Wednesday 23 April 2014

Africa the Land of my Nativity!

Africa my land of nativity
Some float in beauty others sink in inelegance
Few soar in bright abundance many drown in abject destitution
Some explore your pleasure others exploit your treasure
Some sincerely nurture you while others roguishly  divesture you
A mixture of pain and joy shines on your dried face
Your broken shadow cast on the ground in bloodied tears
Your face stuck onto the heavens in endless fervent plea
I'm filled with unstoppable piety for the needy
The victims of the evil political and civil wars
The victims of corruption and neo-colonialism
The cry for justice and equality fills the air
Can’t your greedy sons dare to care for the dearth
Or will they eat their share while they flare in death
Africa my land of birth I hear your painful prayer
May the Lord fill many with compassionate flair
Them to whom your cry ache their kindness heart
Africa my land of nativity

Saturday 19 April 2014

An Easter Tenor!


An Easter Tenor!

See the Son divine hang on the Cross
See him under the harrowing pressure
See him bearing all of our sin’s dross
See him mocked and scorned in torture
See him suffering to pay the dear price
See him sacrifice his all the lost to recapture
See him hinge the prodigals for the paradise
See the divine Love offer life for redemption

Hear his finale words; “Father forgive them …”
Hear the silence while his eyes close in death
Hear the silence as his followers scatter
Hear the silence as many think it’s all over
Hear the silence as many wait in tense angst
Hear the silence while the tomb holds the hope

See the glory of the heavenly splendour awake
See the Son divine raised from death
See him the glorious over hell’s pressure
See him living beyond the grave’s sheath
See him among men the true infinite treasure
See him promise the return to the flock
See him soar to heaven in celestial grandeur
See the divine Love establish a new creation

© Newton G Kibiringi 2014




Wednesday 16 April 2014

A HUMBLE VALEDICTION TO BROTHER NICHOLAS OMONDI!


A HUMBLE VALEDICTION TO BROTHER NICHOLAS OMONDI!



From the heavens above I believe you are watching us with great joy. Though we wail and mourn your sudden departure; you and we too are glad that you are in a better place where the definition of true rest has its great heavenly nativity. Eight years of knowing you as a brother in Christ and a friend have left an indelible mark of a wonderful experience. A great life so lively spent and graciously shared. Nick you have lived your life virtuously and shared all of it faithfully with those whom you came along in your days. You have been in word, faith and character demonstrated the marks of a true disciple. A true disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ establisher of the gospel we proclaimed together.

Nicholas Omondi and I met in September 2006 in Maseno University at our first ever Christian gathering as University students. After listening to the first Christian Union Sunday sermon there came the notice from the CU ‘mum’ of the first years to register for different ministries in the Union and while I signed up for the intercessory group he joined the library docket. Right from when I first got to know him; Nick always stood upright with a glowing face of joy, a soft spoken voice and an overly humble tender character. His amazing simplicity of life and a welcoming aura must be what drew me and many other ‘freshers’ to saying hi to him on that first day for a quick catch up which ended up for some us to being  the foundation laying of a friendship that would last longer and grow deeper in our lives ahead.

Nick pursued Bachelors in Education and I pursued A Bachelors in Business Admin but wider and deeper than that was our continuous interaction in the Christian ministry. It is in the living and the sharing of the good news of our Lord and saviour that our lives were spent together the more. The Christian Union Maseno University (CUMU) was to us a new home, a new platform to dine under the mentor ship of committed brethren within whom the Lord had invested a lot of wisdom and knowledge which we longingly needed for our spiritual growth and faith development. I remember while we were first years Nick was a great friend and protege to the Chair of the Christian then Leornard Kambona; a brother who he later on told me had impacted his life so much. This was not the only friend he had but he was a caring and a sincere friend to many more people both in the union’s leadership and its membership.

The grace of the Lord continued to grow him for various leadership positions. I so clearly remember his faithful commitment to all the leadership positions he held in the Church. He served zealously in the mission field and also in the the Church. Some specific things I remember was that when he became a member of the Executive Committee as the Discipleship Coordinator he pioneered the discipleship classes for the new converts. He also played a pivotal role in the pioneering of the high school ministry which is still running with the aim of enabling the Maseno CU brethren to reach out to High Schools.

