Center for Transforming Mission

Nairobi, Kenya

This month, we are featuring Gideon Ochieng – Street Psalms Senior Fellow and Founding Director of the Center for Transforming Mission in Nairobi, Kenya. Gideon’s focus as a Street Psalms Senior Fellow is the development of incarnational leadership in the informal settlements of Nairobi.

In a world full of big egos and loud personalities, Gideon is a quiet, confident leader who is deeply committed to the power of relationships to heal and transform communities. He does not need the spotlight. Instead, he works behind the scenes with remarkable skill and artistry. In fact, Gideon is a talented artist and I have several of his paintings in my office. He loves to find beauty in hard places. He creates the conditions for others to succeed and his city has been the beneficiary of this gift for more than 20 years.

If you’re ever in Nairobi please look up Gideon. He’ll be happy to walk with you. Seeing the city through his eyes is an experience you won’t forget. You’ll see a city being healed relationally in the most beautiful way. It’s a work of art.

Nairobi, Kenya

In Kenya, elections often result in violence. Kiberia is a community that is especially known to suffer heavily whenever there is unrest in our city. In 2017 with the general elections quickly approaching, CTM Kenya wanted to find a way to bring our community together – to set a table where those who would normally be entrenched in rivalry as social or political enemies could come together in peace.

To help preserve Kiberia from the loss, death, and suffering often surrounding the elections, we selected 20 leaders to provide trainings that invited local leaders out of rivalry into friendship. We witnessed churches working together in a way that connected leaders from across divides – Muslims, Christians, non church-affiliated leaders and organizations that normally do not speak to one another, all coming together to seek peace. Together, we urged those in influence to embrace peace and unity, regardless of glaring tribal and political differences.

CTM Kenya’s approach was a huge gift to the leaders who are called to be peacemakers in our city. As a result, 10 other communities heard about our work and invited our team to provide similar trainings in their context. There was much fruit. During the 2017 elections, we saw far fewer deaths, the destruction of property was minimal, and no church or mosque was attacked. Small seeds, big fruit – that’s the power of the Incarnation.

Gideon Ochieng
Street Psalms Senior Fellow
Founding Director of CTM Kenya

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Learn more about Kiberia