Kenyans devise creative outlets
for audio cassette ministry

NAIROBI, Kenya — In Kenya the Scripture cassettes of Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) can be heard playing in some innovative and unusual locations. They include supermarkets, police stations and the range of vehicles - including mini-vans, pick-up trucks etc and known collectively as ‘matatus’ or ‘informal transport’ – which supplement Nairobi’s overcrowded public buses.

Gathered around a cassette player, these young students and their teacher prepare to enjoy their weekly session of listening to God’s Word. Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: Bible Society of Kenya/Sospeter Gatobu (KEN02DJ-1)

These are in addition to the regular listening groups held in churches, schools, hospitals and prisons and to the readings broadcast by radio stations.

The Bible Society of Kenya continues to gather the words of appreciation of the groups held in local churches.

“This program has really blessed our church,” said a participant in sessions at an Africa Inland Church, in Rift Valley Province. “It has given us an opportunity to go through the entire New Testament and to clean some of the specks in our understanding of the Bible.

“Although we do not have a regular teacher,” he added, “we have no problem understanding the Word because the tapes are in our language, Kalenjin. Therefore we are able to discuss among ourselves very well.”

Davis Ojiambo, of Grace Revival Church in Nairobi, thought that “God must have inspired the packaging of these tapes!”

Revived

“Since we started listening through the audio cassettes,” he explained, “we are being revived every day. The believers who do not know how to read and those that are visually impaired can now listen to God's Word.

Moreover, the non-believers are getting very interested because we invite them to listen to the Word of God and encourage them to ask questions.”

The leader of a Maranatha Church in Nairobi reported that the size of the group had doubled in number from 20 to 40.

Eager

“They are eager to learn and they participate actively in the listening sessions,” he said. “They are also very inquisitive – they say that they ask questions so that they can understand the Scriptures better.”

This meant the group had finished listening to a relatively small part of the Bible but it has to be said that they didn’t seem to mind.