This article attempts to reconstruct an early history of the Norwegian Pentecostal Mission’s (NPM) work in Kenya. The Free Pentecostal Church (FPC), known as the Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya (FPFK) until April 2018, was born out of a 1984 merger between the Swedish Free Mission and the NPM. The Norwegians came earlier in 1955, whereas their Scandinavian counterparts arrived in 1960. The article contests that during the period under review, the first 29 years of NPM’s presence in Kenya, the NPM was characterised by a fast-growing enthusiasm in establishing mission stations and local churches through evangelism and social work activities in education, medical care, orphanages, midwifery and compassionate handouts of commodities to villagers. These would be overtaken by the efforts to merge Swedish and Norwegian interests and establishments into one denomination in 1976 and the move towards nationalising the FPFK by handing over church leadership to the Kenyans by 1997. The article contests that the zeal and successes of the missionaries and local church workers in sowing the seeds of the gospel were checked by cultural and socio-economic setbacks in Kenya’s colonial context as well as the nationalisation process. The increased presence of Norwegian missionaries in Kenya during the 1960s were largely motivated by, among other factors, the channelling of Norwegian government aid monies to foreign development regions through missionary agencies and the imminent independence of the East African state.
The Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya (FPFK) is a local church registered in Kenya since 1977 (FPFK
The two missionary agencies were already in Kenya by the late 1950s, not long before the country had its independence in 1964.
Notable works have been written on the FPFK denomination (Joshua
During its AGM held in March 2015, a fierce contestation emerged between Scandinavian missionary representatives and local FPFK national board members over an ambitious expansion of FPFK’s Kindaruma Guest House in Nairobi into an FPFK Premier Hotel with an estimated cost of about KES 400 million. Missionaries argued that FPFK had lost focus of evangelism and that it is now intending to spend more money in expanding its business interests. On the contrary, local church leadership argued that the organisation needs to invest to support evangelism now as there is no more support coming from Scandinavia. Local leadership had their way as missionary representatives vowed not to commit any of their funding to such engagements.
In this article, I shall argue that nationalisation of Nordic Pentecostal missionary establishments in Kenya, particularly the NPM, was a key turning point with far-reaching implications for the survival of the local churches. Driven by the decision of Nordic governments to channel development aid through missionary agencies as a response to ‘UN Development Decade’ as well as the agenda of national independence in Kenya, the nationalisation process has come to bear an identity crisis for the FPFK as heavily funded social projects coexist alongside stagnated church congregations. The contestation over the strategic focus for the church with regard to ‘soul winning’ versus ‘social well-being’ has led to further alienation of the local church from its mother bodies in Scandinavia.
It is important that I outline watershed years for the FPC as a background to the period under review. The earliest Norwegian Pentecostal missionary arrived in Kenya in 1955 (Arne
Although the early history of mainline missionary Christianity in Kenya has attracted an overwhelming interest from scholars, considering works such as
During the 1930s, mainline missionaries, most notably the Presbyterian John Arthur, opposed female circumcision. As a result, freedom fighters, such as Jomo Kenyatta, supported the creation of indigenous churches some of which were distinctively Pentecostal such as African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (Joshua
After the national independence in 1963, Pentecostalism in Kenya grew rapidly. In 1967, an American Pentecostal preacher, Dale Brown, founded the Kenya Assemblies of God (KAG), which a survey in the early 1990s credited as Nairobi’s fastest growing denomination with an annual growth rate of 38% (Maxwell
The survey also found that approximately seven in 10 Protestants in Kenya are either Pentecostal or Charismatic, and about one-third of Kenyan Catholics surveyed can be classified as Charismatic.
The relation between the Pentecostals and the Kenyan government has largely been shaped by ethnicity and the changing government regimes. During the colonial state period, Nordic and American missionaries were more trusting of the less interfering British rule in their advancement of the gospel. However, they did not enjoy such privileges as the Anglican Church of the Province of Kenya (ACK) did by then. During the early 1960s, missionaries feared that the imminent independence of Kenya would end their evangelism activities and appropriate them.
