ISB Kenya - Roger Howes

Warm welcome in Kenyan schools

Twenty-three Gideons from nine countries met in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to start two weeks of Scripture distribution with the local Gideons. Roger Howes from the UK was among them.
In the first week we concentrated on the Nairobi area and split for the second week with one team going to Nakuru and another to Mombasa. I was part of the Mombasa team. The "blitz" focused mainly on some1200 schools and around 440,000 Scriptures were distributed.

We travelled many miles along dirt track roads, frequently having to ask for directions. One team in the Mombasa area had to hire a boat to take Scriptures to an island and then wade through the water with the boxes!

I made presentations at 62 schools. Sometimes the entire school would assemble outside and sometimes we made classroom presentations. The number of New Testaments given to pupils ranged from 20 at one small school in the bush to 1900. Often the children had bare feet and ragged clothes but always the same smiling faces.

Hijack foiled

We saw many prayers answered. Shortly before the blitz a truck containing 100,000 Scriptures was hijacked near Nakuru along with two local Gideons. The Lord arranged for the truck to break down which gave the Gideons an opportunity to raise the alarm. The truck and its load were recovered, and there was then no problem with the truck.

Only a few days before moving to Mombasa we learnt that the Scriptures were still being held by customs in the port. Urgent prayer requests were sent out which led to them being released two days before distributions began.

At one school in the Nairobi area thieves had attempted to steal the boxes of Scriptures thinking they contained items of financial value. Although nothing was taken the lock was damaged which prevented access to the store room. Seeing a gap in the window Gideons lowered a boy into the room who then passed the boxes out through the gap to them.
At some schools pupils were not used to seeing a mzungu (white man) and our visit aroused much excitement, especially among the younger pupils who all wanted to shake my hand and check that my hair was real. Often they were unable to restrain their amusement to hear a mzungu speak but soon settled down to listen. It was encouraging how many pupils were able to recite John 3:16 from memory and in English.

There was a great freedom in the Nairobi schools to present the way of salvation and to lead pupils who so wished in saying the prayer of commitment, but more caution was required in the Mombasa area.
Sometimes an older pupil would give a vote of thanks after the presentation and they were able to express clearly why we had given them God's Word and the value of it. Often a teacher would back up our message and encourage the pupils to look after their New Testaments and to read them.

Care for the disabled

I visited a school for disabled children which was on the same site as an abandoned baby centre. This was run by a Christian charity Feed the Children. There is a great stigma in Kenya in having a disabled child and sadly this is often viewed as some form of judgement. Added to this there are parents suffering from AIDS who are no longer able to care for their children.

It was good to see that this school had far better facilities than any other we saw and the pupils were receiving love and care. This was the Gospel in action with the most disadvantaged and rejected receiving the best!

At one school the Gideons found a girl who still had her New Testament from a previous distribution, and had entered her name on the commitment page at the back. It was clear that she used her New Testament because she had written references to Bible verses on a blank page.

One headmaster reported that when the Gideons last visited, ten years previously, that the number of pregnancies in the school had declined and another reported that drug use had declined.

Most school presentations were conducted in English but for some of the younger pupils interpretation into Kiswahili was required. At one school where interpretation was required for a younger class the local Gideon was occupied elsewhere and the headmaster just gave my talk having already heard it several times in other classes.

No pressure

Muslim pupils were often eager to have a New Testament and at one school where the Muslims stepped aside as we made the distribution we noticed that one Muslim girl was following from her friend's copy as we explained the way of salvation.
At one school the headmaster told us that Muslim pupils would leave their New Testaments at school for fear of getting into trouble at home.

In the Mombasa area teachers were more reluctant to allow Muslim pupils to receive a New Testament and would often drive them away if they came for one. We had to intervene and explain that if they wished to have one and would look after it and would not get into trouble at home then they could take one, but we always made it clear that nobody was under any pressure to accept one.

After one presentation we were two copies short but by the time I had returned from the car with the two additional copies six of the Muslims had decided they wanted copies, so it was back to the car for more!
Sometimes the headmaster would ask the Muslim pupils to name the four holy books of Islam, namely the Koran, the Torah, the Injil (Gospels) and the Zobar (Psalms) and then explain that what we were giving out had to be treated as a holy book.

We knew this to be a sensitive issue because after a distribution at one of those schools some years ago a Muslim teacher took away the New Testaments from Muslim pupils and burnt them and the school was anxious to avoid a repetition.

One team asked directions of a Muslim man on a bike who insisted on directing them personally to each school and assisted them by taking photos during presentations. He was anxious to receive a New Testament himself after the final school!

Two teams encountered cases of demon possession evidenced by one pupil screaming and another flinging herself onto the floor as they started to speak and had to take authority in Jesus' name.
Many teachers who taught CRE (Christian Religious Education) were overjoyed to receive a full Bible for use in the classroom and often other members of staff were happy to receive a personal New Testament.

We praise God that no school refused us the opportunity to make presentations and even Muslim teachers could see that we were providing something that was of value to the teaching of a subject on their curriculum. At one school a Muslim mother wearing the full hijab visiting the school came and asked for a copy.

Each Sunday gave us the opportunity to speak at local churches. At Mombasa Pentecostal Church one young lady made a commitment to Christ in the English service. I was able to give her a New Testament and she signed her name on the commitment page.

After the service a Swedish missionary couple who were working in the local prison and been wondering how they could get Bibles for the inmates were delighted to make contact with the local Gideon. In the following Kiswahili service a young man made a commitment and fortunately I had a Kiswahili New Testament available to give to him.

We pray that God will protect the Scriptures that have been distributed and enable the Kenyan Gideons to make return visits to the schools each year.