JOURNEY OF A PEACE WORKER

When Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces many seeds,” He was speaking of His own sacrifice. Yet throughout history, God has raised men and women whose lives echo this Gospel truth. Rose Barmasai was one of them. Twenty-six years after her tragic death at Chembulet trading center, along the Iten–Eldoret road, her story still stirs the conscience of the church. She died returning from Chemalingot, where she had spent the day mediating between the Pokot and Turkana, two communities locked in cycles of revenge, cattle raids, and generational trauma. Her life ended in the very work she had given herself to: reconciling God’s children. Born in 1957 in Turesia, Keiyo South, Rose grew up in a region where ethnic tensions, political manipulation, and cattle‑raiding violence shaped daily life. She trained as a theologian at a time when few women in the Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA) dared to pursue ministry. She...

  The Rift Valley of the 1990s and early 2000s was a landscape marked by fear. Ethnic tensions simmered beneath the surface. Political manipulation inflamed divisions. Cattle raids, revenge killings, and displacement were common. Many avoided these areas. But Rose Barmasai walked straight into them. As the Peace and Reconciliation Coordinator for the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), Rose became a familiar figure in conflict zones — from Tot in Marakwet to Chemolingot in Baringo, from Kainuk in Turkana to Chesegon in West Pokot. She travelled in dusty roads, crossed dangerous valleys, and sat with communities who had lost hope in dialogue. Her approach was simple but powerful: listen, respect, and insist on peace. In Tot in 1997, she faced one of her most challenging moments. Pokot and Marakwet elders had gathered, but the atmosphere was tense. Decades of mistrust hung in the air. Youth were preparing for retaliation. The meeting seemed doomed. Then Rose stood up. She s...

In the late 20th century, when the Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA) was still firmly rooted in patriarchal tradition, a young woman from Turesia in Keiyo South dared to step into a space reserved for men. Her name was Rose Barmasai, and she would become the first woman theologian in her denomination — a pathfinder whose courage opened doors for generations of women after her. Rose’s journey into ministry was not smooth. She entered theological training at a time when many believed women belonged in the pews, not the pulpit. Her calling was questioned. Her ambitions were dismissed. Her voice was often ignored. Yet she persisted, driven by a deep conviction that God calls both sons and daughters to serve. As the Women’s Coordinator of RCEA, she became a fierce advocate for the ordination of women. She argued not from rebellion, but from Scripture, pointing to Deborah, Mary Magdalene, Priscilla, and the Samaritan woman who became the first evangelist. She challenged the church to se...