The Meeting in Kenya

Colonialism and Learning About the Loss of Dominion

The memory of one experience during my years with World Relief has stayed with me for decades because it forced me to rethink the relationship between the gospel, justice, and the Kingdom of God.

I was invited to attend a meeting in Kenya with eight respected Christian leaders. I was the only white person in the room. Among those present were the Kenyan leadership the US equivalent of a Conservative Church Network, a Liberal Church Network, two women leaders in the Anglican prayer movement, the country director of World Relief, the pastor of one of Nairobi’s largest churches, and three pastors serving in Maasai Mara, Mombasa, and Eldoret.

The meeting was called to discuss one subject: land.

As each leader spoke, I realized we were discussing far more than real estate. We were discussing history, justice, and identity: the lingering effects of colonialism.

The pastor from Eldoret described a conflict that had simmered for decades. During British colonial rule, local tribal people had been driven from their ancestral land. Large parcels of that land had then been given to other tribes who were favored by the colonial government. After Kenya gained independence in the 1960s, the new occupants remained. They had lived there for generations, yet the descendants of those who had originally been displaced still believed the land rightfully belonged to them. Both claims carried weight. Both communities had deep roots. The conflict had become part of the nation’s inheritance.

The pastor from Maasai Mara described a different form of exploitation. Land speculators approached tribal leaders with what appeared to be an enormous payment for community land. Only after the agreement was made did they discover that nearly all of the money consisted of bills in the smallest denomination. The promised fortune was little more than an illusion.

The pastor from Mombasa spoke of specific foreign companies confiscating large tracts of land to build industrial facilities, leaving local communities with little influence over decisions that profoundly affected their future.

As I listened, it became increasingly clear that colonialism had not simply changed political boundaries. It had reshaped generations of people’s ability to exercise responsibility over the places where they lived. It had robbed communities of what I now describe as dominion.

On the second day, our discussion shifted from understanding the problems to asking what the churches could do. One leader turned to the pastor of Nairobi’s large church and said, “The Vice President attends your church. Let’s ask him to promote land reform through the legislature.”

It seemed like a practical and reasonable suggestion. Before anyone else could respond, one of the Anglican prayer leaders quietly stood.

She looked around the room and asked, “Just what authority do you think you have to lobby the Vice President?”

Then, with remarkable courage, she addressed each leader personally. One by one, she reminded them of favorable land arrangements they or their organizations had received from the government. None of us escaped her scrutiny. Her point was unmistakable.

How could the Church call the nation to justice while ignoring its own compromises? 

Instead of organizing a political strategy, she called us to something much more difficult. 

She called us to repentance.

For an extended time, we prayed together, confessing our own failures before discussing the failures of our nation. I have never forgotten that meeting. It taught me that the Kingdom of God does not begin by changing governments. It begins by changing God’s people. Yet it also taught me that personal repentance alone is not enough. 

The issues before us were deeply embedded in history, institutions, economics, and culture. Colonialism had created wounds that would not disappear in a generation. The loss of dominion extended far beyond individual lives into families, communities, and entire peoples.

That meeting helped shape a conviction that has grown stronger over the years. 

The Kingdom of God is not simply about preparing individuals for heaven. It is God’s work of restoring humanity to the calling for which we were created. That restoration begins with personal faith and repentance, but it continues as communities learn to live together under the reign of Christ with justice, humility, truth, and reconciliation.

Looking back, I realize that I witnessed something profoundly biblical that day. Before seeking to reform society, the Church was called to examine itself. Before speaking prophetically to the nation, it was challenged to repent of its own 

participation in systems of privilege and injustice.

The road toward restored dominion begins there.