Christian Teaching and Resources
The people we meet are always eager to learn more about God but with the little money they have, it is impossible for them to buy their own Bibles. Abigail Ministries is always happy to supply spiritual teaching and resources.
Teaching God’s Word
We have many opportunities to bring God’s word to the people at the individual, group and Church situations and it is a humbling privilege as few have had the opportunity to read or study for themselves. Nurturing and deeper doctrinal teaching is often lacking.
During the first half of 2018 – Shena Smith the Author of the series of Burning Hearts Bible Studies was able to take a number of training session with students and lecturers at the RCEA Bible Training College near Eldoret and also train a number of Elders wives from five different denominations of Churches.
Many who have been trained and are going through the studies say that they had never had the opportunity to have interactive Bible Studies and greatly value the experiences.
Audio Bibles
Most of the older generation of ladies are not educated and so cannot read. We have therefore supplied them with audio Bibles in their own language which they listen to in groups as they do their work. These machines can be charged by battery, solar power or even by a manual handle. This is very important as there is no electricity. These women are being blessed greatly as they listen to the Word of God and we know other members of their families listen as well. One lady’s husband listened in to the tapes and as an old man, accepted Jesus as his Saviour and then was baptised. A few weeks later he died!
Video Equipment
Digital projector has been recently supplied (2018), to New Hope Children’s Centre to enable Bible Teaching material to be considered by the youth at the centre without any need for printed copying which is not readily available.
Flip Charts
The children love coloured pictures illustrating Bible stories which they also listen to via the audio machines. These are used extensively at Seed School where the children listen to them in the field. Children from the neighbourhood and a nearby school, hear the recording and rush to the field and avidly listen. Many adults also stop to watch and listen as they pass by. Each class at Seed School has been presented with a Bible in book form.
Bible Study Materials
Some of the educated women asked for Bible Study material for themselves as they were eager to learn more. We have been very happy to create a series of Studies for them, Burning Hearts Bible Studies, on Women of the Bible, in particular the women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus and what we can learn from their lives. The studies have been prepared particularly with the needs of African women in mind. The use of these studies continues to grow and there are now over 300 women doing them in different places and since 2013 are also being used increasingly in the UK. We have been told by Pastors that their churches are becoming alive as a result of the impact these studies are having in the lives of the women who are doing them. We have supplied all the women with Bibles in the language of their choice which may be Swahili, Kalenjin, Kikuyu or English. All the studies are, of course, prepared in English, but we pray they can be formally published and then translated into Swahili in the future so that they can be a blessing to a wider audience. We have also been asked to prepare Studies for the men so this may be our next project.
In December 2018 over 2000 Students from High Schools, Universities and Training Colleges attended an open training programme on Burning Hearts Bible Studies in Western Kenya run by Grace Rugut, one of Abigail Ministries main developers in Western Kenya.