A Charge from the First Generation

Bishop Daniel Ogutu is one of the first generation of NET. For him, NET has always meant evangelism — taking the mission to Nyanza — and doing it vigorously. The ministry sustained many of them; the majority became church leaders, he says, like me and many others. The future still looks bright, because missions keep reaching students.

But he is candid about two concerns. The first: very few children of the first generation join NET. His own children went through university without joining, he admits, and that has to be addressed. The second: the drift. Settling down, developing families, losing focus — if the core of evangelism is left behind, the ministry loses what it is.

He is equally clear about what will steady the future: the leadership training centre in Kisumu, which he calls one of the best. Training is poor today, he says; NET must be focused there, and the centre will bring the stability and sustainability the ministry needs. Cell groups and other groups, he adds, are going well.

His hope is that the first generation’s children will take their place, and that the mission keeps doing what it always did — reaching students, one generation after another. Guard the evangelistic heart, disciple the young, and the first generation will not have run in vain.