Word Count: 1203
Mama Mwaniki woke up a little bit late that day with a hang down from the flu she had contracted last week from the dust in her granary. She had tried to put off the alarm on her phone that was on her bedside table for the third time now to no success. She started her morning prayer but sleep wouldn’t let her. She murmured for short while before she drifted off again.
Finally she gets out of bed as she examines the scar on her hand that was left by the iron sheet at her granary as she was cleaning it. She had been at this tedious work for two months, trying to get the place in order. She had even missed most of her Women Group Church meetings just to make up for the days she had less sales. On several occasions, she opted to go to the neighboring town for the market day on Fridays thus ended up missing out on the services and even her ‘chama’.
Just like Mama Mwaniki, most of us have been at the very verge of giving up their Christianity mainly because of the price that comes with accepting Christ. Christianity isn’t a case of accepting Christ and having your name written on that book of life, rather it requires one to be like a worker bee working for the queen. The difference in this Christianity-scenario is that the ‘worker bee’ isn’t a slave working to serve the ‘queen bee’ and when they grow old, get kicked out of the ‘hive’; but rather where the worker bees, are more of the heirs of the goodness of this kingdom.
However, a Christian needs to work out on their salvation to make sure that they grow. Salvation is renewed every day by the acceptance of the fact that one has sinned and daily repentance. Daily bible reading and prayer are the delicacies expected on a Christian’s diet. In fact, one Mahalia Jackson, an African-American gospel singer says, faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them.
I get taken aback so many times by the Christians of this age. The bible seems to have become a manual that trains people to be witty, cunning individuals that learn the mastery of language and persuasive skills to get people thinking that “giving” is the only ticket that can buy one a blessing and put them right with God.
Take your mind back with me to that time you boarded that matatu and a guy with feigned humility oozing out of him stood up and started breathing ‘life’ into the stuffy and crowded matatu – loud, annoying individuals that are bent at preaching for all the wrong reasons. They do not even give their audience a moment to give their life to Christ but instead give them all the time to dig deeper in their pockets to help “bless the ministry”. How many people really do read the Bible?
In quest for answers to this and many disturbing questions, I look at the life of students in Daystar University. The institution is a Christian Organization whose foundations are based on the Bible and Christian teachings. Nonetheless, this doesn’t make all its students believers by the mere fact of its nature and what its faith statement spells out.
Faith without action is dead! For the Christians around the school, as I have noted, they are involved in groups that help them share in their faiths, come together to praise and worship God, a factor that makes them grow.
Njeri is in her COM 322 Persuasion class when her phone vibrates. She is tempted to look at the caller but she can’t lest she gets thrown out of class by the lecturer. She had just texted her vice-chair about the concert that they were to hold the coming week in the University’s auditorium and was eagerly waiting for the response. Being the chairlady of Sing Africa, she had to see to it that they had everything they needed for the Hope Concert - to collect food stuffs, clothes as well as funds for the Muthwani Community in Machakos.
Sing Africa is a music group that was formed in 1996 by Timothy Kaberia and a group of other students with a mission to spread hope all over Kenya and Africa at large through singing. To fulfill this, it has been to various countries in Africa. With close to 70 members, auditions are being held every semester, and thus they have been able to remain an active and influential group whose presence and contributions are felt all over the institution. They have several cell groups formed to boost their spirituality and their knowledge of the word.
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| Sing Africa members pose for a photo after a mission to Machakos |
As Sherwood Eddy an author, administrator and educator puts it, faith isn’t something to grasp, it is a state to grow into. So has been the case with most students who have been active in this cause of strengthening their faith and being true to their calling.
It’s very challenging and encouraging as a matter of fact, to hear how students go out of their way to put a smile on people’s faces. I’m reminded of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. From providing food to the hungry, giving clothes to the less-privileged around the surrounding community and providing pressure lamps to the areas where electricity hasn’t reached; I start to see clearly why I had deteriorated in faith myself.
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| Members of Sing Africa in communal work in the University's environs. |
Another such group is ADCU. Rev. Mary Kinoti’s ambition to start the Aids and Drugs control Unit (ADCU) was a plus. The group has seen several students undergo training, engage in talk debates and outreach missions to several high schools in Athi River. Recently, they held a walk recently around Daystar University Athi River Campus with a live band sensitizing the students and surrounding community about the need to abstain from sexual malpractices as well as drugs and substance abuse.
This week students have been reminded on abstinence and observing chastity all over campus by the I Choose Life Group (ICL) that have had several VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing centers) tents on and off-campus where student are getting tested as well as advised on ways of living free from HIV/AIDS. Most students have undergone training in the study of AIDS and spiritual nourishment. Several students have finished training and have been awarded with certificates.
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| I Choose Life Logo - the Group is radically growing all over the country. |
Alongside Sing Africa, other several groups such as FOCUS have had students practicing their faith through the various activities they engage in. it’s a body that has several representatives from different Universities in the country who fellowship together through regular meetings and visits to other institutions.
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy; so goes the old adage. Being a student calls for more than stack of books to read and attending lectures. Extra-curricular activities help one to be all-rounded and equipped with key skills in life. The beauty here is when students get to, in addition of the above, being well-found with spiritual nourishment.
Let’s keep the vision up and alive, just as in the words of Mason Cooley, an American aphorist and professor, “vision looks upward and become faith”.
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