Teenage pregnancy is becoming a major problem in both developed and developing countries. It is estimated that around 1 million girls under 15 years give birth every year (UNFPA, 2013). In Kenya, according to Kenyan Health Information Management System (KHIS) 152,000 teenage girls got pregnant between March-June 2021 during the Lockdown period, a 40% increase in the country’s teenage pregnancy average. This poses a major risk to both the mother and the child. Teenage pregnancy and birth complications have been found to be a major cause of mortality among girls between 15-19 years (UNFPA, 2013).
According to Kaye (2008), most pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers are often stigmatized by their parents, partners and the community they reside in. This affects their psychological, mental, spiritual and social life. Research by Plan International showed that 98% of the pregnant girls in Kenya are out of school. This means that these young mothers cannot achieve their childhood dream they desired.
As a result of these, young mothers are more likely to experience depression and stress during and after pregnancy (Fisher et al. 2012.) This has accounted to self-denial among the teenage mothers which at the end affects their babies.
The communities teenage mothers live in include the church and stigmatization is also in churches. Some churches deny teenage mothers full membership, baptism of their children, participation in the Lord's table and joining youth activities (Rosenau, 2002). Most churches in Kenya do not have programs for teenage mothers. This makes the young mothers feel missing a place in the church and affects their spiritual life.
The church needs to find a way of helping young mothers feel part of the family of Jesus Christ. The church should be able to help the young mother rededicate her life to Christ, repent of her sin of fornication and build her relationship with Christ. The church also needs to find a way of helping the young mother raise up her child in a godly way through having a relationship with her son/daughter and help her build other human relationships. As Reyenga (2006) says that human relationships are important for the well-being of a believer.
My goal is to help the church solve this through the 7 connections emphasized at CLI. With the few classes I have done at CLI, I have found out that this problem can be solved through 7 connections by ensuring teenage mothers have the right relationships with God, spouse(future spouse), family, small groups, church, kingdom and the world.
Relationship with God.
Through studies at CLI, I have been able to understand the importance of building an individual relationship with God. I desire to help the church build programs that will help young mothers understand that God loves them despite them making a mistake of having a child outside wedlock. The young mothers should be encouraged to study the Word and prayer daily. Set a time of personal devotions. Young mothers need to understand that God still has a purpose for their lives through personal walk with God as Jeremiah 29:11 says.
Relationship with spouses.
The church should help young mothers to understand the importance of marriage. Young mothers’ should be taught that they need to practice purity as they wait for their future spouses. Having children out of wedlock does not give them a guarantee to continue sinning or engaging in fornication. Teenage mothers need to understand that God is the Author of marriage and couples are held accountable by God (Genesis3).
Relationship with children/families.
Young mothers need to be taught that their mother-child relationship is the best relationship for their children and children belong to God, parents are just stewards (Reyenga, 2006). As far as they continue pursuing their education and purposes they should not stop bonding with their children. Through the study of Life coaching at CLI, I will be to help the young mothers set goals on how they can achieve that. The young mothers also need to be taught to affirm their children that God loves them and they love them as well. They should assure their children that they are not mistakes.
Teenage mothers need to build relationships with their parents and other family members. They need to pray for and with their families, hold family devotions and worship together (Reyenga, 2006).
Relationship with Small groups.
Young mothers should be grouped into small groups where they will be accountable to each other. Through Communication class and other CLI classes I will be able to help churches create small groups for single mothers. The old mothers and women in marriage can be taught to be couches or group leaders of these groups as they mentor younger mothers (Titus 2:3-5).
Relationship with Church.
Young mothers should be encouraged to serve the church with their gifts, abilities and talents. They should be taught the importance of bringing their children to church. Most of them may have fear of serving in church due to judgments but this can be overcome by allowing them to first utilize their gifts in the small groups as they mature to serve the church, (Romans 12).
Relationship with Kingdom.
I would encourage the single mothers to expand their sources of knowledge by doing several classes at CLI. I would also encourage the young mothers to read books on parenting to enhance their parenting skills. I would also recommend watching videos on social media that would build them spiritually.
Relationship with the World.
Jesus Christ asked His disciples that they should make other disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). This a mandate is given to all believers including teenage mothers who believe in Jesus Christ. Through mentorship, the young mothers can be a vessel of reaching out to other mothers who are in the society and they are either afraid to join the church after delivery or they have not received Jesus Christ and do not see the need of bringing their children to church.
Young mothers can be trained on different skills of evangelism with the classes that CLI offers. I would also encourage that single mothers write books and testimonies on their journey with God and share with the world. This will bring a conviction to the young mother who has given up on God and life somewhere.
In conclusion, the number of teenage mothers is growing and the body of Jesus Christ could effectively help them grow in Christ; revive their desire to have Godly families in future and build solid human relationships. They would also learn to utilize their God given gifts to advance the Kingdom of God and reach out to others. As Reyenga (2006) says home-discipleship is the best model for the community of believers to grow in personal relationship with God and human relations. This model will be the best for churches to help teenage mothers to grow in the body of Jesus Christ.
References
Fisher, J., Cabral de Mello, M., Patel, V., Rahman, A., Tran, T., Holton, S., et al. (2012). Prevalence and determinants of common perinatal mental disorders in women in low- and lower-middle-income countries: a systematic review. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 90(2), 139G–1149..
Kaye, D. K. (2008). Negotiating the transition from adolescence to motherhood:coping with prenatal and parenting stress in teenage mothers in Mulago hospital, Uganda. BMC Public Health.
Kenyan Health Information Management System report July 2020. Nairobi, Kenya.
Plan International. (2020). COVID-19: Lockdown linked to high number of unintended teen pregnancies in Kenya. News and Press Release, Jun 2020. Available at https://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/covid-19-lockdown-linked-high-number-unintended-teen-pregnancies-kenya
Reyenga Henry Jr. (2006). The spontaneous Spread of Home Discipleship Christianity. United States of America
Rosenau, D.E. (2002). Single and sexual:The church’s neglected dilemma. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 30(3).
UNFPA. (2008). Adolescent pregnancy;p a review of the evidence. Available from https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pubpdf/ADOLESCENT%20PREGNANCY_UNFPA.pdf
UNFPA. (2013). Motherhood in childhood: facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy. Paris: UNFPA.
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