The Anglican Church of Kenya in Kiambu County has initiated empowerment programmes for its members to improve their livelihood and alleviate poverty and its impacts.
Speaking in his office on Tuesday in Kiambu Town, the Director of the Anglican Development Services (ADS) department, Rt Rev Charles Muturi said that the Anglican church leadership realised that its members were struggling financially to make ends meet yet they had untapped opportunities within them.
The church leadership then started empowerment programmes to train church members on entrepreneurial skills that could help them think of how to improve their economic status by utilising immediate resources in their homes.
The reverend pointed out that majority of their church members realised that they had pieces of land that were not fully utilised and many decided to venture into agriculture.
The church then decided to partner with public and private agricultural professionals to train the church members on how they can maximise yields from their small pieces of land and earn good returns.
Rev Muturi noted that five years down the line, the Anglican Church leadership has no regrets because this programme has transformed thousands of its members throughout the county.
“Church members who were almost becoming beggars are the ones who right now contribute more to the feeding programme for the needy and vulnerable in the their communities, something they never thought they would be able to do a few years back,” said Rev Muturi.
The church leadership organised an agricultural show so that members from various regions in the county can get an opportunity to: show case their products, learn on new methods and technologies to improve on their current practices, and network with other farmers and professionals who they can collaborate with to produce products of superior quality.
The director revealed that they have realised immense improvement in the lives of its members because majority of them are now members of Ukristo na Ufanisi wa Anglican Sacco LTD where they save whatever they earn and access affordable credit and other services for better spiritual and social well being.
In the just completed second Agricultural show that was organised by the church over the weekend, thousands of people from all walks of life participated, a clear indication that people are interested in improving their well being.
The director urged all other religious denominations to think of programmes that can improve the lives of their members.
He said religious congregations have people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds who if called upon, to suggest ideas of improving some of their members’ well being, a tangible solution will most definitely be arrived at.