An Interview with Alice Kinyua
Tell us a bit about your background. Where do you come from and who do you call family?
A little under six years ago, my family and I moved from Nairobi, Kenya to the lovely city of Whanganui, NZ. At that time my husband, Kinyua Kathuri and I had one daughter called Kara. She was eight months old. She is now six and a half. Later we had Kega who is now three and a half. Since she was born here, we are officially a family of three Kenyans and one Kiwi! We now live in sunny Nelson. My husband is the Vicar at St. Stephens Community Church, Tahunanui. We have been married for ten years.
If you were to describe yourself in ten words, what would you say?
Wife, mother, minister, overtly Christian, cautiously adventurous, curious learner, joyful.
How did your passion for mission first begin?
I can’t remember a time I was not missional. From a young age, I always felt the need to invite people to the things I enjoyed doing. Since I was actively involved in church and had fun in all the activities, I invited everyone I could to these activities. When I surrendered my life to Christ at the age of 15, I became acutely aware of the many people around me that lived without the joy of Christ. I felt most alive when I was able to share the good news with them. Having said that, I never saw myself serving in full-time church ministry let alone living outside my country. That came many years later after a long period of contending with the Lord and as always, the Lord won!
What is your role with NZCMS and why does it interest you?
I have joined CMS as the Intercultural Ministry Enabler. New Zealand is a very multicultural nation. A simple survey of our local communities will show a growing representation of this cultural diversity. Some of the churches are becoming increasingly aware that in this diversity lies an opportunity for growth. My role is to basically explore ways to support local churches to flourish within their context by becoming more intercultural in their outreach, fellowship, and worship. Imagine with me our congregations beginning to sound and look more and more like the picture described in Revelation 7:9
“… a crowd from every nation and tribe and people and language … shouting with a great roar, “salvation comes from our God” (NLT).
That picture, of having a little heaven right here, just excites me!
And now, the most important question — favourite hobby/pass time?
When not jumping on the trampoline or building sandcastles with my kids, you will find me enjoying ‘me-time’ cooking, swimming, walking, reading a good book (I enjoy a variety of genres), hanging out around people and food. Did I mention I enjoy cooking, well, I enjoy eating too!
Thank you for sharing, we are indeed a multi cultural society and our Bream Bay Local shared ministry Churches reflect that , we have tried to include every one and sometimes use the Maori Language in our Prayer Book. There is so much more needs to be done!