“He who wants to be great among you, must be the servant of all”
(Matthew 12:21)

No one needs the Good News more than the poor.  Especially those in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, the world’s densest concentration of impoverished people.  Three out of four people in a city of four million are packed into nine massive slums.  Families are forced to live in inhuman spaces—typically 8 people in a 12’ x 12’ dirt-floor room with no running water or toilet.  To rent such space costs about $8 a month—and most households earn only $1 a day.  Slum life here may be the world’s most oppressive existence on a mass scale.

Yet caring for these suffering, struggling poor are true heroes of the faith: the dedicated pastors of Nairobi’s slums.  They’re slum residents themselves, and they serve their neighbors at great sacrifice to their own families.  Many earn less than their parishioners.  And some are barely literate.  With a 5th grade education, the typical pastor can have trouble reading the Bible even in his own tribal language.  And Bible school is beyond his reach, as most local programs cost about $1,500 a year.  Yet his ministry is vital to the oppressed, distraught people he serves.

World Challenge has come alongside these pastors to supply them with the help they need.  We partner with a program offering slum-dwelling ministers an education in theology and hands-on pastoral training—all at no cost to them.  So far, two schools have been established in Nairobi’s largest slums, Kibera and Mathare.

Students entering the program have to demonstrate a high level of commitment in their present pastorate or calling as a minister.  Once they complete their coursework, they receive a degree certifying their training.  Thanks to this program, every year hundreds of pastors bring renewed vision to their neighborhoods, extending greater hope to thousands of the world’s most marginalized people.

The program’s goal is to have a Bible school in each of Nairobi’s 9 major slums.  Would you prayerfully consider helping to expand this vital aid to pastors in need?  Thank you for your precious partnership.  With each prayer or financial gift, no matter how large or small, you’re making a difference in the lives of those Jesus affectionately calls “the least of these.”