Thank you for joining us in prayer for Dr. Judy in Kenya. To protect her identity, we have omitted her photo and last name.
Of Kenya’s 49 million people, 83% identify as Christians and 11% as Muslims (mostly Sunni), making Islam the second largest religion in the country. A 2015 study estimates that 70,000 Kenyan Christians come from a Muslim background. Most of Kenya’s Muslims live in the coastal and northeastern regions. In recent years, the Somali-based terrorist group Al-Shabaab has carried out attacks in northeastern Kenya, raiding towns and targeting buses.
Judy recently completed her PhD in Intercultural (Islamic) Studies at Africa International University in Kenya. Her research on the folk Islam practiced by the Borana Muslims of Northern Kenya will strengthen her ministry as a missionary, and her vocation as a Christian professor and scholar of Islam. She is passionate about reaching Muslims, a growing demographic in Kenya, in relevant and effective ways. Judy was a recipient of the Persevere Scholarship. Judy and her husband Harun have three children: Abraham, Miriam, and Emma.
Judy shares the following message:
Dear ScholarLeaders,
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude for availing me of much-needed funds, which enabled me to graduate on 6 July 2019. I know I would not have graduated without this financial support; doctoral studies are quite expensive.
Personal and Ministry Update
After my viva voce on 28 March 2019, I thought about spending more time with my family and thus decided to homeschool our three children for three months (April-August). It has been an awesome experience as I tried to make up for the time when I was busy writing my dissertation. This was also the time to get my mind off the rigors of doctoral studies as I prepared for my next assignment as a faculty member.
Teaching is the ministry that I will engage in as I help equip students who desire to know more about outreach to Muslims. My husband and I continue our field visits to Muslim areas to encourage the missionaries serving there. Our desire is to be able to stimulate more outreach to Muslims and also to do research that will enhance this outreach.
My studies on spirit possession among Borana Muslims have been an eye-opener to many Christians in northern Kenya. Some have requested more knowledge about the phenomenon and I am planning to hold a training where I will not only share about spirit possession, but also share about deliverance and inner healing.
Prayer Requests
1. Kindly pray for me as I take up my new assignment. I do not want to offer head knowledge alone. I pray that the hearts of the students would be impacted and that attitudes toward Muslims would become positive so that Christians would seek to share about Christ with them.
2. Please also pray for my husband as he juggles his doctoral studies and work as a missions pastor at our local church.
3. Please pray for our children. Abraham and Miriam are in their teens, and it is a delicate time for them. I pray that we can influence their lives in a holistic way. Emma, our last born, is growing as she watches her siblings and seeks to emulate them.
Thank you very much to ScholarLeaders for all the prayer and financial support accorded to me. I will forever be grateful as I move on to my next assignment.
God bless you all,
Judy