Kenya Village voices: Commuting to Tanzania for Church Service?
Dr. Teddy KamauA nation without faith: During these times of Chinese Corona Virus lockdowns, Churches in Kenya are not allowed to open to their congregation and the villager has an opinion. Even BBC suggested that president Kenyatta has “taken” away the freedom of the people, inferring that the Mau Mau fought for nothing (see article end). There is no mass, worshiping together, no community fellowships, bible studies or any religious services. However, markets are open and malls are allowed to function. The villager has been told that these are essential services. The president has declared the church of Jesus Christ as not essential. President Uhuru Kenyatta has moved away from the Church and has finally showed where his heart is: A nation without faith.
It is during these times that you know who your leaders really are. During madaraka day, William Ruto joined president Uhuru Kenyatta and other leaders to celebrate this historical event. The villager noticed his presence during this event, but they noticed something else. William Ruto was afraid to mention that Kenyans are praying for the country. His voice was restricted because he realized that those people gathered were mainly those who oppose anything about faith. He mentioned one of those who oppose the church, who are telling Uhuru Kenyatta that churches are not essential. These God haters have become so powerful that even DP William Ruto is forced to “bow down and worship” their words. Ruto quoted Mutahi Ngunyi who is one of these God haters. Why? Because president Uhuru Kenyatta has decided that Mutahi Ngunyi is essential for his revolution and faith in Jesus Christ is not. The DP had to kiss his ring!
Mutahi Ngunyi is a friend of Waiguru. In fact the two of them were implicated in the scandal that stole millions of Kenya Shillings from National Youth Service. In his praise of Raila Odinga during his birthday, Mutahi Ngunyi called him a “maker of things” and remarked that, “revolutionaries have no expiry date.” Mutahi Ngunyi wants a revolution. The villager does not want revolution, and the reason why he is advising the president is because Raila Odinga is part of the game to destroy William Ruto and his God fearing worshippers and villagers. Now the villager knows why president Uhuru went to Cuba. Why he loves China. He is using COVID19 to remove freedom and freedom to worship God. The villager believes that God is the source of good and blessings. The church is ordained by God to be a force of spiritual good to the society. The villager also knows that Raila Odinga worships something other than the God of the Bible.
During the memorial service of Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi, Raila Odinga stood in front of all those who were gathered. He ignored the church and its role at the ceremony, he lifted a cow’s tail and waiving it like a witch doctor invoked the forces of witchcraft. The villager noticed this action but remained silent but they saw what they saw. The villager knows that Deputy President William Ruto is under serge. What they did not know is by whom. But now they know. The villager is also watching events in Tanzania. The president, a man with a PhD in chemistry, has analyzed the corona virus and the information that has been given to the public. In the beginning, World Health Organization said that the virus is not transmitted from person to person. Then they said you do not need a mask. Then they advised countries to not restrict travel. Then recently they just said again that those who have the virus in their blood couldn’t transmit it easily. Mangufuli has decided that these people are lying. He knows that the body is created by God to develop immunity. He has allowed churches to open. Kenyans at the boarder are commuting to Tanzania for church.
The villager is wondering why. And their conclusion is not far off. According to the villager their president is not a committed Christian. They claim that president Uhuru Kenyatta is a political Christian whose adherence is not interested in the Christian message. That he has been swept away by people who share his historical stand against Christianity. Those now working to make sure a committed believer in Christ will not rule Kenya. All these people are working for Raila Odinga and according to the villager, the revolution is a danger to the country. When they hear Atwoli claim that it will be a mistake to elect William Ruto, the villager knows it is because DP Ruto loves Christ and His church.
Atwoli, Ann Waiguru, Mutahi Ngunyi, Murathe and the global atheists are part of the global philosophy that is telling president Uhuru Kenyatta to keep churches closed. That churches are not essential. It is these church hating group that wants the message of Christ removed from our country. The best thing about the villagers is that they know that the day of reckoning is coming in 2022. And they know the person who will allow them to attend church instead of them commuting to Tanzania to worship.
