2. CONNECTED CHURCH
ADSMKE, Kenya

3. Freed from the valley of poverty
Jan 16

4. How often do you expect a Bible study to change your life?
Opening question: How often do you expect a Bible study to change your life?
(feel free to choose a different question to ask your group before you share Edward’s story)

5. ‘I saw myself as a failure and regretted being a Pastor…
...I was in debt and could not provide for my family. I was called ‘the debt pastor and I believed it.’
Edward Njiru Njugo is a pastor in Embu diocese. He says that life used to be like, ‘living in a dark valley of poverty’.
‘I saw myself as a failure and regretted being a pastor; my church was not raising enough money for my diocese to pay my salary and I lived for more than two years without a single coin. I was in debt and could provide for my family. Christians and community members used to call me ‘the debt pastor’ and I believed it.’
‘By the grace of God, I was transferred to a new parish where they were doing the Church and Community Mobilisation Process (CCMP for short). I was encouraged to team up with other facilitators to practice the Bible studies. At first, I wondered what new things could come out of doing these studies.
‘After the first stage of the process, leaders in my new church were sharing their vision for the Church and our local community. Silently in my heart I prayed to God to help me embrace CCMP.
‘During the first Bible study on God’s purpose of mankind, I realised that success comes from hard work. I created a culture of reflection to gain ideas, inspiration, and revelation to help me look to the future with confidence.’

6. ‘The Bible studies on using the resources around us - especially Jesus Christ feeding the seriously challenged me to think outside the box; it opened my eyes to a new life.’
‘I decided to start by working on farms or picking tea. I was paid 6 Kenyan Shillings (just 3p!) - for picking 1 kg of tea leaves. My wife Esther and I would pick 50 kg and we would be paid about £2. I was nicknamed, ‘the labourer pastor’, but I was committed to get out of my desperate state. The Bible studies on using the resources around us - especially Jesus Christ feeding the seriously challenged me to think outside the box; it opened my eyes to a new life.
‘I divided my day into four sections. From 6-8am I worked on farms, from 9am-4pm I did pastoral ministry, from 5-7 pm I continued with farm work and then devoted the evening to be with my family.

7. ‘As a family we prayed together for God’s guidance and direction on how to invest the small income we were generating. We decided to do farming and keep dairy cows. We bought our first cow for £137. To our joy she started giving us 14 litres of milk every day - giving us an income of around £2 per day. After some time we managed to buy two more cows and the price of milk also increased; now we earn almost £10 per day from milk.
‘I stopped doing casual labour on other people’s farms and concentrated on our half acre piece of land. From the sale of milk we bought 7 male goats and 5 sheep to fatten and sell, earning over £1500. We added this to our savings and bought another half acre of land.
Today in our one acre of land we have planted various crops like bananas, arrowroot, sugarcane and maize.’
Edward has planted 50 stems of banana in deep trenches to retain rainwater and has also applied mulching to retain moisture. With the maize, he hopes to harvest about four bags this harvest; two for the family to eat and two to sell. In their kitchen garden they have planted cabbage, kale and spinach. He is proud that they no longer need to buy vegetables and they can also sell excess vegetables at market.

8. ‘CCMP has released me from the chains of poverty’
Boldly smiling he said, ‘CCMP has released me from the chains of poverty.’
Edward and Esther are blessed with three children aged 15, 8 and 4. After the CCMP Bible study on the compassion of Christ in Matthew 9:35-38, Edward and Esther decided to take care of a little girl called Nerry Makena who is 5 years old and an orphan. Nerry now lives with them and they are able to provide school fees, meals and medical costs and of course, a home and a family.

9. PRAYER
Pray for Edward’s pastoral ministry and as he leads his church and community in CCMP
Pray for God’s blessing, strength and protection for all of his family
Edward asks you to pray for his pastoral ministry and that other pastors do not go through the poverty he experienced.
Pray for Edward as he facilitates CCMP in his church and surrounding community.
Pray for his family that they may continue to grow from strength to strength. In 2014, Esther was commissioned as a church lay reader. Thank God for the home and love they have been able to give to Nerry, and pray for God’s blessing and protection for all of their children.