By God’s design, His believers are called to be unified and work together to show and share the love of Christ with their neighbors. Love INC provides the organization, approach, and services for meaningful, effective, and holistic church-based care. It is a relevant model across communities, cultures, and countries.
Twenty years ago, the vision of Love INC was cast to a group of leading pastors in Nairobi, Kenya. With prayer, perseverance, and passion, they shared the vision, gained interest, and built the structure that led to the opening of Love INC Kenya in 2011. Love INC USA and Love INC Kenya are separate ministries, connected through a mutually accountable Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a committed relationship through which we connect, encourage, and learn from one another.
Pastor Brian Tweedie of Brighton, MI, has long been a Love INC champion in his local community and at Love INC National (USA). He was also the original vision carrier to Kenya 20 years ago and has served as the primary liaison between Love INC USA and Love INC Kenya ever since. This year marked his 14th trip to Kenya, and I had the privilege of joining him for the first time. During our visit, we met with local pastors, participated in a meeting with Love INC zonal coordinators, joined the Love INC Kenya National Board meeting, and attended their National Gathering.
With our Love INC colleagues in Kenya, I felt completely at home—and I believe you would too. We share the same heart for the Lord, for local churches, and for our communities. And we’re engaged in many of the same Love INC conversations: building relationships with churches, exploring options and supplies for Gap Ministries, fundraising, and seeking ways to live out Redemptive Compassion well.
A couple of highlights from the trip include:
Faith, Conviction, and Hope.
The Kenyan Love INC context—beginning in Nairobi and now extending beyond—is marked by a massive population, significant poverty, and often limited opportunity. And yet, there is a remarkable faith, conviction, and hope in the local Body of Christ to serve, help, and transform lives using their own church-based resources and relationships. In the story of the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples saw overwhelming need and brought Jesus a solution: send the people away. Not so with Love INC Kenya. Even with limited resources and great need, they are leaning into the capacity they do have, offering it to God, and expecting a return. It was a faith builder for me.
Engaging Pastors to Take the Lead.
On several occasions, the story of Love INC Kenya’s beginning was shared. It was pastor-driven—largely initiated by leaders from large churches. A key strategy for engaging new churches was a two-by-two approach: two pastors from different denominations reaching out together to the pastor of a prospective church. This modeled collaboration from the very beginning. The difference in response—both in securing meetings and in outcomes—was significantly more positive than when one pastor (or person) reached out alone.
Getting more churches involved is a common challenge across the Love INC Movement. There’s no silver bullet. Often, the focus falls on what the Executive Director or Board can do to increase church involvement. Hearing the pastors’ passion, commitment, and willingness to be peer-to-peer ambassadors was encouraging. It was a good reminder to ask our “all-in” pastors to partner up and reach out to new or less-connected church pastors—even just once or twice a year.
Relational, Holistic Care.
Onesimus became a new friend of mine. He is the Connection Center Coordinator at one of the Love INC Kenya locations. I visited him in his office, where he shared a story of an interaction he had with someone requesting help. At Love INC, we lead with a relational and holistic approach. We don’t just see problems—we see people. Our focus is not on a transaction of services, but on the relational care of the whole person for lasting transformation.
Watch below to hear Onesimus share about a Love INC Kenya Connection Center and their philosophy of care:
