Bringing a Marketplace Ministry to Kenya

Moffett Weru sells motorcycle parts out of his shop in Kitale, Kenya, during the week and serves as pastor of a growing nondenominational church on Sundays.

In the past, he considered his work in the marketplace during the week as separate from what he did on Sundays. But that has changed.

Now all of what he does, both in making a living and in being a pastor, is linked and done for the glory of God, said Renita Reed-Thomson, a partner missionary with Christian Reformed World Missions.

“Now he sees his business as also being his ministry. It is his parish. He has taken his expanded ministry to heart and found creative ways to fill this out. All of his church is now working to reclaim the marketplace for Christ.”

Moffett was a student in a class on marketplace ministry taught by Reed-Thomson at the Africa Theological Seminary, a nondenominational seminary in Kenya operated by International Christian Ministries (ICM). She works as a coordinator for Discipling Marketplace Leaders, a program of ICM.

In the class, she taught pastors such as Moffett about the importance of business as mission and of the need to encourage members, business owners, and workers in their churches to use their faith in all areas of life, especially the marketplace.

“Too often Christians leave their faith on the church steps as they head out to work on Monday,” said Reed-Thomson, who spent time working in West Africa with the business ministry Partners Worldwide before taking her current position.

“Few people realize that God’s call Monday-Saturday is to worship through work. The goal of Discipling Marketplace Leaders is to move people into ministry the other six days of the week.”

This is done, she said, by helping them understand that they have a calling to be God’s ambassadors in their farm fields, their garages, their classrooms, the halls of government—and in the case of Moffett, in his motorcycle shop. Such principles of holy living as honesty, fairness, and personal integrity apply in all places.

“God has called us, as the church, to become unleashed from the four walls of the church building to transform our communities with the light of Jesus,” said Reed-Thomson.

In 2013, as she was beginning her ministry in Kenya, Reed-Thomson did a pilot study to see if the program she offers works.

She chose two churches in each of three towns in western Kenya. The churches were of similar size. In each town, she left one church alone, not including it in her curriculum of marketplace ministry.

In the other churches, she worked with the pastors, teaching them about “their calling to disciple and encourage business people in their communities.”

These pastors, in turn, opened the doors of their churches to be centers of training, mentoring, and equipping for their business leaders.

After 18 months, she said, the results of her study were positive.

• Churches reported growth in membership and attendance, growth in giving, and growth in participation of business people in general church activities.
• Businesses reported significant growth in sales and profits, on average 85 percent.
• Business owners reported growth in personal household income by 120 percent.
• Business owners grew spiritually as they managed their businesses as God’s stewards.

“The initial success of the project has now been multiplied in ever-expanding communities,” said Reed-Thomson.

Moffett’s church is an example.

The process worked for Moffett in this way: First, he attended the class from Reed-Thomson in which he learned of the significance of making business a ministry.

Then he took the message back to his nondenominational church in Kitale, Kenya. Reed-Thomson helped him do that by training him and members of his church in this ministry.

In addition, she gave Moffett four sermon outlines to use in preaching about this topic to his church. She also provided videos and activities for people in the church.

“It is important to involve all church members in this and to disciple them to the purpose God has called them to,” said Reed-Thomson, who is expanding the work in Ethiopia, Egypt, and Ghana.

After learning about bringing his faith into the workplace, Moffett helped to organize a cooperative of motorcycle drivers in his town. They meet to talk over concerns and share their faith. They have also started their own savings program.

At his church, members have begun a business ministry. They have also banded together to purchase some land on which to grow crops to sell and use the proceeds to help care for vulnerable children and orphans.

Meanwhile, the church is growing, and evangelism is expanding as it sees the value of including their faith in all areas of their lives, including the workplace, said Reed-Thomson.

To support Reed-Thomson’s ministry, visit https://crwm.org/about-us/our-missionaries/renita-and-michael-reed-thomson.