History of Kenya
History of the CLC’s work in Kenya
Initial Contact
Some had been looking for a new church in their area of Etago, Kisii to replace the churches they were in, namely the Roman Catholic and the 7th Day Adventist. Inquiries were made among tourists from America who travelled nearby. A non-CLC friend from Michigan, upon being asked, recommended they investigate the CLC. President Fleischer received their correspondence and turned the correspondence over to the missionary on January 25, 2000.
| April 2000 Based on favorable correspondence, a meeting was held in the village of Etago, Kisii in a pasture with about 125 people. Pastor and Mrs. Koenig visited in the area with the interested individuals before and after this meeting. The meeting went over the main differences between us and the Roman Catholic and 7th Day Adventist churches. There appeared to be a group favorable to joining the CLC. More literature was given and later mailed. |
| June 18, 2000 The first service was held by the new congregation of 32 adults and 24 children. They set up a board of elders and a pastor, Samson, who had been 7th Day Adventist. |
| April 2001 The missionary visited and taught and preached at the Etago CLC. They are under the supervision of the missionary, and as such in fellowship. During this visit more Bibles and other books were purchased for the people. At a service with an attendance of 70, of these 40 were baptized by the missionary. Catechisms have been sent in preparation for communicant membership. |
| January 2002 The planned visitation from the USA was cancelled. |
| April 2002 Visitation by the missionary with two babies baptized and a funeral for a new member of six months was carried out. Money was given by the MB for the roof of the 65×20 church to be built by the members at their expense. The choir had produced a cassette of their music and sold 100 copies. Meetings were held with the pastor, the elders and the men in which many practical matters were discussed, showing a growth on their part and a willingness to learn. A week-long evangelism effort was discussed and funded by us. Work was done on Pastor Samson’s training and plans made for more training. |
| October 23, 2002 The missionary and mission volunteer, Tim Schreyer, met with Pastor Samson and Enosh in Nairobi to discuss the work in Etago, and especially the desire of the ECLC to open an orphan school. Plans were discussed to have these two men to in alternative months to Himo to the seminary. |
| November 14-16, 2002 The first meeting of representatives of the Etago CLC, LCEA and ELCC were held in Uchira, Tanzania, hosted by the LCEA to enjoy fellowhip, discuss the starting of the seminary, and to study God’s Word. |
| December 15, 2002 With financial assistance from the CLC, the ECLC registered the orphan school with the government. |
| January 2003 The Aids Orphan Nursery or Pre-School was opened with 80 children, approximately 30 boys and 50 girls taught by two trained ladies of the congregation. |
| November 2003 The missionary visited Etago, teaching and preaching. There was a lot of discussion on if and how the CLC through Kinship would support the school. The plans were finalized for Samson and Enosh to go to the Himo Seminary in Tanzania starting next January. A sister congregation was started at Kenuchi of 25 members in addition to the Etago congregation of 70. Discussions were held with Pastor Fred, a Baptist, and his congregation of 50 was visited at Chotororo to explain our church’s teachings. |
| 2004 ECLC – Problems arose over financial matters in our sister church and were being dealt with by the elders when the missionary arrived in December 2004. Samson is no longer pastor, having been replaced by Enosh. The attendance of two men to the Himo, Tanzania Seminary has been dropped for now. The orphan school continues to operate. Construction was begun on the first building with CLC donated money. Attendance – Kindergarten and 1st and 2nd – 80 students. Two pastors and two assistants serve 145 souls. |
| 2005 Registration to be complete in December – Assessed Masai work – Etago orphan school continues and will have second classroom – Seeking unity among Kenyan groups. |
| October 10-12, 2005 Pastors Jeremiah, Alex and Koenig and Charles met with pastors and congregation of the Nairobi wing of CLCK. All pastors have to take tests.. |
| October 13-16, 2005 Pastors Jeremiah, Alex and Koenig and Charles met with pastors, leaders, congregations of the Etago wing. |
| October 26, 2005 Four from Etago and seven from Nairobi attended study conference and met with Mission Board members Naumann and Hansen in separate meetings of Etago and Nairobi groups. Both groups met with the missionary on the organizing. |
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CLCK-Nairobi
April 2006 saw the church registered with the Kenyan government.
During this year Kenuchi congregation receiving roofing.
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| ECLC-EtagoOctober 2006 Oct.24-25th the Second Annual Pastoral Conference was held at Kisii with Etago hosting.
Missionary was in the field in October.
