Lake Naivasha (Sept. 2018)

As a mother and wife in the mission field, my role has been mainly to care for my family. I’ve not had time really to develop a  particular ministry as a single missionary might do. However, As a result, I’ve had the privilege of observing everything around me, like a fly on the wall so to speak; it’s caused me to ask questions, mull over problems, and my curiosity has been aroused.

A painting on the kitchen wall, showing climate zones.

We’ve also been living the quiet life here in the bush and we’ve had lots of time to read, study and talk with our children about what we’ve seen and learned. The kids painted a mural of the African Continent in the wall, and we were surprised at how many countries we had to paint! So it got me thinking, 54 countries…..I could probably come up with 54 interesting facts about Kenya. Let them pique your curiosity and stir your interest, and motivate you to pray for God’s kingdom in this vast continent.

Geography and Demography

The Equator crossing, Meru National Reserve

  • There are 54 countries in Africa (while some states are disputed, the UN recognizes 54 countries).

  • Africa is surrounded by six bodies of water; the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Fisherman on the Nile, Jinja, Uganda

  • The continent of Africa straddles the equator and lies in all four hemispheres of the earth.

  • The Nile is the longest river in the world, running from Lake Victoria in Uganda to Egypt (4,100 miles).

  • The Sahara Desert in North Africa is the largest and hottest non-polar desert in the world.

    The Sahara Desert, southwest Egypt

  • Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the tallest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world with its summit of 5,895 meters (19,500 ft.).

  • The lowest point on the continent of Africa is Lake Assal in Djibouti, northeast Africa. This is the third-lowest point in the world, second to the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee.

  • Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa, the world’s largest tropical lake, and the world’s second largest fresh water lake. Originally called by a Bantu name (Nyanza), lake Victoria was renamed after Queen Victoria by the British explorer John Hanning Speke.

  • Fishing boats on Lake Victoria, Jinja, Uganda

    The population of Africa is approximately 1.2 billion.

  • Nigeria has the largest population on the continent.

  • Algeria is physically the largest country on the continent.

  • Between 1500-2000 languages are spoken on the continent of Africa.

  • At its peak, the British Empire controlled approximately 40 colonies in Africa.

Economics and Health

  • Africa has the top 10 poorest countries in the world.

    A private borehole in eastern Kenya

  • Chad, in north-central Africa, has the second-fastest growing economy in the world.

  • 33 of the world’s 48 least developed countries are located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  • Africa’s economy is growing faster than any other continent in the world.

  • Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of water-stressed countries in any one place in the world.

    Taking blood in a rural clinic

  • 47% of Africa’s population are children (African Child Data and Statistics Portal.)

  • Africa has the highest number of child-laborers; 72.1 million, approximately 48 million in sub-Saharan Africa (International Labour Organization).

  • Currently, 27.8 million people in Africa are living with HIV, the largest population in the world (BCM Health Services Journal, 2019).

    The Black Mamba snake is one of the deadliest

  • 91% of the world’s HIV positive children live in Africa (World Health Organisation, 2014).

  • Sub-Saharan Africa is home to some of the most deadly animals in the world. These include the tiny Mosquito, which kills up to 725,000 people every year, the Black Mamba snake and the Nile Crocodile.

    Kenya

  • Kenyans gained independence on June 1, 1963, and proudly celebrate Independence Day on this date, and also Republic Day (Jamhuri Day) on December 13.

    The Kenyan colors, black, white, red and green

  • Kenya lies on the Trans-Eurasian trade route known as the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. This is an initiative announced by the Chinese President in 2013 to reopen ancient trade routes between China and the west, encompassing Central Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa and Europe. Evidence of this in Kenya is seen in the extensive road and rail investment.

  • Agriculture is the largest source of foreign revenue in Kenya. Tourism is the second-largest source of foreign exchange revenue.

    Harvesting tea. Kiambu, Central Kenya

  • In June 2008, the President of Kenya launched “Kenya Vision 2030.” The goal is to bring Kenya into a “newly industrializing,”  “middle-income” country.

  • Prior to 2010, many parts of rural Kenya existed in the “hunter-gatherer” tradition. The New Constitution, launched in 2010, brought these “annexed communities” into the national conversation.

    Malnourished infant in rural Kenya

  • There are approximately 3 million orphans or vulnerable children in Kenya.

  • Rural Kenya has skipped the landline telephone era. Most Kenyans have a cellphone and use it for moving money, communication, and access to the internet and social media. In rural villages, cell phone charging is a service offered by most shops.

