Stepping Over Fear (My Mizizi Experience)

As we get into week 6 of season 3 2013 (how fast time flies) allow us to share with you Vincent’s story (Vincent was in season 2 2013):

#TeamSparks At The Retreat 

I heard about Mizizi from my friends who had gone through the class. I also came across it online. In 2010, one of my friends who had took the class encouraged me to join but I was not convinced of the good that will come out of it. I am an introvert and mostly prefer conversing with others on a one-to-one basis rather than sharing my story or anything else for that matter in front of a large group. By large I mean 4 or more people. To me this is a crowd. It is this dislike/not wanting to be part of a group that in the past kept me from joining small groups in church.

At the beginning of this year, one of the goals I was praying for was to make new friends. And then came Mizizi. I first read about Mizizi Season 2 registration from a tweet sent by @mavunochurchorg. I would love to say that I signed up immediately but this was not the case. I bookmarked the link planning to refer to it later.

On the days that followed, I kept thinking about it but part of me was afraid. Not afraid of people per se, but scared of the unknown. I had never been in such a setting as the Mizizi classes. Deep within me I knew God was telling me to step out of the boat. Throughout that week I stumbled on articles/blogs about stepping over fear. [I now know God was directing me to the right decision]. I finally got the courage to fill the online form. During the orientation we got to learn more about the classes and heard testimonies from past Mizizites.

I left the orientation having not fully decided whether to attend the classes or not. It could have been easy to bail out since I hadn’t yet paid. I am glad I didn’t bail out. The first class was all about introductions and getting to know each other and the basics of Mizizi. During the weeks that followed I was amazed at how easy and comfortable I was when it came to sharing my life with complete strangers. I also learnt to listen to others as they shared their stories.

Even though I had been saved for a while, there were things that had faded in my Christian walk such as reading the bible and prayer and through Mizizi I got a refresher course on the importance of such practises. We had so much fun together. I can’t count the times when we were told that we were making noise for others. In fact, the class next to us had to shift to a further corner.  

One highlight of the Mizizi experience was the Half-Day of Prayer. We were to pray for 2 hours something that I had never done. I didn’t know what I would pray about for those hours. We were given prayer guides to assist us in the prayers. There were three categories of prayers that we were to make. First, we were to worship God and just have fellowship with him. The second was praying for others and our nation while the third was praying for ourselves.

I expected time to drag on but surprisingly it went pretty fast. Moreover, I found myself spending more time worshiping and adoring God and praying for others that when it came time to pray for myself I only spent 10 minutes. Other members of our class also had the same experience. This has changed the way I approach prayer.

All in all, I am glad that like Simon Peter, I stepped out of the boat and conquered my fear. Mizizi opened doors for me to grow in other areas that I had fear. I went to my home church and signed up for the small groups and I am enjoying the fellowship with others. Before Mizizi, I was always looking for excuses whenever I was asked to pray in front of people. Now, I am happy to pray whenever and wherever. Oh, I also made quite a number of friends.

If you have hesitated to join Mizizi because of fear, I encourage you to not let fear stop you from experiencing the good things that God has in store for you. Step over fear.

Vincent #TeamSparks

Freedom Behind Bars – Mizizi in Prisons

Where the journey began

Freedom Behind Bars (FBB) is a frontline initiative of Mavuno Church initiated in the year 2011 when its founder member, Frank Mutua had his brother incarcerated in Kiambu Prison with the offence of being drunk and disorderly.

Frank Mutua was deeply moved seeing his brother in torn prison attire and it dawned on him that all the inmates notwithstanding their transgressions or lack thereof, are our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, relatives and friends. He desired to have these ‘brothers and sisters’ go through Mizizi – to find the transformation he had found in his journey with Mizizi.

He engaged the Kiambu Prison officials who were excited at the opportunity to have Mizizi run in the prisons. The prison officials had interacted with Mavuno Church before as part of Spread the Love and were excited to work with Mavuno again.

In May of 2011, the first Mizizi class was launched at Lang’ata Women’s Prison and Nairobi Remand Prison. A total of ninety (90) prisoners signed up for this launch.  At the end of the season, over thirty (30) Mizizi inmates were born again and/or rededicated their lives.

