News and Updates
May 1, 2025
David Copeland · May 1, 2025
Newsletter · Volume: 25 Issue: 5
Kenya Update
In April, I led a team back to Kenya for our first Shepherd’s Hope Training Centre classes in 2025. Before our classes in Kilgoris began, I traveled to Kisumu in Western Kenya to visit one of our Revival Now Churches, led by Pastor Nelson Shisia and Gilbert Santiago. Nelson and Gilbert are actual blood brothers, working together to build the Body of Christ in Kisumu City. We witnessed a great turnout in attendance, but most importantly, the Holy Spirit did not disappoint us. Every single person in the church responded during the altar time for prayer and drawing closer to the Lord. I call these guys “the sons of thunder” because I can picture them carrying the same anointing as James and John did when they walked with Jesus.
In Kilgoris, we gathered 114 pastors and leaders for a week of training. To ensure each student receives the correct number of classes required for graduation, we divided the diploma courses into two groups: Diploma 1 and Diploma 2. In total, we offered nine classes in Kilgoris, covering subjects ranging from prayer to Systematic Theology. It was a tremendous week of teaching and training!
After the Kilgoris school finished, we traveled to Narok to spend Resurrection Sunday with the churches in Narok town. One of the great blessings we have working as a team ministry is to be able to go into an area and minister to many different churches from many different denominations. While I am responsible for helping to administrate, grow, and mature our Revival Now Churches and AEGA ministers around the world, my first responsibility is to be a bridge builder across denominational lines. In fact, in both the Kilgoris and Narok Schools, each time we meet, we count no less than 35 different denominational groups who send their ministers to us for training. For me, that is the greatest blessing I have experienced in the twenty-four years we have been working in Kenya.
On Resurrection Sunday, I was honored to minister for our Narok SHTC Coordinator, Overseer Abraham Sitinei, and his small congregation. The church lacks a sound system, has a dirt floor, and no windows, which resulted in no ventilation (and you know how badly I sweat), but the Holy Spirit manifested His resurrection power! We are believing God to help us pour a cement floor for this growing congregation.
April 21-25 was the date for the Narok Schools sessions. This term, we not only held the Certificate and Diploma classes but also conducted the degree class. I was able to teach six hours per day on the Laws of Leadership, and man, did we have a great time! We experienced some very lively discussions during our class time, and the students were more engaged in these sessions than I have ever seen. There were over 120 pastors and leaders in attendance in Narok.
April marked the fifteenth anniversary of our first classes in Kilgoris. We began with twenty-six students in that initial class, and we currently have almost 250 pastors and leaders attending classes in both schools. We have had as many as 1300 students in attendance at one time, but we have been compelled to reduce the number of students attending in order to adequately feed and house all these individuals at our two locations.
Since those early beginnings, we have seen well over 1600 pastors and leaders graduate from Shepherd’s Hope, who are impacting between 75,000 and 80,000 people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ this Sunday. I tell people all the time that it is not a huge number compared to some of the mega churches in our home country. However, when you consider that the majority of these men and women (about 90%) serve in the rural areas of East Africa, that number becomes astounding to me!
I want to thank Missionary Dr. Tim Williams, Jackie Benefield, and Debbie Superdock for being part of this teaching team over the past month. I also want to express gratitude to all our Kenya teachers and staff who helped us fill the classes with the anointing and the Word of God.
Now for the bad news. Due to the downturn in the economy at home and the fear promoted by the media, our monthly support for these leadership training classes has taken a significant hit. So much so that if we don’t see a massive turnaround by the end of this year, one of these schools (if not both) will have to close.
I fully understand the times and seasons in God and how some things are just for a season. This has actually been the longest season in which I have maintained a single focus in my entire life. It has also been the most fruitful season of mine and Pam’s lives. While I love preaching crusades and seeing people flock to Jesus during those types of outreaches, Revival Now’s main calling from the Lord at this hour is to mentor and disciple Kingdom leaders, equipping them to better reach their villages and towns with quality\ Kingdom preaching and teaching. We don’t have a large sum of money stashed away in the bank somewhere to be left for the anti-Christ to draw from when money gets tight. Every penny we receive is sown two or three times into others for the furtherance of the Kingdom.
Would you consider becoming a part of our Revival Now Partnership Team? Any gift in any amount is greatly appreciated, tax-deductible, and will help us continue in our assignment for this hour. God bless you for your obedience to whatever God tells you to do.