Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Kijabe: The only Kenyan town with no bars

Kijabe is the only town in Kenya where you cannot purchase cigarettes or take alcohol.

Even with its population of 5,000 it has no bar and nobody is allowed to smoke. Kijabe remains the utmost centre of Christian faith - a citadel of purity!

Again, Kijabe might be the only town in Kenya whose economy has always centered around mission work and where any investor in the small town has to sign an agreement with the Mission that they would not sell alcohol or open entertainment joints.

It all has to do with the history of this town on the hill. The rise of Kijabe is credited to American missionary Charles Hulburt whose vision was to extend African Inland Mission (AIM) to “all directions” from Kijabe after he moved his headquarters there from Kangundo.

But initially, Hulburt was not interested in Kijabe and wanted to have his mission along the shores of Lake Naivasha. Here, Hulburt in 1903 had marked the land he wanted for his mission work but since it was a late afternoon the colonial administrator could not sign the lease. He was asked to come the next day. But unbeknown to him, Lord Delamere was also in Naivasha looking for land. That evening, after a couple of beers, the colonial administrator told Lord Delamere about the missionaries’ interests. Delamere thought that the land was so prime “cannot be wasted on missionaries.” The colonial administrator agreed and when Hulburt arrived next day, Lord Delamere had the lease of what is today Delamere’s Sosysambu Farm!

Hulburt was asked to take up a sport in Kijabe where at 7,200ft it was the malaria free, was cool and near the railway. But there were wild animals. Many of them!

The first task of Hulburt was to build a hospital. Hulburt was a friend of US President, Theodore Roosevelt, and he named the new hospital in Kijabe Theodora Hospital in Roosevelt’s honour. It was Hulburt who invited Theodore to Kenya in 1909 and he laid the foundation of the nearby Rift Valley Academy which was built for children of the missionaries. Theodore had left White House in March and on August 4, 1909 he laid that stone that is in the Kiambogo building of the Academy. Kiambogo is the original name of Kijabe and means the hill of Cape buffaloes that roamed the area. Until today, the beast remains the school’s mascot.

In his book African Game Trails, Roosevelt talked glowingly of Kijabe’s American Industrial Mission (as he called it). “Industrial teaching must go hand in hand with moral teaching…Kijabe will be an indispensable factor in the slow uplifting of the (locals).”

The growth of Kijabe, to become one of the largest mission stations in Africa, took a good turn when Indian shopkeepers followed the missionaries and set up dukas near the railway station. Kijabe was known. Letters to the missionaries were only written “Kijabe via Mombasa” and a local named Karanja Kago used to pick them from the railway station. Karanja’s wedding to Njeri wa Kiai was captured in the 1917 issue of Inland Africa since Njeri was one of the first students at Kijabe Girls.

One missionary, John Stauffacher was surprised that Kijabe was such a peaceful place. “There are none of the dangers I dreamt about…the people here are perfectly safe have none of those peculiar customs you hear about.” Another missionary who followed Hulburt was Elwood Davis and his wife Bernice Conger, a nurse who had graduated from Hahnemann College of Medicine in Philadelphia. The two missionaries had sailed to Africa under the banner of Africa Inland Mission and arrived in Kijabe in 1920 to work at the Theodora Hospital. Davis had a reputation as a skilled surgeon and made the hospital famous.

But in their early days, the missionaries found themselves at loggerheads with the Kikuyu Central Association supporters who opposed the rise of the mission stations and warning locals not to associate with it. After the initial warnings, the church attendance in 1920s is said to have dropped from 700 to 30 while the number of girls in Kijabe Girls School dropped from 300 to 80. The bone of contention then at Kijabe was whether female circumcision should be allowed. On the night of January 2, 1930, Miss Hulda Stumpf, the principal of Kijabe Girls’ was killed. As Bernice wrote in one of her memoirs, the KCA was telling them that soon “the mission will have to baptize baboons as their will be no more natives to baptize.”

But the couple continued drawing more adherents, planting lots of trees in the mission compound and keeping dairy cows.

