Aaron Dunlop's Story

After Bible college in Northern Ireland, I studied linguistics at Trinity Western University in Vancouver, Canada, where I met and married my wife, Grace.

The next year, we moved to Greenville, SC, to study theology, and in 2006, I planted a church in Victoria, BC, Canada, and pastored there for ten years.

There, in a semi-arid region about four hours north-east of Nairobi, I managed a mission compound with an orphanage, clinics and vocational training, as well as teaching in a small Bible college, preached in nearby churches, and participated in pastors’ conferences across Kenya.

Living in rural Kenya had its challenges. Water harvesting is important, solar panels and a backup generator are essential, and in the rainy season, roads were often impassable. These difficulties and many others are a way of life for the local pastors who minister to their congregations as well as farm the land or run their small businesses to sustain their families.   

Also, these pastors are coming out of the traditional oral culture, in which reading and continued self-study do not come easy.

Everywhere I went, whether to a conference in Eldoret in the west or Ukundu on the coast, or meeting pastors in the Muslim stronghold of Garissa, I was confronted with the needs of the Church.

I appreciated the insight and honesty of pastors who identified these needs themselves, and helped us think through the issues and work towards the best solutions.

We had gathered with a group of pastors to discuss how we could best help our local pastor’s fraternity, but it was a passing comment as we separated that caught my attention.

He said, “We need to develop a culture of reading among these men.” That was it—a culture of reading!

As I thought on this, I began to think of an economic and efficient method of working out this solution. God’s mission does not need to be such a financial burden, I thought, especially when the best way is to resource indigenous pastors to do the work of the Church in their own areas.

The name, The Krapf Project was my wife’s idea, named after the first Protestant missionary to East Africa. 

Since then others have joined the team to bring us to where we are at today. If you are interested in helping we’d love to hear from you, and you too can get involved in this much needed work.