We celebrate God’s hand on FBB

FBB has now been in existence for about one and a half years. In this short span of time, FBB has grown threefold to now having Mizizi being conducted in the following prisons:-

• Nairobi West Prison
• Kamiti Medium Prison
• Kamiti Maximum Prison
• Lang’ata Women Prison
• Industrial Areal Remand Prison
• Kiambu Prison
• Shimo La Tewa Prison (Mombasa)

The prisons’ authorities have adopted Mizizi as part of their rehabilitation programs. In the near future, we expect to run the Mizizi classes in all the other prisons in the Nairobi region.

By God’s grace this Mizizi class has now co-opted all the chaplains of the Nairobi prisons. They have recently completed a Mizizi course specific to the chaplains and they will now be taking a leading role in facilitating Mizizi in these prisons.

Last year, FBB planned the Mavuno Spread the Love which involved organizing the families of the prisoners as well as Mavunites visiting the prisons and having a fun day – it was the most awesome thing we have done in a while. We even got to interact with the Youth being rehabilitated in Kamiti.

We continue to have several intiatives running in the prisons – the most recent being an initiative to stock up the libraries with good books, that can build the prisoners. The stories, what we see in the prisons, we are astounded at what God is doing!

Who would have thought all this was possible in such a short period. We give God all the glory!

Has it been easy?

Has it been fulfilling? A resounding yes. But has it also been easy; no.

We have faced challenges least of which is not that we do not have enough facilitators, funds for buying Mizizi books and other projects. However, in all, there’s a way God provides that reminds us we are sorted!

If you want more details on how to plug in, visit our blog  http://freedombehindbarsmavunochurch.wordpress.com/  or our facebook page: freedom behind bars…

written by Esther Mwaniki

MIZIZI STORIES

It’s been a while since we updated this blog and as Mizizi season 1 2013 comes to a close at Mavuno Central, we have decided to let the graduating mizizites tell their ‘mizizi’ stories. We also have a story from Mavuno Kampala and freedom behind bars which takes mizizi to different prisons in Nairobi, Kenya ……. 

Nelly Njogu’s Story:

I was seeking for a sane place to be. Life seemed harder and tougher and I knew Christ is the solution. Was in a hurting relationship because my boyfriend kept telling me how I have issues. I knew it had to end but I didn’t know how I would survive the heartbreak. I really needed God.

My job seemed to be becoming a curse more than a blessing. The pay barely enough to pay all my bills and I needed somewhere to tell God all this. Praying on my desk everyday didn’t seem enough.

I enrolled with the last 500 bob I had; bought the manual and hoped God would provide the rest and He did. I found refuge in Mizizi; a place where you sit and suddenly start believing that it will be well!  Being a Sanguine, I have a lot of ‘fake’ friends. I needed to be with people I can be real with. I love my group members! They are my real friends.

I had just started living with my small bro and I had fears that only God understood. Our weekly studies got me thinking right and God ministered to me during my readings. My fears left like my ex boyfriend… lol! My bro and I are the best housemates in this country na bado! My faith in God has increased and I know I am a better me.

Mizizi was the best thing that happened to me. I am blessed without a doubt.

God bless Pastor Muriithi and Mavuno. Catch you later 🙂

 

Victoria Njeri’s Story;

By the time I came to Mavuno, I didn’t know about mizizi. But every time before Pastor M began to preach the sermon of the day, he used to introduce mizizi as something which will assist someone to recognize his/her God’s purpose. And it caught my attention. Because of my music career I decided to do mizizi and maybe it will help me to serve my God according to His will. So I signed up.

Mizizi was a great experience. Like when we were sharing our struggles, there was realness and openness in our group. I noticed people are thirsty for God and being closer to Him, despite not knowing where to go or who to talk to. So on evangelism day I was more than ready to go and preach the gospel which I did. Also by sharing Holy Communion, I did it with a deeper meaning compared with when I was a catholic.

I can’t forget to say mizizi was a lot of fun bonding together and “Maggie” making everybody go gagaga. And to top it up I have learned from you guys and I have made new friends. 

I thank God for giving me this opportunity. 

More stories coming up …… 

WHO’S THE MAN?

