Betty Ndunge and the spirit of Xplore

10 June 2009

In 2008, when her schooling came to an end, Betty Ndunge was hoping to go to university in her native Kenya, much like many of her classmates. Then her minister showed her details about a programme called Xplore - run by the Church Army from its base in the United Kingdom.

Feeling called to this Global Gap Year programme for 18-25 year-olds, she went first to a placement in Liverpool, where Church Army had established a vibrant Kidz Klub, and then to a similar urban environment in Belfast that also had dynamic input from the Church Army Evangelists working there.

Betty describes her time with Church Army and the children as being "Jam-packed with activity", leaving her exhausted but incredibly fulfilled at the end of each week. The contrast between her placements in the UK was as great as the life-changing decision to leave Kenya in the first place. Whilst the work in Liverpool represented "bringing life to a dying church", her experience in Belfast was of a "big, well-supported church" (Willowfield) that was already carrying out outreach programmes that cater for everyone from "toddlers to pensioners."

The 20 year-old is now set on returning to Kenya in July, at the end of her one-year placement, and is hoping to study International Relations at university. Her dream is to take the lessons she learned with Church Army to the children of Kibera: one Kenya's, and Africa's, biggest slums.

Her return to Kenya this summer represents the spirit of the Xplore programme, and the long-term commitment to evangelism it seeks to inspire. Your prayers for Betty's future - and that of the children of Kibera - would be greatly welcomed.

To find out more about serving the least, the last and the lost via this Global Gap Year programme, go to the Xplore homepage.
To see a short film about Betty and her fellow Xplorers, go to our website.