A Church is Born in Nairobi, Kenya

An update from Brian Kiama, Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Nairobi, Kenya…

In the Lord’s kindness, Sovereign Grace Church Nairobi was born on January 5th 2025, in the Leslies’ home…well, to be more precise…in their garage. For me, it all began about two and a half years ago, during a time when me and my wife Julia were wondering what was next for us after I graduated from the Pastors College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My pastor, Michael Granger, suggested that we consider planting a church in Nairobi. My immediate response was “No”, but little did I know what the Lord was orchestrating and had in store in the months following. Fast forward to December 2022, Jonathan and Lilli Leslie visited Trinity Fellowship Church, Addis Ababa, and met with Michael and I. The Lord had already put the desire in Jonathan’s heart to see a Sovereign Grace church planted in Nairobi, and He used this encounter to kindle the same desire and dream in my heart as well.

Fast forward again to the summer of 2024. Both Jonathan and I got ordained and were commissioned (by Cornerstone Community Church, Burnsville and Trinity Fellowship Addis Ababa respectively) to plant SGC Nairobi. Our two families then, together with Bereket and Abigail Geleta, formed the initial core group of the church planting team. And so, after many months of praying, dreaming, and planning, and after more families buying into the vision for the church plant, the church was finally born on January 5th.

The Lord has been continually surprising us, far surpassing our expectations, which has been a sweet reminder that this is His Church, and He is faithful to build and establish it. Jonathan and I regularly remind each other and the church, that we cannot take any credit for what the Lord is doing. God has been using His word, through the preaching and singing, to build a growing community of believers that is centred on the gospel.

A number of people have shared how much they been affected and drawn by the love they have experienced in the church. Others who hadn’t been to any church for months or years came in thinking that salvation is earned by their good works. Many of these people have been coming consistently, and over time, they have been gaining a clearer understanding of the gospel. The Spirit truly is at work in our small but growing church, and His word is bearing fruit among us.

In the recent weeks we have had an average of about 40 adults in attendance and about 15 children. We are quickly outgrowing the garage and will need to find a public meeting space in the area of Westlands, Nairobi. Our desire is to be a faithful, gospel-centred church that plants other gospel-centred churches in the years to come.

Please pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up more labourers to send into His harvest. Pray for an outpouring of His Spirit and for the gospel to continue advancing in Nairobi and beyond. Pray that the Lord will establish SGC Nairobi and other faithful churches in the city, being firmly rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray that the Lord will lead us to a good location for church gatherings. Pray also that the Lord will give us a godly and gifted Kenyan man to be our worship pastor.

Thank you for praying with us, to the God who supplies all our needs, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!