Today our whole team headed out in a caravan for the city of Narok for the funeral service of Bishop John Kamau. Remember I said that they were planning for 1000 people to attend the funeral, well try 2800! It was unbelievable. The largest funeral in the history of the city of Narok and it was held on a farm 7 miles out of town in the middle of nowhere. They had set up 20 big tents in a semi-circle with 1000 chairs and enough room for another thousand to sit in the shade. The Chief of police showed up with a bunch of police officers to help park the hundreds of cars, vans and busses that showed up. She also got up and shared that she was “born again” and that she thought John Kamau was the finest pastor in town. About a dozen armed solders also showed up because the County governor was supposed to fly in in his helicopter.
John Kamau was a simple man. He was a tailor and then a carpenter and a Jack of all trades, but all through his life he was an evangelist who loved people with a passion. It wasn’t until 1995 that he was an ordained as a pastor and it was only 4 years ago that he was ordained as a bishop. But in his short years in church leadership he accomplished mind boggling things. Every speaker, and there were many, mentioned how he encouraged unity among the pastors and churches. How about this! The service went for 6 and 1/2 hours. More than 30 people spoke and twice that many wanted to. Our beloved Harun who is on our board and serves as our Worldcomp project manager was asked by the family to speak. He was nervous about that, but let me tell you when he got up an anointing came on him that I have rarely seen on anyone. This tribute to his dad was stunning. We all were deeply touched by his great respect and admiration for this wonderful man.
I won’t try to go into all the wonderful words that were said about this man, but there is no doubt this this humble man was one of the true heroes of the faith.
Valerie and I had only met John two times, but we knew all about him because his son Harun has been like a son to us for 10 years. We were the only white people in a crowd of 2800. Because of our relationship with Harun and because of Valerie’s “kindred spirit” connection with Lucy, we were asked to get up and share a few words. It was an honor for us to get up there and be the representatives of all the people from America who have known and loved John over the years. The scripture that I shared was “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it abides alone, but if it dies it will bear much fruit”. I had the crowd look around and encouraged them to understand that this enormous crowd was only part of the fruit that has come from this one life. Truly a lasting legacy!
Valerie shared about the fact that her and Lucy and our team prayed here at this very site two weeks ago. She shared an amazing story that we were all witnesses to. Two weeks ago we came to the property to pray over the site of the new “Maasai Girls Rescue Center”. We walked through the gate onto the land that is reserved for the rescue center to the very spot where John was going to be buried a week later. There on the ground was a hammer, totally out of place, just laying out in the field. Valerie immediate sensed it was a sign from God. Her and Lucy picked up the hammer and struck it on the ground a number of times and prayed for “breakthrough” in this place. Little did they know they were pounding on the very spot that John would be buried! The break-through? Let me tell you today was a breakthrough for the City of Narok and the surrounding region. There has never been an event that has brought church leaders, church congregations, various tribes and government officials together like this. Just as we were closing the service the County Governor flew down in his helicopter to do one thing, to hug Lucy and express his condolences. He stayed 15 minutes and took off again.
They took up an offering for Lucy to complete the half finished house that was there on the grounds and promised not to forsake her. She is a very dynamic preacher and pastor in her own right. One of the Bishops from Nairobi promised to raise one million Kenya Schillings by the middle of next month so Lucy could finish her house and get a new car to replace the one that was stolen. I hope he comes through!
Man what an experience! We have never seen anything like it.
Tomorrow we look for the place to stay for the next two months. We are hoping to rent a furnished house somewhere here in Nairobi as a base camp for the next two months. Please pray that something will turn up. I want thank all of you who pledged personal support for us for the next few months. As you know our personal support is separate from Worldcomp project money and the next few months will be a stretch. If any of you feel led to help, please send your contribution to Worldcomp Kenya, 7758 Earl Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117 (please include “Vicknair Mission Support” on the memo line).
It’s late so I need to lay down for a while.
All my love,
Richard