Lounela rightly noted that ‘the Europeans and Americans had fresh in their memory what had happened in China at the end of the 1940s, when the Communists seized power and prohibited all missionary work’ (Lounela
There was an amicable relationship between churches and the first independent government regime under President Jomo Kenyatta. Mainline churches, such as the Presbyterian and the Anglican, were largely headed by Kikuyu bishops, the same ethnic tribe as the president. In fact, the archbishop of Anglican Church was Kenyatta’s brother-in-law (Fretson 2001:147). However, when Kenyatta died in 1978 and Daniel Arap Moi, who is from the Kalenjin tribe, took over, the relations changed drastically. Mainline churches under the umbrella of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) mounted opposition to Moi on account of his one party politics. Key critical clerics here were Anglican bishops David Gitari, John Henry Okullu and Alexander Muge, along with the Presbyterian leader Timothy Njoya. In contrast, the EFK, whose membership comprised predominantly Pentecostal denominations, including the FPFK, and Kalenjin in ethnicity, openly supported Moi (Joshua & Kapinde
The reign of President Mwai Kibaki came with the national constitution amendment where Pentecostals joined the ‘Kenyan Church’ in campaigning for a ‘No Vote’ on account of the inclusion of Muslim
The development of the FPFK in this rather ragged Kenyan context marks out certain unique features for the FPFK. Firstly, FPFK is one among the few mainstream Pentecostal Churches in Kenya that were founded by Western missionaries. This is a feature it closely shares with the FGCK, KAG and the PAG. Secondly, the FPFK is largely a rural or upcountry-based church as opposed to urban. This is largely a heritage from Scandinavian mission stations that were established among rural agrarian communities and have remained as such. As a matter of fact, farming was the business model of the founding missionaries and therefore conveniently the church has grown in semi-urban areas almost completely avoiding the large cities. Concerted efforts in the recent past to establish branches in urban areas have failed miserably.
Comparison of Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya with early Pentecostal Churches in Kenya.
Sr. no. | Name of denomination | Missionary society | Country of origin | Year of entry into Kenya | Bible college | Name of missionary |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya | Norwegian Pentecostal Mission and Swedish Free Mission | Norway and Sweden | 1955 | Karen Bible College | Arvid and Gunborg Bustgård Gustav and Maria Struble |
2 | Pentecostal Assemblies of God | Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada | Canada | 1918 | Nyang’ori Bible College | |
3 | Full Gospel Churches of Kenya | Finish Free Foreign Mission | Finland | 1949 | Koru Bible College | Emil Danielsson, Alma and Eava Raatikainen, Paavo and Vieno Kusmin |
4 | Kenya Assemblies of God | American Assemblies of God | The United States | 1967 | Dale Brown |
The way in which Nordic missionary agencies related to mission field and pioneering churches back home was also unique as compared to the rest of Europe and North America. The SFM, NPM and FFFM did not have the responsibility of sending missionaries or even supporting their work at mission field in any way. They simply coordinated the missionary activities and let the mothering church congregations raise funds and send missionaries with specific objectives.
The early missionary activities of the NPM in Kenya are associated with a missionary couple by the name Arvid and Gunborg Bustgård who came from the Norwegian town of Fredrikstad where Arvid Bustgård owned and ran a bicycle shop.
Because there was no registered Norwegian mission in Kenya at the time, Arvid and Gunborg Bustgaad came in as visitors with the Finish Free Foreign Mission (FFFM) hosted by Kusminen. They stayed with them for about a month. It was common for missionaries from different mission agencies to assist each other in this way.
Interestingly, Kusminen had been similarly assisted by PAOC missionaries who had established themselves in Nyang’ori, Western Kenya, in 1918 (Nyabwari & Kagema
Their church was locally registered in 1965 as PAG.
While Bustgård was staying with the Finish missionary, he was informed that there was a lady who had a farm called Thessalia, which she had bought from a Greek farmer. Thessalia is a Greek name transliterated as Thessalonica in the English Bible. Bustgård met the lady and negotiated to buy the land at a cost of Kshs 30 000. The size of the land was 118 acres (Joshua
The lady was Mrs Janssen, an American widow, whose husband was a missionary sent by the Lutheran mission. She had run the mission station, Thessalia, for 2 years together with her husband Mr Janssen. At the time she met Bustgård she was already widowed. Her husband died in 1954. She felt unable to run the mission alone and had been praying for someone to come and take over the place and the work.
