Welcome Pastor Shtem!

In March 2018 CBC welcomed a new associate pastor, Steven Shitemi, or as he prefers to be called, Pastor Shtem. Here's a little more information about our new staff member!

The Shitemi Family

Pastor Shtem, his wife Elizabeth, and their daughter Niara

How did you come by the name Shtem?

I wanted my own identity apart from my father's name and the rest of my eight siblings, so I know if someone says Shtem they are talking about me and not the rest of the clan. 

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. I was born and bred in the city. I like the city a lot, unlike my wife who doesn't care for city living.

How many siblings do you have?

Four brothers and four sisters, and they are all older than me.

How did you come to be a pastor?

From when I was young I knew I would end up in ministry but I didn't know when and how. My dad was both an engineer and a pastor so I grew up thinking I would be the same way. A tentmaker and a pastor. I felt God was asking me to go into full time ministry in 2008 or 2009 when I had an opportunity to join an airline and do flight training with them, but the December before that happened I felt God was asking me to lay that dream on the altar. I knew I wasn't going to get it back, and it was hard for me to let it go. The following year I decided to join Bible school and that's when the journey started!

How did you meet Elizabeth?

I was running, preparing for the Liberian marathon, when I had a vision of Elizabeth being my wife. At that time we were friends, but not that kind of friend. I couldn't make sense of it. So I decided to go for her friend and that didn't work out. I was heading for another country for awhile, but I had promised her I would call her on her birthday four months away. And I did, and she was surprised. We continued talking, even though often we missed each other because of bad internet connections. One day while she was in rural Liberia she asked God for clarity about the friendship, by saying that if when she went online that day and I was online, it would be a sign. I was online, and from that day forward the internet worked for us. Elizabeth was evacuated from Liberia due to Ebola, came to Kenya, and a few months later we got engaged.

What are you looking forward to about working with CBC?

I'm looking forward to developing relationships with the youth and their parents. I'm glad that I already have a wonderful base of volunteers and look forward to growing that and allowing them to dream with me about ministry in CBC with the youth and beyond.

Solid Rock Churches

Dear CBC family,

I was privileged to experience two very different types of solid rock churches on my mission trip to Ethiopia last month.  The first type was the famous rock hewn churches of Lalibela.  These eleven churches, built in the 12 century AD, were literally carved out of solid rock under the leadership of King Lalibela.  He built them in response to a vision he received while visiting Jerusalem. The King envisioned an alternative pilgrimage site for the Christians of Ethiopia because Jerusalem had been conquered by the Muslims and was no longer accessible.  Despite being 900 years old, they are in use to this day and still attract Coptic pilgrims.

The second type of solid rock church that I experienced was Salvation Rock Church (SRC) in Addis Ababa.  SRC was planted a couple of years ago by Pastor Workneh Tesfaye and is led by his sister, Pastor Mimi.  This church is built very differently but is even more solid than the rock hewn churches of Lalibela!  This church, which owns no building, is built out of people.  Notably, SRC is intentionally located in a majority Muslim section of Addis.  This type of solid rock church is described by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:19-21: "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

You might have wondered at first how I could have described a new church plant that doesn't even own a building and is stretched financially as more rock solid than the 900 year old rock hewn churches of Lalibela.  But now you know!  Anything founded on Jesus and filled with His eternal Spirit is going to outlast anything built by human hands, even if carved out of solid rock.  I would have enjoyed the satisfaction of taking part in the construction of the rock hewn churches in all their majesty and uniqueness.  But even more do I find satisfaction in taking part in the construction of Salvation Rock Church!

I don't know God's plans for the connection between CBC and Solid Rock Church but at this point let me invite all of you to carve out :-) some time to pray for Pastor Workneh, Pastor Mimi, Evangelist Solomon and all the other leaders of SRC as they give themselves to building a church in Ethiopia not out of solid rock but on The Solid Rock!

To be continued, 

Pastor Dan

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