the church community,” she explains, “this involved contributions in purchasing of the material needed, and labour was provided by the church and community.”
Their response exemplified the loving servitude of Jesus and the lasting impact that CCT brings. Kyale church’s community came together to build Jehoshaphat a new home. As part of bringing what resources they had, one member generously offered the use of his brick-maker to assist with the construction. Because of their combined and generous efforts, this farmer now enjoys the safety and comfort of a well-built brick home, built with deep love and care by his local community. This gift was more than the building of a home, it was of friendship, lasting support, and renewed hope for his future.
Side-by-side comparison of Jehoshaphat’s house before and after Pastor Helen and the church used CCT techniques to rebuild it.
Pastor Helen’s commitment to transforming her community did not end there. Utilizing the knowledge gained from Tearfund’s CCT training, she introduced several Conservation Agriculture (CA) techniques on the land surrounding the church to better the community garden. This new way of farming focuses on the improvement of soil health and farmer productivity through various techniques, which in turn enhances fertility and flavour, and reduces soil erosion. This is invaluable for communities such as this that rely on farms for food! By the church’s implementation of these new techniques, they not only improved food production but followed God’s commandment to restore and care for creation. Pastor Helen’s leadership and application of these techniques encouraged others in the community to adopt this approach, creating a ripple effect of incredible impact.
The impact of the CCT training still extends beyond agricultural practices — it also plays a crucial role in restoring relationships within the community. This training emphasized the importance of mending fractured bonds and encouraged a spirit of unity and cooperation inside and outside of the church. Through the application of these principles, Pastor Helen’s church began to heal divisions within the community, strengthening their relationships with one another, with themselves, with the environment, and with God. She emphasizes the importance of working not only within the church walls, but in the outer community, too: “CCT teaches us not to focus on the inside, but also outside.”
This process of relational restoration is pivotal in transforming communities and enabling people to lift themselves out of poverty. Through this, the Kyale Church emerged as a more powerful catalyst for change, embodying Christ’s love through their earnest compassion.
The story of Pastor Helen and her church illustrates the intense call of James 2:17: “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Realising the importance of loving in spirit and in action, Pastor Helen saw the transformative change she so longed and prayed for. Through their efforts, they have demonstrated how faith can drive meaningful change and address the root causes of poverty.
Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, communities like Kiboko are experiencing profound and lasting transformations. Your support empowers churches to foster change, embodying the love of Christ and bringing sustainable, long-term development that honours Christ.
