26 March 2007

Penye wengi pana Mungu

NOTE - The following is taken from bluegecko.com/kenya

Penye wengi pana Mungu -

(Where there are many people, there God is)
Swahili proverb

An estimated three quarters of all Kenyans profess to be Christian, whether nominally or otherwise (the majority being Protestant), up from precisely zero before the first European missionaries arrived in the 1840s. Approximately one fifth of the population still adhere to their traditional beliefs and religions, although these are fast disappearing in the face of an often aggressive evangelical presence. A minority of Kenyans (around 10%) are Muslim.

The only geographical distinction that can be made between the various religions is with Islam, which is practiced mainly on the coast and in the adjoining northeast of the country bordering Somalia.

Thankfully, religion is not a divisive issue in Kenya, and has had nothing to do with the sporadic outbreaks of 'ethnic violence' that have plagued the country since the early 1990s.

Christianity in Turkana land -
Since 1961, when the Africa Inland Mission established a food-distribution center and mission at Lokori to offset a famine that had started the year before, Christianity has been met with only limited success. Despite two hundred missionaries in the field today, the swift nomadic lifestyle of the Turkana precludes any long-term attempts at conversion, so that the only established churches are among the minority of settled Turkana in the small towns near the lake, and on the lakeshore itself where fishing is practiced.


"The Turkana are receptive to change if they feel it is to their advantage. However, religion is not seen as a vital part of their life so they are indifferent to Christianity."


NOTE - Kim and I did see a church meeting under a tree on our way to Lake Turkana.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How sad it is when people only accept Christ if they see a material advantage. So often they wait so long and maybe never find the joy of living christian lives
the way God asks to do.
Gladys