The Birth of a Community for Jesus

It all started at the final class for Registered Membership at Nairobi Chapel in March 1995. During that class, the teachers, David Gatende and Ngari Kariithi, shared the Church Planting vision of Nairobi Chapel, as they were sharing opportunities for ministry there. David was then the Chairman of the Elders at Nairobi Chapel, while Ngari was Director for Adult Fellowship.

After the class, one of the applicants for membership, Dr. Howard Ostendorff, approached the two teachers and asked whether there was any thought for planting a Church in the Gigiri / Runda area of Nairobi. Having recently moved there, he had noticed that there were no churches serving these communities. No, there had not been a plan, but this is interesting was David's response, and he promised to bring this possibility to the attention of the Elders.

After much prayer and consultation, the Nairobi Chapel Elders gave the go-ahead in September of that same year (1995) and David and Ngari were asked to lead the process. Recruiting of members interested in being part of the Church plant began in October, and there was an introductory meeting of people interested in involvement in the Church plant on 24^th October. During this meeting it was agreed that we target launching the Church in January 1996 - only 2 months away - we would have to work fast!

After that it was all systems go as the Lord showed clearly that this was His work. The first Large Group meeting for planning took place on 5^th November at the home of Ron & Belinda Tyler with 24 people in attendance. As people shared their spiritual gifts, teams were formed that could take care of various parts of the Church ministry - we even had a full team (led by Jerry Jones) to take charge of Children's Ministry from day 1! Weekly prayer meetings were launched on 15^th November in the area, at the residence of Fraser & Dianne Edwards in Trio Estate which was easily accessible due to its proximity to the Village Market. Soon thereafter came another sign of the Lord's leading the way - the Nairobi Baptist Church, which had been considering planting a church in the area, chose instead to partner with us, and introduced us to the Muigai family, proprietors of Gigiri Kindergarten who were willing to host the new Church on their premises. We had a venue!

Meanwhile, the Leadership team for the Church plant was appointed, consisting of David Gatende, Ngari Kariithi, Dennis Tongoi, Andrew Mnjama, Rich Starcher, and Howard Ostendorff. The first meeting of this team took place on 21 November 1995. To ensure the work was done expeditiously, there was a division of labour with David as Chairman, Ngari as Secretary, Andrew to be responsible for finances, Dennis and Rich to plan for spiritual matters including the initial preaching calendar, and Howard Ostendorff to be responsible for facilities and logistics.

The last full team meeting took place on Dec. 17^th 1995 at Gigiri Kindergarten - our first meeting there. After congratulating Ngari and Rachel (she was still in hospital) on the birth of a baby boy, the meeting discussed and came to consensus on two most important issues-the Church Purpose - 'To be a worshipping community, helping one another to be obedient to God's word and to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ in a needy world'; and name - Karura Community Chapel. Linus Gitahi drove round the whole Karura area in Kiambu that same afternoon to make sure that the name did not clash and the next day fliers and posters were ready to get advertising of the plant going.

God hadn't stopped His miracles! As we considered how we would get chairs for use in Church (the Kindergarten chairs would be too small!) a donor came forward and offered to set up a tent and provide chairs for the Sunday Services free of charge - which he did faithfully for 2 years, rain or shine! Sadly, Mike Muraya passed away in 1999.

Our Launch Service was on Jan. 7^th 1996, at 10:00a.m. to 11:30a.m. at Gigiri Kindergarten. It was held under a single party tent and using the patio of the building as the stage. Pastor Oscar Muriu preached, and about 120 people turned up for that first service. Everyone had a name tag so that we could start to know one another. We wanted to be a community, and we used the name tags every Sunday for three months to help us get to know each other.

Some Milestones:

January 7 1996 - Launch of Karura Community Chapel

June 2 1996 - Charter Members received

November 24 1996 - 1st Church General Meeting

March 9 1997 - Election of Elders (end of Transitional Leadership)

April 26 1998 - Election of Pastor (during AGM)

July 7 1998 - Induction of Pastor Ngari

October 29 2000 - Adoption of Church Constitution

November 2001 - Church Vision decided "Every Life Transformed by Christ"

May 5 2002 - Relocated to our own venue in Closeburn Estate

Transitioning to the Present Venue

In October 2001, for the first time since the launch of the Church, we had very heavy rainfall during the service, and we knew God was saying it was time to move! For 5 years of meeting we had never had rain interrupt our services for the Lord had miraculously held back the rains so that our services, which were in ordinary party tents that could not withstand rain, always ran.

