The Next Level of Conversation
This summer we successfully launched the first series of the Amahoro Institute in Uganda, Burundi and South Africa. This was created to be a regional conversation, bringing leaders together for further conversation and allowing their shared proximity to give rise to new relationships and collaborations in their home city. On the final day of these sessions, the question always asked was, ”What is next?”
We believe the next step is a collaboration between Amahoro Africa and TREK. Our friends Wes White and Andrew Perriman, who were both with us in Kigali this summer, are skilled at hosting theological reflection in a relational context. They have shared their interest in hosting such a discussion in Africa, taking the conversation of reconciliation to the next level in terms of theological reflection and practice in the local context. Our hope is to host an intimate gathering of 10-12 leaders this fall in Kenya for such a time of shared discussion, discovery and even dreaming.
TREK (Theological Resourcing for an Emerging Kultur) is a small-scale initiative to help churches and communities of faith (mostly in Europe) to reflect theologically on their life and mission. They have developed a simple learning model of conversation around a local table. They encourage an informal but serious collaborative engagement in key issues relating to mission in an emerging culture as they are encountered in a local context. Once you’ve met them, you know that they enjoy themselves in the process! (You can learn more about TREK at www.localtable.org)
Our Kenyan friends are excited to continue the conversation about reconciliation in the wake of the post-election violence they experienced just last year. They want the church to be a prophetic voice in their communities, and see this more condensed conversation as one tool that will bear good fruit for them as leaders of fractured communities. They are eager to receive Wes and Andrew and dialogue and learn together this November.
In order for this collaboration to happen this fall, we will need some assistance with funding. We anticipate needed at least $1500 to make this next level of conversation a reality. If you were in Kigali this summer, you know that we only began the work reconciliation requires in our various countries. This is a tangible way to come alongside our Kenyan friends and partner with them as they continue this conversation in their community. Please consider this opportunity to further the conversation and deepen the practice of reconciliation in the name of Jesus in Kenya.
All checks can be sent to Amahoro Africa, P. O. Box 8867 Surprise, AZ 85379 with a note on the memo line: Kenya TREK. You can also donate online at www.amahoro-africa.org
Amahoro,
Kelley Johnson
