Sometimes you plant carrots. In two to four months, you get a harvest. Sometimes you plant avocado trees. Tend it diligently, and you’ll start to get repeated harvests each year — but not right away. There will be a few years with nothing to show for your labors. But slow, steady growth will be occurring nonetheless.
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Ministry & discipleship is often more like growing trees than growing carrots. Results don’t always come overnight. Patience is required. Some of you may remember that we returned from our first home assignment for our second term in 2010 to discover that the Maasai Discipleship Training School had not had any sessions while we in the States. It had a five year drought before we were able to help Francis Yenko and the CCC relaunch it in 2014 at a new campus, during our third term. Then in 2016 the newly rechristened Discipleship Training Institute (DTI) went mobile, reaching new areas of Maasai land. Since we began in 2010 to work to reestablish this ministry, the harvest has been tremendous. But we had to wait longer than for carrots.
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There was a similar story of a slow wait and long work for the establishment of and harvest from the Community Christian Bible Training Institute (CCBTI). First the Turkana Bible Training Institute (TBTI) was transformed into the initial campus of CCBTI. Then in 2016 we were able to help the Community Christian Churches (CCC) to successfully establish two branch campuses of CCBTI in Maasai Land. This year sees the first graduations of the Maasai branches of CCBTI. Today, 30 November 2018, believers gathered from miles around in Ng’atataek in Kajiado County to celebrate the CCBTI graduation of a group of Kenyan and Tanzania Maasai pastors. The CCBTI graduation for the Ewaso Ng’iro campus is scheduled for 8 December 2018.
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Here are some pictures from today’s graduation in Ng’atataek. Those who are kneeling are the graduating pastor-students being ordained. The washing of feet was a public demonstration of the nature of servant leadership. As we are still abroad in America, Ntinga Sam Tome, our colleague and the administrator of the two Maasai CCBTI campuses, sent us these pictures.
EDIT (28 January 2019): I just realized that I forgot to include the names of the ten graduates. They are: Joshua Papa Kimeshwa, Joshua Sinkira Lekoke, Nchoke Kakeu Naipenyu, Jackson Moikan Laisa, Moses Ntete Laisa, Leimaduk ole Solonka, Philipo Naisango koole, Jackson Kapaito Mayiasek, Noah Ikayo Nkoye, and Musanka Sakaya Korema.