BFI-Africa

BFI has been blessed to work in East Africa for years.  We have partnered with local churches and pastors in Kenya and Uganda to minister to the people in the communities as well as training and equipping leaders.  In addition, we have seen God open several children’s homes through our strategic partner Miracle House, ministering to the needs of orphans and widows in the community through education, health care, spiritual formation, and meeting basic needs through a child sponsprship program.

Here are some testimonies from our Kenya teams…

“When we were traveling to Mt. Elgon and got stuck really badly in the mud and half way through trying to get unstuck, Brian grabbed the sound system off the bus and decided we would do a ministry site right there on the side of the road with no name…We saw some ladies coming and so we waited on them, asked them to stay and when they said they would, we did our drama and Deanna gave the net (shared the Gospel). When she was done, she asked if anyone would want to know this Jesus who cared about them so much. It was so cool to watch several women raise their hand but one that stuck out to me was a lady standing in front who raised her hand before the question was even finished. She was so real and genuine! After that, we got to pray for this woman. That was neat too….just letting them know we care. This is one of my snapshots-just seeing how God took something we saw as bad and used it for His glory!”   Sara

Well… I have several favorite moments so far… bouncing baby Shilma on my hip during worship at KarenBaptist Church… watching as 2 teenage boys came forward to begin their lifelong walks with the Lord… watching The Lion King with a room full of Africans… and using  my scarf as a blanket for me and 3 of those Africans… The Lord is just filling my heart with praise that He’s allowed me to see and be a tiny participant in His movement here.  As we see seas full of faces in schools and as we drive down the extremely bumpy roads – I just marvel that the Father is so watchful over each of their lives.  His name WILL be glorified in all nations, a promise not a maybe.  I am learning much from believers here – to see God as the Provider, the Comforter, and the “Father who never ever fails me.”    Melanie “Akinyi”
 

At Sunday’s children’s ministry time, after we had finished the Bible story and had started the craft, I felt a push on my back.  I turned and there stood a little girl about 9 or 10 years of age, and she had the saddest eyes.  I put my arm around her and asked her name.  “Nancy.”  All the other kids were doing crafts, but she had just come.  So I hurried and got her set up with the craft and helped her.  When we had finished with the David and Goliath paper sack puppets – I saw a boy, a little older than she, with her puppets.  He had a tough, sad look in his eyes.  I asked if he was Nancy’s brother and he said, “Yes.”  I talked to him and her several times through the remainder of our time there.  Then, last night when we arrived at church to set up the movie, The Lion King, two of the first children to arrive were Nancy and her brother.  The pastor’s wife told me they had lost their parents and were orphans at Miracle House.  I will see the looks of these children in my heart forever.  When I leave, they will go with me, in my heart and on my mind, forever.   Elizabeth

So church in Kenya is so very different from church “back home”.  Nobody sings on key – as if there is a key.  The clapping is totally spontaneous.  People are worshiping and dancing in the front.  Everybody is moving or jumping or yodel-yelping, or whatever they can do, but not for the eyes of those around them.  Instead, they are the definition of true worship – with all their heart.  They don’t give a flip about what other people think about them.  And even though it’s my fifth time here, it gets to me every time – if worship is truly about God and realizing how stinkin’ powerful what He did for us is and thanking Him, our standing in awe before Him… if that is true worship, why do we always tend to make it about us?  Like, why cant we just get real with God and love Him with that reckless abandon these Kenyans have. I mean, it is the same God ya know… something to think about.     Autumn “Nekesa”

For more opportunities to partner with what God is doing in Kenya, please visit -