12 January 2025
- Author:gospel
- Category:Sermons
This picture was taken during the 2024 visit to Kenya. This monument may have been mentioned before in some of our online resources but this is another opportunity to write about the same – with a few more details.
1.0 Introduction
This structure dating back to 1939 is one of the oldest landmarks in Nairobi. One of the things that will not escape an observer at close range is the names various towns across Kenya and Africa and the distances to each of them given in miles. Including distances to Kisumu, Kampala, Cape Town, Khartoum, Cairo and so on.
There is big sphere on top of the cubical structure that apparently represents the globe of the earth. There are also other details that will feature in the rest of this post. For those interested in reading.
2.0 The Elders in White
Quite visibly on the photo are seven (7) elders dressed in white. They are the Council of Jeep of from this very institution based in Heartfield, Harare, Zimbabwe together with the Council in Nairobi, the Evangelical Council or Council of Peter they oversee this organization worldwide – where there is a branch of the Church it will be affiliated to Dare reJeep or Dare rePetros – where “re” is the preposition “of” that associates with the proper noun or name.
Dare is Shona for Council or Court – in Kiswahili the word is Baraza. It is a forum where issues are deliberated and decisions made. Dares including the two were and are very pivotal in Baba Johane's system of Church Administration or Management.
For all those who were asking for Church history, there was a time there were churches (branches) in Southern Rhodesia and beyond. In Southern Rhodesia (or Zimbabwe) there was no overall coordinating organ. Bulawayo alone had its form of Administration it has retained to date. For the rest of the home country, Baba Johane saw the need to create the council of Jacob to provide oversight - since in this Church there are no popes, bishops, arch-bishops and other forms of overseers. Oversight is done by the Dare.
This Dare was named after Jacob because the apostle Jacob (later anglicized as James) stayed in Jerusalem. They also had to go round the country visiting Churches to ensure standards among other things. For this purpose, they acquired a vehicle that could handle the terrain. That is where the nickname Jeep came from. For the Bantu who like a vowels at the end of every word, it was modified as Jipi or Dare reJipi. Their headquarters is in Hearfield, Harare.
The other Dare, which sits in Nairobi is called Dare Peter. For the reason that Peter took the Gospel outwards and ended up in Rome. It usually comprises of 12 members (not on the photo). Those appearing are pastors from Nairobi (or the greater Nairobi) as some say. Dare Peter was formed earlier in South Africa those who know the history will give the dates. Better church historians can chip in since some are aware of the page.
Dare Peter was the founder’s council so it was the overall. Thus, Nairobi sits with Harare as partners who have diverse responsibilities. One should not therefore think that Gospel of God has an overall headquarters elsewhere. The name Gospel of God was first pronounced in Nairobi 1968. Not the other way round. It is true this Church traces its roots to 1932, but the names evolved.
And as Kenyans say, what one does with this information is up to themselves. For the Word of God to reach where it is it passed through a lot. Baba Johane passed through 7 prisons in the hands of an empire but none could hold him. What happened to Paul and Silas happened in Southern Rhodesia 1932 only that Johane did not walk away from prison but removed all the prisoners and stayed waiting in the compound and singing till morning for any further action.
Efforts will be made locate that information but a lot of it is in the National Archives of Zimbabwe. A more memorable prison episode was at Malondera where tools worked a quarry on their own.
3.0 Why was this monument named after Galton Fenzi?
Very briefly, Galton Fenzi pioneered motoring in Kenya. He founded the East Africa Automobile Association in 1919. Through this association, driving tests and regulations were introduced as well as opening up of roads. In 1926, he was the first man to drive from Mombasa to Nairobi for example. His work is significant especially if one takes into account the fact that road transport became popular long after other modes such as railway, horses, and ox-drawn carts. Consequently, the monument was built in his honor.
4.0 Why is it also called Nairobi Millenary Stone or Point Zero?
Millinery in Latin is derived from the Roman Mile; it has something to do with the measurement of Distances. The monument is also the point zero. Meaning what? Ever heard someone say Mombasa is for example 500 km from Nairobi, or a better example, Limuru is 37 km from Nairobi?
The question remains: measured from where in Nairobi? Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA)? Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), the Railway Station? SGR Terminus? Wison Airport? Moi Airbase? Westlands? Parliament Buildings? The answer cannot be all of the above because that would give us different distances. There has to be a reference point. A central location. For whoever did not know, this monument is the precise City Centre – not Kencom or Ambassador.
5.0 The Spiritual Significance
Besides the issue of road transport, this monument also has some spiritual significance. From Gospel of God, Baba Johane gave directions in Nairobi using it – before he visited the country e.g. when sending elders to buy books at one of the bookshops – which was located where Mac Millan Library is.
There are also visual pointers. The globe on top of the cubical structure, has a very visible illustration that one would most likely refer to as the sun and some stars. What type of sun is this? Below it is a slab inscribed with the world northerly – which refers to a northward direction. Why would anyone take trouble to draw the sun in the north? Not visible in the picture is another sun – in a southward direction. There are other stars also and the moon.
From the scriptures stars are representative of angels. For example, in Revelations 1:20, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches … When Joseph had a dream where the sun, the moon and stars bowed down to him he was seeing his family where the moon was his mother. It is a feminine symbol. The sun in Joseph's dream was his father. The father to the stars.
From an earthly perspective, the sun is bigger than the stars it is the dominant light. If the stars were representative of angels, what is bigger? The sun would be representative of God. Thus, the sun is God, or by extension in this covenant the emissary of God who is Baba Johane.
The moon is the house of Covenant being the institution of Church sisters. The reason they are referred to as mothers. It is in the same context that Eve was the “mother of all living”. The meanings of mother and living are not literal. There are so called dead people who have everlasting life and there are dead men walking. That is a topic for another day. “Am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the living and not the dead”.
Another way of looking at it is that the sun is the gospel or word of God. This gospel physically came from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. Thus, the reason the sun is moving from the south to the north. And to crown it, the eastern side has a verse inscribed Isaiah 35:8 that says: "And a highway shall be there”. For those who would read further it is the road of holiness. It is the same highway mentioned in Isaiah 19:23-24 – the highway from Egypt (Africa) northwards.
For those who are willing to believe this is the monument exhibiting God’s presence in the land of Egypt as seen by prophet Isaiah. Contrary opinions are also welcome as responses (preferably on Facebook). This is a page, not a group. One need not register or get approval. The thing that Is not welcome here is irrelevant spam ads – mostly advertising witchcraft from some country. They will be deleted and accounts banned without notice.
@topfans
P/S:
1. Poleni kizungu mingi, there will be some Kiswahili content in days to come. It could also be audio or video. May take more time to generate, is in the planning phases.
2. The planned review of Greber’s book will soon follow as an avenue to discussing some things that are not taught in Theology Schools but are scriptural and factual.
.jpg)