Imagine being the pastor of a church of 200 but you have nothing more than a New Testament bible. You have never been to ministry school or even been taught the basics of leadership or how to teach the Bible. Chances are you are discouraged. You need help but can’t imagine where it could possibly come from. The ministry to Pastors in East Africa began with Clarence and Jewell Matheny in the early 70′s when they sensed that God was leading them to equip and encourage the leaders in Kenya. In 1986 Clarence contracted Malaria and died. Jewell carried on faithfully for 20 more years, expanding the vision to include building a conference and training center outside of Nairobi before passing the vision to Ronnie and Debbie Matheny and returning to live in the states in 2007.

Today, Ronnie and Debbie oversee the Clarence Matheny Leadership Training Institute and its ministry staff of over 25. Together, they and the CMLTI Team are working to fulfill the vision Clarence had to train and equip the pastors and leaders of East Africa. All of the resources needed to continue this vision are facilitated through Mission Barnabas, founded by Ronnie and Debbie in 2004.