By Fred Opiyo and Austin Oduor
The Nairobi Christian Church finally held their long awaited men’s forum on April 28, 2019 in Umoja.
@Crossroads was the theme scripture from the book of Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV)
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
The event kicked off at 10:45am with an all-male choir taking to the stage in an immaculate African designed soft cream shirts and black trousers and gave a sterling performance in a well-choreographed worship hymns.
The ushers dressed in black suits, white shirts and red ties were on hand to receive the disciples and visitors into the neat and well decorated hall. Evangelist William Auki took to the stage at 11am to welcome the congregants enjoying a reunion of fellowships.
Evangelist Raymond Musonye opened with a word of prayer from Psalm 133 urging the brothers to consider how good it is when we come together at a forum like this and learn from each other.
The day’s proceedings had two sessions. The morning session had George Nyawade, Charles Kiarie and Eric Kivuva as key speakers. Nyawade spoke about the family as a unit urging men to make marriage a priority. He enumerated how for a long time he was away from his family for long periods chasing the elusive shilling even being outside the country not knowing that this did not portend well for his young family.
Charles Kiarie
He gave out some practicals’ which can help families to remain intact and challenged the men to learn to make spiritual decisions and also learn to grow closer to God through trials they go through. It is through the trials that you will find that a man is most vulnerable. He sadly pointed out that the worst thing that can happen to our marriage is infidelity and called on men to be extremely flexible and to always stand by their wives and their families.
Brother Charles Kiarie, a banker by profession came in next to speak about Finances. He encouraged the men to shield themselves away from debts. “Can we live a life without debts?” Yes we can if we keep ourselves disciplined financially. People incur debts for different reasons.
We can follow this three rule principle of: You have to live within your means; if you want to get out of debt, you have to ensure you have a budget; and finally, find a way of compounding and consolidating debts. He cautioned disciples not to buy properties without due diligence.
George Nyawade
Erick Kivuva, a lawyer did a sterling job teaching matters concerning the law and defining issues of pertinence to men which included the writing of the wills, property, marriage and children.
There was a question and answer session which paved way for lunch to be served before the afternoon session which started with praise and worship songs. Ken Gichuhi came in to discuss the topic midlife crisis sharing from Matthew 7:7, John 14:6. He talked about pension, savings, retirement, insurance. He urged men to ensure they have a fallback plan.
Joseph Okero and Steve Mutuka both teenagers from Southern block tickled the audience with the poem ‘Shujaa Kamili’ and another poem drawn from James 4:7 respectively.
Dr. Ken Rateng
Dr. Ken Rateng called on men not to shy away from seeking medical checkups noting there are four dimensions of health namely Biophysical, psychosocial and spiritual. He added that spirituality is connected to a better health. He noted that men are more involved in risky behavior than women and don’t bother about the source distributor in disease burden in the country.
The day’s sermon came late in the afternoon and Evangelist Mike Odwallo preached from Jeremiah 6:16, the key text of the event and 1 Kings stating that, as men we stand at crossroads especially because of the enormous challenges we are given to shoulder and as a result, men are overwhelmed with things which are going on around them.
He went on to say that man is presented with many options and as a result he is burdened and at crossroads, not knowing which way and path to take. “The world puts pressure on men at times, the pressure that they cannot handle.”
The Evangelist urged men to choose to follow the right way, the good way – the path of righteousness and in it we will find rest, peace and comfort for our souls. The right way is the way of God. 
Times have changed and as men we are faced with realistic and unrealistic expectations. The average man goes through so much and that’s why we are found to be at crossroads. Today men fear to be men and so men want to change to be women. A man is conceived a male first but when he is born he grows up to be a man,”
Why are we at crossroads? We are lost as men and we need to accept it by looking and accepting our weaknesses. He called on men to search for the good way and walk in it. Our crossroads will not end through the actions of standing, looking and asking only but when we starting walking the walk.
He concluded the sermon by pointing out that we should be obedient to God and the things of God. God gives us direction, our solution lies with God alone. The active ingredient is that we have to STAND, LOOK, ASK and then FOLLOW.
Evangelist Samson Mokaya helped in observing the holy communion before the curtains of 2019 Men’s Forum came to a close.
Ev. Samson Mukaya
Teenagers Tony Mutua, Fredrick Ngumbau and Dukes Gitau who are all children of disciples were baptized into Christ and it was a joy for the parents to see their children come into the wonderful light of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Enos Ambale from Komarock sector in Eastern block stated that the event was a great get together and appreciated effort made by the organizers. The topics covered were relevant and really helpful. The turnout was amazing and many were left yearning for more, wondering why it takes a long time to organize such a forum.
Wycliffe Mbimwa from singles ministry in Joska reiterated the same but his concern was the short time allocated for question and answer session considering that people had so many questions that needed answers. The answers should instead be printed and given to sector leaders to pass over to the respective bible talk leaders. This way everybody would get to access them. Overall, people were engaged and that is a good thing because it shows how impactful this event was.
“The event was a huge success recording a turnout of 790 from the projected 600 because God came in powerfully through the prayers and fasting we had as a committee in preparation for the event, “stated brother Charles Omollo who was part of the organizing committee. The church as part of its strategy had an all-night specifically for the Men’s Forum and also developed a video that marketed the event which was well received.
The committee gives gratitude to our father God and to all who served. Let’s continue praying that many men will choose to stand out for God and care for their families to the glory of God Almighty.
View the full photo gallery here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rteygg_Xms7Uevh3Of1Hx-pXkYDwjr3v
