Two congregations in the Mara North Cluster of Community Christian Churches near the Maasai Mara Game Preserve in Kenya have recently broken ground for new buildings for their growing flocks, and expect to have the completed structures in use by July.

Mbitin is a young church that began in 2008, according to William Koya, a long-time leader in the Mara North Cluster and the Field Operations Supervisor for the Community Health Partners clinic.

“They used to worship under a tree, but now they are blessed with some funds to build a church,” said William. “The congregation is 218 members.”

The building will measure 30 by 50 feet and will be the congregation’s first permanent building made of stone, according to CMF missionary Lynn Cazier.

“This is being built with financial assistance from CMF of about $5,900,” Lynn said. “That is about half the total cost of the building. The rest of the cost has been raised by the Mbitin church and the others in the cluster. In well-organized clusters like Mara North, all the churches work together to raise funds for the next building on the list, and then move on to the next one.”

The Olkimitare Church, on the other hand, is a more established congregation with 260 members, said William Koya, and is building its second building.

“The first Olkimatari permanent building was constructed in 2002-03 and was one of the first built with cooperative assistance from the CMF church-building fund,” said Lynn Cazier. “Unfortunately, it was essentially built in a swamp on too much black cotton soil and has had many problems with settling and cracks in the walls and floor.”

The church has been discussing replacing or moving the building for the past few years, but each individual congregation receives assistance from CMF to build only one permanent building, so they knew they had to really step up financially for this project. They will also re-use some materials from the old building to construct the new one.

“What is so great to see about this one is that Olkimitare CCC and other churches in the Mara North Cluster have combined to raise nearly $20,000 to construct its new building, making this the first permanent CCC building constructed totally and completely without financial assistance from CMF,” said Lynn.

“This is truly a day for rejoicing in the ongoing maturity of the Community Christian Church, to celebrate with these believers and thank God for this accomplishment,” said Lynn.