The Flag of Kenya
Part 2 of The Patriot Series
By Pastor George Nuthu
July 15th 2012
Heritage is any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors, a hereditary succession to a title or an office or property. So what is our heritage as Kenyans? Today we want to recount what inheritance we have as Kenyans and what God would like us to do with it.
Our inheritance comes from God who passed it down to our ancestors, who passed it on to us and in turn we are to pass it to the future generations. As Kenyans we have inherited three great things from God which He desires to take care and keep passing on to the next generation until Christ returns.
The scriptures below demonstrate how and why God created us. To get a clearer picture and better understanding let us read them and insert the word KENYAN(S) for man, them or you and KENYA for earth:-
Genesis 1: 26-31
Then God said, “Let us make KENYANS in our image, after our likeness. And let KENYANS have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over KENYA and over every creeping thing that creeps on KENYA.” So God created KENYANS in his own image, in the image of God he created KENYANS; KENYAN male and female he created them. And God blessed KENYANS. And God said to KENYANS, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill KENYA and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on KENYA.” And God said, “Behold, I have given KENYANS every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all KENYA, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of KENYA and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on KENYA, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Psalms 8:3-8(ESV)
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is A KENYAN that you are mindful of him, and the son of KENYANS that you care for him? Yet you have made KENYANS a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned KENYANS with glory and honor. You have given KENYANS dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under KENYANS‘ feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
Do you get the picture, God created you and I for a purpose; to have dominion over all His creation. What does it mean to have dominion over God’s creation? I believe it means that we become good stewards of God’s creation and to use it for the glory of God. Thus, as stewards of God’s creation and creatures we are to be:-
Faithful 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV)
“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
Luke 16:10-12(ESV) – “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”
Honor God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Guard what He has entrusted to us. (1 Timothy 6:20)
“Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge.”
Thus as stewards we are urged to be FAITHFUL with whatever, big or small, God has entrusted to us as Kenyans, to HONOR Him with the gifts and giftings He has made us His care-takers of and to GUARD the things and people He has deposited with us as a nation.
I believe to take dominion as faithful stewards we need to take care of the following three things; God expects us to appreciate them and be great stewards of them:
Our natural resources; Genesis 1; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalms 24:1-2
We acknowledge God to be our Creator in our National Anthem when we start by saying, “O God Of All Creation”. Kenya and Kenyans were created for God, by God and for His glory. Some of the outstanding features that God created in Kenya are:-
- The Aberdares – Mountain ranges give way to deep valleys with rivers cascading over waterfalls where game includes the colobus monkey and abundant bird life.
- The Amboseli – One of the best wildlife-viewing experiences in the world with spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro. It is also home to the Maasai people.
- The Great Rift Valley – A continuous geographic trough that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in East Africa and includes some of the highest mountains in Africa and some of the deepest lakes in the world. The Great Rift Valley is the world’s largest rift zone the length of the circumference of a more equal one-sixth of the Earth, so it was likened to the earth’s surface a large scar. It covers a total area of nearly 5 million square kilometers!
- The Maasai Mara – The northern continuation of the Serengeti Plains and part of the annual migration of zebra and Wildebeest sometimes referred to as the Great Migration. Between May to October each year, is the largest animal migration season in East Africa, Tanzania, Serengeti had scattered the animals, with the advent of the dry season in June and July, we went to neighboring Kenya was removed, to August and September to reach Maasai Mara, again in November when the rainy season, when they return to Serengeti. This spectacular parade of animals, have been carried out on the savannah in East Africa tens of thousands of years, while the main team is more than 1.6 million Wildebeest, 50 zebra and 350,000 Gazelle.
- Mount Kenya – The second highest mountain in Africa and was once designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kenya are:-
- Fort Jesus in Mombasa that was built between 1593-1596 as guard port of the old Mombasa town. Lake Turkana National Par0k which is a place of study for its fauna and flora. Lake Turkana is Africa’s largest saline. Lake systems of the Great Rift Valley. There 3 lakes here namely, Lake Bogoria, Lake Nakuru and Lake, that are known for their divorce population of birds. Lamu Old Town. Lamu is the oldest Swahili settlement and it has been built in coral stone and mangrove timber.
Over the centuries God has put and or led people to created features in our beautiful nation as gifts for us. He is the Creator of all the natural resources of Kenya and they are His. We need to take care of the natural resources God has entrusted to us and care for the environment we live in. Generally, Kenyans are careless with our environment and lack interest in knowing and seeing the natural resources God has blessed Kenya with.
How many of us have ever visited the Nairobi National Park? Did you know that Nairobi is the only city in the world with a national park?
We need to enjoy God’s beauty by visiting some of our national parks and do game drives. We need not sleep in the 5-star hotels or lodges, but contact KWS who have very affordable rates and packages to see the numerous parks throughout Kenya.
Are we sensitive to recognize the beautiful creation as we travel upcountry or places? Do we worship God in the marvelous creation and creatures within Kenya? Do we take care of our environment? Have planted trees? Do we throw our garbage carelessly?
God is calling each of us to be sensitive to our surroundings and environment because we are stewards of His creation and creatures. We need to be faithful and guard what He has placed in our care so that He can be glorified and our future generation can continue to enjoy God’s creation.
