Pastor Daniel Ogutu tells of the work in the Mathare Valley just outside the Kenyan capital of Nairobi
This slum is an eyesore, an endemic source of social and moral problems. With a population of 500,000 people, it is located on both sides of the Mathare river. It is only 5km from the city centre of Nairobi. Sadly, due to lack of sanitation, the river has changed into a dump for refuse and filth.
The slum began in the 1960s after Kenya gained independence. With the lifting of colonial restrictions on movement, thousands of people migrated to Nairobi. It is now a mosaic of the tribes of Kenya and has many people from neighbouring countries as well. Life in the slum is almost impossible. The majority have no employment but a few are employed as casual labourers and guards on industrial estates. Some sell vegetables, paraffin and charcoal, whilst others brew illicit gin, popularly known as 'kill me quick.' There is, of course, widespread prostitution, drug abuse, child vagrancy, robbery and rape. Living in slum conditions in an afflicted city stirs up resentment in people. Angry young men have formed gangs who roam the slum.
Planting a church
Christian witness in Mathare was non-existent until 1974 when a church began to work there. It met insult and resistance. Some evangelists were beaten and had alcohol poured over them. However, this did not stop them preaching and many people came to Jesus Christ.
I began work here in April 1989 by organising an evangelistic campaign. An Africa Inland Church (AIC) group began with 30 people, mostly children and youth who had been saved through the preaching. Most of the youths were ex-criminals and drug addicts or prostitutes who had been living in the Mathare valley for years. The church has now grown to around 700 people. Our first Sunday service is conducted in English and has an attendance of 100 to 150 people. The second service is in Kiswahili and between 350 to 500 people come. The growth of the church has come about through caring for one another, meeting in each other's houses for Bible study and ministering to grieving families. The infant mortality rate in the Mathare valley is high. In part of the valley (Mathare Valley 4B), there are no hospitals and schools and people are extremely poor.
I believe that Christians develop into spiritual maturity through studying God's word. We have twelve Bible study groups which meet with their leaders once a week. We also have a mid-week fellowship on Thursdays. Most of the leaders I have trained orally since they are former drug addicts and therefore never went through formal education. Kiswahili is used most of the time.
Social Projects
We have to confront social problems. The church, having preached and seen people saved finds that prostitutes and drug addicts face financial difficulties. These people leave their evil activities and turn for assistance to the pastor. The ex-prostitutes coming to the Lord ask what jobs they can now do to support themselves. The youths ask what courses they can do and how can they find sponsorship.
Our young church has been forced to start up projects to help these young Christians by keeping them busy as well as helping them to earn an honest living. We want to preach an wholistic gospel to this community. That is the only way to reach them. The church does not have a building. We meet in a hall which we hire for meetings. Small group meetings are held in members houses. These small groups have been very effective. We have groups for married couples, women's fellowship, youth fellowship and music ministry.
In 1994 we had a big evangelistic crusade during which more than 60 drug addicts, criminals and prostitutes gave their lives to the Lord. Through proper follow up and prayer the following year saw 35 of them showing truly changed lives and were baptised in water. These young people formed a 'gang for Jesus' and are now witnessing effectively in the Mathare Valley. We call the group Mathare Outreach. Among them are youngsters whom the church the church has sponsored. Five boys have done mechanic's courses and six girls tailoring courses. There are more we would like to similarly sponsor. Many of the girls are single parents and the church has opened a day care centre to assist their children. There are around 150 of these young women. Many of their children are badly malnourished and some are dying.
Challenges
The church started these projects to assist our members who have material and physical needs. There is also a feeding programme for street children under 5 years old. We are trying to feed 250 street children daily and to make sure they get balanced diets, education and medication. Most children have good moral characters because the teachers and social workers have maintained a high spiritual standard. There are a number of children who have been orphaned as their parents have died of AIDS.
We also try to run a women's nutrition and primary health care programme. There are many other things the church would like to do. The church now has a plot of land inside the Mathare slum area. The youths who used to terrorise the population and are now witnessing for Christ are having a great impact. We would like to assist their preaching by providing a public address system, a generator, Christian films and a projector. The film ministry is a very useful way of reaching and challenging the poor people of the Mathare valley.
The challenge we face is to provide an alternative way of life for the ex-criminals as well as assisting single parents in feeding their children. At the beginning of our ministry all the meetings used to be held in our house and when people came, I made sure that they did not leave without being fed. People in the Mathare Valley are poor and when they are in trouble usually run to the pastor's house for material and spiritual help.
Pastor Daniel Ogutu,
Africa Inland Church.
Pastor Ogutu was a technical instructor in a college and his wife was an accountant before they both resigned from their positions to serve the Lord in the Mathare Valley. If you would like to give a gift to this work you can do so through Mr. & Mrs. M. Watkins, 36 St. John's Rd, Guildford, GU2 5UH, (cheques should be made to Chertsey Street Baptist Church).
This is the story of Moda (not his real name), once a famous criminal and drug addict in Mathare Valley:
I was born in 1972, and both my parents passed away when I was very young. I started stealing to support myself: I used to pick up clothes left by people to dry in the sun, and pickpocket in buses and streets. Some time later, I was in the process of conning a tourist from Europe when police on patrol came and I was arrested. I was jailed for 12 months.
While in jail, I learned new techniques of stealing: I took two handcuffs and pretended to be a policeman. Many people feared me. I robbed many innocent people including refugees.
I was arrested again by the police and jailed for two years. I was taken to several prisons but this did not change me and I came back determined to improve in the stealing business. This time a group of us organised a robbery but the police were tipped off. Some of us were shot dead by the police and some were left with bullet wounds. To this day I have a bullet scar on my lips.
Some of my friends took me to hospital. I was waiting for my court case while there, but managed to escape from my hospital bed. I still do not know what happened to the court case. After recovery I started again selling drugs, stealing and robbery.
One day, when Mathare Mission was at its climax, I went to the city centre to steal from a supermarket. The police discovered me and I was chased. I outran them, climbed into a moving vehicle, and escaped from police bullets.
Challenging film
As I alighted from the vehicle in Mathare Valley, I met a group preaching the Word of God. I decided to accept Jesus as my personal Saviour though I was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. That evening we watched a film about hell - I was challenged and it touched my life fully. I attended an all-night prayer meeting where Pastor Ogutu shared about restoration from the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19.1-10). I looked at my past life and the possessions I had in the house and said, 'All these I have stolen.'
I destroyed all the things I had been using to terrorise people in Mathare and Nairobi city centre. I had a toy gun and a pocket radio using remote control. I threw them into Mathare river. Our house had had six doors so that we could escape from the police: if the police were chasing us, we could go in through one door and come out through another. I had to seal off these doors.
I did many things in ignorance; I lived in darkness but now I can see the light. Praise be to God - the light of the gospel has shone on me.
No going back
Many people who knew me as one of the top criminals in Mathare, when they see me with a Bible, think I am mad. Some thought I would eventually go back to my former life. The pastor and other Christians have been encouraging me very much and I believe God will carry me through. When Jesus sets someone free, he will be free indeed. With God all things are possible.
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