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The pillars of the Presbyterian
Church of East Africa are evangelism, health care and education.
EVANGELISM
In the past year, the churches
in Chogoria Presbytery have grown at such a rate that several parishes
have needed to be subdivided. During the Northern Plains visit to
Chogoria in January, 2004, the delegates attended the ceremony when
Muthambi Parish was sub-divided into three parishes. Since then, Mwimbi
Parish has been sub-divided into four parishes and soon, Mugumango
Parish and Kiera Parish will be sub-divided into three parishes each. In
addition, there are two other parishes, Kamaara and Murugi.
Each parish has from 6 to 12
churches in it. The churches have an average of 200 members for the
larger churches and 30 members for the smaller ones. Most congregations
have constructed permanent church buildings and others continue to plan
to construct permanent ones.
The nendeni
(mission) area is Tharaka. This area is very dry and people have many
problems due to climatic conditions. The area is economically very
disadvantaged and is therefore under the care of the Presbytery.
HEALTH CARE
Each parish
sponsors dispensaries. These dispensaries are managed by the PCEA
Chogoria Hospital. Much work is done through the dispensaries to educate
the people regarding good nutrition, family planning and HIV/AIDS. The
dispensaries are also used to test for malaria. The Chogoria Hospital
has an extensive Community Health program that supports the
dispensaries.
EDUCATION
In addition to
sponsoring dispensaries, each parish also sponsors primary and secondary
schools. The parish helps in raising the funds to build the schools,
supports the on-going mission of the schools and provides the school
children with spiritual guidance. The state is responsible for supplying
the schools with teachers. |
