In my last post, I talked a little about “Glory Shiners” and the amazing people who head it up— Joel and Tara Beauchamp. Their place quickly became home for us. The ministry is made up of their family and close friends/staff.
Of course, I have to mention their four year old daughter, Caroline—who if you ask, is my best friend—and their 6 month old son, Christopher. This family was nothing short of a miracle. We needed them, honestly, more than their ministry needed us. To be in the atmosphere of family was something a lot of us hadn’t had in a couple of months. Their staff consists of some amazing Kenyans. Cliff is quite an incredible man. His story has a lot of pain and hurt but also a lot of healing. He made his way through college, different jobs, and various ministries to end up at “Glory Shiners.” His path has been hard; but, he is finally seeing God’s freedom firsthand. He serves the ministry well, loves the family well and loves God.
Justice Petit is a true servant of God. He has worked with a ministry that actually helped “Glory Shiners” get involved with their Pokot Ministry— which, I’ll go into more detail about later. He has so much heart and love. And he will do what’s asked of him without question, in the name of serving God.
I also cannot forget Nana. Nana was there with us the whole month. If I’m correct, she is still visiting there; probably, with a Coke Zero on ice. Nana made the entire family feel right. I never had a “nana” growing up, so, it was amazing for me to be in a family atmosphere like that and see the interactions. All these amazing people make “Glory Shiners” an incredible ministry.
Glory Shiners ministry has three facets. The first is the Nakuru prison ministry. Let me explain prison ministry first. Most missionaries or priests who come to the church are after one thing— saving people. There’s nothing wrong with this, but they come in, ask who wants to be saved, baptize them and then leave. The next week, it happens again. The prisoners always raise their hands to be saved, so it’s a constant cycle. But there isn’t much nourishing. There’s not a lot of lasting relationship with Christ being implemented. No intimacy being taught or cultivated.
Joel goes to the prison in Nakuru and leads an inner healing class there for the men. He said, so far, there have been about 3 or 4 successful men to come out of the classes he’s taught. While that may not seem like a lot, after being in the classroom with these men, that’s incredible. The entire culture and way these men were brought up have made leading an inner healing class a very painful process. The patience that Joel has with these men is truly from God. Getting to sit in class with the men was great. These men are in prison for some pretty bad things. But even they need saving. Jesus came here for those people. And Joel is on the front lines of this battle. It’s not the most glamorous battle or the most exciting thing. But he is changing men’s lives. One class at a time. The men are considering things they never have. They’re become able to admit the wrongs they have done and are being prepped to understand and feel forgiven. I wish I could go on and on about this ministry but the bottom line is the things happening in this dirty, cramped prison are truly amazing. Even the little battles that get a victory.
The second is Kabernet and Tambach. These are two other prisons that the ministry visits. They are farther away so the occurrence is less, but it’s still an amazing experience. They don’t teach inner healing classes here, but Joel speaks to them about love. He talks to them of God, His love, and His forgiveness for those who confess, because everyone there is pretty much innocent, or so they claim. He talks to them about facing the truth and being honest in their situations. The men respond well and appreciate him coming. Of course, the request at the end for tv and mattresses got me laughing. Some people claiming to come in God’s name have made the work for others really hard. A lot of people just want to give things and money but don’t help the problems. They encourage the victim or begging mentality; especially from the foreign westerners. Something Joel does well is say no. He did end up giving the few mattresses he had to the prison but he said he wouldn’t buy them that. He said he would pray for them and ask them to pray for these things but that his job isn’t to come provide these things— that’s God’s job.
The last is the Pokot Tribe.
This tribe is considered one of the lowest of lows among all the other tribes in Kenya. There are 46 tribes here and these people are looked down on by everyone else. They live in stick huts and have never really seen cities or anything we use daily. The land they have is dry. Only recently has a water line been put in to bring them water. They usually have to leave for a while when there is no water. Their land is also the last reached people. Beyond them is more of their tribe and a massive amount of others who are unreached and that’s not just by Christianity but by other modern civilizations. These people claimed that they thought God had forgotten them. So Joel and his team take a trip there every couple of weeks to bring some food and spend time with the people. They sing and worship and are so grateful for the things Joel does. Which mainly is coming and loving them by spending time with them. The advances that have been made here recently are incredible. It used to be very separated when it came to men and women. They didn’t interact. When it came to meals, they would fight because they weren’t sure who would get to eat. The men do not interact with the children. A man can sometimes go years without even knowing the gender of his child. But ever since this ministry began going there, things have been changing. The community was so excited that they asked Joel to build a church. Once again, he told them he wouldn’t but he would help them and pray for it. So they built a church. None of them go to school but they said they wanted to. Not only do the kids go, but the men and women go as well. They are advancing as a society. I was thinking, when I heard all of this, that this is the stuff you read in history books but it’s happening now and all around us. We even saw some men sitting near women during church, which is huge. God is doing something amazing here. The plans for the community is to, hopefully, continue to build the church and train their own missionaries to go out and start interacting with these other tribes.
“Glory Shiners” is one of my favorite ministries I have had the chance of working with. It may not be the most glamorous ministry; but, the work they are doing is changing lives. People are being set free from a lot of the pain they have never dealt with from their past. The men they are working with are getting an opportunity to meet Jesus in ways they never would have imagined. I am thankful for my time there and the ways it challenged me and my team.
