Senator was a church man who taught us ‘Don’t let go!’

Our enduring hope as members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church was that Gerald Otieno Kajwang’ would one Sabbath morning show up at the Nairobi Central SDA Church, which we attended on and off then.

After he joined active politics in the 1990s, his participation in church activities lessened as he got deeply involved in the murky political waters.

Nairobi Central SDA Church, where we first met Kajwang’ in the early 1990s, is one of Kenya’s most famous Adventist congregations. We were teenagers then, either in high school or waiting to join university.

He was a Sabbath school superintendent. His role involved hosting the most interactive half of a three-to-four-hour worship service.

He was animated, passionate and very effective in providing commentaries necessary to set a high tempo for the worship. He also served as a deacon and sang bass in the deacon’s choir.

As a discussion facilitator, he possessed incredible oratory ability, yet he was simple, and his class was always packed, much to the chagrin of coordinators, who preferred small groups.

He had all the right cues to trigger debate. Everyone would be fully tuned in, desperately trying to present their perspective during the limited discussion time.

Profiles of the regular class members ranged from students to successful professionals. In practice, however, all that did not matter.

Kajwang’ always levelled the playing field. Everyone’s opinion was accommodated.

As a member of the Church Schools Ministries Programme, he frequented schools such as Pangani, Lenana and Limuru Girls, with a popular Elder known as Brother Adams.

One of our sisters, who was then a student at Limuru Girls, would regale us with stories about Kajwang’.

When he visited the school, even the non-Adventist students would throng the chapel to hear him preach, without being invited.

'DON'T LET GO'

One of his sermons was titled “Don’t Let Go”.  As a student at Makerere University then, the transport system to Makerere wasn’t the best.

Sometimes, they had to get a ride in lorries ferrying sand, and one day he was in that situation. He was shown a rope hanging from the lorry, and told, “Young man, this is going to be a bumpy ride. Cling on to that rope, and whatever you do, don’t let go. If you do, you will fall.”

Throughout the journey, he repeated those words, especially when he got tired: “Don’t let go, don’t let go!”

He concluded his lesson by saying that the Christian journey would not be easy and we must remember to cling on to the one who has called us.

“Even when you get tired and you can’t hold on any more, don’t let go, don’t let go!”

Mr Gori is a Nairobi-based corporate communications expert, while Dr Obonyo is an associate professor, Rinker Holland Professor and Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellow at the University of Florida.