Thessalia mission centre, as it is called today under the ownership of FPFK, is situated at the border between the land of the Luo and the Kipsigis tribe. Mrs Janssen saw the Bustgård couple as God sent and she sold Thessalia to them in 1955.
Missionary Bustgård immediately started evangelical work and built a church made of mud and grass. He registered as a missionary of the NPM in 1956.
Although Bustgård registered his work as the NPM in Kenya, he received very little support from Norway at the beginning. To be able to raise funds for construction and mission work, he resorted to business enterprises.
It was not easy for Bustgård to raise local evangelists and workers in the new mission. He brought several evangelists from the FFFM to assist him in missionary work. Firstly, he brought Mr and Mrs Albert Oriare Kitaga.
The first missionaries to join Bustgård from Norway were nurses. Olaug Stenersby came to Thessalia in 1957 and Kari Enger arrived in 1960. They started a dispensary where they could assist the pregnant women and provide medical services to the community in Muhoroni. The next missionaries who came were Åse and Bjarne Lind. They arrived with their five boys in August 1963. In 1964, Inger and Gudbrand Sandvold came to help in the development of Thessalia. Missionaries Egil and Gudrun Gjervoldstad together with their three children arrived in 1965; they were also placed at Thessalia. Miriam Johansen who came the same year was also situated at Thessalia. She assisted Bustgård with bookkeeping. Sister Miriam had a special interest in helping suffering children and she later established the home for orphans in Thessalia.
The health work needed more nurses, and in 1969 the nurse Åse Høydahl arrived to serve in the Thessalia dispensary. In 1970, nurse and midwife Nora Tjervaag joined to assist as well. As the maternity ward needed personnel on a 24-h basis, more midwives were needed, and in 1971 nurse and midwife Norun Sjøli arrived for the maternity unit. In 1976, Laila Tjore and May Kristine Aamli, both trained in nursing and midwifery, arrived in Thessalia to work within the health sector.
As the number of Norwegian children increased, there was a need for a Norwegian school and a teacher. The mission board in Norway advertised a schoolteacher position and eventually sent Astrid and Arne Tveter in 1966. Astrid started school for the Norwegian kids in a small office at the church building within the Thessalia mission centre.
In 1973, a new school building for Norwegian missionary kids was built at Thessalia. This came as a much needed relief to Mrs Astrid Tveter who until then had run the school in the veranda at her home at Nyambare Hill. Now a nice new building with adequate premises was available for the pupils and a boarding facility was also constructed. This was aided by a change in the education policy in Norway where the government could approve schools abroad and grant funds for their running. Alf and Astrid Somdal were the new teachers entrusted with the task of running the new school. The first boarding parents were Trygve and Karin Korneliussen. This was really a milestone for the Norwegian mission in Kenya and even Norwegian children of parents working with the Norwegian Official Development Aid, NORAD, joined the school. In the same year, Inger and Øyvind Johansen became new teachers at the school. In 1978, Torunn and Ragnar Bakken took over as teachers in the Norwegian school after Inger and Øyvind Johansen, while Inger and Torolf Karlsen had the responsibility for the Norwegian boarding.
In 1979, Gunnveig and Ernst Knudsen with their two children took on as missionaries with duties within an evangelical ministry and later on this was combined with the task of being boarding parents for the Norwegian missionary kids. In 1980, Liv Toril Rinding took over after Bakkens as the responsible teacher at the Norwegian school.
