Christoff and Sarah Power

Isabelle, Esmé, Iris and Sebastian

Sent from Bridge Chapel, Liverpool

Chris and Sarah work in Southern Region’s office, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Powers lived and worked among the Shibushi unreached people in Mayotte from 2010-2019. Mayotte is a small tropical island located in the Indian Ocean. It became an overseas department of France in 2011 and has since become the home of many immigrants from Africa and neighbouring islands. The islanders practise folk Islam but French development has also brought a modern secular culture to the island.

On Mayotte, the Powers ran a School Support and English Centre in the community where they helped children with basic literacy, French and maths and taught English courses to youth and adults. This met a real need in the community and was an excellent way to serve local families. Chris and Sarah intentionally lived out and shared their faith as they participated in community life and invested in relationships with the people around them.

In 2019, the Power family moved from Mayotte to Nairobi, where Chris and Sarah began serving in the Southern Region office. Chris served as Regional Administrative Officer until Mat Linley took over the role in 2020, and Chris now serves as the Region’s Personnel officer. Sarah served in Member Care and was a coach for Southern Region until the family moved to Kijabe at the end of 2020 so that Sarah could serve at Rift Valley Academy as a teacher.

Could you partner with Chris and Sarah in this work?

Latest Prayer News

September 25, 2020

“Please pray for those in AIM’s Southern Region who are planning to travel back to their country of service. After long delays they are keen to get ‘home’ to Madagascar, the Indian Ocean Islands and Mozambique. Pray that our teams and workers would continue to experience God’s provision and presence during this challenging season; that they would see him move in the many unreached corners of Africa.”

June 19, 2020

“Three months in and 107 people have reportedly died of the virus. The number of confirmed cases is over 4,000… The reality is, for most people in Kenya (and much of Africa), they have more pressing concerns everyday than keeping themselves safe from Covid-19. It’s not possible to stay home when home is one room that you share with eight people and you have to leave the house to find water and food for each day. There has been the worst locust infestation for decades across Kenya, Uganda and other parts of east Africa. Crops have been utterly devoured with damages expected to hit billions of dollars. There are also other natural disasters which are affecting communities in more immediate ways. Many parts of Kenya have been hit by floods recently, destroying roads, homes and taking several lives.” Please pray for relief for people suffering these disasters in Kenya and east Africa.

April 17, 2020

“One of our goals right now in the AIM Southern Region office, is to have increased contact with our members across our patch – Madagascar, Mayotte, the Indian Ocean Islands, Mozambique, Lesotho and Namibia. Like many of you, that means we’re even more active on WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype and good old fashioned email… Please pray that we would be sensitive to the needs of the region at this time. For good communication with the workers and our colleagues. Some of our teams live in really remote and difficult locations, others in urban settings but with basic healthcare facilities. Only a few people have self-evacuated due to different needs, most are on the ground and trying to serve their communities however possible. Three families are expecting babies in the coming months so that’s also an issue for prayer.”

February 14, 2020

“Our office is growing – the first new recruit is Neo, from Lesotho, who will be stepping into the role of Office Administrator and Short-Term Coordinator. We are looking forward to having Neo and her extensive skills as part of our team. Please pray for her to be able to raise the finances she needs to get here quickly! Mat & Katy, previously served in Madagascar, are also coming to join us later in August and Mat will be part of the office leadership team. Pray for them as a family as they prepare for this transition… Please pray for our office as we grow in personnel and seek to best use our strengths and gifts to serve God and the region.”

January 17, 2020

“Life in Nairobi has been busier than we imagined! We feel more and more settled in our roles in the office and have really benefited from having Loren & Donna, our more “senior” colleagues(!), to chat things through with and learn from. It’s been an adjustment to have a day job (obviously with phone calls and meetings seeping into evenings too sometimes!). Because the people we’re interacting with are all at a distance (spread out across the Southern Region countries), it has made us ask what our role is with the local people here who we see face to face in our church, neighbourhood and at the school gates. Chris had the opportunity to preach at a different church a few weeks ago which was eye-opening because it was smaller and more rural than the church we’ve joined. He enjoyed getting a taste of a more traditional side of Kenyan culture.” Please pray for guidance for Chris, Sarah and the family as they consider God’s call on them locally as well as how they serve AIM’s missionaries in Southern Region.

Kenya

Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963. Since then British tourism has been a key element of Kenya’s economy, however, unemployment, poverty and crime remain high. Whilst the majority religion is Christianity, Kenya’s ethnic diversity and vast countryside means there are still many unreached with the gospel. LEARN MORE

Support, Logistics & Pastoral Care

Seeing unreached people reached is fruit of the body of Christ in action. That can mean pilots, qualified counsellors, administrators, photographers all helping and supporting the task of making Jesus known. LEARN MORE