Mission Training Researcher in East Africa
Help further our understanding of the necessity, growth and challenges of cross-cultural missions today especially in Africa.
WEC leadership in Africa are exploring setting up a Missionary Training College perhaps to be located in Kenya.
Join us to develop the profile of an ideal African cross-cultural worker by analysing existing research.
We need greater detailed understanding about the religious beliefs and cultures of unreached people groups across Africa and beyond.
Also contribute to our knowledge of the changing dynamics and new methods of cross-cultural training for African missionaries to be more effective for the modern scene they face today.
Qualities & Gifts Sought
You have experience in anthropological research and know Africa well, with a wide spectrum of mission contacts you can draw on to contribute to our analysis of the progress of the gospel today.
You can testify to a godly character, with a clear calling to missions and cross-cultural ministry. You enjoy working in a multi-cultural, multi-national team.
You will be available to commit as a full-time or part-time voluntary worker for at least 2 months.
Our ref 407
About Missionary Training Colleges
WEC understands the importance of proper training and preparation for cross-cultural mission. Hence, we have several colleges around the world, which specialise in training Christians for mission.
Teaching includes input on theology and biblical interpretation, along with mentoring, and practical guidance on evangelism, outreach and ministry skills. Hands-on experience of outreach is also a core component of this training, enabling students to put the theory into practice.
With English-, Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking colleges in Australia, Brazil (Portuguese), Kenya, Mexico (Spanish), the Netherlands, and New Zealand, residential and online training is within reach for any aspiring missionary.
Equipping the mission-minded: read more about our Cross-cultural Training Centres here.
About Kenya
Kenya in East Africa has a population of over 47.6 million (2019 census). Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi, and its oldest and first capital is the port city of Mombasa, while Kisumu serves as an inland port on Lake Victoria.
Kenya is the 3rd largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa. Its geography, climate and population vary widely, from cold snow-capped mountain tops with vast forests, wildlife and fertile agricultural regions, to temperate climates in western and rift valley counties, and dry, less fertile, arid and semi-arid areas and absolute deserts particularly in the north-east and north-west.
Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic, in which elected officials represent the people and the president is the head of state and government. Kenya is a member of the UN, Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, IMF, COMESA, and International Criminal Court. Kenya is a lower-middle-income economy and is the largest in eastern and central Africa. Nairobi serves East Africa as a major regional commercial hub.
Throughout the centuries, the Kenyan coast has played host to many merchants and explorers. Malindi has traditionally been a friendly port city for foreign powers. In 1414, the Chinese trader and explorer Zheng He visited the East African coast. Malindi authorities also welcomed the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498.
In the 17th century, the Swahili coast was conquered and came under the direct rule of the Omani Arabs, who expanded the slave trade to meet the demands of plantations in Oman and Zanzibar. Initially, these traders came mainly from Oman, but later many came from Zanzibar. In addition, the Portuguese started buying slaves from the Omani and Zanzibari traders in response to the interruption of the transatlantic slave trade by British abolitionists. Johann Ludwig Krapf and Johannes Rebmann were two German missionaries who established a mission in Rabai, not too far from Mombasa, and were the first Europeans to sight Mount Kenya.
Germany handed its coastal holdings to Britain in 1890. This was followed by the building of the Uganda Railway passing through the country. During the railway construction era, there was a significant influx of Indian workers, who provided the bulk of the skilled manpower required for construction. They and most of their descendants later remained in Kenya and formed the core of several distinct Indian communities.
In 1920, the East Africa Protectorate was turned into a colony and renamed Kenya after its highest mountain. By the 1930s, approximately 30,000 white settlers lived in the area and gained a political voice because of their contribution to the market economy.
From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was in a state of emergency arising from the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule. The colonial government decided to hold Kenya's first referendum in 1962 to check the willingness of Somalis in Kenya to join Somalia. The result of the referendum showed that 86% of Somalis in Kenya wanted to join Somalia, but the British colonial administration rejected the result and the Somalis remained in Kenya.
On 12 December 1964, the Republic of Kenya was proclaimed, and Jomo Kenyatta became Kenya's first president. In 1991, Kenya transitioned to a multiparty political system after 26 years of single-party rule. On 13 September 2022, William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya's fifth president.