Give me a man of God- one man,

Whose faith is master of his mind,

And I will right all the wrongs

And bless the name of all mankind.

Give me a man of God- one man,

Who’s tongue is touched with heaven’s fire,

And I will flame the darkest hearts,

With high resolve and clean desire.

Give me a man-one man,

One mighty prophet of the Lord,

And I will give you peace on earth,

Bought with a prayer and not a sword.

Give me a man- one man,

True to the vision that he sees,

And I will build your broken shrines,

And bring the nations to their knees.

George Liddell

Are you the man?

MIZIZI – Plugging into your God-purpose

Mizizi is a swahili word for “roots”.

Mizizi is a ten weeks experience, tailor made to facilitate your connection with God, your purpose and with lifelong friends. As you know, the taller and stronger the tree, the deeper its roots have to be. The same is true about life. If we want to be the kind of people who will fearlessly influence the society and have a long term impact, then we need to know God and grow deeper in our relationship with Him.

Mizizi creates the environment that allows people to know and experience God’s power to transform. As we go through the ten weeks we begin to discover the purpose that we were created for. We start to see that there is a bigger picture to our lives than the small worldly accomplishments of money, materialism and achieving our selfish dreams. Mizizi facilitates the discovery journey to your purpose.

“If you want to go fast, walk alone, If you want to go far, walk with others.” Statistics show that life thrives in a small group. For us to be great we need to surround ourselves with like minded people who are going in the same direction we do. You will  go through Mizizi in a small group for the ten weeks and you are assured of bonding and creating lifelong friends who will support you, stand with you and see you to your greatness.

Mizizi is not about information, it is about transformation. Anyone can go through Mizizi, the believers, non believers, the old and the young. Read the comments of the post ” What was your Mizizi experience” and you will get a sneak peek of Mizizi. If you read the other posts you will get more info.

To sign up for Mizizi Season 2, kindly click here and fill in all your details.

The Launch will be on the 11th of May 2010 at The Mavuno Dome.

King Solomon’s Gift

Picture this: deep in the night, a voice calls out to you. The speaker identifies Himself as the Lord God. The purpose of His visit? To ask you a simple question:”What do you want? Whatever it is, name it and you’ve got it!”  What would you say?

This actually happened to a guy named Solomon. This is how the story goes:

2 Chronicles Chapter 1

¹ Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

² Then Solomon spoke to all Israel—to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families- ³ and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which Moses the LORD’s servant had made in the desert. ⁴ Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵ But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the LORD; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there. ⁶ Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

⁷ That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Imagine that! 1000 burnt offerings. If you read this chapter from the beginning, you notice the Lord asking Solomon to make that sacrifice, right? Wrong. At no point is there a record of the Lord instructing
Solomon to make such an enormous offering.
So here’s a guy, recently crowned king and what is his first executive action? Come on folks, lets offer 1000 burnt offerings to the Lord.The guys probably said to him- you mean a hundred to which he replied-… well you get the drift…

How long does it take, to offer 1000 burnt offerings? I mean, for all the technology we have, Kenya Meat Commission kills (or is it harvests?) 1000 animals a day! Whose animals were they to begin with? how many men did it take to get it done? I mean, I think about it and it really strikes me the magnitude of sacrifice that Solomon offered unto the Lord!

No wonder there is no record of the same offer being made by God to anybody else- ask for anything and I will give you. At least none that I have found. No instructions and no precedent and this guy offers God a
sacrifice that He couldn’t ignore. Wow!

BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING!

I am blessed! But, as it turns out, the blessings I’ve received are not just for me. God requires that I will be a blessing to others. And  not only other people but the world around me, including the environment. Like a great leader of old once said,

“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.”

St Augustine

What was your Mizizi experience?

Walalalalala! We have just come from the retreat of Mizizi season 1, 2010 and words can not even begin to express what went down at Multi Media University. We had our first joint retreat as Mavuno, together with our downtown campus and it was phenomenon to see all those 600 people in one venue. God was present and what happened, was life changing.

I was humbled and in awe. People received healing, relationships were restored, others got delivered from past wounds and the best is, the many who surrendered their lives to Christ. We would like to hear your Mizizi experience………….Come on share it with us and let us celebrate together.

If you had a bad experience, share it too….