Kristine Sjøli who had come to Tanzania as a NPMs missionary in 1958 moved to Thessalia together with the Swedish missionary Karin Larsson. These two were dedicated to distribute Bibles and Christian literature. They used to go to the market place to sell Christian literature and slowly they engaged faithful Christians who assisted them in selling Bibles in the different local languages out in the district. This method of evangelism was neither new to the African church nor to the missionary. Gosnell Yorke in a journal article entitled ‘Bible translation in Anglophone Africa and her diaspora: A postcolonialist agenda’ rightly argued that the entire translation and distribution of Bible in local African languages, as spearheaded by the United Bible Society (Yorke
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Hence, the translation and distribution of Christian materials, including the Bible itself, were, to a large extent, ideologically driven. In a similar line of thinking, Kinyua (
Norwegian missionary work on Christian literature was more concerned with the provision of access rather than actual translation on account of language barrier. By and large, the agenda of the coloniser became interwoven into the Christian Gospel message through the written medium and the social gospel. A good case in point was the work of caring for destitute children, orphans and handicapped children. Miriam Johansen had a special call for helping the suffering children. In 1982, a new building was established at Thessalia for the specific purpose of caring for children in need. Berit Sjursen was to be engaged in this work too.
During the late 1960s, the Norwegian missionary work expanded exponentially. The Thessalia mission station’s work that had started in 1955 expanded to a great extent. Every year hundreds of people were baptised.
Between January and June 1966, a total of 700 people were baptised. On one occasion, 178 persons were baptised at the Thessalia mission.
Among them was the sub-chief of Kiptere, an indicator that time for outward expansion had come. Following Charismatic preaching of Albert Oriare in 1963, Michael Onyango, the present Bishop of Likoni in Mombasa, was converted and was immediately absorbed into the ministry starting as a Sunday schoolteacher at the Thessalia mission.
This growth necessitated deeper and a more organised ministry training for African ministers. It also called for more workmanship. As a result, a Bible school was started to train NPM African ministers. The courses were short and focussed on simple ministerial skills such as evangelism, pneumatology, preaching, pastoral ministry, church administration and Bible interpretation (exegesis and hermeneutics).
Kiptere was the second NPM mission station after Thessalia that came up in 1956. Following the conversion of a chief, the Chepsirian Church was established through the preaching of William Chan and Lukas Chege. In 1958, the Kaitui branch was set up under the leadership of Joshua Kiplangat. The Cheramor branch was started in 1962, Chepsoo in 1966 and Koibono in 1971. By 1984, Kiptere area had many new churches, including Mbogo Valley, Iraa, Sosiot and Kaitui.
Under the leadership of missionary Bjorn Lind, the Kiptere mission station was built in 1970. In 1978, Åse and Bjorn Lind had returned to Kenya after some years in Norway. They stayed at Nyambare Hill until when they took on the task of setting up the buildings for a polytechnic school at Kiptere in 1982.
Norwegian Pentecostal Mission work in Nyambare started with a small church at a place called Hawinga in 1963. Anglican and Roman Catholic churches already had a presence in the region when a young preacher, John Ochola, preached and converted Chief Habbakuk Obwanda together with his many wives on 22 December 1962.
It was not until 1965 when a group of missionaries led by Bjarne Lind agreed to go westward to Usonga in Siaya district and explore what this native preacher, John Paul Ochola, was doing. On 15 August 1965, Bjarne Lind and some others went to Usonga to have a look at the plot that had been offered for mission work.
The Nyambare Church grew fast during the late 1960s. The first children to be dedicated in Nyambare were Florence Lorna Opiyo and George Onyango, whereas the first wedding to be solemnised was that of George Ohanga and Claris Obiero on 18 September 1967.
During the years 1970–1971, several missionaries were welcomed to Kenya. The families of Tveter and Gjervoldstad had moved to Nyambare Hill to take care of the missionary work there, while Åse and Bjarne Lind went to Norway on a vacation. New missionaries to Thessalia were now Trygve and Karin Korneliussen with their three children and Gunnar and Hanne Østrem with their five boys. Hanne and Gunnar came from Tanzania where they had stayed for 1 year. In 1973, Liv Toril and Arne Rinding came for missionary ministry and were placed at Nyambare Hill to fill the vacancy after Hanne and Gunnar Østrem. The same year Ruth Skoglund arrived, and she was also placed at Nyambare Hill to serve in the evangelical ministry. The nurse Jorunn Fagerheim also arrived in Kenya in 1974 to assist in the dispensary at Nyambare Hill. However, in 1975, missionary Arne Rinding suddenly took taken ill and died after a short illness. Oddrun and Ola Emil Sprakehaug with their children arrived in August 1975 to take over after Rinding at Nyambare Hill.
