Children in Kenya often have to grow up quickly, taking on substantial household and family obligations at an early age - from fetching water and caring for younger siblings to working in the farm or herding the goats. Some live in homes where their father is working in town and their mother in the village cares for her own children plus many of her nieces and nephews. Others live in homes where their grandmother is caring for many of her grandchildren. Yet others are orphaned and live with their extended family or clan.

These bright, hopeful, cheerful, and excitable children all want to go to school but many find that when they are at home they are asked to take on so much of the work of the household that they cannot study - and they often drop out of grade school altogether. The School Boarding Project in Kenya uses school boarding facilities built adjacent to Lutheran primary schools and Lutheran congregations and run by the local Lutheran Church to provide a home away from home, where grade-school children can be dedicated to studying, homework, extracurricular activities, chores and responsibilities appropriate for their age, and a life with the church under the cross. On school holidays, children go home and become evangelists to their own families and clans, bringing into their communities what they see, learn, and live while in the boarding center at school.

The routine at the center involves the daily services of morning prayer and evening prayer, weekly visits by the pastor to teach confirmation class and lead Bible Study, and care by a staff Deaconess or Evangelist dedicated to the spiritual nourishment of the children day-to-day. Twice a year, children from different centers compete in a Bible Club Competition which includes team-based recitation of Luther’s Small Catechism and team and individual memory verses. The children take an active role in the congregation as well, with some centers forming a children’s choir and others volunteering to keep the church grounds and building clean and neat. The project is designed to foster a close connection between children and the church with daily Scripture engagement in the center. Praise the Lord for His children!

Uganda Partner's Conference

The Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda welcomed us into their midst six and a half years ago when we first deployed to Africa. Like most missionaries, we look back fondly on our first placement and often reminisce about the work, the people, and the opportunities we had there. We've moved on from Uganda to Kenya and accepted other responsibilities. We've changed and so has that small church body that first accepted us on the field. They have grown from one ordained pastor serving 60 congregations when we arrived, to now 19 pastors serving 120 congregations. They have outgrown their constitution, changed their name to the Lutheran Church of Uganda (LCU), and now manage a large number of partnerships with individual LCMS congregations and members in addition to their relationship to the LCMS as a church body.

For several years, Shauen and other partners have suggested an opportunity to come together as partners of the church to learn more about what each partner is doing and where, how they are relating to the church, and how we can closer collaborate together. The first LCU partner's conference took place last month with a majority of the partners present from all over the United States. Shauen was asked to present on Avoiding Dependency in the Church and put together some thoughts and guidelines out of his experience that help distinguish between interdependency (as the body of Christ) and unhealthy dependency (which risks or damages the normal work of the church). Praise the Lord for His work among the Lutheran Church in Uganda!

Missionary Orientation