Dear all, we hope you are keeping safe and well during this crazy and unreal time! We wanted to send an update to give you a glimpse of how ministry is continuing on and what life is currently like here in Kenya.
Kenya & COVID-19
The Kenya government has tried to “flatten the curve” for the country by initiating some strict measures. After the third case of COVID-19, the government immediately shut down all schools. Soon afterwards, they cancelled all international flights both coming and going. Currently, we’re in the middle of a 30-day curfew, requiring the entire nation to be indoors from 7 pm-5 am. They are tracking down all connections of confirmed cases of COVID-19 to prevent its spread. As of today, they are also requiring everyone who is out for their "essential business" to wear masks. So far, the number of confirmed cases is just above 100, and almost all of these were ones already in quarantine. We are praying for Kenya to be spared what we've seen in other countries. However, we are concerned for the people that live on day-to-day income or “hand-to-mouth” lifestyles. If people like this cannot go to work due to shut downs and social distancing measures, then they don't just stop making money... they go hungry. The government is doing their best to help out with these issues of hunger, but we need God’s mercy in a unique way here in Kenya. The problem is not just COVID-19 and a collapsing economy- it is also hunger.
Kuza
Social distancing has led to the shut down of many businesses in Kenya. Lots of people are at home and on the internet to either work or fill their day. As a result of this, our online ministry through KuzaApp.com has more than doubled in the last two weeks. Our average reach was 30,000 people per week. In the past two weeks, our numbers have shot up to 61,000 per week. We’ve also seen a lot more clicks on our “Receive Christ” button on our website. One of the videos that we shot in our backyard had 39,000 views on Facebook in five days. Marvin, who is one of our Kuza staff members, wrote a blog entitled “A Biblical View of COVID-19”. This blog had more than 5000 clicks (which according to our standards, means it went viral!). We interpret all of this activity to mean that people are looking for God. They're at home, scared, and looking for hope in the Lord. We’re praying that this will lead to a revival and a resurgence of people coming back to to the Lord.
4:12 Ministry
Due to government measures, no churches or large gatherings are allowed. Therefore, our 4:12 ministry is not currently happening. We’re not teaching any conferences or training in seminaries at the moment. However, we have been meeting on Zoom like most of the world, to pray together. We’re also planning to record someone teaching all of our conference materials to put online as a resource to churches.
Family
We as a family are doing well. Matt is working in his home office Monday-Friday writing more materials for KuzaApp.com, together with his staff who are at their homes. Kelly is also working online for Rosslyn Academy, often right next to Matt in the same office. It has been kind of fun to work side-by-side. Zeke is living his best life as usual, playing outside and being a two year old. (No, my and mine are his favorite words). He's loving dinosaurs, drawing (or "draw pen" as he says), playing with balls, torturing Chewy our cat, and Florida State (raise 'em right). He’s also enjoying seeing Mommy and Daddy more frequently.
Prayer Requests:
As we list our prayer requests, please know we are praying for the States and for all of you. We know these are such uncertain times, but we praise God we know the one who KNOWS. To close, John Piper has written words of hope far more eloquently than we could, so please see his article here.
1. Please pray for God’s mercy in Kenya to keep COVID-19 from spreading. Pray for those who have the potential to go hungry.
2. Pray for COVID-19 to spark a revival in Kenya.
3. Pray for our staff, colleagues, and their families to not get sick.
4. Pray for 4:12 staff members to remain encouraged, even though they’re not teaching conferences or in seminaries.