A SUNDAY SERVICE AT OLTALET OGUL.

Sunday service at Cornerstone Victory Church, Oltalet Ogul, with Pastor Simon Kishanto

There is one thing every student who goes through DPTC learns and comes to appreciate. That is the visit to a church under the shepherding of one of the students. Several activities happen on the day of visit, one of them being the Maasai dancing which seems to have a divine unction so that everyone in the service seems to want to learn the art. It is a beautiful thing.

Well, on May 21st 2016, the whole class of 2016 with Paul and Steve headed to Simon Sonkoi Kishanto’s. The church he pastors is called Cornerstone Victory Church, Oltalet Ogul. The name Oltalet Ogul means “Strong Tower.” The church is about 35km from the campus.

While the students were planing for the Sundays in their school weeks, the lot fell for Simon on this date. We all with one accord and one mission headed there to see what the LORD of the harvest is doing through this young man.

Simon is overseeing eleven congregations in the Maasai land, four of which he personally planted. All of these congregations once worshiped under trees before they could raise a building. In Oltalet Ogul, he has an assistant pastor, whom he described as a man of faith and a faithful servant of the LORD.

This particular congregation was started in 2013, with only three members. Today the church has 103 members, children included. They worshiped under a small tree outside the now small building made of iron sheets from the roof to the walls. “Our people are a pastoralist community. So they go and come. But I have one encouragement, that when they go, they will come back” said pastor Kishanto describing this congregation.

The members live quite a distance from the church, with the nearest, one family, living about 500 meters from the church. The rest come from as far as 5 Kilometers, walking to church every Sunday morning. Because of this, the service begins around ten to eleven in the morning.

During the service, Margaret Kuria took us through the Bible study, speaking on the love of God from John 3:16. She discussed with us how this love travels far and wide turning a sinner here and another one there into saints and heirs with Christ. How love dwells not on the loss of what it gives but dwells on the value it adds on the one to whom it gives.

The church is located in a place where most people will only understand Maasai language, therefore we had to use some translators so that both the members of the church and we, could be ministered to.

There was beautiful singing by the children. We, who do not understand the Maasai language had to take it by faith they were praising God, and could only but praise together in our hearts that God’s love and mercies has come to these beloved and transformed them.

Boniface Kiama shared the word of God from John five, demonstrating to us how the word of God can transform an apparently permanent situation around. After the preaching we prayed with the pastor and the members of the church before eating lots of meat.

Later as is the custom of the class we held an open market preaching about five Kilometers from the church, on the way back. It is amazing to see the Maasai people gathered to listen to the word of God in their very small town, made of about three small buildings, one of them a shop.

“The land where you see this church, is a town…” said Kishanto during the worship service. About everyone from DPTC smiled, knowing there was nothing around the church. “I know you cant see the shops and a road and buildings. But we see them by faith.” He explained. “This area here was given out by our elders so that there may be a town. Pray with us and believe with us that soon the piece of land meant for this church maybe marked so we may plan things well. Today you did not see a toilet here, but it is our prayer that the next time you come you will see greater things. We need the surveyor to come and mark the area for our church so we can put up some better and bigger church, a latrine so the children will have their classes here. Pray with us over these things” urged pastor Kishanto.