The second classroom was built and money was issued for a third classroom for the 81student, 4 teacher aids orphan school.
Statistics – Etago has six congregations with 856 souls served by two pastors and five others preaching. Nairobi has five congregations with a variety of satellite stations with 468 adults and 215 children with five pastoring.
Outreach – There are 14 leaders in Murgang’a under the new pastor John and outreach beginning in Mombasa.
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| ECLC-EtagoOct.-Nov. 2007
A visitation was carried out in Oct.-Nov. by Larry Hansen, Loren, Hansen, Russ Schmitt and the missionary. There was work on school building and with orphans. The first two day seminar for leaders was held Nov. 9-10. One station was closed. There are 332 adults and 275 children totalling 607 souls served by 2 pastors and 5 preachers. |
| CLCK NairobiOct.-Nov.2007A visitation was carried out in Oct.-Nov. by Larry Hansen, Loren Hansen, Russ Schmitt, Pastor Mayhew and the missionary. Congregations were visited both in Nairobi area as well as in Maranga and Mombasa areas. The first seminar was held Oct. 27th at Maranga. College outreach continues. Statistics – 1009 adults and 479 children served by over 16 preachers totalling 1488 souls. Mombasa stations are 8 with around 170 souls. |
July 2012
- Fourteen Mission Helpers (Pastor Michael Gurath, Jordan Horillo, Kirsten Gullerud, Kate Oster, Loren Hansen, Matthew Kranz, Jennifer Grabow, Randy Wittorp, Tom Naumann, Gretchen Eichstadt, Christiana Schreyer, Lucas Brown, Jessica Ohlmann, and Ashley Elliott) accompanied Pastor Ohlmann on a Mission Helper Trip to the East African countries of Kenya and Tanzania.
- The fifteen Mission Helpers divided into three teams and traveled to three different areas of Kenya and Tanzania to proclaim the Gospel.
- Team Etago worked primarily with the 196 children at the St. David Kinship Academy in Etago, Kenya. And visited a few area CLC-Kenya congregations.
- Team Moi’s Bridge worked with the children at Holy Cross Lutheran School at Emmaus Milimani, Kenya. This team also had the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to over 5,000 children in 13 area schools.
- Team Tanzania visited several villages where CLC-Tanzania congregations are located in north Tanzania and south Kenya. They taught nearly 1,500 children in 19 locations.
2013
The part-time missionary visit to Kenya this year revolved around a few main points of emphasis. With only three and a half weeks of total time in-country, there are fewer individual and congregational visits that can take place. The first week was dedicated to the training of seminary students and practicing pastors who attend the KCLC (Kenyan Church of the Lutheran Confession) temporary training institution located in Chotororo, Kisii land area. For the time being there are eight students enrolled who meet on a one-week-per-month basis. Their curriculum has been centered largely on Luther’s Small Catechism in conjunction with a study of the fourteen pamphlets.
The Kenya/Uganda joint pastoral conference was once again held in Kisii Town, Kenya with 12 men in attendance. Everyone was given an opportunity to take an exam on the fundamental teachings of the Lutheran faith. The results of the test showed a great deal of improvement from past years and renewed dedication to study that these servants of the Word have practiced over the last few years. During the second day of the conference everyone presented a sermon for the benefit of all the pastors and for the missionary to have an opportunity to give input and critique their presentation of the Word. The final day of the conference was reserved for the planning session of the ongoing work in Kenya/Uganda. The leaders of these respective church bodies formulated short-term and long-term goals and implementation of a plan to accomplish those goals. We were blessed with safe travels and a wonderful time of fellowship and unity for those three days.
The remaining time was dedicated to the two primary schools in Kenya that are supported by members in the CLC-USA. The issue of high teacher turnover was addressed at St. David’s in Etago, along with seminars designed to familiarize the current faculty and staff with the teachings of the catechism. These sessions were received with great enthusiasm, as many of the teachers come from other church bodies and have not been exposed to a systematic presentation of doctrine. The new classroom recently built through KINSHIP sponsorship has been a tremendous blessing for the students of St. David’s. It is well constructed, with ample space, and proper ventilation. This structure will serve as a place of worship, assembly hall, and multiple classrooms for many years to come. Identical seminars were conducted at Emmaus Hill School in Milimani (Moi’s Bridge). Two of the teachers currently serving this school are members of the church as well and have been confirmed in the catechism. The rest of the faculty also showed great appreciation for this opportunity to study the Word of God together.