AARAMA was organized in April 2006 in Nakuru Kenya; Pastor Nate Butler, Pastor Ben Jones, Bishop Phillip Thomas, Bishop Alonzo Jones, and Elder Curtis Barber realized a need to help Pastors and Lay persons to become more effective leaders and become efficient in results oriented project planning.

Because of its origin, AARAMA was originally conceived as the All Americans Reaching Africa Ministers Association, however due to the declining global economy the plight of other regions throughout the world have become increasingly more apparent. In an effort to expand our outreach to assist in meeting the worldwide need we have changed the definition of the AARAMA acronym to the All Americans Relieving Adversity Ministry Association. The plan to extend the ministry was further capitalized by the devastating earthquake in Haiti that left so many homeless and destitute.

AARAMA’s initiative is to equip community leaders with the skills necessary to promote spiritual growth as well as social and economic empowerment in the areas where they serve. To that end, ministerial training and strategic planning for community development and economic empowerment are offered along with medical camps where such services are difficult to acquire. We believe that this combination of training, strategic planning and medical intervention are a powerful catalyst for transformation in the lives of those in need.

IT’S ALL ABOUT EMPOWERMENT!

A plan for Introductory Training Pastors and Lay Ministers on responsible leadership and project planning was presented to: Rev Nate Butler, Bishop Phil Thomas, Pastor Ben Jones, and Elder Curtis Barber. The plan was present by a Pastors in Nakuru Kenya that were willing to serve “on the ground” to assist in this endeavor.

Nakuru Town is Kenya’s fourth largest urban center with a daytime population estimated at nearly 1,000,000 people. Nakuru town lies in the main trans-Africa highway intersection, which links the Western Kenya with the North, the Central province as well as the Southern Districts of Kajiado and Narok. It is also an important Railway interconnection point linking the main Kenya Uganda Railway with the Maize growing area of Uasin Gishu and Trans-Nzoia Districts. Being mainly an Agricultural town, it provides ample grain storage as well as milling facility for the whole of Western Kenya.

Other economic activities in and around Nakuru include light Industries, which mainly deals with fabrication, as well as garment factories. The informal sector also plays a major role in providing employment for thousands of out of school youth.

Like many of the growing third world cities, Nakuru is facing challenges of unplanned housing, unemployment, drug and substance abuse among the youth, street families, to name but a few. The majorities of the residents of the town have migrated from rural areas with the hope of finding employment in town, and are therefore compelled to find cheap but poor housing (slums). The effort by the Government through its Local Authorities to provide decent housing has been deterred by lack of proper infrastructure, lack of fore planning, corrupt practices by policy implementers, and consequently frozen funding by the World Bank and the IMF. It is with this background that the plight of pastors and ministers working among the poor and great challenges facing them can be appreciated.