In February 2013 God moved in His typical amazing way to make it clear that it was time to launch a nonprofit ministry here in the United States that will partner with Carlile College in Nairobi, Kenya initially and grow from there as God wills. Here is a snapshot of what The Shepherd Fund is, how it started and what it intends to accomplish. I hope you'll consider joining us in this adventure as a prayer partner, adviser, and/or financial supporter.
The Shepherd Fund has come into being in stages that began over ten years ago. My name is Tim Kurth and this is my story.
God first laid his hand on me before I was born and has been my constant companion throughout my life. Raised in a Christian home and educated in Christian schools I began my professional career as a Christian grade school teacher in suburban Chicago. After just three and a half years God moved me into full time church work as a Director of Christian Education. Along the way a passion for mission began stirring. First taking youth from the suburbs into the city of Chicago to help in the poorest of neighborhoods. Then I began leading teams to locations around the United States and even Canada. Eventually I led my first international team to Slovakia and one year later, in 1999, to Kenya.
Kenya stole my heart from the first moment I arrived there. We connected through Carlile College, a missionary training and business school run by Church Army Africa, an Anglican mission society. Upon my return there in 2002 with a team helping to expand the kitchen facilities at the college, we were shown a piece of farm property acquired by the outgoing Principal, Reverend Tim Dakin, whose father had founded the college. Tim grew up in East Africa but was returning to his home country of England to assume responsibilities as General Secretary of the Church Mission Society. The property in Kenya was the focus of a dream to build a university where peace education, conflict resolution and financial education from a Christian missiological perspective could be taught. With students from more than ten African nations, Carlile was positioned to influence the entire horn of Africa.
In 2003 the first step toward The Shepherd Fund took place when I left full time church work and began my first steps in learning what I needed to learn...about myself, about mission, about working well with other cultures, about international charitable work and how to build sustainable, respectful and genuine partnerships. That journey took me to Group Publishing in Loveland, CO where I served as part of a team coordinating mission experiences for over 25,000 volunteers in more than 60 cities in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Belize. In 2007 it was my distinct privilege to do the initial research into sustainable international mission trips modeled on the voluntourism concept. This led to travel to South America, Latin America, and Africa (including Kenya). Ultimately Lifetree Adventures was created from this effort.
In 2011 I returned to the Chicago area at the invitation of a friend to pursue a new mission opportunity. Once that opportunity had run its course God set me free to once again seek His next step in this process. At that same time Carlile College contacted me seeking U.S. based support for their missionary students. My friend in Kenya told me the farm I'd first seen in 2002 was laying dormant but they intended to begin farming the property to provide food for the college.
Along the way God brought me into relationships with Wayne Dorband who is a renowned expert in sustainable agriculture with a passion to equip one million 'ecopreneurs' in developing countries by 2016 and Dr. Bill Rapier, Founder and Director of African Leadership Development committed to raising up indigenous Christian leaders in several African nations. In 2012 my friend Tim Dakin was selected by the Queen of England to be the 97th Bishop of Winchester, one of the top leadership positions in the Anglican Church.
So it is time to launch The Shepherd Fund as a U.S. based nonprofit ministry that will connect the work of Dr. Wayne Dorband, Dr. Bill Rapier, and the Christian community of the United States with Carlile College, Church Army Africa and the students of eleven African nations for the advancement of sustainable ministries led by indigenous missionary/evangelists. There will be a business training component, seed funding, accountability processes and opportunities to connect directly to the people and projects in Kenya through short term trips arranged through The Shepherd Fund.
In the next post the initial structure of The Shepherd Fund will be laid out.
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