Kamundi, Reuben (1926–1994)

Reuben Kamundi was a pioneering pastor in the larger Meru community of the North East Kenya Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Background

Adventism was first introduced to the Meru people in 1943. The evangelist Ishmail Mainda introduced the Adventist faith at Chiakariga in Tharaka Nithi county, which was part of the larger Meru. Mainda was brought to Adventism through the missionary work of Pastor W. C. S. Raitt at Changamwe, Mombasa. Mainda was in Mombasa in search of employment which would provide for his family. When he returned to his home village, he had a passion to serve the Lord. God blessed his ministry and one of his converts was Reuben Kamundi.

Early Life and Education

Reuben Kiriamunya Kamundi was born in 1926 in Makururia village, Chiakariga in Tharaka Nithi. His parents, Daniel Kaburi M’Kamundi and Hellen Kathure, refused to embrace formal education and did not send their children to school because of the perception that education was aimed at luring Africans to abandon their culture.¹ Ishmail Mainda, knowing this, devised a method to trick the old man to release his son to go to school. He approached Mzee M’Kamundi and asked if Reuben could come with him to herd his goats. Mainda’s intention was to take the boy to school. Mzee M’Kamundi agreed, and Mainda immediately enrolled the boy at the Chiakariga SDA Primary School which he had established. The young Kamundi began his elementary education in 1941, studying at Chiakariga for four years before transferring to Ngariama Primary School. He then moved to Karura Adventist School near Nairobi and finally to the Kamagambo Adventist School in Western Kenya where he completed his education in 1953. Later that year he married Mary Karimi and they were blessed with five children: Samuel Muriungi, Suleiman Kinyamu, Mercy Kanini, Dr. Shadrack Kamundi (UEAB), and Edith Makena.²

Lighting the Region with the Gospel

After completing his education, Reuben Kamundi was considered for a teaching vacancy as an untrained teacher at his old school Chiakariga. The gospel fire was evidently burning inside his heart and he felt compelled not to keep it to himself but to share it with the locals. By then, Tharaka (his local county) had few access roads and there was hardly any means of transport. There were no health facilities nearby and only one local school, with the next one many miles away. Illiteracy was very high. In short, it was difficult to even think of reaching people, let alone getting them to listen to anything outside their own culture. This is the kind of environment that greeted Kamundi as he began his missionary journey. He walked long distances, trying to persuade the Meru people to accept the good news. You can guess the kind of reception he received as he tried to convince them to accept what was largely considered a “foreign idea.” Kamundi endured lots of hardship, but he was determined to go on. He won several individuals to Christ. Other than conducting Bible studies, Reuben Kamundi also had the task of teaching Christian songs to new believers, which to them was a big transition from the traditional cultural songs they related to so easily. Kamundi translated church hymns into the local Kitharaka language, a mission that he successfully accomplished with the assistance of Pastor Samuel Mioro, leaving the community proudly praising the Lord in their local language.

Leadership and Pastoral Work

Central Kenya Field discovered the potential in Reuben Kamundi and recruited him into the ministry. In 1958 the CKF sent him to Bugema Missionary Training School in Uganda for pastoral training (now Bugema University). While a student at Bugema, he published an article in the Southern Africa Division Outlook where he narrated how he got into trouble with government officials while conducting an evangelistic campaign in central Kenya in 1957. This was at the height of the Mau Mau insurgency, and when the local chief discovered that many young people had joined the Bible classes, the chief demanded that he cease his work immediately; this was despite having consented to the meetings earlier. Eventually, the government officials who came to interrogate the young people, found them innocent and released them.³

Upon completion of his studies at Bugema, he was sent to Chiakariga from where he would serve the larger Meru community. Through his missionary work, the church expanded immensely. During the early part of his ministry in the region, Kiirua Church in Buuri sub-county, Gituiki Church in Imenti Central, and Kanyuru Church in Tharaka were organized. He was later transferred to Maragua in Muranga county and also to Chebwai in western Kenya where he served as a mission station director. He was again transferred to Meru where he served in the same capacity as before he was elected as director of the health and lay activities department of the Central Kenya Field in Nairobi.⁴

Kenya Coast Field President

In January 1983, the Central Kenya Field proposed that the Kenya Coast be separated from it and become a mission field. Pastor Kamundi was sent to Mombasa where he served as the pioneer executive director of the Kenya Coast Mission Field. He served with Elder Harrison Safari Kitsao, who became the executive secretary and treasurer.⁵ In 1986 the Kenya Coast Mission Field was organized into the Kenya Coast Field under Pastor Kamundi. By this time, the membership had expanded to 28 churches and 2,128 members.⁶ His wife, Mary, passed away in 1987. Pastor Kamundi passed away on April 14, 1994, while still serving as the field president. He was laid to rest at his farm in Kamwanki village, Tunyai, Tharaka South.

The work that began humbly in the larger Meru, has since grown to more than 240 organized churches as of February 2020.⁷

Sources

Kamundi, Reuben K. “In Mau Mau Country.” Southern African Division Outlook, December 15, 1960.

Official statistics at the Central Kenya Conference, as of February 2020, Nairobi, Kenya.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1982, 1987.

Notes

1. Interview with Dr. Shadrack Kamundi of UEAB on March 8, 2020, at Nairobi.↩

2. Ibid.↩

3. Reuben K. Kamundi, “In Mau Mau Country,” Southern African Division Outlook, December 15, 1960, 9.↩

4. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1982), 80.↩

5. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1987), 65.↩

6. Ibid.↩

7. Official statistics at the Central Kenya Conference, as of February 2020.↩