Here are the photos from the retreat http://www.flickr.com/photos/mavuno/sets/72157623726156696/

What do you do?

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why did God permit me to wake up this morning? Why is my heart still beating? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my existence?”
If you haven’t asked that, you need to, because there is a reason why God has permitted you & me to be here. I believe it is important for us to know the answer to that question because if we don’t, there can be all kinds of negative results. And in the O.T. book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon talks about negative results that arise when we have no purpose.

Now King Solomon, if anyone, should have known the answer. I mean, Solomon had it all. He had money – more than he could ever spend. He had possessions – more than he could ever enjoy. He had wives – more than he could ever please. He even had wisdom far greater than any one else in his day. He had it all. Yet for a while, at least, he didn’t have a real grasp on the purpose of life.

LIFE WITHOUT A PURPOSE
The 1st chapter of Ecclesiastes, has some of the negative results that come from not knowing the purpose of life.

1. First of all, when you don’t know the purpose of life, then life will seem empty. In vs. 2 Solomon writes, “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’… ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’” Have you ever felt that way? Without some guiding purpose, life doesn’t make much sense at all!
2. Secondly, when you don’t know the purpose of life, then life can be an endless cycle of futility. In vs’s 4, 5, & 6 Solomon says such things as, “Generations come & generations go… The sun rises & the sun sets, & hurries back to where it rises,” & “The wind blows to the south & turns to the north; round & round it goes…”. So life becomes like a merry-go-round – going round & round, yet never getting anywhere. And Solomon gives this result in vs. 8, “All things are wearisome, more than one can say.” In other words, “It’s wearing me out.”
3. Thirdly, when you don’t know the purpose of life, you’ll never be really satisfied. Notice the last part of vs. 8, “The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” We always want more. We have gone from 10″ black & white picture tubes to giant flat screens, & hi-fidelity, stereo?phonic, surround sound. But we’re still not content. From a Toyota corolla to a Subaru to a VW Polo or Passat to a Mercedes Benz and we are still not satisfied. Put a 250-channel remote control in our hands & we’ll still be restless. Because the things of life don’t really satisfy unless you have a purpose for living.
4. Fourthly, when you don’t know its purpose, life itself will seem insignificant. Listen to vs. 11, “There is no remembrance of men of old, & even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.”  “If you ever start to feel proud, just remember that soon after your body has been lowered into the grave, your family & friends will be eating chicken strips with salad & telling jokes, & you’ll be history.”

Wow, that’s depressing, isn’t it? Yet, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the lives that Solomon describes as empty, meaningless, futile, insignificant, & out of control. Solomon wrote this book near the end of his life after he had tried everything and achieved much, only to find that nothing apart from God made him happy. He wanted we the readers, to avoid these same senseless pursuits. Before we even get into how to discover your purpose we need to understand that if we try to find meaning in our accomplishments rather than in God, we will NEVER be satisfied and everything we pursue will be meaningless…

I ask the question again, What is it that you do?

…..to be cont’d……. (next week we shall be looking at how can we discover our purpose)

Taking a Continent to win the World

As many of you may know, Mavuno church is planning to plant a church in Kampala to reach out to the unchurched in Uganda. Last week we had an opportunity to go to Kampala as a team of Pastors and the objective of the trip was to meet potential church leaders and source for venues for Mavuno’s church plant in Kampala. It was a very fruitful trip and with God’s help we shall be launching Mavuno Kampala, in May. So far we have had 3 seasons of Mizizi in Kampala and it is from these groups that we got the leaders. This team has a lot of energy and excitement as they lead us in launching the church. We are about to launch the 4th season of Mizizi, led by Ugandans, for Ugandans.

In week 7’s readings in the Mizizi book, we explore the various ways of sharing in our Fathers[God] heart and passion. The lessons also explore faith, engaging the powers, the environment and finally shares God’s vision for the world. In relation to Kampala, we believe that this is what God would love to see, churches that transform people who in turn become who God intended them to be. Our desire as Mavuno, is to have a church in every capital city in this continent. The capital cities being the hubs of many countries, makes them the right place to begin influencing. We need to be sensitized towards the need to actively participate in society, faithfully accomplishing Gods mission in everything we do. This is part of what we learn in Mizizi………