Rabuna Fi Women's Ministry

Rabuna Fi is an income generating project that Far Reaching Ministries has for women in Kenya, Uganda & Sudan. Women make jewelry, purses & shawls to be sold in the US. The women here in Nairobi make shawls & are paid per shawl that is completed. They come in Tues-Sat from 2pm-5pm & start out with an hour long Bible study, followed by two hours of sewing. After so many hours of sewing they are given a certificate they can take to tailoring shops in town to find employment. Because of the economic down-turn, Rubuna Fi has lost quite a bit of financial support & is unable to pay the women much money so they are still in need of an additional source of income. Each day the women study a different book of the Bible. We three girls will be teaching the book of 1 John.

Today the Lord totally met me where I needed Him. After the teachings we three girls are split up into different areas of help. One takes care of the kids, one passes out the thread & sequins as needed, & the other prays with the women separately. Initially, I’m sad to say, I did not want to pray with the women. For whatever reason I was intimidate by it. I’ve had a hard time connecting with the women here & I just felt uncomfortable spending one on one time with them. I was doing everything I could to avoid it but God would not let me get away from it! So of course I was chosen to do the thing that was most stretching for me. But God was so faithful to give me everything I needed to minister to these women. Turns out I was able to connect with them in more ways than I thought I could. All the women I sat with are living with their boyfriends. The culture here in Kenya is to have a common-stay marriage which is comparable to common-law marriage in the States. The women refer to their live-in boyfriends as their husbands. So if you ask a lady if she is married you have to clarify if the marriage is legal or common-stay. To make matters worse, all the men are non-believers. Because I was once in a long-term relationship & lived with a boyfriend for many years I was able to share my story with them. All the ladies were shocked that I once lived like them. I shared with them that once I became born again I was convicted to no longer remain in a living situation that was unpleasing to God & I encouraged them to do the same. But in Kenya that’s easier said than done. All the women know they’re living in sin but because they struggle financially, living with their “husbands” means they can pay rent, pay school fees for their children, & eat. Our goal is to help these women get to the point where they have enough faith that God will provide for them if they live a life pleasing to Him.

I was so delighted with my time spent with each one of the ladies. Being able to relate to them in some areas & pray with them has brought us closer & I know it has allowed them to trust me more. At the end of the day I couldn’t help but praise God for being faithful to equip me to do what He called me to do for that day.