Covenant News

Missouri Church Partners to Reach Muslims on Kenyan Island

FLORISSANT, MO (July 27, 2001) - Christ Covenant Church of Florissant has teamed up with a pastor couple in an evangelistic outreach to Muslims living on a small island off the coast of Kenya.

John and Freshia Njaramba Kiruga will work on Lamu Island in partnership with the newly formed Evangelical Covenant Church of Kenya (ECCK). The new church is called the Evangelical Covenant Church of Lamu Island, founded in April 1999.

The couple brings extensive experience in youth ministry and a shared vision for creative music and worship. Teaching Bible school, leading prayer meetings and small group studies and other pastoral duties are part of the ministry effort.

Christ Covenant Church, which has been in existence since 1979, made connections with John and Freshia Njaramba Kiruga as part of a 1998 mission trip to Kenya. From that mission trip, the ECCK was formed. According to Christ Covenant pastor Marc Murchison, there are five official congregations and other fellowship groups meeting with the help of lay persons. About 1,100 are currently worshipping in ECCK.

In August 1999, Murchison and a number of administrators, pastors and professors from North Park Theological Seminary visited Lamu Island as part of an educational experience. "The people they (John and Freshia) are facing on Lamu Island are pretty sophisticated," said Murchison. "John and Freshia are sharp people and it helps that they have qualifications in music. Music is the magical language."

Lamu Island is located off the north coast of Kenya. The Sultan of Oman and the Omani Empire owned the island and much of the coastal region of East Africa for centuries. Consequently, Islam is solidly entrenched there. The island has a population of approximately 20,000 people - more than 90 percent are reported to be Muslims. Most churches are small and Christians suffer economic and sometimes physical persecution on the island. Thus, a lay pastor (or evangelist as they are called in Kenya) is an important component for a congregation.

John Njaramba Kiruga was raised in one of the rural areas in Kenya and completed his primary and secondary education in that area. He did not become involved in church life until 1992 when he was studying mechanics in a polytechnic school. His father, a member of the African independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (AIPCA), encouraged him to join him in the church. While attending a fellowship group in Mathare, he accepted Jesus Christ as savior.

After finishing his education, John worked for various industries and became heavily involved in the youth ministry of his church. "In 1994, I came to Mombasa and . . . became a choir member in AIPCA. Some months later I became their chairman," he said in his written testimony. "I used to organize many functions with the group from seminars to overnight prayers." In 1994, John recorded a Christian album and this encouraged him as he considered public speaking and worship leading in the church. To help fund his ministry efforts, John has worked as a mechanic and a driver until last year.

Freshia Wanjiru, a Kenyan by birth, was brought up in a Christian family in AIPCA. Her parents were among the founders of that church. Freshia was very active in youth activities as a youngster and her singing skills and love of gospel music became apparent when she was a teen.

In 1991, Freshia joined Mombasa Technical Training Institute and took secretarial courses for three years. During her second year in school (1992) she accepted Jesus Christ as savior. She began to gain an appreciation for the worship aspect of church and in 1997 she and John combined to produce a gospel music tape. They were married in 1998 and have one child.

Christ Covenant Church has an average worship attendance of around 50 and has a good mix of Anglo and other ethnic groups, including Kenyans. Another Covenanter, Gordon Carlson, is assisting with economic development work in Kenya. Carlson, whose brother, Ken, is superintendent of the Midwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), is a member of Christ Covenant and was part of the group that visited the island in 1999.

Pine Lake Covenant Church in Sammamish, Washington, is also planning to send a short-term mission group to Kenya later this summer, according to Murchison.

For more information about Christ Covenant's work with Kenya, contact Murchison by telephone at 314-839-0292 or by email at christcov@juno.com. For more information on the ECCK and other efforts by the Evangelical Covenant Church to reach Kenyans, contact Pete Ekstrand, Africa coordinator for the ECC's Department of World Mission, at africa-coord@iccnet.cm.

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