Elwood is now known to have approached William Moffat, the sponsor of Moffat Bible Institute in Philadelphia, to start one in Kijabe. And that is how the modern-day Moffat Bible College in Kijabe opened doors on 11 February 1929. Soon, there was a printing press in 1950s solely for publishing Christian literature and later the Bibilia Husema Studios started by missionaries Bob and Lillian Davis, whose parents had worked there in the initial stages. Kijabe has continued to expand living to its purity. Still it has no bar after 110 years of its foundation.

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Do you need Personal Loan?
Business Cash Loan?
Unsecured Loan
Fast and Simple Loan?
Quick Application Process?
Approvals within 24-72 Hours?
No Hidden Fees Loan?
Funding in less than 1 Week?
Get unsecured working capital?
Contact Us At :majidvijahlending@gmail.com

LOAN SERVICES AVAILABLE INCLUDE:
================================
*Commercial Loans.
*Personal Loans.
*Business Loans.
*Investments Loans.
*Development Loans.
*Acquisition Loans .
*Construction loans.
*Business Loans And many More:

LOAN APPLICATION FORM:
=================
Full Name:................
Loan Amount Needed:.
Purpose of loan:.......
Loan Duration:..
Gender:.............
Marital status:....
Location:..........
Home Address:..
City:............
Country:......
Phone:..........
Mobile / Cell:....
Occupation:......
Monthly Income:....

Contact Us At :majidvijahlending@gmail.com

hotel in kenya Jacaranda said...

The article which you have published is definitely worth a read, and the points mentioned can be agreed upon. Kenya is definitely the best spot when it comes to availing the best services which a hotel should offer. One should research and know about the best hotel in Kenya and their prices, before making any decision on holiday packages.

hotel in kenya Jacaranda said...

The article which you have published is definitely worth a read, and the points mentioned can be agreed upon. Kenya is definitely the best spot when it comes to availing the best services which a hotel should offer. One should research and know about the best hotel in Kenya and their prices, before making any decision on holiday packages.

Margaret Gachihi said...

Does the church really know how much "bootlegging" goes on around the Kijabe mission?

Mwanzia Kyule said...

There are bars in Kijabe. You just need to open your eyes and nose

Dr. Kenneth Ombongi said...

Historically Kijabe was a Christian Missionary Enclave created by the AFRICAN Inland Church Missionaries to escape from Malaria at the Coast.

Pat machayo said...

history indeed.

Pat machayo said...

history indeed.

Pat machayo said...

history indeed.

Pat machayo said...

history indeed.

Pat machayo said...

history indeed.

Madonaldo said...

I am Alecia used every single spell worker on the internet, spent untold amounts of money and discovered they are all fakes…i was the fool though; doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In the end, I decided that I wanted a tarot reading to know what my future held for me; I contacted a woman who lives locally to me and she told me about a man named (Dr Abalaka); he does not advertise on the internet, has another job for income, has no set prices, makes no false promises and refuses to help anyone that cannot be helped and even helps for free sometimes, he will give you proof before taking money. He is a wonderful man and he was the only person who actually gave me real results. I really hope he doesn’t mind me advertising his contact on the internet but I’m sure any help/ extra work will benefit him.contact him as dr.abalaka@outlook.com He travel sometimes.love marriage,finance, job promotion ,gambling voodoo,lottery Voodoo,poker voodoo,golf Voodoo,Law & Court case Spells,money voodoo,weigh loss voodoo,any sicknesses voodoo,Trouble in marriage,it’s all he does Hope this helps everyone that is in a desperate situation as I once was; I know how it feels to hold onto something and never have a chance to move on because of the false promises and then to feel trapped in wanting something
more. his cell phone number 5182932141 !

Anonymous said...

I will love to visit Kijabe

JoelsBlog

Abdul Muqse said...

Do you need Personal Loan?
Business Cash Loan?
Unsecured Loan
Fast and Simple Loan?
Quick Application Process?
Approvals within 8-10 Hours?
Funding in less than 1 day?
Get unsecured working capital?
Contact Us At: standardonlineinvestment@gmail.com

LOAN SERVICES AVAILABLE INCLUDE:
================================
*Commercial Loans.
*Personal Loans.
*Business Loans.
*Investments Loans.
*Development Loans.
*Acquisition Loans .
*Construction loans.
*Credit Card Clearance Loan
*Debt Consolidation Loan
*Business Loans And many More:

LOAN APPLICATION FORM:
=================
Full Name:................
Loan Amount Needed:.
Purpose of loan:.......
Loan Duration:..
Gender:.............
Marital status:....
Location:..........
Home Address:..
City:............
Country:......
Phone:..........
Mobile / Cell:....
Occupation:......
Monthly Income:....Contact Us At: standardonlineinvestment@gmail.com
Thanks and look forward to your prompt reply.
Regards,
Muqse

Standard Online Finance said...

