Ravaged by deforestation, Northern Kenya is on the front line of combating climate change: “Generate”, a project of Anglican Aid, is working on better techniques of water harvesting, revegetation, and improving the lives of the poorly paid church workers.
Norm Gorrie, who has returned to Australia after serving as Director of Mission in the local Anglican Church of Kenya Diocese of Marsabit, explained to a meeting of Anglican Aid supporters how the Generate water project started with providing guttering on Church buildings and tanks, which created a water supply for the local community.
“The leaders like the pastors are paid such a low wage; the evangelist wage is just horrific, very, very low, Gaorrie said. “How can we empower the church to be able to pay their leaders? How we also empower the church to help people?. And so come around to the [thought] that one of the most valuable resources in North Kenya is water. We have had very bad droughts, but when it does rain if you can harvest that water, that can be just such a wonderful, wonderful blessing, and it can empower people.”
“So the project initially was trying to provide guttering and then have big water tanks to harvest that water.”
But he adds, “The great thing about Anglican Aid is that it allows us to really be honest in an evaluation of the projects and where things are not really achieving the outcome, but to really go right back to square one and say, ‘Well, what do we need to do?’ And also to work closely with the community and try and liaise with local NGOs and government to get this happening. “
The Generate project has moved on from church buildings to digging small dams. “People can dig up like a pond, like a small swimming pool. If you don’t have a liner, the water just runs away.” The dams need to be fenced to keep children safe, goats and elephants out, and – here was a surprise – hedgehogs out, too.
Gorrie listed Islam – Marshabit is in the North of Kenya with a Muslim majority – tribalism and deforestation as significant challenges. He tells the story of Peter, a young Muslim man from up near the Ethiopian border who “was drawn to hear the gospel at a church plant up there. Over time, he actually made that decision.
“He would sneak away from the animals, listen to the gospel and become a Christian unbeknownst to his dad. Then one day, his dad saw him wearing a cross so then his dad just threw him out of the family. His dad later tried to kill him. They burned his clothes, he was left destitute and had to flee to Moyale [another town].
“As we take the gospel, we know the gospel is powerful and we see a good number of Muslims coming to Christ. But then the church takes on a whole different dynamic. They are their family, [that ]he’s lost, [that was] his source of survival.”
Tribal conflict can leave people destitute as well. “There’s two major tribes and terrible killings in and around Marsabit like a vehicle attack, six people are killed, the names are actually given to the police because people identified them and nothing happens. Someone’s murdered outside the post office in and the police are impotent. And so it’s just escalating and escalating.”
Gorrie describes meeting people with just nothing, left totally destitute. This means the Kenyan church can’t separate spiritual things and responding to the needs of the people in a way that an Australian church in a nation with a welfare system can be tempted to do. Goorie thanks the Anglican Aid supporters. “How can we just walk past these people? We can’t send ’em to Centrelink. So each and every one of you that gave. We just want to thank you.”
And from his experience of being a missionary and now working with Anglican Aid in the Marsabit diocese, Gorrie acknowledges a tension. “The big struggle that I always find is that you don’t want to lead people to be dependent. You want to be able to really work to empower people to be able to help themselves using the resources that God’s given them. There’s no magic bullet. So that’s why, you want to be able to really empower the church to be able to really provide for their leaders well and raise up emerging leaders.”
He describes a Marsabit diocese (region) having 35 pastors and 60 evangelists. “
“We’re united on how are we going to effectively disciple those who’ve come to Christ out of Islam. Remember they’ve being indoctrinated from the time of infancy that we worship three gods, our Bible is corrupt, all these things. And so how are you going to nurture them so they can strong to be able to [resist] the persecution they face.” As he puts it, the diocese came up with their plan of local training rather than sending people away to Nairobi, and Anglican Aid came in to help.
Gorrie describes the training, teaching reconciliation, which is far from theoretical, as the trainees come from tribes that have been at war with each other, with families shot and killed. “It’s really so wonderful to open up Ephesians and just also see God’s plan from creation, new creation and see there a picture of [what I am seeing]. We’re all gathered together from every tribe and every nation in tongue as brothers and sisters before the praying of Christ and the gospel is the only thing you can break down that make us and to really grapple with that and then to work out well what does that mean for us?”
Kenya is one of 37 countries where Anglican Aid runs 135 projects, ranging from supporting Bible colleges to safe houses for women to humanitarian relief.
Anglican aid website: https://anglicanaid.org.au/
More on the Generate project https://anglicanaid.org.au/projects/marsabit-generate-water-harvesting-and-harnessing
Image: Growing vegetables in the Marsabit diocese. Credit: Anglican Aid