Presidential visit to Tana River Valley

Tana River Valley Coastal Region: Continuing a historic ministry in the face of devastating floods in rural Kenya.

In 1862, the British Missionary, Thomas Wakefield, arrived in Mombasa and established the Methodist Church in Kenya. Through the work of European Missionaries and African converts and through much sacrifice, the Church spread quite quickly. In the 1870s, John and Annie Houghton joined Wakefield and set off by Steamship up the Tana River in the coastal region north of Mombasa, and established the first Methodist Church at Golbanti.

It was in this Church that Rev. Dr. Helen Cameron was welcomed by members of the Circuit after a 14 hour drive from Nairobi to Malindi the previous day. As ‘children’ of the Methodist Church in Britain, the local people were overjoyed to see us. “You are the first Europeans to visit us for years,” they said. They spoke with great pride of their history being amongst the earliest Methodist presence in East Africa.

Even before we visited the Church, they had proudly taken us to pray at the simple graves of John and Annie Houghton. John and Annie had managed to establish a successful Methodist community in Golbanti but sadly, after only a short time in post, they were murdered by cattle raiders. Today, like all the missionaries who helped establish Methodism in Africa, they are remembered with great respect by the local people.

Today, the Methodist churches that serve the people of the Tana River Valley – one of the most isolated and poorest regions of the country - are growing. As we met and prayed with Church members, they danced and sang with great joy, thanking us for being the first British visitors to their Circuit and telling us that our visit would be remembered for many years to come. A few weeks before our visit, heavy rains had caused devastating floods along the river valley and over 40,000 people had been displaced. These added to the tens of thousands who had been displaced by the previous floods that happened in 2023. Their tented camps line the main road to Malindi for many miles. These floods are a direct consequence of Climate Change which is having a catastrophic impact on the environmental and human landscape across Africa.

Yet, despite the huge challenges, the Church is responding. And last month, the World Mission Fund sent a grant of £20,000 to help with the relief efforts undertaken by the Relief and Development Committee of the Methodist Church in Kenya in the Tana River Valley.

When the Methodist Church in Kenya received our grant, they responded:

“The Methodist church in Kenya takes this opportunity to sincerely thank the Methodist church in Britain on behalf of all the floods beneficiaries who received relief food from the donation received from the Methodist church in Britain. It went a long way towards helping the most vulnerable floods victims in Tana River Garisa and Wajir counties.”

Relief food was distributed to 4680 beneficiaries {1,170 households} within the three counties of Tana River, Garissa and Wajir. Local Methodists worked with community leaders to identify the most affected vulnerable people, including people with disabilities, the aged, those with terminal illnesses, young mothers and the poorest in the areas most affected by the severe flooding. Items distributed included maize, beans, soya corn blend for porridge salt, soap, and cooking oil.

Many community members and chiefs said that it was the first time that they had ever received so many items and in such large quantities. Many of the beneficiaries had not eaten for days and many were Muslim and were openly thankful to the Methodist Church in Kenya for sourcing this support.

One elderly woman said that for the last three weeks she had only been able to feed her three grandchildren one meal every two days because she was not sure where to get any other food.

All her farm crops and properties had been swept away by the floods. Tears flowed down her cheeks
as she thanked the Methodist church for providing her with enough food for her family.

Despite these challenges, the Methodist members in the Tana Valley continue to serve their communities. They are also seeking to build new churches to accommodate growing numbers. They are indeed inspiring witnesses to faith, perseverance and endurance and they remain faithful to the Methodist heritage that they have received.

Helen writes: “Meeting these communities just after they had lost so much in the devastation caused by the floods was a real reminder of how fragile life is for the most vulnerable. It was those who had least who were made even more vulnerable by the devastating floods. The generous hospitality we were offered on our visit was a very great gift. It mattered a great deal in these communities that we had travelled to see them and listen to their stories”