International Journal of Professional Practice

Implementation of Church Programs in Fostering the Integration of Christian Faith into Daily Living at Methodist Church in the Kaaga Synod, Kenya

Patrick Karani Justus — 2023-11-21

The Church programs are meant to foster ethical and moral values in the society. However, there is a gap in implementation of church programs. This paper seeks to assess the implementation of church programs for fostering the integration of Christian faith into daily living within the Methodist Church in Kenya, Kaaga Synod. Men, women, and youth fellowships, missions' teams, prayer groups, leadership and mentorship programs, and the children programs lack consistent implementation. If this problem remains unaddressed, it could lead to moral decadence, and render the Church irrelevant in the contemporary society. This study used a descriptive research design, qualitative approach, and proposes a constructivism research philosophy. The researcher establishes their analysis on transformational leadership theory, and leader-member exchange theory. The target population consisted 39,000 church members in 205 churches that make up the 27 circuits of Kaaga synod. The sample size was 380 respondents consisting of 339 church members, 32 lay leaders (including men, women, youth and circuit stewards), 8 superintendent ministers/clergy, and 1 synod Bishop. Data was collected using open-ended questionnaires for church members, interviews for lay leaders, focus group discussions for superintendent ministers, and documentary analysis for secondary data. The quality of data was ensured by checking content, construct, criterion, bracketing, and testimonial validities. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Kenya Methodist University, ethics committee and Nacosti. Data was analyzed thematically. Findings showed that Sunday school, youth and adult-member programs were present but lacked proper implementation and consistency necessary for fostering integration of Christian faith. This study recommended the Church leadership to support and oversee progressive implementation of church programs. It is also recommended that the Church leadership trains members on monitoring and evaluation of church structures. Adults were recommended to be role models to the young generation so as to enhance effective implementation of church programs.

Factors that Influence E-Learning Readiness in a Lower Human Development Index Zone

Victor Omari Omosa — 2023-11-21

Although there are many advantages that accrue from the introduction of e-learning, such as time saving, cost effectiveness and flexibility of study plans, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, (KICD) has noted that secondary education in Meru County still relies heavily on face-to-face method of instruction. The purpose of this study was to assess readiness of e-learning in secondary schools in Meru County, Kenya. Literature from countries with higher Human Development Index (HDI) than Kenya has not addressed parameters that relate to e-learning readiness, particularly the scale of mobility, communication, science, technology, innovation, and knowledge-sharing. Quantitative and qualitative data were used in this study. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was adopted. The target population consisted of 358 secondary schools in Meru County. Out of this number, Cronbach method and simple random sampling technique were used to obtain a sample size of 185 schools. Data was collected using questionnaires and both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis. The findings of the study identified 16 out of the 18 investigated factors were relevant to both the readiness for e-learning, as well as aligning with strategic plans and Kenya's Vision 2030. The study recommended that schools in Meru County to improve technological infrastructure, particularly internet connectivity, room utilization, and exposure to applications and devices, in order to effectively support e-learning initiatives.

Production Potential, Government Support, Climate Change and Food Insecurity

Stephen Mutunga — 2023-11-21

Kenya is one of the most water-scarce countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This situation has been worsened by climate change which has caused frequent and severe droughts that come with devastating effects on human life, the wildlife and the economy in general. Less than 20% of Kenyan land mass is arable. However, this percentage has continued to diminish due to human activities, desertification and climate change. Food security has been described as the ability of every citizen to access affordable and enough food of good nutritional value. Food security has been an elusive dream in Kenya due to inadequate rainfall and persistent droughts. The fact that many citizens depend on maize as the key staple food has worsened the food security situation owing to frequent droughts that have negatively impacted maize production. Kenyans have neither diversified food preferences nor have they retained some traditional foodstuffs that are more affordable than maize, nutritious and resilient to adverse weather. The irrigation potential is very low because water in the country is scarce. Kenya has the potential to be food sufficient through irrigated production, but there are many factors that have denied the country the opportunity to exploit this potential. The ever-elusive food security situation in the country against the background of abundant knowledge of what needs to be done and how depicts a paradox. In unravelling this paradox, it has been suggested that about Ksh.100 billion be set aside per year for development of irrigation infrastructure.