Teddy Njoroge Kamau (Ph.D)
HTBluff Associates
Diaspora Messenger Senior Columnist
https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-kenyans-begging-president-freedom-231304674.html
If you believe God dwells in a building you are very delusional.
Plus, here’s a tip for you- No where in the Bible does it say believers have to gather in a building but get this there’s a statement that states “Obedience is better than sacrifice”. Do not feed people your idiocy.
I will attempt to respond to this post from a theological-biblical, leadership, and a philosophical point of view. I will avoid the political and personal attack approach.
Is there a biblical mandate for corporate worship?
Right from Genesis 2:18 we read of Adam enjoying fellowship with the creator and unimpeded communion with God. In Psalm 73:25, we find Asaph in his desire for fellowship. Corporate worship seems to be God’s design and is indeed rooted in the great mystery of the Triune God as reflected in Deuteronomy 6:4 and James 2:19.
The New Testament reveals even more of this mystery of corporate worship in many passages. In Ephesians 5:23, we read of Paul, the Stoic philosopher and the theologian arguing that as one body we have many members and the members do not have the same function and in Romans 12:4-6, he continues to make his case; though many are one body in Christ, we are also individual members of one another.
Together we are one body and in 1st Corinthians 12, each of us has different roles that are indispensable to the healthy functioning of the body.
Through each one of us, God nourishes and grows his body until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God to mature manhood and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).
There certainly is an enjoyment of God and a taste of heavenly gift and a sharing in the Holy Spirit and a tasting of the goodness of the word of God that cannot be experienced apart from corporate gathering of Jesus Church (Hebrews 6:4-5; Colossians 3:15-16).
I do not think that Prof Kamau was arguing that real church has to be experienced in houses of mortar but rather the corporate aspect or the coming together for fellowship.
Hebrews 10:25 urges us not to “neglect meeting together.” The word neglect used here in Greek is “egkatalepo” which is not really a command but a participle. We are encouraged to meet together to spur one another on towards love and goodness.
Now….
The has in past has ignored government bans in the past. Rome did not want Christians to meet but they still met (Acts 16:21). The current ban is different from the one the church in Rome faced. This ban current ban is for the concern for our neighbors. We are being ASKED to LOVE OUR Neighbor. Thankfully, many of us are blessed with the most up to date technology that allows us to accomplish the same objectives in different ways.
Some may argue that failure to meet is to take the coward route and goes contrary to the laws of fighting the virus. We are supposed to go on with life and expose ourselves so that we may build immunity to fight against COVID-19. Staying away from one another is not the way to cure the world.
Others decide to live like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, the religious elitists who were fastidious to a fault in keeping the way of God (Matthew 12:9-14).
But I argue, if our meeting together would knowingly and unnecessarily endanger the lives of our neighbors or keep us from preserving the lives of our neighbors, then we should NOT meet.
As a theologian, teacher, leader, and philosopher, it appears that meeting together at this time could spread the virus among our neighbors and thus perpetuating the crisis and doing harm to those around us as seen in the church in Korea.
Let the leadership of the church and that of the country decide what is the best way forward to preserve the loss of human life. Governments that may be trying to squash the faith in the name of COVID-19, should learn from history, it is impossible to crush the Christian faith because God does not reside in buildings of stone and clay. The leadership of each country in conjunction with the religious leaders of the people must sit down and collaboratively decide what is the best way forward for the citizens of each country. The Tanzanian approach is reckless and may be driven by other agendas we do not know. But the data from other countries state otherwise and thus let the Tanzanians deal with their choice of action. Choices have consequences.
I trust that the government of Kenya is intelligently asking us to put the need of OUR COMMUNITIES first out of LOVE.
I personally believe in staying home for now because it is the LOVING thing to do. Going to a church gathering with COVID-19 or being asymptomatic (whatever that means) is not a cool thing. We woke!!
My wisdom and love says, “ISOLATION is the BEST OPTION at least at this time. When the crisis passes, then…
Thank you for the article, Professor. It was informative in explaining the current political trends that are facing the nation. Best of luck to the citizens as they reflect on what matters to them and hopefully their thinking will be reflected in the ballot box.
Joseph Onesimus (Ph.D.; Th.D).