Teamwork in the Body of Christ

LOCATION: Ngong Area, Nairobi, Kenya

DATES: 17^th to 19^th September 2025

THEME: Preaching Biblical sermons (based on TLAfrica Manual ‘Preaching Biblical Sermons in Africa’).

ATTENDEES: 65 pastors

TRAINER: Felix Sumba, Mdiv. Biblical Studies

The team of 9 conference mobilisers

We met Rev. Gitonga at the April TLAfrica pastoral training conference in Mukuru kwa Reuben slums in Nairobi. He was introduced to us by Bishop George Thiong’o, who hosted the April Conference. After a little interaction, he invited TLAfrica to hold a pastoral training conference in the Ngong area.

In August this year, we were planning for a conference in the Western part of Kenya, but logistical challenges held us back. We immediately thought of Rev. Gitonga, since his church is close to our office in Nairobi (about 5 kilometres). I called him up and suggested that we hold a conference at his church, if mobilization would be possible on short notice. He welcomed the suggestion and gave me an appointment for our initial discussion.

I visited Rev. Gitonga at his church around mid-August and explained to him what a TLAfrica training entails. I needed to be assured that he could mobilise at least 40 pastors for us to confirm the training. During our discussion, he said that he was confident about mobilising only 20 pastors. As I left his office, I was a bit discouraged by this number and was already thinking of alternative venues to hold the conference.

However, the next day, Rev. Gitonga called me with good news. He said, excitedly, “We can mobilise the 50 pastors that you need!” I asked him what had changed since the previous day, and he said that he had called up a few of his pastor friends from the surrounding area and challenged them to mobilize pastors together with him. He had formed a team of 9 pastors from different regions and challenged each to target the pastors they knew. He later called them for a meeting and invited me to meet them. I was amazed by the team spirit, unity, and determination of this team. They asked me to give them a limit of pastors to mobilise since they thought they would exceed the number I needed. I asked them to aim for 70, as we target to have at least 50 attendees.

They not only called up their pastor friends, but also set aside a day to pray for the conference. They used their own resources to look for others and were willing to contribute some money to buy airtime for their Coordinator to follow up on the pastors they had mobilized. They also divided conference duties among themselves according to their strengths, with some leading worship, managing the program, etc. They ended up mobilizing 65 pastors who attended the conference! They made our work so much easier by demonstrating the power of unity in the body of Christ.

When I asked Rev. Gitonga why he chose this method of mobilization, he said, “I saw that it’s better to work with others. When I saw the need, I reached to Daniel, who in turn reached others who could mobilize. We then established targets for each team member, and appointed a coordinator to receive contacts of the pastors mobilised and call them for confirmations. They are the ones who made it possible.” Pastor Gitonga demonstrated that when we work with others in the body of Christ, we accomplish better results. This is not the only lesson that other pastors learnt from him. They also witnessed that they were humbled by his humility in serving others. He calls himself the ‘chief usher’ at his church, meaning he is the top servant. We are glad that this conference impacted pastors through both the teachings and modelling of servant leadership.

It was our first time to train this group, but the fellowship among the pastors was outstanding. The trainer tackled the topics such as: the pastoral calling, the theological foundations for preaching, sermon preparation and delivery, and, the person of the preacher. We had great times of praise and worship, praying for each other, discussing contextual issues in the churches, and sharing meals.

Testimonies from participants

Pastor Joram said,

“Though I am old, I am a young preacher. I have only pastored for 2 years. I did not want to learn because learning is stressful, but in this conference, when we learned about the pastoral calling, I was greatly reassured as a minister that God has called me. I was touched to see the bishops here sitting down to receive instruction from the trainer. Who am I not to learn?”

Pastor Lucy said,

“I have learnt about preparing an organised sermon. I should have a sermon introduction, body, and conclusion. I should also prepare the body of the sermon before the introduction.”