Lake Victoria Field, Kenya

Formerly part of Kenya Lake Conference and Ranen Conference, Lake Victoria Field was organized in 2017 and is now a part of West Kenya Union Conference in the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Its headquarters are in Homabay, Kenya.

Territory: Homabay County, and portions of Migori County in Nyanza Province.

Statistics (as of June 30, 2020): Churches, 587; membership, 71,823; population, 637,732.¹ 

Background

The region of Lake Victoria Field was inhabited by the Luo and the Abasuba of the Southern Nyanza, Kenya. The Luo form part of the 42 tribes in Kenya, and they are the third-largest ethnic group with 13 percent in the Republic of Kenya.² The Suba (Abasuba) are the Bantu group of people in Kenya who speak the Suba language.³ Their population is estimated at about 300,000, and there are a substantial number of fluent Suba speakers. They migrated to Kenya from Uganda and settled on the two Lake Victoria islands of Rusinga and Mfangano. Others also settled on mainland areas including Gembe, Gwassi, Kaksingri of Suba South and Migori. They are believed to be the last tribe to have settled in Kenya.⁴

This region experiences semi-arid climatic conditions with daily temperatures ranging between 26°C during the coldest months (April and November) and 34°C during the hottest months (January to March). It receives between 250mm and 1200mm of rainfall annually with the average annual rainfall estimated at 1,100mm. It has two rainy seasons: March-April-May (long rains) and September to November (short rains). Because of their proximity to Lake Victoria, the Luo and Abasuba are primarily fishermen and small-scale farmers growing maize, sugar cane, millet, potatoes, and vegetables.⁵

Historical Background

Between 1903 and 1905, the General Conference of Seventh–day Adventist session under the presidency of G. A. Daniells met and decided to send some missionaries to East Africa.⁶ According to Mbwana, the first Seventh-day Adventist missionaries to work in Kenya were Arthur Carscallen, his wife, and Malawi native Peter Nyambo, all of whom left England and reached East Africa-Kenya on October 1, 1906.⁷ In the same development, Mbwana added that by November 27, 1906, this team reached Gendia Hill, which is in the eastern shore of Lake Victoria-Kendu Bay.⁸

Kenya Lake Field (KLC) was first organized in 1906, and as the work progressed, it was reorganized in 1953, 1961, 1990, 2010, and 2017 to give part of its territory to the Lake Victoria Field. The Ranen Conference (RC) was organized in 1918, then reorganized in 1961, and attained conference status in 2010 and 2017 to give part of its territory to Lake Victoria Field. The Field has a total membership of 70, 991 with 571 churches.⁹

Membership Growth and Territorial Realignment

The Church has consistently grown from 1906 when it was first planted at Gendia Hill. With this growth (see table below), the two conferences were Ranen (RC) and Kenya Lake (KLC). KLC formed a survey team of five members to assess the possibility of subdivision and to report its finding by January 31, 2015. These included Tom Ogal, Nicodemus Onyango, Mark Ng'ong'a, George Diang'a, and Peter Ogweno Manyala. The table below illustrates the membership growth in both RC and KLC.

RC on the other side took an action to accept the report of a survey commission of nine members to divide Ranen into two. The commissioners were: Samson Keraka (Chair), Edward Onduru, Samson Okwach, Benard Okoth, Peter Nyakang’a, Pr. Samuel Mosoba, Peter Ogwari, Prisca Onyango, and Ishmael Otieno.¹⁰

Both KLC and RC agreed realign their territories to provide for the creation of Lake Victoria Field and further to forward the same to East and Central Africa Division (ECD) through West Kenya Union Conference (WKUC) for consideration.

A joint letter to the WKUC dated January 5, 2015, was then made by Tom E. A. Ogal,¹¹ and Samson Keraka (then KLC & RC executive secretaries respectively). This gave birth to the first office of promoters, namely: Samson Okwach, Wilson Wandago, John Odiango, and Duncan Wao.

