PCEA Kuwinda Church: From a Hunting Camp to a Congregation

Every congregation in PCEA Milimani South Presbytery has a first Sunday. PCEA Kuwinda’s was held not in a building, not even in a borrowed hall, but under the shade of a tree — a fitting beginning for a church named after a hunting ground.

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A Name From the Land

The name Kuwinda is not a scriptural word or a founder’s surname — it comes directly from the land itself. Kuwinda Estate was carved from a larger farm owned by a European settler, who set aside two acres for his workers, headed by the late Simon Kimani, in 1985. Before that subdivision, part of the larger farm had served as a hunting camp — and the Kiswahili word for hunting, kuwinda, stuck to the estate that grew there, and later to the church planted within it.

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A Gift With a Vision

PCEA Kuwinda was born out of the old Lang’ata Parish — which at the time comprised PCEA Nairobi West, PCEA Muteero, and PCEA Lang’ata congregations. In 1985, the late Rev. Stanley Kahahu and his family donated one acre of land where the church now stands. According to the church’s own record, Rev. Kahahu’s gift came with a vision: to change the lives of Kuwinda estate’s residents, among whom alcoholism and other social ills were then common.

To formally establish the congregation, Rev. Kahahu met with Rev. Dr. George Wanjau — then Moderator of the PCEA General Assembly — and Rev. Geoffrey Ngari, Parish Minister of Lang’ata Parish. Under Rev. Ngari’s leadership, the old Lang’ata Parish initiated the new congregation, and the first services were held under a shade tree in 1987.

Kuwinda’s founding elders were seconded from its three sister congregations: the late Elder Habil Kimingi and the late Elder Githaiga from Lang’ata; Elder Ngurimu and the late Elder Isaac Ngatia from Nairobi West; and the late Elder John Kariuki and Elder John Kimondo from Muteero — later joined by the late Elder James Mageria from Lang’ata. The first Local Church Committee met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kinyanjui in 1987, chaired by the late Rev. Geoffrey Ngari. That same family bought the pulpit Bible still in use at Kuwinda today.

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Building on Donated and Purchased Ground

Kuwinda’s two acres of land were acquired in stages: the original one-acre gift from the Kahahu family, plus two separate half-acre parcels later bought from Edward Gitau and Agnes Kamau, both relatives of the late Rev. Stanley Kahahu.

The buildings on that land tell their own story of patient growth:

• The first structure was a mabati (iron-sheet) building — roof and sides contributed by members of the three sister congregations — used for six years.
• The minister’s manse, a three-bedroom house completed in 1992, originally housed student ministers and evangelists; it is now rented out.
• The Rev. Kahahu Memorial Centre, sponsored by the family of Mr. and Mrs. Muumbi (friends of Mr. and Mrs. Gatumo), was built as a nursery school and has since served as a church school venue, vestry, meeting hall, dispensary — and even as a temporary sanctuary when the original mabati structure was demolished to make way for the current church building.
• The main church building was started in 1995 and completed in 2005, under the supervision of the late Mr. Danson Gakimo, Mr. Simon Gikonyo, and the late Elder Peter Kagotho, with support from the local church committee, congregation, and donors.
• The Vestry, standing beside the main sanctuary, was started in 2014 and completed in 2020 under the Development Committee, chaired by Mr. Ng’ang’a, with special financial support from the late Elder Mrs. Leah Wandia Mburu and her family.
• The Church Nursery was established in 1990 for pre-primary education.

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Reaching Beyond Its Own Walls

Kuwinda did not wait until it had finished building to start giving. The congregation supports mission work at PCEA Enamarock, where member Elijah Kupele donated five acres of land; Kuwinda Church went on to purchase an additional nine acres, bringing the mission’s total to fourteen. A school on that land — four classrooms, two of them built by Kuwinda — remains an ongoing project.

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A Parish of Its Own — Briefly, and Beyond

In 1998, PCEA Kuwinda and PCEA Muteero were combined to form PCEA Karen Parish, with Rev. Jane W. Kashorda becoming its first Parish Minister — the same subdivision, recorded in Muteero’s own history, that separated the growing Lang’ata Parish into its constituent congregations. Kuwinda continues to offer regular Sunday worship, church school, Holy Communion, and mission work, contributing its share to the Parish budget and maintaining close ties with its Kuwinda estate neighbours.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the church called “Kuwinda”?

The name comes from Kuwinda Estate, itself named for the hunting camp of the larger European-owned farm from which the estate was carved in 1985. “Kuwinda” is the Kiswahili word for hunting.

Who founded PCEA Kuwinda Church?

The land was donated in 1985 by the late Rev. Stanley Kahahu and his family. The congregation itself was formed under the old Lang’ata Parish, with founding elders seconded from the Lang’ata, Nairobi West, and Muteero congregations, and its first services held under a shade tree in 1987.

What mission work does PCEA Kuwinda support?

PCEA Kuwinda supports PCEA Enamarock, where the church has helped acquire fourteen acres of land — five donated by member Elijah Kupele and nine purchased by the congregation — and helped build classrooms for an ongoing school project.

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Final Thoughts

A hunting camp, a shade tree, a family’s one-acre gift — PCEA Kuwinda’s founding story has none of the grandeur of a cathedral groundbreaking, and all the substance of real faithfulness. Nearly four decades later, the congregation that once met under a tree now supports its own mission church fourteen acres wide. That is the pattern the Presbytery keeps telling, congregation after congregation: small, faithful beginnings that outlast the ground they started on.

Historical details in this article are drawn from PCEA Milimani South Presbytery’s own published congregation records. Compiled by the Editorial Desk.