As patriotic Kenyans who will take dominion we must good stewards of the natural resources we have inherited from God and our ancestors.
Our Peace and Unity as a Nation
I believe that God has “crowned us with His glory and honor” by the diversity of our culture, language, traditions and giftings. God has blessed us a nation with over 40 tribes and various other dialects and crowned us with His glory and honor and desires us to take dominion of the creation He has set us over. It is God who created us to be whatever tribe you and I are.
Before God there is neither a Kikuyu nor a Kalejin, neither a Luo nor a Luyha , neither a Pokomo nor a Pokot,neither Meru nor Mijikenda, neither Borana nor Baluhya, neither Giriyama nor Gabra, neither Kuria nor Kamba, neither Somali nor Samburu, neither Tugen nor Turkana ; we are all equal in God’s eyes and have equal access into His presence through Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is nothing wrong in belonging to a certain race, tribe or nation. We should celebrate our diverse languages, cultures, norms and traditions. God is the one who divided us to speak differently and follow different cultures and practices. God intends that we celebrate out different languages and culture by accepting each other despite our differences, accommodating our different approaches to life’s issues and assimilate our differences and get the best of them.
Kenyans are said to be hospitable and humble. Throughout our history God has blessed us with gifts and talents that have made some of us and raised us to become world renown. To name but, just a few:-
- Kenyan middle and long distance runners from the Rift Valley.
We dominate in the 1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon races. In most of the Western city marathons Kenyans win! There was a town in Holland that refused to register Kenyans because they knew we had the best chance to win it and desired someone else to win. - The late Wangari Mathai
The winner of the Nobel Peace prize in 2004 for her outstanding work in saving the forests. - The late Joseph Stephen Kimani Nganga Murage
When the Kenyan Government in 2004 introduced free Primary education in Kenya, the then 84 years old Joseph Stephen Kimani Nganga Murage, inspired by the desire to read the bible, went to enroll at Kapkenduiywa Primary school in Eldoret District. Kimani is the oldest man in the world to start primary school and seen as an ambassador of the importance of education. A film was made about him. . - Fadhili William
The composer and singer of “Malaika”, a love song that was written and sang in the 60s. It has been sang over the years by about 10 singers including groups like Boney M, Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte etc. - Barrack Obama
The first black US president is half Kenyan! Of all the tribes in the world God destined Obama to have LUO father from Kogelo, but do I say!
These are just, but a few of the outstanding Kenyans God has raised in our midst. They are many other Kenyans that God has raised that are world renown in the academic, medical, business, religious and many other fields. This should make us be proud to be Kenyans!
Satan’s plan is to “cause discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:19) because he knows God hates this and also sees it as an abomination. Our neighboring country, Somalia is a testimony of this. It could be the only country in the world that has over 90% of its people speaking the same language, having the same culture and religion, yet the most divided nation in the world. In fact it is a fallen state, yet most of the people are same.
Rwanda just has two main tribes, the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis. These two ethic groups are similar; they speak the same language, stay amongst each other and share the same traditions. Yet in 1994 we witnessed the worst genocide ever seen in Africa where citizens murdered each other! For 100 days over an estimated 800,000 Rwandese were murdered. And those murdered were mainly Tutsis and moderate Hutus. .
God saved Kenya from such a blood-bath in 2008! We escaped the genocide that would have reduced our nation to an unimaginable state. Yet, over 100 Kenyans died and over 300,000 Kenyans became refugees in their own motherland as IDPs. 4 years later there are some who are still homeless and living in camps.
Jesus told us to be peacemakers so that we could be called the sons of God (Mat 5:9). As patriotic Kenyans who will take dominion we must good stewards of the peace and unity we have inherited from God and our ancestors. We need to guard this peace and unity so that we can pass it on to the future generations.
Our Faith
Above and beyond the natural resources on the Kenyan landscape and talents and giftings of Kenyans, God has established the church in Kenya. Some of the earliest Westerners who “discovered” Kenya were missionaries! God sent man and women Kenya to establish His Kingdom. These are some of the unsung heroes and heroines that we hardly talk about, but have been a part and parcel of the growth and development of this country.
We acknowledge God as “Our Creator” in our National Anthem. This country was established by God and He sent people from Europe in the 1800s to bring the gospel to us.
The greatest stewardship God has given us is His Kingdom. As His people God wants to establish, enforce and expand His Kingdom through the church, which is you and I, in Kenya. Mathews 28:16-20 states: “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus declared, “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT!”
We are a Christian nation and Kenya was created to have His Kingdom established so that in eternity Kenyans would be the various tribe and languages and people bowing before the Lamb of God and worshipping Him in their various tribal languages as stated in Revelations.
Therefore, to take dominion of God’s most precious creation, mankind we must preach the good news to them.
As patriotic Kenyans who will take dominion we must good stewards of the faith in Christ we have inherited from God and our ancestors.
God created Kenyans and the land of Kenya which He entrusted to us to take dominion. To be true patriots of Kenya we must take dominion by being good stewards who are FAITHFUL with our natural resources, HONOR Him with the peace and unity He has made as His peacemakers and to GUARD our faith in Christ which He has deposited with us as a nation.
GOD BLESS KENYA!
