A TOUCH ON FAITH

“Do you have a Bible my sister?” No. I answered our group leader Mr. Samson*. I had attended a Bible study group one Thursday morning in one of the classes in Daystar Athi river campus. I gave him an innocent look that made him smile at me and sympathetically he handed me his to read a verse. ‘How could I forget to carry my Bible with me?’ A guilty feeling ran across me especially when I thought of my faith and my relationship with my Father in heaven.

Faith can be explained as an inner believe or to some it could be an attitude of the entire self, including both will and the entire self. The most evocative description of faith in the New Testament is found in Hebrews 11:1, where faith is heralded as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

 It’s just funny how as students, most of us cannot forget to carry our books to class but we often forget to carry our Bibles when attending church or any religious gathering. An incident with a friend, we were rushing to the dining hall one early morning as we were getting late for breakfast after which we were to head to Bible study groups. Halfway to the hall, she realized she had not carried her bible with her. My other colleague and I advised her to go back for it but she strongly disagreed. If it was a course book she had left or an assignment she had forgotten to carry, would she have gone back for it?

In Daystar University, particularly it being a Christian University with a difference, it strives to nurture scholars not only education wise but also spiritually. There are many forms in which the students practice their faith. A good example is chapel which is steered by the Daystar Christian Fellowship executives, a committee that is purely headed by Daystar students. As an institution, chapel attendance is advised for students to attend every Tuesdays so that they can praise, worship and hear the Gospel of the lord together. Various performances are also done like dramatization of important teachings in life and songs which are both done by students thus promoting their talents.

Students’ that are good at evangelism have trips they call Missions. Through them, they go out to preach and spread the gospel of the Lord to schools, the poor or even those people in remote areas that they hardly get access to anything, including their basic needs. After their preaching, they sit with them, interact and even give these people clothes and foods that can help them.

Some students question why annual missions always come in around Christmas. “I have always wanted to attend the annual missions but unfortunately for me, they are always set out to take place on the last week of Christmas, more like on the 17^th to 24^th of December. We live far and so this means that if I choose to go I will not make it for Christmas with my family.” Diana, a lady in Daystar tells me.

The Evangelism choir which also comprises of Daystar students is doing quite well. They have produced their own gospel songs and they actually compose and record them in the University with the aid of the studios and the electronic equipment’s available. They have also sold their songs and with the money, they visit different children’s homes and buy them food and sometimes take to them clothes donated by the Daystar community at large. Can you imagine how generous these students are?

Apart from the small groups that the University has organized, there is also Bible studies’ groups started by the students and are entirely managed by them. They meet in various classes and discuss different Bible verses on a weekly basis. You may remember how our Sunday school teachers used to do it in Sunday school when we were little that is if you ever attended one. Verses were written down on small papers, one was asked to memorize and then say them during mass time when all the big folks are there. This kind of made me not want to attend Sunday school at all. I was so shy when I was little.

Isaiah Moses, the Daystar University Chairperson, tells me of the great improvement he has noted in regards to the practice of faith among Daystar University students. “Students attending chapel even after signing has been scrapped off is a huge sign that, people know what God mandates. It’s a personal thing to question someone’s faith.” He adds. Moses ends his interview by citing a quote by Victor Hugo, “Faith is a necessity to man, woe to him who believes in nothing.” I tend to think that, students are much happier when they are not forced into the house of the Lord and are left to do it out of their own free will. They actually understand the dire need of having the Lord in their lives.

The above story of how Daystar students used to sign attendance in chapel reminds me of a friend. She keeps telling me that the practice of faith is individual and mostly lies within ones heart. That it’s not a must for one to attend chapel or to join any Christian organization for them to be known to have faith. “People have different ways of showing and expressing their faith, some do it silently by heart, while others simply prefer praying and singing out loudly.” 

Something interesting about Daystar students is that, even those living off school, some would call it off –campus, they have still managed to come up with a meeting point for fellowship. They have a common church area, Anglican Church of Kenya where they worship each Sunday and have prayer meetings every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6pm-7pm. To top it all, amongst the students they have elected leaders who teach the small children of either the lectures in school or those of the families living around the school, Sunday school. They inspire them with Bible verses and preach to them while sometimes they also tuition them education wise.

Some students have formed prayer meetings like Morning Glories and the Intercessory Team which they do meet on a daily basis either early in the morning or in the evenings on weekdays.

Mr. Ogallo, the Daystar Christian Fellowship chairperson, tells me that he is so happy when students actually wake up early in the morning to meet in one of the classes for prayers. “My heart is filled with joy when I witness the commitment that some of the students show to our Father from above. I am more than honored to have been chosen as a leader of such great and wonderful people.” He concludes.

By

                                                        Emmaculate Mwikali (09-1207)