In March of 2020, Steve was invited to teach and encourage the entire governmental leadership of a large county in central Kenya. Murang’a County is a trend-setter and spawns much of what becomes accepted throughout the country. A one-day workshop on “Windows to the Father’s Heart for People of Influence” was conducted in each of the 8 sub-counties over the span of two weeks.
In this section of “Transforming Touches,” we share examples of Abba’s ability to orchestrate incredible influence and impact in regions through the message of love that flows from His heart!
1300 Civic and Government Leaders Encouraged in Central Kenya
The County Commissioner had commanded all 1600 of his leaders (from Deputy Commissioners down through all levels of leaders to the village elders) to attend. Over 1300 were able to attend, representing nearly all the top “movers and shakers” in the entire county and including several key political leaders and representatives of the President’s office. The Member of Parliament representing one of the districts attended TWO of the workshops and was himself impacted greatly.
Several of the leaders remarked that this was “historic” since nothing like this had ever happened in Kenya, namely that a Christian leader came to encourage the civic and government leaders en masse.
It should be mentioned that the County Commissioner who commanded the presence of ALL his 1600 leaders at these (Christian) workshops was himself not a Christian, but a devout follower of another faith, so his strong support was clearly an act of God!
Interestingly, the last of the eight workshops, on March 13, 2020, ended ten minutes before the Kenyan President issued a COVID-19 related edict forbidding meetings of more than 15 people. At that final workshop location there were more than 200 leaders present, but the workshop had finished just in time! And Steve was able to return to the USA just before plane flights were swiftly cancelled. God’s timings, perhaps?
Steve was able to visit Murang’a County again after the COVID restrictions were softened, and met with some of the key leaders from the various sub-counties. They reported that a phenomenal new level of trust had developed between the key government leaders and bishops in the county, with tangible impact on the effectiveness of programs to benefit the populace. They all pointed to our workshops as being pivotal in launching this new level of cooperation and harmony between the government and the church!
Several months later the new County Commissioner (a Christian) instituted regular prayer meetings in all the sub-counties which are attended by his top deputies and the top clergy in each region. These are official meetings initiated and supported by the County government. There is cooperation that is quite remarkable and there is hunger that continues to grow for even more trust-building between the clergy and government leaders.
The example that has been set in Murang’a County is now serving as a template for similar efforts in many of the neighboring counties, and there is heightened expectation that this model of cooperation will be adopted throughout all of Kenya! God’s love for leaders is now clearly recognized and has resulted in the expectation of a remarkable transformation of the leaders’ ability to bring much-needed improvement in the lives of the precious people of Kenya!
Over 1300 Church Leaders Strongly Encouraged in Uganda
What a blessing and privilege to be able to report the goodness of God during Steve’s 4-week Leadership Encouragement tour of Uganda in May of 2022! Over 1300 leaders in five locations were strongly encouraged by our 3-day course entitled “Becoming Like Jesus.” Steve’s full praise report (with pictures) is available by visiting our TouchStones testimony page, but here we share a few key encouragements.
The large gatherings of 200-400 leaders in each location shared the common feature that these leaders were hungry to know their Father’s desire to fashion them in the image of Christ. The focus of the teaching was not behavior modification, but rather on receiving the same blessings that Jesus received through his relationship as a son of God.
Of course, Jesus has the special status of the first-born among all the sons of God, but Abba intends for us to have the same kind of relationship with him that Jesus has. Some of the blessings covered in the course included developing Jesus-level love, confidence, joy, peace, and oneness. The revelations communicated were very eye-opening and brought tremendous joy to the participants.
[The full version of this course, “Becoming Like Jesus,” is available online at our Father’s Workshop resource hub.]
Several of the leaders gave feedback that revealed that the Holy Spirit had indeed touched their hearts. Comments were along these lines: “This series of revelations is historic here in Uganda,” and “We have never had this level of encouragement for leaders before in our country!”
An important component of our praise to the Lord for this amazing Encouragement Tour is that many of the leaders are keen to take the teachings to their respective spheres of influence. Several of the bishops who helped us organize the tour (and themselves were encouraged by the course on “Becoming Like Jesus”) collectively help oversee about 25,000 of the 35,000 churches that belong to the Uganda Association of Born-Again Churches. The potential reach of the encouraging revelations is quite substantial indeed, and we pray that the impact will be powerfully transformative in the lives of the many Ugandan believers who need encouragement.
Already some of these leaders are taking advantage of our online resource hub called Father’s Workshop, where they can find in-depth teachings and explorations of the Father’s heart to help them be “transformed by what they see.” For those who would like to check out this resource hub, here is the link: www.papasteve.org/fathers-workshop.
Explore Our Transforming Touches Pages
(Click on the images below to visit each page)
