Biomdo, Martha (1920–2003)

Martha Biomdo is distinguished as the first Seventh-day Adventist woman from the Kipsigis people of Western Kenya.

Martha Biomdo was born in 1920 at Keteso village in the Sigowet division in Kericho to Kibartwol araap Chemengewet and his wife Mary.¹ Martha joined the Africa Inland Mission at Litein where she began her early education. It was here that she met John araap Biomdo the older brother of Stephen araap Biomdo who would distinguish himself as the first Kipsigis Seventh-day Adventist.

Martha and John were married in 1938. Her ability to read and write came in quite handy as she was able to conduct Bible studies with her brother-in-law Stephen and people from her village. A man named Nahashon Osebe introduced Adventism to both Stephen and Martha. She accepted the faith and, together with Stephen, was baptized at Nyaiguta SDA Church in 1939 becoming the first Kipsigis woman Adventist. She was a charter member of Kebeneti SDA Church and remained a member in good standing continuously for the next 57 years.

In 1997 she moved to Kamaget SDA Church nearer her home and continued in departmental leadership like she had done in Kebeneti. Her health began to deteriorate that year and she had surgery at the Kendu Adventist Hospital to remove a growing goiter. She then encountered constant health challenges until she passed away on July 23, 2003, at the age of 83. She had been an Adventist for a total of 65 years. She was survived by three daughters and a son.

Source

Sang, Godfrey K. and Hosea K. Kili, On the Wings of a Sparrow: How the Seventh-day Adventist Church Came to Western Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya: Gapman Publications Ltd., 2017.

Notes

1. Note

   Information in this article has been adapted from the following book coauthored by the author of this article: Godfrey K. Sang, and Hosea K. Kili, On the Wings of a Sparrow: How the Seventh-day Adventist Church Came to Western Kenya (Nairobi, Kenya: Gapman Publications Ltd., 2017), 182-183.↩