FPFK HISTORY

Pioneer Mission Work

Mission work in the Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya was pioneered in 1955 when Missionaries Arvid and Gunborg Bustgaad from Norway started evangelism work at Thessalia near Muhoroni.

Missionary Bustgaad arrived in Mombasa by ship in a trip that took a month around Africa through the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. When in Mombasa, he asked for the direction to Kenya. A Finish Missionary by name Kusmin and working with the Finish Free Mission picked him and brought him to Koru, near Muhoroni.
Since there was no registered Norwegian mission at the time, Arvid and Gunborg Bustgaad came in as visitors with the Finish Foreign Missionaries and stayed with them for about a month at Koru, near Muhoroni.
During his stay with the Finish Missionaries, Bustgaad got information that there was a woman who had a farm called Thessalia. The woman was a widow and her name was Mrs. Jensen. Mrs. Jensen was of American origin and was sent by the Lutheran mission. She had bought the Thessalia farm from a Greek farmer. Thessalia is a Greek name whose origin is Thessalonica as recorded in the Bible. Bustgaad met Mrs. Jensen and negotiated to buy Thessalia. The size of the land was 118 acres.

Kusmin, the Finish missionary who had picked Bustgaad from Mombasa was eloquent in the Luo language. He started to teach Bustgaad to speak Luo since the people living around Thessalia were Luo.
Missionary Bustgaad started with evangelical work and built a church made with mud and grass. Most missionaries who joined Bustgaad lived in mud and grass­-thatched houses.

Bustgaad then saw there was need of educating children as there were no schools around. He invited children to school but observed that the people around Thessalia removed children's lower teeth. The Luo removed six and the Kipsigis two. He told the parents not remove their children's teeth if they wanted school fees. Those of you aged 50-60 years are surely grateful to Bustgaad's campaign for saving your teeth.
Bustgaad built the first school with mud and roofed with iron sheets. He started to ask people in Norway to support children with NOK 100 a year.

Bustgaad received very little support from Norway at the beginning. To be able to raise funds for building and mission work, he took a contract to harvest trees which he sold as firewood to the Uganda Sugar Company (Muhoroni). He also hired a casual to cut grass that he sold to the tea companies in Kericho. The grass was used for roofing workers' houses in the tea farms.
Bustgaad also raised some layers and produced eggs for sale to the Asians in Kisumu. All these he did to be able to extend the work in Thessalia.

In the early 19608, Bustgaad went back to Norway and handed over work to Bjarne Lind.
Thessalia Mission developed from humble beginnings of mud and grass-thatched houses to modern buildings that we see today. It grew into an important base from which Norwegian missionaries continued to launch future mission work in the Nyanza, the Rift Valley and the country at large.

Over the years, Thessalia Mission Centre has remained a key entry point for Norwegian missionaries wishing to reach out to various communities in Kenya. Numerous community development projects such as schools, health centres, children homes, as well as church planting in rural areas have been carried out by Norwegian missionaries based at Thessalia Mission Centre.

Mission work by the Swedish Missionaries was pioneered in Menengai area in Nakuru in the 1960s; five years after the Norwegian missionaries had come into Kenya. A key pioneer missionary was Gustav Struble. From Menengai, Struble initiated work in Njeri and North Kinangop in Central Kenya, then Kakamega among other places.

In 1964 the church at Muhoroni was built by Bjarne Lind and Gulbrand Sandvold. The first Bible course was held in 1964 at the church in Thessalia. The work of God spread very wide to different places as far as Kiptere in 1965, Mbogo Valley, Kisumu area and Oyugis. There were about 20 preachers at the time.
The first church in Nakuru town at Langalanga was started by Ulla Struble in 1969. David Ford was an evangelist at the church and also a student at the time. ­Another Swedish Missionary, Gaute Brinkeback came from Tanzania in 1974. He was involved in mission work in Kitale, Kakamega and Laikipia among other, places.

Other places pioneered by Swedish missionaries include Limuru, Machakos, Emali and Loitokitok. Missionary Anders Gronberg worked in Maasailand in Loitokitok area. Other key missionaries in these areas are Elena Orman. Missionary Arne Flodin also from Sweden took over the work in Kakamega from Brinkeback. Flodin also initiated work in Likoni, Mombasa. Missionary Nilson worked in Nyeri while Stig Jacobsen initiated work in Ukunda, South Coast.