Our friend Bobby came to visit us and encourage us this month
Hello Friends!
We hope all of you are starting to enjoy some cooler weather! Our weather is starting to heat up more, although we’re starting to have frequent rains, which helps keep it pretty cool. Kelly has wrapped up a season of coaching cross country, which has been fun, but also made the schedule a little bit busier!
We’ve had a great month and there are several things we’re excited about. First, Matt and his team have been invited back to Ethiopia to teach at the Addis Ababa Bible College again. Very few churches there do anything to reach their youth, and 70% of the population of Ethiopia is under the age of 30. They were also invited to a new Presbyterian seminary in Uganda. Sam and Zephaniah taught there, and said it is a very well organized seminary that was extremely receptive to the youth ministry courses. They have invited us to return each year. We are excited about our future partnership with both of these schools!
Matt has done a lot of work with the Kenya Baptist Theological College (KBTC)and teaches there regularly. He and some partners from Youth Ministry International (YMI) are starting back a youth ministry diploma and degree program there, which has lain dormant for many years. It was started by a YMI missionary, but because the college has gone through some rough times, it was put on the back burner. A lot the students are excited about the program and have already signed up for it.
We did a ministry report follow-up, and found that after training a number of pastors during the June- August months, 59 churches started a youth ministry for the very first time in their church. They have added a total of 421 people through the start of these ministries. One hundred and seventy five of these are adults who have come to the church because of the change they see in the youth and through the direct evangelism of the youth themselves.
We’ve got more exciting news about a new devotional app that we are launching,as well as some exciting personal updates, but you’ll have to stay tuned until next month to hear all about that!
We appreciate your partnership in the gospel!
Love,
Matt and Kelly