The WKUC Executive Committee meeting on May 21, 2015, took up an action to evaluate RC and KLC for their readiness to be realigned. This commission had five members: George Okeyo (chair), Christopher Misoi, Gilbert Obare, Rebecca Ruto, and Lucas Olwayo. They recommended a one-year period for the ironing out of the few challenges that were noted. It also recommended for the creation of a substantive promotional office, and this action saw Samson Okwach, Wilson Wandago, Elder Johnson Ochieng’, Sori pastors' representative-Joseph Ojunju, Homa-Bay pastors' representative-Joseph Kingi and Mbita pastors’ representative-Daniel Sidho into that promotional office.

The second commission was formed a year later, headed by John Tuwei, Nelson Olum, Christopher Misoi, Boaz Ouma, and Gideon Angura.

Upon receiving the WKUC application, the ECD took an action on May 3, 2017, to accept the application of WKUC to organize a field named Lake Victoria from the existing RC and KLC conferences. A team of three commissioners led by William Bagambe,¹² Samuel Makori¹³, and Michael Caballero¹⁴ was sent for evaluation between September 10th and 12th. This report was accepted by the ECD EXCOM in their end-year meeting on October 28, 2017.

On November 9, 2017, at the West Kenya Union Conference end-year meeting, Lake Victoria Field’s officers were elected. These were: Samson Okwach Mrongo (President), Wilson Wandago (Executive Secretary), and Elder Johnson Ochieng' (Chief Finance Officer). Later, a special constituency meeting was held at Homa-Bay Central Seventh-day Adventist Church on December 7, 2017, to complete any remaining business.

List of Administrators

President, Samson Okwach (2017- ).

Secretary, Wilson Wandago (2017- ).

Treasurer, Johnson Ochieng (2017- ).

Sources

“An Overview of Homa-Bay County.” Accessed February 2, 2020. http://www.kenya-information-guide.com/homa-bay-county.html.

Aswani, Nixon (2020). “Kenya population by tribe: Which are the largest and smallest

tribes?” Accessed February 2, 2010. 

Ayot, H. Okello. A History of the Luo-Abasuba of Western Kenya: From A.D.

1760-1940. Nairobi, Kenya Literature Bureau, 1979.

East Kenya Union Conference. Accessed February 2, 2010. 

Mbwana, Geoffrey. “Like a Mustard Seed: Adventism in the East-Central Africa Division.” Adventist World, April 12, 2014.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. Various years.

Notes

1. “Lake Victoria Field,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2021), https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=54390.↩

2. Nixon Aswani, “Kenya population by tribe: Which are the largest and smallest tribes?,” accessed February 2, 2010.↩

3. H. Okello Ayot, A History of the Luo-Abasuba of Western Kenya: From A.D. 1760-1940 (Nairobi, Kenya: Literature Bureau, 1979).↩

4. “Suba People (Kenya),” Wikipedia, accessed February 2, 2020.↩

5. “An Overview of Homa-Bay County,” accessed on February 2, 2020,

   http://www.kenya-information-guide.com/homa-bay-county.html.↩

6. East Kenya Union Conference, Accessed February 2, 2020.↩

7. Geoffrey Mbwana, “Like a Mustard Seed: Adventism in the East-Central Africa Division,” Adventist World, April 12, 2014. Geoffrey Mbwana is a vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and a former president of the East-Central Africa Division.↩

8. Ibid.↩

9. Fourth Quarter 2019 statistical report for Lake Victoria Field, Lake Victoria Field archives, Homabay, Kenya.↩

10. Action Min RC/2433, year 2015, Ranen Conference archives, Kisii, Kenya.↩

11. Tom Ogal is an ordained minister and the current associate executive secretary for the ECD. He holds a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Andrews University.↩

12. Samuel Bagambe is an ordained minister and the current stewardship director for ECD.↩

13. Samuel Makori is an ordained minister and the current president for East Kenya Union. He holds a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Andrews University.↩

14. Michael Caballero is an associate treasurer at the ECD.↩