Growing Student Engagement
Sam Tome (From CMF International) leading prayers during the students’ fellowship
DBS group meeting on the verandah
February has been encouraging for ministry. Student attendance at fellowships has grown, with over 40 students regularly joining, and the numbers sometimes fill our meeting space and spill onto the veranda. Though a Valentine’s movie night was postponed due to security concerns, we plan to reschedule it in March. We’re also preparing for an end-of-term dinner and finalizing logistics and funding.
One DBS group meeting in the living room
Daystar University has grown in numbers recently, and there has been a clear need for a deeper biblical grounding among students. This has led to the partnership and launch of Discovery Bible Study (DBS) with Sam Tome of CMFI. We’ve had two interactive sessions that have shown strong student interest. We now alternate Mondays between DBS and our regular fellowship.
Life Update - The Orungas
Stella with Tamara & Braylon at home
We are grateful to be well as a family. Stella has been faithfully handling much of the ministry’s administrative work while I do most of the supportive work as I remain engaged with classes and coaching, and we are grateful to serve together. Braylon has resumed school in PP1 and recently celebrated his 4th birthday on the 25th. Tamara keeps up with her brother and often surprises us with her growing vocabulary. We thank God for their health and growth.
In coaching, the 2025/2026 season nears its close. The ladies’ team has improved, now at position 8 out of 13. The Men’s team currently stands 2nd out of 10 after 18 matches and has qualified for the National League playoffs this weekend. The playoffs will determine promotion to the Kenya Hockey Union Super League.
Ian (in Blue) talking to the men’s team after their last match of the season.
Preparing Couples for Marriage Ministry
Couples participating in an activity during the Meet & Greet event
We had a great afternoon on Saturday 31st January 2026, with 7 couples who have shown an interest in our upcoming Marriage Ministry Training (MMT). We had a couple come all the way from Kisii about 300kms away. We had some interactive fun games with them before sharing with them about our marriage ministry training and why it is important.
Chari began by giving them a brief history and what necessitated Ukarimu ministries to start the marriage ministry training. How the training runs and how those trained in the past have had practical experience training the Reality check program for young couples.
A group of couples engaging in a group activity during the event
Barnabas then ran them through the importance of marriage ministry training for those passionate to work with couples. He gave an overview of the training, the dates for the upcoming one and the cost implications. The couples showed a lot of interest evidenced by the questions asked and comments made. We finished with some tea and fellowship. The first class begins on the 7th of March 2026 and we are looking forward to having at least 6 couples sign up for the program. This is a good number as we were looking for between 5 to 10 couples.
We look forward to a great year of mentorship and impartation as we walk with these couples through this training.
The Kingsburys Prepare for Life in Nanyuki
Who would have thought that preparing for retirement could be so exhausting? Yet, this is what we have been discovering these past 5 weeks since returning from our U.S. trip! But first…
It was great seeing so many of our faithful supporters, friends and family this trip to the States. In fact, we got to visit a cousin of Chip’s that he had not seen in over 50 years! Amazing. Our trip was in late fall/early winter, so though we got a good taste of cold (as it seemed to come early this year) and even a few flurries, the worst of the winter weather hit shortly after we returned to the tropics. We had fun visiting the Columbus Zoo at night in the snow and bitter cold, enjoying their light show and the indoor displays, but that was plenty enough winter for us! Returning was a bit of a shocker though, going from the coldest time of year in the U.S. to the hottest time of year here in Kenya! We had to reorient ourselves not only to the 8 hour time difference, but to the weather difference and back to work!
Chip & Chari
Our lives these past 5 weeks have consisted of sorting, tossing, sorting some more and tossing (or giving away). We have more than 20 years of accumulated stuff, some of which we had carted with us from Nairobi 21 years ago. So, now that we will be moving to our new home more than 5 hours away, we figured now was the time to sort and get rid of stuff we have not used in years. Why carry it all that distance and then try to find a place for it in the new home? The cool thing about living here is that people can find a good use for just about anything, so nothing goes to waste. As they say… “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”.
Chip has been busy with the on-going house construction and preparing for our move next month. Additionally, he’s still quite involved with professional development for faculty at Kenyan universities. He has been conducting workshops for a year-long program for faculty at the Aga Khan University concerning teaching and conducting research. He’s also working with Karatina University on improving learning and teaching by means of participatory action research. Both of these are long term projects.
We have set a moving date of March 18th. That is not far away at all! In fact, the next time you hear from us, we should be safely ensconced in our new home in the Nanyuki area of Kenya, right at the foot of Mt. Kenya. We are excited about the new home, new opportunities, new people to meet. But we are also a tad apprehensive about not knowing anyone up there (yet), finding a good place to worship and fellowship, and making new connections in a new community. Please join us in prayer as we seek God as to what He wants us to be doing in our new community. We are seriously considering planting a church, if God continues to lead in that direction. Watch this space.
The Kingsbury’s new home in Nanyuki
1 Comment
Dick Stellway · March 14, 2026 at 7:32 pm
Dear Chip and Chari,
Thank you for your latest newsletter. It’s wonderful to see the Ukarumu house gatherings continuing and the groups growing. You’ve truly planted some wonderful ministries. And goodness—your move to Nanyuki is practically tomorrow! The photo of your new home was such a joy to see; it’s absolutely beautiful. I’m praying that God will connect you with neighbors and with the people He intends for you to meet, serve, and walk alongside. Chip, it’s also encouraging to hear that you’ll be continuing your faculty development work.
Janet and I are doing well. I’m serving as an Associate Director with Community Vision International, Inc. (www.cvi2.org). Janet continues her full-time role as a professor in Northwest Nazarene University’s Graduate School of Social Work, while also counseling clients and supervising counselors and play therapists working toward certification. We were both pleasantly surprised last year when she was selected as Graduate School Professor of the Year. She also stays closely connected with her sister Violet, who oversees the care and education of the 15 or 16 orphans and vulnerable children in our Kibarabari Care Center in Janet’s home village of Chepsonoi, near Kapsabet.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you enter this new season of life and ministry.
Every Blessing!!!
–Dick (for Dick & Janet)