Unchurched Children Receive Scriptures
“Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth” (BIBLE) the children of Kiarutara Academy shouted in unison severally as they were instructed by Mr Ngige the Deputy District Education Officer for Homa Bay. This is the acronym of what the Bible is all about according to Mr Ngige.
Early on the morning of 4th March 2006 Pastor Michael Nthiga an FCBH Representative and Mr. Thomas Tharao the Resource Mobilization Manager started their ninety-kilometer journey. Having undertaken many large-scale new reader portions (NRP) distribution activities this particular did not seem like it would be a memorable one but two hours later the situation was very different.
As the team drove into the compound they were met by excited young children. There was no doubt these children came from humble backgrounds, most of the villagers living around the school are either small-scale farmers or farm hands in the neighboring large corporate owned Tea Farms.
As the team got out of the car one of the teachers who had been expecting them began calling out all the students and teachers from the class rooms and in a few minutes a total of 147 pupils and 11 teachers gathered for the presentation ceremony.
In an unexpected illustration to encourage the children to attend Sunday school. Mr Ngige requested all the children that attend Sunday school to raise their hands. Only about half of the children raised their hands. In rural Kenya children are obedient to authority figures thus one can confidently conclude that the statistics demonstrated from this simple exercise were accurate. It was very sad to see that about half the children do not attend church despite there being a longtime and heavy presence of churches in the area. After this eye opening activity the Deputy DEO encouraged the children to read the books, as they would be useful in helping them in their Christian Religious Education studies and in improving their English language skills. He also urged them to attend Sunday school every week rather than idling at home.
After the speeches the books were distributed to the children and it was a joy to see them deeply engrossed as they read the life changing contents in the books. It was fulfilling to know that through the NRPs both the unchurched children and those from Christian backgrounds would be have an opportunity to interact with the word God and perhaps experience a positive and eternal change their lives.
After that very exciting the ceremony the BSK team were on the rough road again this time to St. Philips Academy Gatakaini a modest school run by the Anglican church in the area.
On arrival the Head teacher Miss Kamau welcomed the BSK team. In a few minutes the Rev. Daniel M. Githeru the parish priest for St Phillips Anglican Church on whose compound the school is built joined the group. In total there were 31 pupils and 5 teachers present. Unlike the school, which the team had previously visited, these children received good pastoral care from the church. However it was a joy to know that BSK was making an important contribution in their journey to acquire education and to know the Scriptures better.