Truth in Swahili: Kenya’s Growing Need for Biblically Sound Resources
The John MacArthur Charitable Trust is funding a translation of The MacArthur Study Bible notes into Swahili, the national language of Kenya. More than 200 million people in Kenya and several other East Africa countries speak Swahili, which makes it one of the most frequently used languages in the world.
Stephen Muigai, a native Kenyan and third-year student at The Master’s Seminary, helps lead the translation efforts. Below, Stephen describes his conversion, talks about the state of the church in Kenya and explains why The MacArthur Study Bible notes are such a strategic resource for his home country.
Stephen Muigai knows that millions of people in Kenya, his home country, are self-deceived. He knows this because he was once one of them.
Growing up, Stephen identified as a Christian, as did most of his relatives, friends, and classmates at school. Stephen assumed he was a Christian because he attended a presbyterian church. His family was not Muslim, so they thought of themselves as Christian.
“[In Kenya], anyone who doesn’t identify as a Muslim identifies as a Christian,” Stephen said. “It’s a cultural thing. People pray because they are expected to. They sing praise songs. They attend church. But their understanding of the gospel is shallow. They do not know doctrine. For that reason, many are self-deceived, thinking they are Christians even though they don’t truly understand the gospel. God saved me from that self-deception.”
During university, Stephen attended a different church. There he heard a clear presentation of the gospel. He realized he was not a Christian because everyone around him identified as a Christian. And he learned that no good works would get him into heaven. Instead, he needed to repent and trust in Christ alone.
As he committed his life to Christ and started to grow in his faith, he realized that even though he’d heard the gospel at his new church, he was also hearing a lot of shallow, unbiblical ideas. One reason he started to recognize the shallow nature of the teaching was because of an American preacher he was listening to on YouTube: John MacArthur.
After school, the Lord brought Stephen from Kenya to New York for work. There he joined a Baptist church with several connections to The Master’s Seminary, including a deacon who had attended. Over time, two things became clear to Stephen. First, God was calling him to return to Kenya and provide resources and biblical teaching to the many shallow Kenyan churches. Second, he needed theological training if he was going to serve Kenya well.
“That’s how I ended up at The Master’s Seminary,” Stephen said. “I didn’t apply anywhere else.”
Since coming to TMS, Stephen has grown even more passionate about one day returning to his home country. If God allows, he wants to train men and produce resources that will help pastors teach God’s Word accurately and see errors in the false gospel that has swept the country.
In place of biblical truth, many Kenyans are taught that if they obey God and have faith in Him, He will give them health and wealth. That, of course, is the prosperity gospel. Sadly, that false gospel is rampaging across the continent of Africa. In many towns and villages throughout Kenya, elements of the prosperity gospel are mixed with tribal traditions, even pagan practices that have been part of many Kenyans’ family and culture for centuries. This creates syncretic religion, an unholy combination of paganism and Christianity. Stephen knows that the Kenyan church will not reject tribal rituals, syncretism, and the prosperity gospel until they understand Scripture’s true meaning and are taught sound doctrine.
“The solution to what ails the Kenyan church is sound theological teaching,” Stephen said. “There’s a tremendous lack of biblical resources across the country.”
Stephen says many pastors mean well, but they have no idea how to handle the text. It seems that no matter what verses they preach from, they often end up repeating the same message: God blesses those who obey. There’s some truth to that, but the Bible is so much richer, and the gospel is so much more powerful than that simplistic message. So what’s the solution? Help them interpret the Bible accurately. A great first resource for that is The MacArthur Study Bible.
Over the past several months, Stephen has had the privilege of working on translating The MacArthur Study Bible notes into Swahili. It’s thrilling work, especially when Stephen thinks about the many pastors who will one day depend on the notes as they prepare sermons.
“There's a new generation of pastors in Kenya, especially the young pastors, that crave resources like these study notes in Swahili,” Stephen said. “They recognize that there’s something wrong with the prosperity gospel. They need more resources to help them recognize error and teach truth. By distributing this resource and others like it, you can see that within a few years, there very well could be a revival of sound doctrine and authentic faith in Kenya.”
Thank you for your support of the John MacArthur Charitable Trust. With your help, we are funding this strategic project, translating truth from The MacArthur Study Bible notes into Swahili, providing that country a resource that can have an enduring impact for the sake of the gospel.
