...the church at Kasabuni

On Saturday a man died alone – with God.  He had been ill for a long time. Because of his illness, he could not work. His wife, finding work in Uganda, was living and working there when she received the news that her husband had made a turn for the worse.  She was making her way to him when he died.

Outskirts of Kasabuni

Today, we are at Kasabuni (Kah-sah-boon-ee) Baptist Church, located on the edge of Kasabuni slum; the third largest slum in Kenya. We are quite impressed with the church – the building isn't much at all, but the CHURCH – the body of Christ here is impressive. They have youth, middle school and children’s Bible studies as well as adult Bible study.

Debbie taught the story of Noah and the ark to about 40 children and Jerry shared the Word in the main service – both taught in Swahili.

Now you may be thinking this sounds familiar – just like any church in the U.S.  – well, yes and no.  The building property is walled with cement block, so they use three of those walls for the walls of their building, the remaining wall is metal roofing sheets, the floor is dirt and mice run across the front of the church during the worship service.  “We only see them during the worship time,” laughs Pastor Jecktone.

Following the service, Pastor Jecktone and three deacons take us on a prayer walk through their village, Kasabuni slum.

The outskirts of the slum area are not so bad; having weightier
issues on our minds, we didn't take the camera on our prayerwalk 

Stopping in various areas to pray, the smell of sewage is almost overwhelming.

As we pick our way around garbage, stepping carefully over open sewers and ducking under clothes lines full of laundry, children run up, sticking out their hands hoping to touch the wazungu (foreigners).—How are you?  The first English question every child learns in school.

Parking the car at an angle outside the church
on 6" - 8" of refuse.

Smiling, we shake hands with many adults and lots of children as we move slowly down the narrow winding pathways.


We end our walk through the slum at the home where our story today begins, the 18’ x 20’ room where the man lived and died. His wife arrived this morning. Singing, praying, and sharing words of comfort, there are 20 of us now crowded in this small space; Kasabuni Baptist Church sharing in the suffering, the comfort, and sharing in the joy – knowing that even while there is mourning, there is relief from suffering and life everlasting, for this one knew Christ!

Pray that this widow, mourning the death of her husband, would sense afresh the love and peace of God in her life.

Pray for Kasabuni Baptist Church as they reach out with the love of Christ to ‘the least of these’.

Click this here to link to a Baptist Press article on Kasabuni and the church.