In 1973, there was an expansion within the health department too. Norwegian Official Development Aid had opened up to grant more development aid funds through Christian mission organisations, which facilitated the expansion of the maternity buildings at Thessalia and the appointment of more health personnel. In 1974, three more midwives arrived in Thessalia to work in the maternity ward. These three were Åse Dagsvik, Solveig Granseth and Aud Seterøy. Arthur and Elly Nyborg Pettersen were the first Norwegian missionaries to take up work in Nairobi. They found it to be cumbersome to reach out to the underprivileged people with the gospel like those staying in the Mathare Valley slum.
Zacharia Asiyo and Benson Bwala started a church at Lwala in 1965.
In 1973, Nyborg Pettersen founded a congregation in Eastleigh, a suburb on the eastern side of Nairobi city. In the same year, Signe and Frank Ove Haukeland with their children came to assist in the ministry in Eastleigh. In 1974, a new church building was set up. The church building was inaugurated in 1975.
Meanwhile, a Bible school at Karen, a southern suburb of Nairobi, was being constructed. It was officially opened in 1976.
Chronological development of Norwegian Pentecostal Mission missionary establishments in Kenya.
Year of establishment | Name of the church | African pastor or evangelist | Norwegian missionary |
---|---|---|---|
1955 | Thessalia | Mr and Mrs Albert Oriare Kitaga |
Arvid and Gunborg Bustgård |
1956 | Chepsirian and Kipkuror (Kipteere mission) | Joshua Arap Kiplangat William Chan and Lukas Choge | Bjarne Lind |
1958 | Muhoroni-Kisumu | Joel Osoro, Albert Oriare | |
1963 | Usonga, Hawinga-Nyambare mission | John Paul Ochola | Bjarne Lind, Tora Brynhildsen, Oddrun Nordås, Liv Toril and Arne Rinding, Hanne and Gunnar Østrem |
1965 | Kiobonyo-Nyamokenye and Nyamira mission centre (1986) | Hezron Oyaro, Paul Nyangau, Nyagenge | Sprouke, Trygve Korneliussen |
1965 | Lwala – Oyugis mission (1984) | Zacharia Asiyo, Benson | Karen Larson and Christina Sijole Franck Auckland |
1965 | Segere | John Oloo | |
1966 | Kitale – Sio Port | Busembewilliamofwetesimeonmzee, bukomavincentokuro, mudembi Joseph Ogesa, Masiro Katienostephen Hono | Svyein Nysterom |
1972 | Nyalenya | Simon Mzee | |
1972 | Opando | Gordon Ooko | |
1973 | Eastleigh (Nairobi) | Nyborg Pettersen | |
1985 | Tuigoin | Gabriel Ouma |
In 1982, the Norwegian mission organisations together became receivers of funds collected through a TV programme called ‘Action Hope’. These funds were spent as the mission’s share when projects from NORAD were applied for. This led to considerable social activity. Numerous schools were built, many of them in Kisii in addition to the Kiptere Polytechnic. At Ober Kamoth, a health centre was set up. Birger and Anne Grete Hovden had arrived in 1981, and Birger an experienced engineer was responsible for completing the Ober Kamoth construction work.
Ola-Emil and Oddrun Sprakehaug came for their second period in August 1981. They took over the responsibility for the evangelistic ministry in Kisii after Trygve Korneliussen who together with his wife Karin went to Norway for furlough in spring 1981. In 1982, Inger and Øyvind Johansen returned back to the Norwegian school to take over the responsibility after Liv Toril Rinding departed as principal. Jorunn and Bjarne Sivertsen were appointed as boarding parents. In 1983, Margrethe and Svein Nystrøm came to Kenya for their first period. They were placed at Nyambare Hill.
In the year 1981, 545 faithful were baptised at Thessalia and 900 at Nyambare Hill.
