Missionary Work in Kenya: An Evaluation of the Spread of Christianity in West Pokot County

Abstract

The Church’s missionary endeavour derives its motivation from the “Great Commission” of Jesus Christ to all his followers to go out and proclaim the Gospel to the whole world (Mark 16:15). The Gospel message is that the Kingdom (reign) of God is within reach for every person who accepts to live in accordance with the insights taught and exemplified by Jesus Christ in his ministry, death and resurrection. The new life in the Kingdom of God comes through faith and repentance on the part of the believer, and forgiving on the part of God. This paper evaluates the spread of Christianity in West Pokot County, which is the foundation of missionary work in Kenya. The paper discusses the general concept of the Christian mission; explains some of the strategies the Christian missionaries used to evangelise the African people and finally examines the strategies the sampled denominations (ACK, AIC, ACCK, FGCK, AGC and ELCK) used to evangelize the Pokot people. This study adopted a descriptive design and used purposive sampling to select the respondents (clergy). Guided by the structural functionalism theory by David Merton of 1910, we descriptively analyze qualitative data which was collected using questionnaires and oral interviews. The study established that the Pokot community is a spiritual power oriented society that believes in the existence of three gods:  Tororut (Sky god), Asis (Sun god) and Ilat (the lightening god) of the above (Yim) and spiritual powers. The Pokot people believe also that all human beings exist under the authority of spiritual powers.

Keywords: Church, Missionary society, History, Christianity, Spirituality, West Pokot