  • Solar technology is revolutionizing rural communities. It enables water pumping, children can study at night, cell phones can be recharged and dependency on the grid can be avoided.

  • In 2019 high school education became mandatory in rural Kenya, for all children.

  • The population of Nairobi is 3.1 million.

  • Nairobi is the hub of East Africa and is the center of US presence, UN and UNICEF.

  • 60% (approximately 2.5 million) of the Nairobi population are slum dwellers in about 200 settlements and covering 6% of the land.

  • Kibera slum houses about 250,000 of Nairobi slum-dwellers and is the biggest slum in Africa and one of the biggest in the world. (https://www.kibera.org.uk/facts-info/)

    Religion

  • A number of Church Fathers were African; among them were Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine and Athanasius, who was the chief defender of the doctrine of the Trinity.

  • The first country in the world to embrace Christianity was Kingdom of Aksum (modern-day Eritrea and a region of northern Ethiopia). In Northern Ethiopia, archaeologists have recently discovered evidence of the oldest known Christian Church in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    The ruins of the Great Mosque at Gedi (12th Century).

  • The oldest ‘existing and continually operating educational institution in the world’ is the university of Karaouine, Morocco, founded in 859. Universities and libraries as we know them today were developed in North Africa, and Timbuktu is not the proverbial end of the world, it was the center of Islamic studies for five hundred years (13th-17th century).

  • Muslim traders first came to the “Swahili Coast” (Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique) in the eighth century.

    Fort Jesus, Mombasa, build by the Portuguese in the 16th century

  • Today Isalm constitutes 10-15% of the Kenyan population (about 4.3 million).

  • A quarter of the world’s Muslims lives in Africa.

  • Christianity first arrived with the Portuguese in 1498 on the coast of Kenya. The Portuguese built Fort Jesus in Mombassa between 1593 and 1596.

    The grave of Rosina Krapf, died 13th July 1844

  • The First Protestant missionaries arrived in East Africa in January 1844, Johann Ludwig Krapf, his wife, and infant daughter. Krapf’s wife and daughter died within a few months. He resolved to continue and wrote to the Church Mission Society (CMS)

“Tell our friends at home, that there is now on the East African coast a lonely missionary grave. This is a sign that you have commenced the struggle with this part of the world; and as the victories of the church are gained by stepping over the graves of her members, you may be convinced that the hour is at hand when you are summoned to the conversion of Africa from its eastern shore.”

  • The first Protestant church in East Africa was  St. Paul’s Anglican Church, open (in a smaller building) in 1846.

    St, Paul’s Church, Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Rabai. This building was constructed in 1887.

  • Muslim extremist group, Al-Shabaab is deeply embedded in Kenya and a very real national threat. Recent attacks have been at Westgate Mall (2013), Garissa University (2015), DusitD2 complex attack, (2019).

  • Pastors ministering in danger zones (high Muslim populations), especially in the north-eastern region bordering Somalia, suffer severe persecution for their faith.

    An evangelical pastor shows the mark of an Al-Shabaab bullet in his chest. His converted Muslim friend was killed in the street

  • There are between 150 and 250 million adherents to Pentecostalism in Africa (out of a population of 1 billion).

  • Joel Osteen, the Prosperity Gospel guru, is among the top three best selling authors in East Africa.

  • Large parts of rural Africa are based on oral tradition. The absence of literary knowledge is evident in the Church. The task of the missionary, as one local pastor put it, is to “develop a culture of reading,” discernment and critical thinking.

    A typical church in eastern Kenya

  • Rural evangelical churches are small and struggling. Pastors are forced to work bi-vocationally and lack resources for study.

  • Churches in rural Kenya are attended mostly by women and children. The seating arrangments in these rural churches segregate the youth, women, and men. The family unit in rural churches is a foreign concept.

    Typical of a matatu (bus) in Kenya. with a “Christian” slogan on the back.

  • African traditional religions (indigenous religions) are experiencing a revival of interest in Africa and around the world. These religions do not seek for conversions but promote peaceful coexistence with other religions.

  • Four greatest dangers facing the Evangelical Church are persecution from a growing Muslim presence, a return to African traditional religions, the Prosperity Gospel and other radical Pentecostal groups, and nominal Christianity.

 

The facts above are garnered from various sources and personal observations. There is a mild variation on the statistics coming from various reputable organisations  This article is not intended to be a scientific treatment. All photographs were taken by Aaron Dunlop.