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With a Bible in one hand and a loudspeaker in the other, Joel Limo skirts public places preaching the gospel of repentance to whoever will stop to listen. Limo’s message is crystal clear: repent and seek God, because judgment day is nigh.
His is the loud voice heard preaching during market days in Ngong’, Rongai and Kiserian towns as well as the nagging voice in many a Nairobi-bound matatu.
In the evening, he stands at any bus stop and delivers the gospel to passers-by. He says he has also preached in the streets of New York and California.
Limo was not always a preacher, although he says he was brought up in a Christian home. The class seven drop-out started competitive sports at a young age. He drew inspiration from his parents who were marathoners as well. Mary Chepkosgei, his mother, and James Limo, his father ran for the Kenya national team in the 50s and 60s, both winning provincial titles.
In 2002, having dropped out of school, young Joel Limo borrowed money from a friend and boarded the next bus to Nairobi.
He settled in Ngong’ town which was the training ground for marathon champions including current National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) President and legendary cross country, track and marathon star, Paul Tergat.
However, things did not turn out as rosy as Limo had expected. Without a job and no one to care for him, he spent many nights sleeping in the cold or in friends’ houses. Often, during the day, he would do menial jobs to earn money for food. Undeterred, he continued practicing until 2004 when his big break came.
His first race was a 30-kilometre marathon organised by the Kenya Armed Forces where Limo emerged top-30 out of 800 participants.
That same year, Limo says his girlfriend, now wife, Victoria Njoroge made an online application for a race in Milan, Italy. She also obtained air fare for him from a friend and in May that year, Limo took his first flight overseas.
He went on to have a successful running career spanning 14 years across different countries in the world, as well as different states in the US. In total, Limo has bagged 78 medals and 18 trophies from participating in different races across the world.
Despite a lucrative career, Limo still lives in desperation. He is now older and no longer as active as he used to be.
He says the only time the government has ever shown him support was in 2013 when Athletics Kenya sent him and two other runners to represent the country in Thailand. The three gave a sterling performance but the government did not reward their efforts.
Feeling demoralised, Limo turned to God for solace, and this marked his spiritual turning point. He recounts that one night, while his wife was soundly asleep; he saw a bright flashing light and heard God speaking to him in a dream.
“God spoke to me and told me to preach his word because He will use me to transform the athletics industry and to change the world.”
After this revelation, he began evangelising through the Deliverance Church where he is a member. Limo says that with his church pastor, they opened a church in Gataka area of Ngong’ and the two have managed to grow the church membership from five initial members to 80 faithful currently.
“It is so hard for an athlete to get any assistance in Kenya, and that is why I have turned to God to help me because He is the only one who can help me and other athletes in this country,” he says.
Limo notes that the main challenge for athletes in the country is getting a sponsor for international races as well as obtaining airfare and official documentation to travel abroad. Red tape in the local athletics body also discriminates older athletes from participating in races as young blood is given preference.
“There are athletes who have settled in other countries because they are treated better there than here in Kenya. If I were not as patriotic as I am, I would have already taken citizenship in another country where I would be treated better,” Limo says.
Financial difficulties have driven him to the brink of poverty as he has a family to support yet jobs are difficult to come by. As a result, he now is hawking 40 of his personal tracksuits from previous races at a throwaway price of Sh200 per suit. “I use proceeds from selling the suits to feed my family,” he says.