Kenya's climate varies from tropical along the coast to temperate inland to arid in the north and northeast parts of the country. The area receives a great deal of sunshine every month. It is usually cool at night and early in the morning at higher elevations inland. Tea and coffee are traditional cash crops, while fresh flowers are a fast-growing export. The important agricultural sector is one of the least developed and largely inefficient. Climate change is altering the natural pattern of the rainfall period, causing an extension of the short rains and changing the drought cycle from every ten years to annual events, producing stronger droughts, and challenges water security and food security.
In 2007, the Kenyan government unveiled Vision 2030, an economic development programme it hopes will put the country in the same league as the Asian Economic Tigers by 2030.
Tourism is also a major economic driver. Kenya has considerable land area devoted to wildlife habitats, including the Masai Mara, where the wildebeest cross the River Mara during their famous Serengeti Migration covering a circular route of about 2,900 km.
Kenyans enjoy drinking tea and chapati bread, and also rice, sweet potatoes or yams. Ugali (a stodgy dumpling texture made out of maize flour) is eaten with vegetables, sour milk, and sometimes meat or fish for lunch or supper.
Kenya had a population of approximately 48 million in January 2017, with 73% of residents under the age of 30 because of rapid population growth. Kenya has a diverse population, the number of ethnic people groups around 111, 33 classed as unreached. Sixty percent of residents are from Bantu peoples and thirty percent are of Nilotic ethnic groups. The remaining 10% are Cushitic groups with some Arabs, Indians, and Europeans. The fertility rate in Kenya is high, around 4.5 children per woman, however maternal mortality is high, partly because about 27% of women having undergone FGM which causes complications at birth.
According to the KNBS in 2019, Kenya had a total population of 47,564,296. The largest native ethnic groups were the Kikuyu (8.1 million), Luhya (6.8m), Kalenjin (6.3m), Luo (5m), Kamba (4.6m), Somali (2.8m), Kisii (2.7m), Mijikenda (2.5m), Meru (2m), Maasai (1.2m), and Turkana (1m). The largest unreached groups are the Maasai, the Turkana, the Oromo, the Somali, the Digo, the Samburu and Arabs.
The nation's two official languages are English and Swahili, but in total 74 languages are spoken in Kenya. Kenyan athletes (particularly Kalenjin people), continue to dominate the world of distance running, although competition from Morocco and Ethiopia has reduced this supremacy.
Most Kenyans are Christian (85.5%), with 53.9% Protestant and 20.6% Roman Catholic. Islam is the second largest religion, comprising 10.9% of the population. There are also estimated to be around 60,287 Hindus in Kenya. Drums are the most dominant instrument in popular Kenyan music. Kenya has a growing Christian gospel music scene.
[Sources: Wikipedia and Joshua Project]
Pray for Kenya
Kenya is stable at this time, but faces many threats. Ethnic groups clash violently over limited resources, which are themselves environmentally fragile. The fast-growing population, widespread poverty, spreading urban slums, and urgent need for land reform create tension in Kenyan society. Kenya shares borders with Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, and South Sudan – all notorious for upheaval. The political scene is fraught with tribalism and corruption. Pray for peace, for wise governance, and for practical, sustainable, long-term solutions that work for the whole of Kenya.
Kenya has a massive evangelical presence. Nearly 50% of the population are affiliated to evangelical churches, from Protestant, Independent, Anglican, and Catholic backgrounds! Pentecostals especially experienced rapid growth. Overall, 82% of Kenyans call themselves “Christian”. Why then does Kenya have so much poverty, and such corruption? With so much corruption, terrorists and international drug traffickers use Kenya as a base. Pray for Christians to unite to oppose wrongdoing, and to promote policies that honour God. Kenya needs a just and honest government that will uplift the poor and punish the wicked.
[Source: OperationWorld.org]
Although WEC has not ministered in Kenya in the past, our ACTS13 branch are offering training and mobilising in Churches across East Africa to help equip them to prepare and support individuals, couples and famiies for cross-cultural mission.
More about our ACTS13 branch.
WEC are rejoicing in the opening of our new Anchor Missionary Training College based in Kaserian, Kenya, which will provide cross-cultural missions training for Africans (in the English language), empowering them to reach the unreached with the transformative power of the gospel.