Nduke, Perminus Mugo (1922–2004)
By Nephat F. Nyaga
Nephat F. Nyaga, B.A. in theology (the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton) serves as executive secretary of the North East Kenya Field
First Published: December 4, 2021
Perminus Nduke was the first Voice of Prophecy (V.O.P.) evangelist and was a founding member of V.O.P. in Kenya.
Early Life
Perminus Nduke was born in 1922 in Kirinyaga county in Kenya. His parents, Ishmael Nduke and Rudia Wambui, were strong Anglicans and they brought him up in the faith. He later attended Kigari Teachers College in Embu county where he learned to be a teacher, and he taught Sunday School classes in Kirinyaga county. His parents realized that their son had a spiritual gift for teaching and planned to enroll him in a theological school in the Anglican Church. When they shared the idea with him, he declined. Nduke became close friends with Nyaga Njine, an early Seventh-day Adventist evangelist who tried to preach to him about the Adventist message. Nduke was not interested. He said to his friend, “I hate the Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath.” His parents’ wish was that Nduke become an Anglican priest but this was not to be.1
Seeking God in Spirit and Truth
One day Perminus was cultivating on his father’s farm at Kiamichiri, a location between Kerugoya and Kutus in Kirinyaga county, central Kenya. He was disturbed and wanted to learn what biblical truth was. He decided to fast for three weeks and search for truth in the Bible. He prayed, praised God, and humbled himself so he could be directed by God. When the three weeks were over, he heard a voice and saw a bright light coming down from Heaven. The voice said, “Seventh-day Adventist Church.” Suddenly the light and the voice disappeared. This was the denomination that he really hated, and he went home astonished. His mother asked him what the matter was, but he feared to tell her the truth about what he had encountered. He later told his parents that a voice had told him to join the church that he hated so much. His parents were shocked at the strange news. Nduku then began reading the Bible and especially studying the Ten Commandments. When he came to the fourth commandment, it seemed to have a bright light on it as he read from his Bible.2
Becoming an Adventist
Around 1945, Nduke decided to go to Gatumbi Adventist Church and was received well. He joined the baptismal class and took Bible studies which he realized were markedly different from what his Anglican faith taught. When he told his parents the news of his decision to become an Adventist, his father was very annoyed and he was disowned totally by his family. Though he was the firstborn, his father didn’t give him an inheritance since he had decided to become an Adventist. He was sent away from home and went to Nairobi where he became a teacher at the Karura Adventist School. While teaching at Karura, he met the missionary, Pastor William Charles Samuel Raitt, who was the director of the Karura Mission beginning in 1944. Pastor Raitt had pioneered the Adventist message at Changamwe in 1934.3
Family
Perminus Mugo Nduke later became a pastor and was licensed as a minister.4 He met his life partner, Mary Sidii, who had been raised by the Raitts. They were united in marriage in 1948. God blessed them with several children, three of whom are pastors today. These are Pastors Ishmael Mugo Nduke, Daniel Mwaro Nduke, and Misheck Mugo Nduke. The pastors of the Nduke family have done great missionary work for God in several areas in Kenya, particularly in Mombasa, Kirinyaga, Embu, Meru, and the larger Tharaka Nithi in central Kenya.5
Contributions
Pastor Perminus Nduke was the first V.O.P. evangelist and was a founding member of Voice of Prophecy in Kenya. He ministered in many districts, including Shauri Moyo, Chiakariga, Embu, and Kirinyaga. Being a gifted musician, he translated songs from the English language hymnal into Kikuyu. In June 2004, Pastor P. M. Nduke passed away and was laid to rest at Kagio in Kirinyaga county.
Sources
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1951, 2013.
Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. Second Revised Edition. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996. S.v. “Kenya.”
Notes
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Ishmael Mugo Nduke, telephone interview with the author, March 13, 2020.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), s.v. “Kenya.”↩
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Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1951), 185.↩
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Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1951), 52.↩