Nakuru

Nakuru, Kenya

Project personnel: Five mentors from the U.S. reside in Nakuru and work together with two Kenyan nationals in training and mentoring community members living in one of the neighborhoods of Nakuru.

History: M:MM mentors started working in Nakuru in January 1998. For the preparation phase, the team studied Swahili, culture, and did exploration of the city. The exploration phase began in 2002. They visited many neighborhoods and leaders in Nakuru and narrowed the list according to criteria they developed. They selected nationals to mentor in and chose the current neighborhood of Kiratina in May 2003. In 2004, they became acquainted with many of the pastors and residents of Kiratina (pop. 5,000) and explained M:MM ministry to them. In 2005, they held information meetings to explain M:MM ministry to a larger number of residents. In November 2005, Kiratina residents elected 12 people to be on a development committee. In 2006, they held training sessions for the committee about development topics, and included what Scripture says about those issues.

Impact story: The focus of a recent training session was on preparing the committee members to do research and data collection in their community. We introduced the method of Appreciative Inquiry: asking questions that cause people to reflect on their past successes, their skills, talents, etc. For many Kiratina residents, this is a new way of thinking. When people talk about their neighborhood, it is easy for them to talk about the problems around them and get discouraged.

We had a glass half-full of water, and talked about the perspective of someone who appreciates what is present in the community, contrasted with the perspective of the person who focuses on what is lacking in the community (seeing the glass half-empty). People shared with each other some of the blessings and positive experiences from their own lives.

Later during the meeting, we read from the story of Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3 & 4. Moses protested that none of the Israelites would believe he had come as a liberator. Then God asked him, "What do you have there in your hand?" (Ex. 4:2) Moses was still clutching his staff. So God told Moses to throw down his staff and it became a snake. Likewise, just before Jesus fed five thousand people in Mark 6, He asked the disciples, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." He sent them to do research!

God could have made a snake appear from thin air rather than from Moses’ staff. And Jesus didn’t need the little boy’s lunch in order to feed the crowd. But in both cases, the Lord chose to first ask people what they already had. Then he used those small things to perform His miracles.

As the committee members go to their neighbors and ask "appreciative questions" they will essentially be repeating God’s question from Exodus 4. They will ask their neighbors, "What do you have in your hand?" The goal is not to focus on what is lacking but on what is already there.

And "what is there" is more than material goods; there are experiences, skills and success stories that we hope the committee will identify as they conduct this research. The positive-focused questions they will be asking will cause people to remember what God has done in their lives and neighborhood. In Psalm 105:5 and Deuteronomy 7:18, the command is to remember what God has done.

Near the end of the session, we were preparing to divide the participants into two groups to write sample appreciative questions that would draw out positive responses about life in Kiratina. As they tried to figure out how to help others remember positive events and changes in the community, several of the committee members began enthusiastically relating improvements they have seen in the community. The group was excited as they realized that there are positive things in their history to be thankful for and to build on. They saw how encouraging it is to view their neighborhood in that light rather than focusing on problems.

Co-facilitator, Susan K., was able to illustrate the idea from a Kenyan perspective with a story from her own life. When she and her husband had small children and were both working, their small salaries were not enough for the family. The Lord reminded her how her mother had taught her to make cake doughnuts, and He enabled her to start a small business making and selling doughnuts.

After the meeting as committee members talked with one another enthusiastically, one of them said, "We have loaves in our pockets, and we are able to do something with them."

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