Dedication of Kawangware Church of the Nazarene
The Kawangware Church of the Nazarene serves a slum area 15 km west of Nairobi County that is home to 650,000 residents and is considered the fastest growing slum in Africa with approximately 60% of its population being children and youth. According to Rev Douglas Moseti, local pastor, the Kawangware church seeks to be a loving, friendly community that worships God and serves others. The church places a high priority on teaching from the Bible and following the example of Jesus. Their vision is to impact and renew the residents of Kawangware and beyond with the transforming message of Jesus Christ through words and actions, something that is consistent with the mission of the Church of the Nazarene.
The Kawangware church also runs programmes to meet specific needs identified in the community. This has enabled the church to build a good relationships with members of the community and, in the process, reach out to many families through sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The church has been involved in the distribution of clean drinking water through a partnership with Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS). They are also involved in the distribution of sanitary pads curtesy of Nazarenes for She. The church also partners with IAMercy Foundation and medical camps with Nairobi County Health Department to feed children and disciple them. This has been a powerful evangelism tool that helped the church see many people accept Jesus as their Saviour and still others coming to join the Church of the Nazarene as members.
Kawangare is experiencing high rates of alcoholism, prostitution, drug abuse and joblessness, hence the need and urgency of sharing the Gospel of Salvation. According to Rev Moseti as part of outreach strategy, the church is targeting the children and the youth, and by so doing, they are winning families to the church. Many parents have been brought to the church through their children. The church continues to invest resources in making their facilities child and youth friendly.
On March 26th, 2023 the newly appointed East Africa Feld Strategy Coordinator (FSC), Rev Stanley Ushe and his wife, Rev Grace Ushe, went to visit the Kawangware Church of the Nazarene. In addition to welcoming the Ushes, Rev Douglas Moseti, the congregation and the Central District DS, Lake Victoria DS, field office staff and members of the advisory boards also dedicated a new facility to be used for Sunday School classes. The new Sunday School facility was built and dedicated in honour of the late District Superintendent and former pastor of the Kawangware church, Rev Gerphas Oure. The facility has been equipped with digital screens with the aim of using technology to share the Gospel with children and youth in the church and the community. This structure also houses a baptism pool.
Rev Moseti encouraged the church to invest in self-income projects at the church building. This was mostly driven by the fact that when he was growing up, he experienced the church struggling financially mostly as a result of the community being poor. One strategy he employed was to build structures such as business stalls and a one storey building with more multipurpose halls around the perimeter to bring income to the church through rentals. The income has been used to construct modern washrooms, Sunday School classrooms and pay the local pastor his monthly salary.
