Preacher fellowships with alcoholics

By Kiundu Waweru

That Kenyans love their drink, and nyama choma is without a doubt. The ‘culture’ is deeply ingrained that no occasion is complete without these two on the menu.

And on weekends and public holidays, parents are known to bring their children along to social places, where beer and nyama choma are served generously. This in turn has set a dangerous precedent.

TV cameras have captured teens in school uniforms imbibing at social places and many a youth have turned into vegetables, thanks to cheap liquor. Men and women of the cloth have been vocal, loudly preaching the gospel of hellfire and brimstones to those hooked onto alcohol. Many of these ‘holy men and women’ would never go near a drinking den.

But one preacher has taken a different path. Rev Peter Kania of the PCEA Kikuyu Township church surprised many in Kikuyu town when he took the gospel to the devil’s backyard. He would be the odd visitor in the local pub, where he would sip a soda, as he created a rapport with the drunks.

"I came to Kikuyu in 2005, and saw many drunkards staggering on their way home as early as 6am. Most of the pubs would be open at this early hour," Kania recalls.

A common problem

He was deeply moved. He had just come from Meru, where he had been working for five years. "The problem of drinking is everywhere. In Meru, people were dying of local brews and the situation was going out of hand. I decided to help rehabilitate them. I quickly involved the community elders, Njuri Ncheke, and came up with a strategy."

But in Kikuyu, it was not as easy. The people are individualistic and involving the community in a cause is a cumbersome affair.

"In 2006, I went for my masters degree in South Korea. Upon my return I embarked on a survey of Kikuyu pubs. I found the situation worse than Meru. There were 68 drug dealing joints and over 150 pubs, which dealt with illicit brew. Even the so-called conventional, licensed pubs, sold illicit brews to minors."

Touched by this alarming discovery, Kania engaged the drunks most of whom were generous and bought him countless sodas. "Others were suspicious and would urge me to take an alcoholic drink, to be at the same level with them."

The strange invitation

Smiling, he continues, "Then I realised even in pubs they have leaders. It is the leaders who would silence the others when they turned rowdy. I, therefore, started working with the leaders."

The good preacher, overtly quiet and cool, that is until he hits the pulpit, did a strange thing. On October 21 last year, he invited all the drunks to church.

"And they honoured the call, with 560 of them coming. Most of them do not take a bath, are unkempt and they stunk to high heavens. Regardless, I hugged and welcomed them. We had made a feast for them, slaughtered five goats and we all ate together."

They were in the church the whole day and invited guests talked to them on the effects of drugs to their health, social and economic wellbeing.

"Most of them have lost their wives because they cannot perform sexually — they confided. And because they were always intoxicated, they could not keep or find jobs and thus the rate of crime was high. On that day, most of them came to church drunk yet it was only 9am."

A welcome change

The Rev says in an interesting twist, some pub owners stormed the church furious that the church had stolen their patrons.

"They wondered how I hoped to end the drinking problem, something that even the Government had failed to do. I shared with them my desire to rehabilitate the people and hence minimise the vice."

At the end of the day, 50 of them registered to be rehabilitated and were initiated into the alcoholic anonymous group. They meet every Monday for counselling for an hour, facilitated by a trained elder.

In December last year, Kania organised a similar event that brought together almost 600 alcoholics.

"Again, the AA group appealed to them, and a further group of 30 decided to be taken through the rehabilitation process."

The Reverend says that today, over 67 former alcoholics are fully rehabilitated. "The next step was to find them work. Most of them had trained in vocational courses and got jobs as carpenters, welders and electricians. Also, we are re — uniting those who had broken up with their spouses and solemnising their marriages."

Many others have started catechism classes for baptism while some have joined the Presbyterian Christian Men fellowship.

And looking into the genesis of the problem, Kania says that society is quick to condemn without conducting a research of the issue at hand.

Challenge to men

"Our youth lack leadership, because the fathers have become irresponsible, relegating the role of parenting to the mother. And in July this year, I invited all the responsible men to help chart a way forward. About 1000 men, from all walks of life graced the event themed, "Don’t you care the boy child is perishing?""

The Rev says that during the men-only forum, the speakers urged men to take the mantle again, love their families and show leadership.

And the rehabilitated drunks have started a dance group where they perform in different churches, using Bible stories to preach the anti-drug message. They are in the process of acquiring land, for a rehabilitation centre where they will put up a vocational workshop and an IT centre to cater for people who have no college education.

Indeed, as the Rev points out, despite Kikuyu pioneering education, drunkenness and ignorance has contributed to education standards going down.

"In Kikuyu District, an average of 13 students go on to the University, and rarely do you get an A grade, the greatest contributor of under performance being alcohol and drugs."

As I leave the preacher, I wish him good luck in such an enormous campaign.