Grain of Rice Project
Amy Ahiga
Grain of Rice Project is a non-profit organization that empowers Kenyans through education and training initiatives in Jesus’ name. Although we initially were based in Kibera Slum, our program was expanding, and we needed more space. Because many villages have little access to resources, we recently moved to a small village outside of Nanyuki, 4.5 hours from Nairobi. Our new site is comprised of 8.5 acres, which house our artisan program, volunteer housing, vegetable gardens, and our recently launched Grain of Rice Academy. Grain of Rice Academy is a primary school that provides high-quality, hands-on learning within a Christian context to children in need. Our students represent a range of tribes and ages as we focus on building a unified environment. Our school has a heavy emphasis on literacy, and we follow a cross-curricular approach to learning. Our vision is to create leaders who become problem-solvers in their own communities, thus expanding our reach.
Additionally, we support over 20 artisans from both the village and others who started with us in Kibera Slum and have now moved to our new location. Artisans create handcrafted products that help them to earn a living wage and support their families.
Although we cannot change all of Kenya, we strive to do small things to empower people that will add up to make a big difference in their lives and will in turn spill over and make a difference in the lives of others around them. Join us in tipping the scale.
Xponent Ministries
Dan Wilson
Our mission is to develop church planting disciples who will multiply themselves as they multiply God’s church.
Today there is such a great need to train church planting disciples who will plant Bible believing gospel preaching churches in sub-Saharan Africa. Civil wars, politically motivated atrocities, AIDS, and the rapid advancement of Islam have hit this continent hard and stripped its people of hope.
We at XPONENT Ministries felt the incredible need to not only train disciples but to combine a discipleship program with church planting at the core. We wanted a program which can be sustained, reproduced, and empowered on a regional or local level in cooperation with a national strategy.
The Strategy
In order to best utilize the XPONENT Discipleship Centers, part of our strategy is to position them as near as possible to some of Africa’s many Least Reached People Groups. According to statistics, at least 98% of the people in these groups do not believe in Christ and place their faith in other false gods, therefore the
opportunity to share Jesus where few have gone is very real and exciting, yet not without its challenges! This approach also gives the Discipleship Center students very practical and hands on opportunities to grow
in Christ in ways they could never have imagined otherwise and start reaching the unreached at the same time. It is definitely a win-win situation and the strategy is showing incredible fruit!
The Least-Reached
Who are the least-reached? In today’s missions circles, the term unreached people groups, as they used to be referred to, has been replaced by least-reached. A tribe or people group that is referred to as least-reached has less than 2% of its total population as believers in Christ. Obviously, less than 2% means they probably have no Bible in their language, few translated gospel tracts or texts, and probably no church. We are commanded to ” go…and make disciples of all the nations” in Matthew 28:18-20.
That means I am to go to the lost, reach them for Christ, disciple them, and give them opportunities to do the same! We know that everyone has not heard of Jesus yet so our role as a believer is not finished. We know we have a mission now that our eyes have been opened to the huge need of the least- reached. How much the Father in heaven must love and adore them!
So few believers and missionaries have been able to penetrate their culture or religious beliefs so they may know freedom in Christ! Positioning our Discipleship Centers near the least-reached offers us the opportunity to assist our students to maximize their talents, gifts, and resources to reach their neighbors for Christ before the harvest spoils in the fields.