Are you a business man or woman? Do you need funds to start up your own business? Do you need loan to settle your debt or pay off your bills or start a nice business? Do you need funds to finance your project? We Offers guaranteed loan services of any amount and to any part of the world for (Individuals, Companies, Realtor and Corporate Bodies) at our superb interest rate of 3%. For application and more information send replies to the following E-mail address: standardonlineinvestment@gmail.com
Thanks and look forward to your prompt reply.
Regards,
Muqse

Unknown said...


Do you need Personal Loan?
Business Cash Loan?
Unsecured Loan
Fast and Simple Loan?
Quick Application Process?
Approvals within 24-72 Hours?
No Hidden Fees Loan?
Funding in less than 1 Week?
Get unsecured working capital?
Contact Us At :oceancashcapital@gmail.com
Phone number :+16474864724 (Whatsapp Only)

LOAN SERVICES AVAILABLE INCLUDE:
================================
*Commercial Loans.
*Personal Loans.
*Business Loans.
*Investments Loans.
*Development Loans.
*Acquisition Loans .
*Construction loans.
*Credit Card Clearance Loan
*Debt Consolidation Loan
*Business Loans And many More:

LOAN APPLICATION FORM:
=================
Full Name:................
Loan Amount Needed:.
Purpose of loan:.......
Loan Duration:..
Gender:.............
Marital status:....
Location:..........
Home Address:..
City:............
Country:......
Phone:..........
Mobile / Cell:....
Occupation:......
Monthly Income:....

Contact Us At oceancashcapital@gmail.com
Phone number :+16474864724 (Whatsapp Only)

Confessions.co.ke said...

Wow. This is a great article. Why did you stop posting.

Abdullah said...

DO YOU NEED A LOAN?
We give out loans with an affordable interest rate of 3%
Captain One provide Excellent and Professional Financial Services and we are known and genuine money lenders across the globe
Our services include the following:
*Student Loans
Truck Loan
Personal Loan
Debt consolidation loan
Car Loans
Business Loan
Student Loan
Mortgage Loan
Refinancing Loan
Home Loan
Improvement loan
Construction Loan
Please write back if interested with our interest rate:Kindly contact us via:abdullahonlinefinance@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I would like to visit Kijabe. I perceive it's a great town of it's kind in Kenya.

Datafincorp said...

Do you need a genuine Loan to settle your bills and startup
business? contact us now with your details to get a good
Loan at a low rate of 3% per Annual email us:
Do you need Personal Finance?
Business Cash Finance?
Unsecured Finance
Fast and Simple Finance?
Quick Application Process?
Finance. Services Rendered include,
*Debt Consolidation Finance
*Business Finance Services
*Personal Finance services Help
Please write back if interested with our interest rate datanfincorpfinance@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

H-acki-ng Tools with Tutorials & Complete Guides
Tools & Tutorials Guides for S-pamming/P-ishing
C-arding Methods for Cash out & Transfers
M-ailer/S-enders
S-MTP's/RDP's/C-Panels
F***d B***e 2021/2022
B.T.C Cracker/Flasher
C-ombos/Logs
Office-365/PayPal Logins

Providing Legit Tools, Fullz & Tutorials
You will get stuff instantly
Legit & Verified stuff by professional Hac-kers/Spa-mmers

Many other stuff will be given on demand
Just hit me up guys

T.G @leadsupplier
I.c.q 752822040

Invalid stuff will be replace
Contact 24/7
Will glad to serve

I.c.q/TG @killhacks
Skype/Wickr . peeterhacks

SSN DOB DL Fullz
High Credit Score Fullz
CC Fullz with SSN info
Business EIN Fullz
Dum-ps with Pin Codes
Employment Leads/Pros/Fullz

F-ullz are fresh Spammed & Genuine
Discount for B-ulk order-s