William Kiptoo Journal

Background: The Beginnings of an African Church By the early 1940s, the Dutch Reformed Church missionaries under Bwana Loubser had established a mission presence primarily among the Boer white settler community in Uasin Gishu, focusing their ministry on European farms. The African population, though living and working around these farms, remained largely outside the church’s evangelistic focus. The turning point came with the arrival of Rev. B.B. Ebiyers (Eybers) in 1944, a visionary missionary who believed in extending the gospel to the African communities. Eybers recognized the need to train indigenous leaders who could communicate effectively in Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa, and relate culturally to the people. He established a small Bible Training Centre at Plateau, near Eldoret, marking the beginning of theological education for Africans within the Reformed Church mission. It was here that three African men, Hubert Tibanga, Jeremia Lugumira, and Jason Wamukota, wou...

If there is one thing I dread the most in life, it is not hell, nor pain or failure. It is the fear that one day I will die and be completely forgotten, as if I never lived. That everything I have done, all that I have built, every effort, every dream, will fade away with time. Even the people I loved will forget my name. Those who once knew me will one day forget my voice and my presence. I dread it, for real! It is a quiet but haunting fear. The realization dawns that even the greatest among us eventually become dust. They are swallowed by the silence of history. The thought that life, despite all its noise and struggle, might ultimately leave no trace behind, unsettles me deeply. I once visited the Gede Ruins in Malindi, a place that has never left my mind. I walked through the ancient stones and fallen walls. I tried to imagine the life that once pulsed through that city. The laughter, the trade, the politics, the celebrations. There were leaders and builders, merchants an...

On the Eldoret-Eldama Ravine road, 16Kms just past Naiberi and Straughburg in Uasin Gishu County, lies a place that quietly bridges continents, generations, and spiritual worlds. Known as Kapsengerut, this unassuming homestead is no ordinary village compound. It is the birthplace of the Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA), a sacred space where African faith met Western mission, and where a farmworker’s vision gave rise to a lasting church movement. The late Mzee Joseph Cheserem (Sengerut ) the humble farmworker whose faith and vision gave birth to RCEA A Living Heritage At first glance, Kapsengerut looks like any other rural homestead. But as one walks through its grounds, the air feels different. It ia reverent, almost hallowed. Here stand two modest graves side by side: those of Mzee Joseph Cheserem Sengerut and his wife, and just a few meters away, the resting places of J. Mouton and his wife, the South African settlers who first brought the gospel to this part of Uasin Gishu. ...