January 2020 Update

by | Jan 28, 2020 | Uncategorized

January 2020 | Communities of Grace International Update

Greetings and Happy New Year!

We trust that the Lord is faithfully at work in your life as you enter into this new year… and decade.

It has been an exciting start to 2020 here at Communities of Grace International. In addition to launching our new website and sending out our first monthly newsletter, we were able to send a team to Africa for 10 days to spend time with our national partners building new facilities, serving meals and providing medical care, ordaining new pastors – and more!

Read below to see more about our work this month. And, as always, we thank you for your ongoing prayer and support for our ministry. Your generosity allows us to advance the gospel in Africa, as well as be the hands and feet of Christ to those in need.

Grace and blessings,

Damon Davenport
Founder, Communities of Grace International

Looking back over 2019, we had a great year in our church planting efforts. We had the opportunity to establish two new churches and re-vitalize two additional churches. Earlier this month, we had the privilege to dedicate the Mosoriot Church located in Kenya. This will be a huge benefit to the community and to hundreds of college students who call this community “home” for the two to three years while they work on their academics.

Churches play a vital role in the discipleship and growth of the community, which is why church planting is a key part of our ministry. What a blessing Mosoriot Community Church will be to this village.

 

A peek inside Mosoriot Community Church. We trust lives will be changed within these walls for years to come!

 

Celebrating Robert as a newly-ordained minister.

 

Our friend Steven was ordained, as well!

 

God was at work this month helping us teach followers of Christ the very word of God. Our partnership with the Community Baptist Church of Kenya has been a blessing. We continue to help fund their ability to teach in the local prisons and have helped to establish a bible school in a small community with 30 students.

Did you know that by the end of 2019 we have distributed more than 60,000 gospel booklets in the past five years? Praise God for His faithfulness in spreading the gospel to all nations, tribes and tongues.

Our volunteers before serving in Kisumu Maximum Security Prison in Kenya.

Through your generosity, prisoners are able to hear the life-changing message of the gospel.

Noel Academy in Kenya has opened for the new school year. There will be approximately 180 students coming from area communities to study at Noel Academy. We were also blessed to learn that three of our former students were accepted into universities, with one of the students receiving an offer to study at a U.S. university this year.

In January, we were notified that two of the older orphaned boys of the Noel Children’s Center were united with new parents. We will miss these sweet kids, and ask for your continued prayers for them and their new families during this transition.

Some of our wonderful volunteers helping with a village health care project.

Christmas at the Noel Children’s Center!

We are so encouraged to see how God has blessed our work through Communities of Grace – including finishing two church projects, launching new congregations, being allowed to start new discipleship programs in two new colleges, continuing our prison evangelism by visiting thousands of inmates and delivering new study bibles to the protestant chaplains.

In 2020, we pray that we will have the opportunity to develop partnerships with additional churches and individuals who share the same desire: to share the gospel to the least fortunate and socially neglected.

We humbly ask you to pray over how you can help advance God’s work through Communities of Grace whether by giving, praying or going. Contact damon@gocogi.com with more ways you can get involved!

 

 

Our team was able to participate in 3 separate women’s gatherings which were blessed to have over 500 attendees! These gatherings were focused on reaching the widows and their families in the community with the Gospel while also helping provide for their physical needs with gifts of food for them as well! What a joy that was to be a part of these conferences!

Women's Prison Ministry

John 13:12-17

(12) When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. (13) “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. (14) Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. (15) I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (16) Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (17) Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

During our time at the women’s prison, we had the fun time of washing the prisoner’s feet and also doing some nail polishing!

Noel Academy

Noel Academy has been greatly enjoying the new van since our last update!

Discipleship Program Graduates

The students have been working diligently for 3 years with our discipleship program and are receiving a John MacArthur study Bible after graduation! This class included 40 students who will be dispatched throughout Kenya for their work assignments.

New Church Updates

The roofing for the new church is nearing completion!

Prayer Requests

Please consider partnering with us through prayer.

  • For the new discipleship program for the juvenile detention inmates.
  • For the hearts of widows and their families who heard the Word spoken over them in June.
  • For God to use this group of discipleship graduates as they reach throughout Kenya through their work assignments.
  • For the Noel children who continue their studies – for growth in their intellectual skills and wisdom.
  • For the new church project to continue smoothly.

Thank you so much for the prayer and continued support as the work to spread God’s glory to the nations!