from Kenya in East Africa

First, a little background. Joseph has been active in Christian ministry since his conversion in the mid 70s. He was ordained in 1978 and devoted his life to witnessing the good news of salvation to his fellow Kenyans. Having come in contact with one minister in the United States, he invited him to come to Kenya. As it turned out, this Christian minister was also a Sabbath keeper and was used by God to open Joseph’s eyes to this new truth. Then in 1991, after study and prayer, Joseph made a commitment to begin celebrating the Sabbath as his day of worship.

This change alone was cause enough for him to be kicked out of his denomination. Many friends also left him and his business suffered financially. But he and his family survived and gradually a congregation meeting on the Sabbath began to form. Now he pastors a church of 80 in his home city of Nakuru which is about 100 miles northwest of the capital city of Nairobi. He also oversees about a half dozen congregations in other parts of Kenya.

In the many years since adopting the seventh-day Sabbath, he has observed a steady flow of Sunday-keeping evangelists from America coming to Kenya to assist their brethren. He asked God why he didn’t see Sabbatarian Christian ministers coming to Kenya. With the crying need of missionary help for this spiritually and materially impoverished nation, Joseph was saddened by the fact Sabbatarians were staying away. He asked God to challenge his brethren in the USA to come to Kenya to help. He felt moved to bring the challenge personally to our shores and visit as many churches as his money and energy would allow.

His two-fold mission for this visit:

1) To meet fellow Sabbatarian ministers and invite them to come to Kenya bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom to those in darkness—including the truth of the Sabbath, and to encourage the brethren.

2) To establish lasting friendship and fellowship with fellow brethren and ministers in the United States and establish bonds of mutual prayer.

He is also hopeful to receive support toward the purchase of a newer used van for the work of the churches and for evangelism to outlying villages. The average Kenyan does not have indoor plumbing, much less a car or a television set. With a van and a video projector he could reach thousands throughout Kenya with the Gospel of Christ.

Joseph and his wife Esther have four children ages 9 through 16. The Kimani family last saw their father in May when he left on this mission. He plans to return to Kenya in October.

If you have the opportunity to hear the story of how God called, trained and is now using Joseph Kimani, you will come away both humbled and inspired. Discovering how our great heavenly Father is tenderly ministering to our brethren in far away Kenya will gain you a perspective you won’t ever want to lose.

--Kenneth Westby

September, 2000

Letters and donations may be mailed to Pastor Kimani at this address in the USA:

Pastor Joseph Kimani
c/o Association for Christian Development
PO Box 4748
Federal Way, WA 98063

(Checks may be made out to "Pastor Joseph Kimani." These will be deposited in his Bank of America account directly accessible to him in Kenya. Letters will be forwarded to him in Kenya)