Kabeeria is my name. Youth Minister and Team Leader Peters mine Ltd. Having served in youth ministry for a few years, and coming to faith in my early 20’s it became apparent the questions and challenges that sexuality presented outside and inside church circles.
What struck me the more is just how much the bible has to say about human sexuality, plus how little was taught from the platform. So the primary goal was to develop a tool for the youth that can help parents, guardians or ministers begin to discuss sexuality. I began to blog in 2015 and got the inspiration to begin thinking about sexuality education a year later. Having grown up watching cartoons and reading comics, this was a natural angle to engage, but dreamed of marrying this with a very well researched tool. A manuscript was ready in 2019 December and needed illustrations, photographs and additional research. I had worked to publish a few sermonettes and biographies prior, so a grasp of the printing business was an added plus, but nothing is as painful as being forced to rewrite the book! It was actually at the end of aligning this to an instructional development that I broke down and realized that this was more than about me, or Peters mine, it was about lives that need help. I began to release it to God, as opposed to holding it too tight as my ‘thing’ instead of God’s project.
The first team I put together was not productive and failed to capture the vision, especially the no money part! Only one of the original team members is still onboard today! Providence saw amazing consultancy, partners and talent come through within the corona period. And we were ready to go in 2020 save the cost of printing a full color resource! Having built a community in the pre-release we crowd funded for the first run and managed to do so in October 2021; after having sampled the resource for effectiveness in various demographics. From idea to product was 5 years!
It was really our desire to develop a resource for African youth, to present solutions to the biggest challenges facing us in light of the Scriptures. After much discouragement, counsel, consultation plus amazing partnerships and prayer, we arrived at the book we have today. We are looking forward to develop a range of resources that can compete globally and for God’s glory. Maumbile is a Swahili word, taken from the root umbile, which means quality, feature or shape. We believe that humanity has unique God-given endowments and part of our responsibility is to demonstrate stewardship of those gifts. The title is Swahili, but the book is in English and researched for Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s targeted for 13 years and older, but in a way that the learner should be guided by a mature instructor.
This! Thank you for addressing this very important issue that is often discussed in whispers.