They Heard the Gospel From the Next Door

• Bonifresh Muhollo

Jan 8, 2019 23767

The old adage that “what good can possibly come out of Nazareth” – once said about Christ – suffered another blow during the Ten Days of Prayer in Kibera, one of the most notorious slums in Kenya.

It all began when I accepted an invitation from a senior pastor in Nairobi, who wanted his flock to feed on something new. Although I am Kenyan born, I had never stepped in Kibera. However, Kibera Slum surprised me in ways I had never imagined before. During those Ten Days of Prayer, testimonies were created that will inspire me for a long time.

One such touching story is about this family that only showed up on the last day and confessed – amidst their joy – that they had been converted by the message while in their own home. It happens that this family of four lived very close to the church building where these meetings were taking place. Thus, they did not need to enter the church, but just sit in their room and listen to the message.

They said that it was their daughter – who had begun attending these meetings through influence from her friend – that called the family’s attention to the message of the meetings. Out of mere curiosity, the father had decided to sacrifice his free time and simply lie in bed and listen to the sound coming from the church. As days went by, he had brought on board the whole family and they had even begun taking notes!

He decided to sacrifice his free time and simply lie in bed and listen

The father, Mr Oyugi, speaking on behalf of his family, confessed,

“We were afraid of physically joining you, but we have been together in these meetings.”

Asked how they gathered strength to come to the meetings on that closing day, he said that after the sermon that had been preached the previous day about the woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years, they couldn’t live with the guilt of denying their testimony to the saints.

Mr Oyugi is a teacher in one of the local private primary schools in the slum while his wife is a businesswoman who moves door-to-door selling ladies’ shoes and garments. Together they have been blessed with two daughters, one working in a supermarket while the youngest is still in high school. It is the younger daughter Mary that had been attending these meetings with her classmate, who happens to be a church member.

After these confessions, the preacher called all the elders to pray for that family and directed that they be rewarded a friendly place within the church. The father has began studying the Bible, and is interested in being baptised. The mother is also very eager to begin her new life of faith. In her testimony, she says that her greatest joy came when she discovered that her husband was beginning to find interest in the things of God. She also expressed her joy that her entire family has decided to follow the way of the Lord.

– Pr Bonifresh Muhollo