- Quakers in Kenya
Kenya contains the largest body of Quakers in a single nation. There were about 133,000 members of theReligious Society of Friends there, in the year 2008 (according to theFriends World Committee for Consultation ). The Quaker faith has been thriving and growing in Kenya for over 100 years.History
The Society of Friends were the first Christian group to minister to the
Luhya people in western Kenya.On
April 23 ,1902 three Friends — Arthur Chilson, Edgar Hole, and Willis Hotchkiss — set sail from New York toMombasa, Kenya . They went on behalf of the Cleveland Friends Meeting. From there they made their way across land toKaimosi and set up a mission there onAugust 17 .From that small beginning, Quakerism grew and spread throughout Kenya, although it is still concentrated in the western area. It also spread to the neighboring countries of
Uganda ,Rwanda ,Burundi ,Democratic Republic of Congo , andTanzania .Yearly Meetings
Yearly meeting s in Kenya are part of theFriends United Meeting . They include:*Bware Yearly Meeting, based in Suna
*Central Yearly Meeting, based inKakamega
*Chavakali Yearly Meeting
*East Africa Yearly Meeting (Kaimosi), based in Tiriki
*East Africa Yearly Meeting (North), based inKitale
*Elgon East Yearly Meeting, based inKitale
*Elgon Religious Society of Friends (West), based inLugulu ViaWebuye
*Kakamega Yearly Meeting
*Lugari Yearly Meeting, based in Turbo
*Malava Yearly Meeting
*Nairobi Yearly Meeting
*Tuoli Yearly Meeting, based inKapsabet
*Vihiga Yearly Meeting
*Vokoli Yearly Meeting, based inWodanga External links
* [http://www.quakerinfo.com/memb2000.shtml Statistics by Country]
* [http://www.quaker.org/quest/issue5-4.html Article by Robert Juma Wafula in Quaker Theology, #5, Autumn 2001]
* [http://quaker.org/qpr/zarembka-paper.htm Paper by David Zarembka]
* [http://orvillejenkins.com/profiles/luhya.html Profile of the Luhya People]
* [http://www.fum.org/about/memberyearly.html FUM Yearly Meetings]
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