Echo Winter 2025 - 20

" And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor
with God and man. " Luke 2:52 (NIV)
I
By Nixon Karoli ('26)
Nixon Karoli
and his family.
came to faith in the Lord as a young boy before the age
of 10 thanks to a neighbor who introduced me to their church's
Sunday school. Since then, I have felt God's call upon my life
God has used me in many ways, serving in many positions
while at high school, in college and through the Church. But as
I continued to serve, I strongly felt the need to be equipped; I had
the passion, zeal and opportunities to serve in my local church
and beyond, but I lacked the capacity.
In 2018, I shared with my wife about my desire for theological
training. We checked the local universities offering such training,
but it was quite expensive for us. It remained a prayer point even
as I continued to be actively and passionately engaged in ministry.
Three years later, I learned from a friend about the Master of
Arts in Contextualized Pastoral Ministry offered by Lancaster
Bible College through the Pastors Discipleship Network. I did not
succeed in my first application but was not going to give up.
By God's grace, I was successful in my second attempt. Joining
LBC can be compared to sharpening the axe because of its
effectiveness and impact on my ministry as a husband, father,
preacher, associate pastor, praise and worship leader, children's
ministry worker and more.
About a year ago, I noticed with a lot of concern the neglect and
marginalization of the children's ministry in our church. I acted
on my concerns and joined the children's ministry workers so
we could together find solutions. The unit we covered on holistic
child development illuminated my heart and mind on how to do
children's ministry holistically; my ignorance of the importance of
a holistic approach to children's ministry was exposed, and I was
enlightened. The Scripture passages of Luke 2:52 and 1 Samuel
2:26 became foundational in my approach to children's ministry at
home and church. They helped identify structures and capacities
we needed to build an effective children's ministry.
I mobilized the leadership of the church toward the construction
of a classroom that could accommodate the different ages of the
Sunday school. The class was completed this past fall and is being
used by the children.
My main takeaway has been the burden laid on my heart for
reaching out to children. The late Dr. Dan Brewster, who served
for 30 years with Compassion International, once authored an
article about the 4/14 window of receptivity, which states that
children are more likely to follow Christ between the ages of 4
and 14. Previously, I was not conscious of the need to reach out
to children and, as a church, we never even thought of such. But
lately, I have been keen on reaching out to children, for example,
by organizing retreats for teens in our church and their friends.
This time of fun is also about sharing the gospel. Through the
knowledge I am learning in my master's program here in Kenya,
I look forward to continuing to create opportunities to reach
children holistically.
To learn more about LBC's partnership with the Pastors
Discipleship Network and how to sponsor a pastor for $250 a
month for 24 months, visit lbc.edu/uganda or email Robert Blanks
at rblanks@lbc.edu.
20 ECHO
http://www.lbc.edu/uganda
Echo Winter 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Echo Winter 2025
