All articles in category Kenya
March 2015
Kenya
Shooting in Mombasa
A church official called George Karidhimba Muriki was gunned down by unidentified assailants on a motorbike, just inside the church entrance gate, during January. The attack, in the Majengo neighbourhood of Mombasa city, was the latest in a string of anti-Christian activities that had happened in the nominally Christian country. According to reports from Barnabas Fund, nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but many suspect Somali Islamists, Al-Shabaab, to be behind the incident. Although Kenya is a Christian-majority country, the city of Mombasa which is on the coastline is Muslim-majority.
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By Cliff Barton
April 2014
Kenya
Return to Wasat, Kenya
It was my privilege at the end of 2013 to be able to return to the area known as Pokot North, in the remote north west of Kenya. This region is over 12 hours’ drive away from Nairobi, and many of the roads to it are very poor, with some being little more than dirt tracks. There continues to be little medical care, and the only electricity available is through the recent introduction of solar power. It is very dry and effectively semi-desert. People have to collect their water from a well or river and carry it back to their homes, which could be 2-3...
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By Cliff Barton
April 2009
Kenya
Missionary Spotlight – Pokot update
Pokot update I visited the Pokot churches in Kenya again in October 2008. It was encouraging to see continuing spiritual growth, manifested in their desire for us to preach the gospel in areas not previously visited. The first such area was Apur, reached only after an hour’s hot walk from the road. Here about 40 adults, as well as many children, were gathered. In Pokot, it is traditional to kill an animal before a person who has killed another is allowed back into his home. This gives a golden opportunity to explain the significance of Christ’s death as the perfect sacrifice for our...
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By Cliff Barton
September 2008
Kenya
Missionary Spotlight – Missionary work – without the glamour
Missionary work – without the glamour In his final report Cliff Barton shares more of the down-to-earth challenges of pastoral work among the Pokot of Kenya. Korokou is a hilly area, yet characterised by much agriculture. We were able to drive up a rough road cut out to aid development. It takes at least one and a half hours to cover the eight miles. This is where brother Domoo has his first home. He is a polygamist and is very sad now about it. Two of his wives live here and the other down the hill in Kasei. He was one of...
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By Cliff Barton
July 2008
Kenya
Missionary Spotlight – Kenya
Kenya We continue this series on Pokot, Kenya, with another Cliff Barton article explaining graphically what is involved in missionary work in remote tribal areas. Here in Kasepa, where gospel preaching began in 1980, they have built a church in true Pokot style – a rectangle of upright sticks, and sticks and branches for a roof. It cost them nothing except the labour, although it will not keep out the rain. In the past many have moved away from here because of the problem of water. Non-salty water is only available at the bore holes in Kamketo over 4km away. Most of...
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By Cliff Barton
January 2008
Kenya
Missionary Spotlight – Pioneer mission in Kenya
Pioneer mission in Kenya Here is a typical question from the people of Tarakit: ‘Is it true that we must pray before the cock crows, as this is the time when the angels return to heaven and the devils come down to earth?’ Tarakit is on a hill beyond Chepkinagh, with good views into Ugan da. The only way to reach its 400 inhabitants on the 7000 feet plateau is by climbing a steep path. The congregations are vulnerable and illiterate. The leader here is Isaac, a young married man still at primary school. He has had no formal training. Sacrifice On one occasion,...
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By Cliff Barton
November 2007
Kenya
Missionary Spotlight – Kenya reaching the Pokot people
Kenya – reaching the Pokot people West Pokot is in northwest Kenya. It is over 300 miles from Nairobi and close to the Ugandan border. Its people have traditionally been cattle raiders. There is little water available in their communities and no electricity. Light at night is provided by hurricane lamps. There are no vegetables – the people are pastoral, keeping cows, goats, chickens and some sheep. They live in mud homes and have next to nothing in the way of medical care. The roads are poor and the terrain consists of hilly ridges. Warmth Pokot Christians show warmth in their sung praise and...
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By Judith Collins
October 2006
Kenya
Cush for Christ
Psalm 68:31 says, ‘Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God’. However, ‘Ethiopia’ here is a translation of the Hebrew word ‘Cush’. Among the several pastoral Cushite peoples in the deserts of Northern Kenya are the Rendille, with their fascinating cultural background. It is probable that the Rendille were influenced by black Ethiopian Jews called Falasha, because they have many traditions of an Old Testament type. Islam When Islam arrived in East Africa, many Cushites followed Allah and became known as the ‘Somali’, but some rejected Islam and were called ‘separatists’ — a word from which ‘Rendille’ is derived. The Rendille moved westward in order...
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By John Brand
October 2003
Kenya
Missionary Spotlight – Kalacha, Kenya
Every morning a small group of men meet for a time of prayer and Bible study in the little church in Kalacha, in the north of Kenya. Led by one of the missionaries, the group are currently working through the Psalms, and one morning during my recent visit they came to Psalm 72. What a case of reading the Bible in situ! Psalm 72:9 prophesies that ‘the desert tribes will bow before him [that is, Jesus Christ]’ — desert tribes like the Gabbra, and others in the Northern Frontier District (NFD) of Kenya. In small but significant ways, that prophecy is coming true...
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By Glyn Williams
November 2001
Kenya
Missionary Spotlight – Opportunities in Kenya
The fellowship at Ulaani gave me a handsome wooden lion. The pastor’s wife welcomed me with a multi-coloured garland. Later I was presented with a wooden walking stick and a hand-made bag and skirt for my wife. Of course they had to try the skirt on me to show how it should be tied — with much hilarity! Such is the warmth of the brothers and sisters in Christ at Kiatuni, and such their appreciation of the Word of God. Convention I had been invited to Kenya to minister the Word at a convention at Kiatuni, 50 miles south east of Nairobi. The...
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By Martin Bussey
November 1999
Kenya
Missionary Spotlight – Visiting in Kenya
— an Englishman’s impressions Keith, pastor of the Nairobi church, was working on the theory that the more I saw and did the better. So on Wednesdays we went pastoral visiting from about 4.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. We met five families altogether. One man had been suffering from depression and this had been making him doubt whether he really is saved. He struggles with the question of why he feels like this. Is it due to physical factors, personal sin or even demonic oppression? Deserted Another man, made redundant recently, lives with his wife and six children in a one-roomed house. One...
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