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Author Archives: joshuaruthbarron
Ahaviah Zahorah
Ahaviah Zahorah arrived at home on 28 September 2012. Ahaviah means “the love of the LORD” or “the LORD loves.” Zahorah means “to shine” or “to illuminate” or “brightness” or “light.” Our LORD’s love shines brightly and illuminates the darkness. We pray that this love of the LORD will fill our Ahaviah with its light and that she truly be a daughter of the light which the darkness cannot conquer. Then this same love will also shine out through her to others.
As is our custom, we’ve also given her a nickname, Zemirah. (Of course all these names are Hebrew … we’ve got to do something, after all, with that expensive seminary education.) There are two different words (homophones) in Hebrew spelled “Zemirah.” The first means “song” or “melody” and therefore also “praise.” The second means “strength.” Thus our blessing to our daughter is that her life will be a song and melody of praise that rises up to the Father in response to his perfecting love. But we also recognize that the love of God is the only sure source of strength, and so we pray that it will always be Ahaviah’s foundation.
(In case you’ve forgotten or never known, these are the nicknames for our other children:
Alitzah is Tzitzah
Hannah Gail is Shoshannah
Eliana is Tzahala & also Ailona
Zerachiah is Shomer.
Have you ever wondered why we named our other children as we did?)
Oh, and for those of you who will want to know:
She arrived at around 5:38 pm and weighed in at 3.5 kg (7 lbs 11.2 oz) and measured 55 cm long (21.65 in). And of course, she is beautiful. Her father delivered her, as she was in hurry and the midwife was still on the way. (Well, at any rate, her father caught her … like Eliana, she seemed just to have been delivered by God.)
grace and peace,
joshua & ruth,
alitzah, hannah gail, eliana, zerachiah, ahaviah
A vision for the Rendille
Today starts a week-long vision trip (Aug 24-31) for five leaders from Community Christian Mission Agency (CCMA) to the Rendille area of Kenya. CCMA is considering this area as its possible first disciple-making outreach. The Rendille, who live in northeastern Kenya more or less between the Samburu and the Somali, are less than 1% Christian. Stephen Silamo, one of the CCMA leaders, is himself a Rendille believer who has a heart for his people. Pray for safety in travel, open hearts/minds to hear God’s leading, and God to be glorified.
(Thanks to our teammate Kim Cluff for reminding me that this trip starts this week.)
August update
The power of stories, a TBTI course, a Story-telling workshop, a new church plant & baptisms …
Click here to view a PDF of our latest newsletter.
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The picture is of part of the TBTI class in May 2012. Each morning we started with worship. For some reason or another I couldn’t add a caption today. Visit our Video page for a clip of this worship.
Telling the Story
Storytelling is an important part of East African cultures. But often in the churches this cultural strength has been exchanged for the lecture or yell-a-lot methods of teaching and evangelism. We recently held a storytelling workshop for the Narok Central cluster of congregations to help church teachers and youth workers (re)learn how to be good storytellers of the greatest Story.
Read more …
PBS video: update
If it’s easier for you to read the interview than to watch it, you can do so here:
www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-6-2012/converting-the-masai/11685/
PBS video: “converting the Maasai”
PBS recently interviewed our teammate Gary Woods (formerly CMF-Kenya, now CMF-Tanzania) about the growing church planting movement among the Maasai.
Watch Converting the Masai on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.
On our manner of evangelism
In my research for my Church History and History of Mission curricula (for teaching at Turkana Bible Training Institute and Mission Institute East Africa, respectively), I ran across this gem from Claudius Buchanan. He was addressing a meeting of the Church Missionary Society on January 7, 1814. The famous William Wilberforce was one of the speakers at the meeting. Dr Buchanan’s style may seem a bit old-fashioned now, but give it a listen:
“In your endeavours to convert the heathen, let your address be ever characterised by the meekness of wisdom (James iii. 13). Address them not in too impassioned a manner while they yet continue in an unconverted state. They will not understand you. They will not themselves be in the least affected by your vehemence, and will consider the use of it as a kind of intemperance or folly on your part. They cannot always perceive the truth of your arguments, but they will understand your courtesy of manners and can admire the beauty of Christian conduct.”
~ quoted by Charles Hole, The Early History of the Church Missionary Society:
for Africa and the East to the end of A.D. 1814 (London: CMS, 1896), 420.
a brand new church!
I just heard that CCC has begun a church plant in Maai Mahiu (“Hot Springs” in Kikuyu). Last Sunday was there 2nd worship there.
Maai Mahiu is at the base of the Escarpment on the way to Narok at the junction of the Narok and Lower Road to Naivasha. It is on the border between Maasai and Kikuyu areas, and there are other tribes there as well. It is also a “truck stop town,” which tends to bring several sorts of unwholesome activity, so another church there to shine the light of Jesus brighter is wonderful. Maai Mahiu was also a centre of violence during the post-election crisis in 2008.
(Thanks to our teammate Lynn Cazier for sharing this news.)