One Year

January 14, 2026April 16, 2026 by Jonathan In Nairobi Church Plant 5 Comments

On Sunday, January 4, 2026 Sovereign Grace Church Nairobi celebrated our first anniversary as a church. It was a special day of celebrating God’s faithfulness and goodness to us. To think that we began this journey with a team of just three couples in September 2024, meeting in the Kiama’s living room on Wednesday nights for a short study in God’s Word, singing together, praying together, and spending time together over a shared meal.

Not only do we celebrate the number of people that have joined us, but we rejoice in the work God continues to do in the lives of our people. One of those who was baptized that Sunday testified that before coming to SGC Nairobi she hadn’t really understood the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and how it made a difference in every area of life. All she had known of church included people just trying harder to be good, or pretending to be better than they were, leaders more concerned about their flock tithing than shepherding their hearts. There is now a contagious joy evident in this woman’s life, as she serves the church’s hospitality ministry every Sunday and has become more bold to share her faith and life with others.

Thanks for all of your prayers, specifically for this special service, but also throughout the last year. Please don’t stop! We need them now more than ever!

We also enjoyed a wonderful time having family with us for the holidays – Tiana, Josh, and Sophie. We missed being together with Hannah, Henrik, and Sylvie, but at least we got to spend some time with them in November. It’s always hard when the kids leave after a visit, especially when they travel thousands of miles away! But we entrust each other to the Lord, even when it brings tears to our eyes and pain to our hearts. Thanks for praying for this aspect of our lives as well!

A few highlights from our one-year celebration service:

• We ran out of room! Every seat was taken and some had to stand at the back. We had 100 communion elements, which usually last for 2 communion celebrations, and we ran out!
• We had five video greetings from SG churches, and Pastor Ken Mbugua from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Nairobi came with his family to encourage us in person, as well as representatives from other like-minded churches.
• Brian preached from John 17 and reminded the church that our unity with one another comes from our shared unity in the Father and the Son, not created from within ourselves. You can watch the sermon here.
• We welcomed 31 people into our first membership!
• After the service we went to the Leslie home (where the church started) and had a baptism service – three people were baptized!
• We continued to celebrate in fellowship over BBQ pork, chicken, ugali, and cake!