Kenya: the country, its people, and the Church

The best time to visit Kenya is during the dry season from December to March. Although the Chief Apostle will be travelling to Nairobi at the beginning of February, summertime, the temperatures should be pleasant. Kenya’s capital is one of the highest African capitals in terms of elevation.
Nairobi translates as “cool waters”, which is a reference to the river which flows through the city. The city’s altitude at 1,700 metres above sea level moderates the temperatures. However, the Chief Apostle is not coming as a tourist, even though Kenya is a wonderful country with many surprises: more than forty different ethnic groups live here, speaking over fifty different languages and dialects.
The population is young. Statistics from 2023 reveal that 37 per cent of the population is under the age of 15, while the proportion of over 64-year-olds is three per cent. People communicate mainly in English or Swahili. As a legacy of the British colonial era, English is one of the two official languages and is widely used in schools. Swahili, the most widely spoken language in Africa, is the lingua franca throughout East Africa.
This is not Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider’s first trip to this beautiful country. The congregations throughout the District Apostle Area East Africa are excited. This includes the national churches in Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Kenya: they are all under the pastoral and administrative care of District Apostle Joseph Opemba Ekhuya, who is supported by 35 Apostles. Around 700,000 people in these countries profess the New Apostolic faith.
The New Apostolic Church: the beginnings
It all dates back to the 1970s when some Kenyan students studying in Germany heard about the New Apostolic Church. Some began attending services, were baptised, and sealed.
In 1972, District Apostle Gottfried Rockenfelder asked ministers working with him to bring the New Apostolic Church to Kenya. They conducted first divine services in Nairobi and Kakamega. At the end of 1972, responsibility for the development of the New Apostolic Church in Kenya passed to District Apostle Michael Kraus of Canada. Canadian ministers had in the meantime been testifying and spreading the faith in Mombasa, the country’s second largest city. Key contacts were the later ministers Daniel Mutinda, Jeremiah Njeru, and Hezekiah Okuku. These three brothers were instrumental for spreading the New Apostolic faith throughout the country.
Rapid growth and administrative reorganisation
Between 1973 and 1975, Apostle Wilbert Vovak saw to the pastoral care of the still young church. He often visited the country, not only conducting divine services, but also organising seminars and establishing congregations. The New Apostolic Church developed quickly and steadily. In October 1976, for example, Wilbert Vovak travelled across the country on a 21-day pastoral tour, conducting 71 divine services and sealing over 5,700 people.
In order to expand, the Church needed workers. New congregations were growing rapidly. The organisation needed to be rethought. Two large districts were created: Kenya East with ten sub-districts and Kenya West with eleven sub-districts. The first local man to be ordained as an Apostle was David Kariuki. In February 1978 he received the Apostle ministry from the then Chief Apostle Ernst Streckeisen.
Another significant date in Kenya’s church history is 1996. That year, Chief Apostle Richard Fehr had invited 260 Apostles from all over the world to Nairobi for an Apostle Meeting over Pentecost. The Pentecost service took place in the South C congregation. It was the first satellite transmission of a Pentecost service from Africa.
The Church in Kenya today
The New Apostolic Church Kenya has grown into a large Regional Church with a total of 19 Apostles and 27 Bishops. The total membership of over 420,000 is spread over approximately 3,500 congregations. Joseph Opemba Ekhuya has been leading the Church as District Apostle since April 2015. The majority of the members are children and young people.
His trip to the country will take Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider to Nairobi, where he will conduct a service on 2 February. It will be transmitted to the entire District Apostle District of East Africa. On the Friday before, he will conduct a divine service in Kampala in Uganda.
Photo: NAC East Africa