What's your role?
Reflections from Tearfund’s 2024 Impact Conference
– By Abby Bennett
“When you travel, you find yourself. Alone in a different way, more attentive now to the self you bring along. Your more subtle eye watching, you abroad; and how what meets you, touches that part of the heart, that lies low at home.” - John Donohue
At the end of January, a team of us set off to participate in a partner-led Impact Conference in Kenya. We learned from each other, worshiped and ate together, and visited communities where lives were transformed thanks to the local church.
On the first Sunday, I attended a local church with a few other people, and after the service, we had lunch with some key church leaders. One of the savings group trainers, Rosemary, was with us and as people shared their stories. Their faces lit up with excitement to share what they had learned from her. One lady shared how she had expanded her farm and even purchased a water tank (a significant deal for a region that suffers from regular droughts), thanks to what she had learned from the savings group. The community was proud to claim Rosemary as one of their own because she had invested in and cared for them so well.
On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to visit a pastor whose church had started Church Based Community Transformation (CCT) training just over a year before. He talked about how the shift in mindset to embracing the integral mission of the church and restoring the relationships between God, people, self, and environment had changed his church. He proudly talked about the trees the church had planted, the elderly widow they came alongside to build a latrine to give dignity to, and the conservation agriculture training they had participated in which was helping families have more to eat.
After our conversation, he took us for a walk to meet some church members and drop off some food supplies for others. When we arrived at one house, no adults were around; there were just three little boys sitting on the ground and a dirty water jug. My friend Simon, who was the CCT trainer, went over and asked them their names and how old they were. The oldest was 5, and his name was Ian; he introduced his 3-year-old brother as Prince and the 1-year-old as Jaiden. The pastor told us how the mother was in school and had no choice but to leave the boys alone during the day. The church knew this and tried to stop by regularly to check on the boys and give them some supplies to help out. To an outsider, the situation looked grim, but looking more closely, the church knew the situation and was there walking alongside the family, and because of that, there was hope.
My trip to Kenya forced me to become more attentive to the self I bring along to what my role is in the global church. I am not a missionary or an international program manager. I am a member of a greater body of believers. My role looks different than Rosemary or Simon, and yours probably does too, but that doesn’t make it less important. So what is the self that I bring along, that we, as the Western church, bring along if it’s not “on the ground” in Kenya?
We bring the ability to support the raising of local church leaders with the desire, knowledge, and skills to help their communities reach their God-given potential. We bring a vast network of people to cover the global church in prayer. We can bring humility to listen and softness of spirit to allow our hearts to be touched by people living in challenging circumstances yet still have incredible faith.
Just like these stories of how the church is moving in Kenya encourages us, you also encourage the church in Kenya through your ongoing support and prayer. From all of our local partners to you, thank you for your generosity and your belief in the church being the catalyst for change around the world.