Not that we had not been thinking about a permanent venue - we had started looking for one almost as soon as the Church settled down after the launch. In 1998 we had even launched the Venue Fund so that we could start saving towards our move. We had come close to purchasing a plot inside Runda, but held back once we realised we would have opposition from the residents. In December 2001, the Venue Committee had narrowed down to 4 properties, of which the congregation showed a preference for our current location in Closeburn Estate.

As the 2002 began, there was no sign of the turbulence that was soon to come! In the months of January and February the Elders and Venue Committee continued to investigate and discuss the most preferred options. On Sunday February 24^th, the Elders and Venue Committee, at an informal meeting in the car park of Gigiri Kindergarten, decided to end the search and relocate to the property at Closeburn. And then the drama began! That same Friday (1^st March), our Chairman, David Gatende, received a call from the owners of the Kindergarten giving us notice to leave by 21^st April. We had 7 weeks to move, and we did not even have an agreement with anyone concerning the purchase of land or even a place to rent!

Here was a call for faith. It was clear God wanted us to move, and it was clear where He had opened the door. Did we have time to do this, or should we look at an interim solution first? We needed a Special General Meeting to authorise the purchase of land, and which required 2 weeks notice. We needed to finalise our negotiations with the family that was selling it to us. The land was sloping and would need significant work to prepare. We would need to put up facilities for the children, and a new tent for the Main Service. Was there time? Was there money? We had a total of Kshs.3 million in our Venue Fund and we needed Kshs.3.5 million to be able to occupy the land and more to develop it! Could this be done in time to move?

The Church decided to go for the whole move. We wanted to be where God wanted us to be. It would take faith, but we have a BIG God! We were granted an extension by our landlords so that we could move after the last Sunday of April, a precious extra week. Members came in to help with the administration of Church affairs, freeing staff to focus on the relocation. The late Sam Atiti took charge of landscaping while Benjamin Mukaisi was our representative on-site looking after the labour and machinery that was used. Pastor Ngari became a contractor (we thank God for his Civil Engineering training-it came in handy!) and the Fundraising Committee went into full gear. All this work was being done during April, after the General Meeting and negotiations, and April that year was wet!

Pastor Ngari remembers: "There was so much rain that the little river at the bottom of the property began to flood. It rose and rose until it started to wash against the soil embankment we had built up as a platform for the tent. Every day as I drove to the site in the morning after heavy rain the night before, I would pray that the Lord would allow that the embankment had held, at least enough of it for the tent to fit! I would have sleepless nights as I heard the rain fall."

God did it! Pastor Ngari again: "The Sunday we had our last service at the Kindergarten we had a special celebration service. Some of the members went to see the site before the service, and quietly they asked me if it was really possible we would make it! But by then I was sure we would. It would be tight, but the hand of the Lord had surely been with us and had enabled us to do some amazing things!" On Sunday 5^th May 2002 we held our first service at our present location, here in Closeburn Estate. There was the new tent, there were the mabati' (sheet metal) classrooms for the children, there were footpaths to stay out of the mud, the parking was ready. 2 months later we had container offices' for the staff and the Church had fully completed its move! Praise God!

The work was done so fast, that people using Limuru Road commented it had just sprung up from nowhere. And all of it done with fundraising and financing from within the congregation. What a wonderful Church we have, what an amazing God!

Below is the first preaching calendar for Karura Community Chapel:

First Preaching Calendar: Preaching will be directed towards building the believers, with careful language use, so as not to exclude others. The preaching schedule for the first three months is as follows.

Below is a list of the first Charter Members:

Charter Members: Received on 2^nd June 1996.

Below is a list of the first Elders Court:

First Elders elected 9^th March 1997

David Gatende ; Fraser Edwards; Steve Pillinger;

Andrew Mwikamba; Ngari Kariithi;

Nominated as Church officers and ex-officio Elders were:

Dennis Tongoi - Church Secretary

Rich Starcher - Church Treasurer