Church Mission Society

News from Kenya

Kibera, a slum area of Nairobi was featured on television during Comic Relief. The dreadful conditions shocked both the celebrities who lived there for two weeks and those who watched the programmes. Our C.M.S. mission partner Colin Smith works in that slum though fortunately he doesn’t have to live there.

In the latest link letter from Nairobi he tells us of some good news from another city slum. Colin leads the training that the Centre for Urban Mission has been giving to help churches in the Nairobi slums become 'a prophetic presence in their neighbourhoods'.

Before this training Pastor Moses of the Korogocho slum would have been resigned to having no local water supply: 'He would have accepted that this is just how life is in the slums. This time, he decided to act.' He called a meeting with local elders and together they went to the chief’s office. The chief wrote to the water company requesting a connection to the community.

'However, getting permission for a connection is one thing; piping the water to people in need is another,' Colin explained. Undeterred, Moses wrote to a local water engineering company, who ended up providing piping and water tanks free of charge.

'Today the church compound has become the local water supply and at a cost the community can afford!' Colin said, adding that he is 'thrilled at this response to our training.'

Colin will be coming to Norbury on Sunday 3rd July. We plan to have a bring and share lunch after the service. (www.cms-uk.org)

Thank you again, for all your support and prayers from Colin and Anita Smith

Norbury CMS Representative: Wendy Williamson