Worth specific mission is when eleven of us (Dave, Rachael, Rodgers, Janet, Mary G, Anto, Ken, Nick, Jackton, Maxi and I) were called to be in the Maseno CU executive committee. This was indeed a life transforming experience which would see us earnestly seek the grace of God in leading his people. I still remember when we both met and shared how naïve we'd frst felt to have been called to lead the Church as members of the exec. He encouraged me a lot to the trusting of the Lord in the calling to service and he always reminded me that 'wherever the Lord calls he equips'. We therefore took our positions with much faith in our God for his guidance and direction. To the entire leadership Nick’s contribution was always key. He had the calm collected voice that brought us back to the serene stream of thought in line with the lord's Spirit when debates got heated. He always arrived for the meetings earlier than all of us and always spent his time to call those who had not arrived. His devotion to scripture always enlightened us all during our bible study and in decision making in our meetings. Though he did not come out as an overly outspoken man he always had some great wisdom to share when called upon to. His humility and simplicity was always visible in the way he always considered others above and before himself. 

After our one year of serving in the CU exec Nick and Dave (CU Chair 2009/2010) started meeting together on weekly basis to study the scripture in depth. When I got to know about it and how worthy the venture was I joined them and together we thought of forming a bible study group which encouraged the indepth study, memorization and recitation of the Word of God. We called the group ‘Psalmists’ and we have great memories of sharing the word in recitation and also of witnessing the expansion of the group from one to eight other groups by the time we left.

Nick’s hard work and tender heartedness was not only seen while he was within Maseno University Christian Union walls but it also spread to his classroom, his neighbourhood and specially to his home in Bondo where he so devotedly looked after his siblings by playing the pivotal role of parenting having lost both his parents at a young age. He always did his best to ensure that things were in good shape back home something that did require him to sacrifice his time and even financial resources. Even though after finishing University in 2010 we have not managed to meet so often we always kept in touch and he continually stood with me in my mission work and while I was raising Support in ministry he always gave towards the Lord’s work that I was involved in.

It is without doubt therefore that many can willingly and confidently join me in concluding that Nick’s life has been widely and deeply spent in great kindness and compassion. His commitment to faithful living has been clearly evidenced by the testimony of his words and the conduct of his life. I believe there are many more great stories that are within his wife, his child, siblings, workmates and other family members and the many hearts of those who knew him. I'm sure his words and deeds resonate in many people’s lives and hearts. I pray that his living marks of faithfulness and diligence will continue to inspire many more people and that his so soon departure will remind us that the Lord can always call us any time. I wish to share a simple poem I wrote while reflecting on my beloved brother Nick’s sudden departure;

Beyond The Deep Slumber!

Each day’s twilight awakens from within
The longing for the dawning of a new day
Brighter and better we so yearn to see

While the curtains we shut in the night
Our hopes are that we will be there
To draw them open while the morning comes

So it is with life when we see or hear of those
We so dearly treasure having departed us
To the deep slumber of resting peace

Our longing overwhelms us to the brim
Within the serene desire of our soul;
For to see them again remains ours to forever aspire

Even though death’s mystery lives us in vast wander
The core of the eternal promise of heaven
By faith lights our souls in divine wonder


© Newton G Kibiringi

I pray that the gracious Lord will give strength and peace to Nick’s wife, to his child and to his siblings and to us his friends as we all mourn his soon departure and that He will keep the family protected and provided for in all their days. The Lord also reminds us to celebrate his devout life by continuing with the good work he has been doing and to learn a lot from it. May Nick’s soul rest in eternal peace till we meet again at Jesus’ feet.

Finally;
As I close this valediction I feel the heavy weight of the sudden departure of brother Nick especially when I remember that it happened through a road accident. As a brother I loved and treasured deeply in my heart it cannot be easy to accept. The thought that I will never walk, stand nor sit next to you again on this earth is hard to cut across nor to go round, it is so hard to comprehend the indisputable reality yet deep within my soul I still have the hope of the eternity in waiting. While tears soak my face and while my heart wails in trying to accept this mysterious reality of your departure I can only hold stronger onto the promise of the one who has walked and lived beyond death and our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that one day we will meet again, I have the faith that at Jesus feet we will gather together again in the heavenly celestial grandeur to celebrate the fullness of the glorious love of our Lord and to joyously partake of the full inheritance of the Kingdom eternal. For those who we still are in this temporary world we pray that our commitment to the truth and righteousness will continue to glow and grow by the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Let the word of the Lord be the source of true hope as it is written in 2 Corinthians 5:1-6 "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

