The problem for John Gathuku and the staff of Trinity Fellowship in Kenya was clear. How could they help even more of Kenya’s 1.2 million high school students? The staff was already preaching in 200 of Kenya’s 8,000 high school boarding schools. But they needed a way to multiply the efforts of their limited staff and time available in order to reach a much broader area.

They decided to try publishing a magazine to be distributed in high schools that would be filled with content addressing contemporary issues with biblical answers in an African context. A wonderful solution, but none of the staff had ever received any publishing training.

That is when John stumbled upon MTI while searching the Web for answers. There he was able to download resources that gave them the basic structures and knowledge to produce their first one-fold newsletter for Kenya’s high school students. In 2007, Timazi was born!

Four years later, John heard that MTI would be offering a training conference in India. He made the 3,000-mile trip, attending all three events. His vision for Timazi, now a real magazine grew. Since that conference in 2011, John and other members of his staff have participated in MTI’s live workshops, online courses, and the 2016 conference in India. In this way, they have been able to learn practical skills that are helping them fine-tune their publication and procedures in order to reach even more teens more effectively.

“The training was very timely for us at Timazi.” Bonface Njiogu said of the 2016 conference. “This is because we are now able to consider more keenly our primary target audience. The acceptance of the magazine in rural areas is something we hope to build up. We are seeking to understand the characteristics and unique challenges of the teenagers living there.”

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