‘Fanning the Flame’: A story about a man’s long life in the church

Title:  Fan to Flame

Publisher: Moran Publishers

Year: 2016

Reviewers: Kimani Njogu and Ng’ang’a Mbugua

Unto us in the world of books, a new child has been born, a biography of a man of the cloth whose face, for many years, was the face of the leadership of the Presbyterian church in Kenya.

Fan to Flame, the autobiography of Rev Dr John Gachango Gatu rolled of the press this week and is set to be launched in Nairobi on Thursday, adding to the growing body of life writings by public figures whose personal stories are closely intertwined with those of the country.

Rev Gatu’s story is a reminder that though the church and state remain independent of each other, they have confluence because they seek the just governance of men.

Indeed, Rev Gatu, who began his career as a soldier in the World War II, fighting ‘for God and country,’ he ended up as one of the leading soldiers of Christ, rising to head what is now the Presbyterian Church of East Africa.

Indeed, as the book reveals, when he was serving as the first African deputy general secretary to understudy an expatriate, he strived to make the church self-supporting and self-reliant. Later, this commitment was to evolve into the church’s philosophy of Jitegemea (self reliance). 

Rev Gatu, born in 1925, is viewed by many in East Africa as an ecumenist, motivational speaker, theologian, preacher, counsellor, author and poet. His autobiography, published this month by Moran Publishers, is a follow-up to his 2006 books, Joyfully Christian and  Truly African, and  a collection of Gikuyu poetry, He Gatu Nguhe Kanua (Listen to Me, I Tell You All).

In this rich narrative interspersed with anecdotes and flashbacks, Rev Gatu takes readers through the duality of his heritage. He uses the narrative voice to share glimpses into Kikuyu culture and how it influenced his practice of the Christian faith.

Fan to Flame is also about his life in the military. In 1941, a young John Gatu joined World War II in the communication and logistics department. Although a non-combatant, he had to carry a rifle. Unfortunately for him, he lost his weapon in Ethiopia after enjoying one too many. For his sin of commission, he was sentenced to 60 days detention with hard labour in a military jail in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia. On the train en route to prison, and in a fit of extreme anger, he lifted an Ethiopian and threw him off the moving train. He apologised to the Ethiopians two decades later during a Christian mission in Addis Ababa.

While still serving in the army, in June 1946, Gatu attended the Victory Parade in London and held a meeting with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta there. Later, the two developed a “chequered but nonetheless cordial relationship” in their personal and official interactions. 

The autobiography is also about Gatu’s search for purpose; first within the military and later in media, in management and, finally, in the Christian ministry.

It is evident from the book that the youthful Gatu had both a political and rebellious streak. Although he worked in the church, he often joined political meetings at night. Like all demobilised servicemen, the discourse of national liberation was in him. He did not need persuasion to fight for his country and readily took the Mau Mau oath and dedicated himself to the freedom struggle. Later, he became an oath administrator, an unusual position given his Christian background.

When the history of the Presbyterian Church in Kenya is eventually written, the contribution of Gatu will be germane to it. 

One of the book’s highlights is his narration of the ‘Njoya Episode’ of 1987. Rev Timothy Njoya had delivered a ‘provocative’ sermon that had been highly critical of President Daniel arap Moi’s administration not long after the sacking of Mr Charles Njonjo, who was then labelled a traitor. Soon after the sermon, the appointments committee of the church transferred the Rev Njoya from St Andrews in Nairobi to Nyeri. 

Although in his book Rev Gatu says he was unaware of the decision, Rev Njoya concluded that the transfer could not have been effected without the prelate’s blessings. This effectively split the church down the middle, amid claims that Rev Gatu may have engineered the transfer so that his son, Kibacia, who had gone into self-exile in Zimbabwe during the Mwakenya crackdown, would be allowed back into the country.  One feels the pain in the narrative in this episode but it ends on a happy note after the two men of God reconciled and became fast friends over time.

Fan to Flame has multiple threads. It is story of the colonial experience in Kenya and the birth of a nation.