Few tributes from more friends;

It’s by shock that I received the sudden death of our friend. Many are the memorable days spent with him as we used to struggle with SMAs .A cool n’ humble guy who could never complain. At one point a paper was given to us before the exams, people came with written answers As we did ours genuinely the 3 of us Kirimi,Nicho and I were ‘caught’ n we had to repeat the following yr. We did it and travelled back to Eld where he was working. We’ve been in Eld together n I can testify I saw a God fearing man. May the Lord rest his soul.  ~ Evans Mitaru

Fare thee well comrade. It is sad a road accident snatched you from us at the tip of your blossom. As am still coming to terms with your passing on, I must admit u lived your life well and right. I’m lost of words but memories we shared at Maseno University are still fresh. Niko, a promising, hardworking, jovial, becomes a statistic of mortalities caused by road carnage, So so sad. Nicholas, we celebrate you. To family and friends, my sincere condolence. ~ Wycliffe Bonke
I remember your composure that never left you, your consistent Christian walk and the laughter we shared on the Equators. Your passion for discipleship so tangible, near visible. In the loving arms of Daddy you've now rested, yours has been a rich legacy. I celebrate you deeply, tearing yet with understanding. Till I see you across the river, Peace. We'll continue with the discipleship work...just rest, you finished your bit. Yeah, RIP. Amen ~ Martin Baariu
A true, humble,and born-servant of Jesus Christ through the will of God our Father.He lived in humility here on earth and has left behind a true legacy founded on his zeal for the word of God.RIP bro! ~ Rimi Norman

It’s sad, and hard to believe that I have to say goodbye to Nick. We built high school ministry together, we spent deep nights in maseno exec meetings ,we slept through cold nights in the villages preaching Christ, we stayed together in Kisumu trying to make ends meet. 4months ago you marched in my colourful wedding after dearly supporting me, it’s hard to come to terms that we shall never do more together. But I make this promise that we shall continue in Christ, preaching him & discipling his people, what you did best. We shall miss u my brother & may the glory remain in Christ. Amen, amen, amen. ~ Maxwell Oloo

I have been in a daze after the news of Bro NICK'S untimely death. As I am mourning, I am not sure what am feeling now because I still can't come to terms with it. I choose to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord. He was passionate about God, committed, always understanding, the voice of reason and restraint in our sometimes heated Exec Meetings, very humble and trustworthy more than a friend, we shared our lives together. I wish this did not happen but He is in heaven, we shall meet in heaven bro. The generals and Psalmists will miss you RIP Nicholas Omondi ~ Rodgers Nyatome

Nicholas Omondi lived a given life to the Lord. He has finished his purpose and so has rested in his God. With heavy hearts we let him go but with joy tell the Father thank you for giving him to us for the time you gave him. We pray for his wife and child and the extended family that they will have peace. Amen. ~ Mrs Caroline Kasaya

It has been hard to accept that my brother Nicholas Omondi is gone to be with the Lord. we served in the exec together,he was a psalmist, he was in my wedding line ...He will be remembered for His soft voice, pastoral heart, love for God and others, humility,humour among many other qualities RIP BRO ..I WILL MISS YOU Let's meet in heaven ~ David Ndegerege

This young man was truly Chris-like! Even in death, he still impacts and challenges the lives of may; especially so my life. Congrats Nick for giving Jesus Christ your very best! See you in God's heaven! ~ Muhia Maina

I remember NICK for his faithfulness and steadfastness in the LORD. He remains in our hearts forever though he is gone to glory.As inxusa family we have lost a dear friend. R.I.P ~ Asuga Victor

With nick's shiny suits, we joked that he used to iron them with vaseline. How i will always remember friday nights we'd be sing hymns with our cracking voices if we were not watching a movie (24). cancelling one friday for the keshas he never missed at NOW International eldoret. So kind was my house mate that we named him merchant ship for he always remembered to carry something whenever he was in town. ~ Omia Amos


Goodbye brother, fare thee well my friend and rest in peace a faithful soldier; we will dearly miss you in this side of life. Kwaheri!
From your brother Newton Gatambia Kibiringi