Date of Award

2-2023

Document Type

Project Portfolio

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Donna Wallace, DMin

Second Advisor

Ekaputra Tupamahu, PhD

Third Advisor

Ken Van Vliet, DMin

Abstract

Mteule is a one-year program of Spiritual Formation designed for the camp mentors of Angaza Discovery Camp and other staff members of Missions of Hope International (MOHI). Mteule means ‘set apart’ in Swahili. Mteule was developed to address the following need, problem, or opportunity: Camp mentors and other staff from the Mathare Valley come with their own experiences of trauma and can be lacking the capacity to maturely minister to traumatized children. MOHI is a Christian non-profit providing spiritual development, education, physical well-being, and sustainability training/micro-finance opportunities to those living in abject poverty in Kenya. MOHI currently has 31 Hope Centers, most of which are in the Mathare slums of Nairobi and some impoverished rural areas of Kenya. Each Hope Center operates a school and provides food, medical care, and spiritual care for the students. Angaza Discovery Camp draws from these centers and ministers to over 3,000 sixth-grade students yearly. The camp mentors at Angaza are former MOHI students and have grown up in a culture of poverty, the same as the students they minister to. This project found its fruition in the Mteule program, which consists of three foundational spiritual retreats over the course of a year, twelve spiritual direction sessions, and involvement in a Mteule group on a bi-weekly basis throughout the year. The Mteule group will operate as an accountability group, a book club, and prayer partners. Five Mteule groups make up a cohort of the Mteule program. When they graduate from the program, the desired outcomes are a marked spiritual maturity as demonstrated by their interactions with children and other staff members, personal spiritual disciplines, an understanding of themselves that frees them to use their unique gifting for ministry, and a deep understanding of their identity as the beloved of Christ.

Download

Included in

Christianity Commons

Share

COinS