A Gift That Should Not Sit in a Pew

Bishop Oliver Konje of Outreach Church first came to know NET in 1987, when he joined the University of Nairobi on the double intake. Eager to serve more effectively, he found in NET the platform he was looking for — schools, colleges, churches, conferences — and through the Nyanza Evangelistic Team he moved across the whole of Nyanza, a region he had not grown up in. Working-class members who could not go themselves made sure the money and the food were there: as students, they only had to present themselves at the bus station.

His climax with NET came on the mission to Nyakach in 1989. One night, asked to minister, he did — and a unique deliverance took place. The local AIC pastor pulled him aside: ‘I have seen a gift in you that should not sit in a pew.’ He was invited to move to Mathare to help with church planting, and after finishing university he went — serving in the slums to this day. He married in December 1993.

What began as one fellowship grew into churches across Nairobi’s most disadvantaged areas and beyond — today over 25 churches, plus young fellowships still in formative stages. He does not own a single church where he ministers: he has handed them to those he mentored. A tentmaker who served 31 years in government — a diplomat in charge of Germany, Bulgaria, and Romania, and who left service on a clean sheet — he taught his ministers to work and to give, so that no wage bill slows the growth.

His charge to NET: keep giving young people opportunity, because a call is not you who says ‘I have a call’ — the call should be seen by others. Make disciples, not followers. Mentor properly, and the team will live for many years to come; fail to, and it ends with this generation.