What's your purpose?

What’s the purpose of your life? Why do you exist? These are some of the questions that we usually ask ourselves (at least I hope you do) concerning life.

One of my favorite quotes on the purpose of life is by Ralph Waldo Emerson who was an American Essayist and Lecturer. He said the purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

I have found this quote particularly true when I look at Margret Aim. She is the co-founder of Afri-Lift and also the leader of the Children’s Workers Training. The training is also part of the ministries here in Afri-Lift.

Margret has been teaching children’s workers for the last 30 years. Her passion for children’s ministry started while she was a teenager. She realized the need of equipping children workers after having children of her own. When she came to Kenya she saw an even greater need to equip the children’s workers and hence she found her purpose.

Margret Aim

Children’s Worker Training is based on a model created by the Petra Institute for Children’s Ministry in South Africa. The institution is focused on building capacity for children’s ministry within partnerships with denominations or organizations. It also offers consulting services such as assisting theological training institutions to compile curriculums for children’s ministry.

A group session during the training

Margret uses the model for training the workers. The model is skilled based as much as it is knowledge based. The main targets for the training are Sunday school teachers and orphanage workers. The trainers are normally volunteers who have been trained previously.

The training takes place for four weeks. The program usually takes a week at a time or even two weeks per month depending on the schedules of the trainees and the communities. Currently, Margret is training children’s workers in Mlolongo (outskirts of Nairobi) that takes place every 2^nd Saturday of the month.

The program starts out with devotions where they (the trainees) read a portion of scripture and they ask God to speak to them personally. They later share with the small group what God has put in their hearts. Throughout the program they are encouraged to build a concept, from what they learnt earlier, for teaching the children using the skills they have acquired during the training. The basis of the training is to build relationship with the children and God.

Training in Rwanda

Margret’s vision for the future of Children’s worker ministry is for Petra to walk with the wounded children especially after the Westgate attack here in Kenya.

She believes that nothing in our lives is wasted by God. After the death of her daughter at 17 years of age, a seed was planted in her life to produce more fruit. Margret believes that from that experience God planted a deeper understanding of hurting people and children.

So, what’s your purpose in life?