Meaningful Growth in Small Gatherings – By Ian & Stella Orunga
It has been a great two months with the students. Attendance has been lower this term, with about 10–20 students participating, as many Daystar students take advantage of this period for their long holiday. However, the smaller group has allowed for deeper and more impactful discussions.
Engaging in brief smaller group discussion during fellowship
We have been encouraging students in their final academic semester to prepare for life after university while continuing to put God first. During one session, a former student shared that he had more financial support while studying than he does now. He encouraged students to use their pocket money wisely and, where possible, save and invest. The question posed was: What are we doing now to prepare ourselves for the lives we hope to live after completing our undergraduate or master’s programmes? This prompted reflection on how we can support one another’s growth.
Learning from his mistakes, the former student has started a programme that helps students manage their finances and time and use their free time productively. This encouraged Ian and me because we had discussed these topics with him before he graduated. It was fulfilling to see him return and share those lessons. We also continue with Discovery Bible Study with the help of our interns Ledama and Shalom.
DBS in session
We are progressing through Globalscope’s onboarding process and we appreciate their intentionality and willingness to know us through this. We have met virtually with several ministry directors, who have welcomed us warmly. With Nairobi Chapel Greenpark Church in Kenya, we are planning a follow-up meeting with Pastor Andrew next week to explore partnerships that will strengthen our student and marriage ministries and contribute to the transformation of lives and communities.
Restoring Hope in Marriages – By Barnabas & Grace Achoki
Couples having their couple time in a forgiveness session during the training
We had our third session, out of six this year. for our Marriage Ministry Training on the 6th of June. We had full attendance except for one couple who couldn’t travel to Nairobi because of a loss in the family. This past session we tackled Instilling Hope to hurting couples with the Etemesis taking us through a forgiveness session in the afternoon where they openly shared their marriage journey and how God had restored their marriage after one year separation. This greatly encouraged the couples plus helped cement the lesson on instilling hope to couples.
Their authenticity helped model how couples facilitating marriage ministries can impact the couples they are helping by sharing their own lives. This is one thing we hope they will carry from this training so as to break the culture in many churches where we are not authentic thus unable to genuinely connect with those we are helping. We are also seeing couples sharing openly during the sessions which is great as we endevour to create a safe space for those undergoing training as well as giving them a model of how to facilitate their groups in future. The couples are already facilitating the ice-breakers as we begin the day’s training. We look forward to using them to facilitate the REALITY CHECK next year.
Couples listening to instructions for the next activity during the forgiveness session
Talking about the REALITY CHECK, we are already in talks with Nairobi Chapel Greenpark to do an in-house REALITY-CHECK with their couples. We are also looking at starting one day workshops for those Churches interested in training those interested in helping couples in the Marriage Ministries in their churches. This can serve as an introduction to MMT (Marriage Ministry Training).
Last year we were able to experiment with a MID-JOURNEY course for couples in their mid-life which was very successful. We are thinking of trying out another experiment with older couples who are in their fifties preparing to be empty-nesters. We’ll call it EMPTY-NESTERS JOURNEY. Pray with us as we think about how to do this and for God to give us at least 6 couples we can take through this journey.
Our next MMT class will be held next month, July, 25th 2026.
Balancing Family, Studies and Ministry
Our family is also doing well. Braylon is growing quickly and learning to read independently. You will often find him sitting in a corner, trying to read a book aloud, which is impressive to watch. Tamara is eager to catch up with her brother and is always asking for a book to colour. She could colour all day! We are grateful to friends of Ukarimu who have given us colouring books and crayons.
Ian and Stella Orunga sharing during the Kingsburys’ Golden Anniversary
I am learning to balance time with Tamara while Braylon is at school and my work responsibilities. Ian is also balancing his master’s programme, the Daystar hockey teams and the Beyond Hockey children’s sports outreach programme. The sports outreach programme continues to grow, with more children joining and more high schools expressing interest in offering scholarships. A few more students from the Daystar hockey teams have also shown greater interest and commitment to the programme. Please continue praying with us as we seek wisdom to manage these responsibilities well and find rhythms that work for our family.
A Golden Anniversary and Housewarming Celebration
May and the first 2 weeks of June were very busy planning weeks, even while we were still settling into our new home in Jua Kali, Kenya, near Nanyuki. The big event, our 50th anniversary and house warming celebration took place on the 13th June.
A few highlights of the event include:
Chip and Chari exchanging vows and rings during the Golden Anniversary celebration
- Six guests from the U.S., including David and Heather Jones (lead pastor of Cross Points Church and his wife), Mark Traver (missions pastor of Cross Points Church) and Ethan Jones (assistant missions director). My sister Luanne Hurd-Rae and one of our Ukarimu Ministries U.S. board members, Cindy Felkel, also graced our occasion with their presence. It was fun hosting these wonderful people and we felt so loved that they all came all that distance to celebrate with us.
- More than 80 people attended our celebration, with only a handful from this area, meaning most people came from Nairobi! With Nairobi being a minimum of 4 hours’ driving, and most coming and returning the same day, again, we felt cherished!
- The service providers (event planner, tents, tables & chairs, deco, sound, photography, children’s entertainment, security, catering, and special cake) all did their work seamlessly, and professionally, freeing Chip and I up to visit with all our visitors.
- Though this was a very expensive event, all costs fell within budget and is now paid for (no small accomplishment!)
- The best part was all the meaningful activities of the celebration – our speakers, a special solo by Stella Orunga, a limerick written by Chip, poem by Chari to Chip, a heart-warming reflection by Chip, and the exchange of new rings. The 50th anniversary portion of the celebration was meaningfully led by Pastor Andrew Kariuki, the pastor of the church we most recently were members of in Athi River.
Praying for the Kingsburys
- Pastor David Jones, Omeno Suji (lead pastor of the church we helped plant in Athi River), and Mark Traver led the house-warming portion with an inspirational message, words of exhortation and encouragement, anointing of the new home, and prayers. We felt our home truly warmed and dedicated to God’s service.
- And, of course, we can’t forget the abundance of food. Even after everyone had their fill, food was sent out to several, and we had leftovers for days. The cake was plentiful and beautifully decorated.
- We have to say a big thanks to our main event planner, Grace Maina, and to Amanda Mugwe, our daughter, for assisting her and for coordinating attendance and collecting the abundance of gifts, both financial and in kind. People were just so generous…we are overwhelmed! Thank you all who gave so generously!
We thank you all for praying for this momentous event (after all one can only have one 50th wedding anniversary!) and for all the love you have showered on us. Words fail us, so we’ll stop there.
Finally, we continue to search for a church for fellowship. We have hardly begun to visit all the churches in Nanyuki and will not likely do so, but we continue to search and pray. Please join us in prayer as we look for the place where God would like us to fellowship.
We invite our friends and partners to consider supporting Ukarimu’s solar power project. Electricity has become the ministry’s largest expense, not because of unusually high consumption, but because of a suspected billing anomaly that we have not yet been able to resolve despite follow-up with KPLC (Kenya Power and Lighting Company).
Reliable electricity is essential because most student activities take place in the evenings, and our water supply also depends on power. Ukarimu uses a pressurized system to pump water throughout the house, meaning that without electricity, there is no running water. Since every event hosted at Ukarimu requires water for cooking, cleaning, sanitation, and general use, power interruptions directly affect our ability to host students and ministry activities effectively.
Investing in solar energy would reduce our dependence on the national grid, lower long-term utility costs, improve the reliability of both power and water, and allow more resources to be directed toward student mentorship, discipleship, and other transformational programs rather than utility bills.
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