I find that documenting a rather recent history such as that of the NPM is challenging because most of the resource persons are still very emotionally attached to the experiences and memories either as former missionaries themselves, children of the missionaries or part of the African clerics who worked with the missionaries. Perspectives as to how NPM negotiated through controversies and challenges are interwoven with the concern by many interviewees to provide ‘a good story to be told to future generations’
During a Focus Group Discussion with a group of retired evangelists and pastors who worked with the NPM missionaries, it became apparent that the African clerics worked under certain difficult restrictions. They recalled that ‘missionaries never allowed black ministers to enter their houses and they did not teach the people to give for the mission work’. Congregations were discouraged from giving any alms or money to the African pastors and evangelists because the missionary claimed that they were fully sponsored and paid. In what they described as ‘spiritual colonialism’, the clerics observed that they ‘were not allowed to stay at homes, go for a leave or own any business enterprise’.
I also found that there were other factors, apart from spiritual, that motivated the increase of NPM missionaries to Kenya during the late 1960s and 1970s.
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The missionaries feared that the time of evangelism would soon be over in Kenya too. Therefore, the urgency of the Norwegian missionaries to build schools, hospitals and orphanages was only an immediate means to the greater end, to spread the full gospel ‘while it was day’ (Nyabwari & Kagema
The author thanks the Free Pentecostal Church in Kenya and its partners in Scandinavia for assisting immensely in the data acquisition process.
The author declares that they have no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
S.M.J. is the sole author of this article.
The rights of all informants were well considered and documented through signed informed consent forms.
This research was partly funded by the Free Pentecostal Church in Kenya.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.
For example, see John Kitur, FPFK celebrates its golden jubilee, the FPFK General Secretary’s speech on 28 October 2005 at Thessalia Mission Centre, Report by FPFK General Secretary.
Liv Torrild was resourceful in accounting for Norwegian history, whereas Maud Anderson put together Swedish memories as the two ladies were already based in Scandinavia at the time of this research. These two ladies have served as missionaries in Kenya for quite a long time and were extremely resourceful. The author interviewed them several times.
FPFK, Minutes of the Annual General Minutes of the Free Pentecostal Fellowship held in Karen Bible School on 26 May 1984.
Rev. Peter Odak, Interview by Rev. David Musumba, digital recording, at FPFK headquarters, Nairobi, 29 October 2014.
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Rev. Walter Anthhoga, the FPFK General Secretary, digital recording, interview by author at FPFK headquarters in Nairobi on 14 December 2015.
Maud Anderson, interview by Stephen Muoki, digital recording, at FPFK headquarters in Nairobi on 07 December 2014.
Liv Torrild, online correspondence with author, email and attachments, 13 February 2015.
Rev. Paul Ocholla, digital recording, interview by David Musumba at FPFK Head Office in Nairobi on 13 November 2014.
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Focus Group Discussion, digital recording, involving 18 African retired clerics of the Norwegian Department of FPFK, held at FPFK-Kindaruma Guesthouse in Nairobi on 12 and 13 November 2014.
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Rev. Francis Nyagenke, digital recording, interview by author at the FPFK Head Office on 14 November 2014.
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Bishop Michael Onyango, digital recording, interview by author at FPFK Head Office on 12 November 2014.
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Rev. Timothy Nyakundi, digital recording, interview by author at FPFK Head Office on 12 November 2014.
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Rev. Joel Bii, digital recording, interview by author at FPFK Head Office on 12 November 2014.
Rev. Gabriel Ouma, digital recording, interview by author at FPFK Head Office on 12 November 2014.
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Mr Francis Wambwaya, digital recording, interview by author at FPFK Head Office on 12 November 2014.
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Pastor John Oloo and Mary Onyango, digital recording, interview by author at FPFK Head Office on 12 November 2014.
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Focus Group Discussion held with 20 NPM church leaders at Kindaruma Guest House in Nairobi on 14 November 2014.
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Mr Wambwaya, digital recording, interview by author at FPFK Head Office on 12 November 2014.
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Norwegian Pentecostal Mission in Kenya, AGM minutes of a meeting held in Thessalia Mission Centre on 12 April 1982.
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Rev. John Osoro, digital recording, interview by author at Kindaruma Quest House in Nairobi on 14 November 2014.