By Jeremick Joe
Key points
- Hundreds of Adventurers and Pathfinders in official uniforms marched into a packed Nairobi Central Church, carrying flags bearing the messages “One Voice 27 – Mission for All” and “All Things New…Hope Starts Here.”
- Union President Pastor Joel Okindo accompanied by The Treasurer Elder Lameck Anyona challenged Adventists in Kenya to overcome tribalism, classism and other divisions, saying unity and love must be visible before the church can effectively witness to the world.
- Union Executive Secretary Pastor Arphaxard K. Kiurire took the campaign to Bamburi Great News at the Coast, urging members to use their phones and digital platforms as tools for evangelism.
- Leaders were distributed across the East Kenya Union Conference territory, including Elder Nicholas Ondicho in Kajiado County, Leah Kitur at Lavington, Pr. Emmanuel Tumpes at LaiserHill among other department Directors.
Hundreds of Adventurers and Pathfinders in official uniforms marched into a packed Nairobi Central Church as the church, joined by East Kenya Union Conference (EKUC) launched One Voice 27, a campaign designed to mobilise every church member for mission through September 2027. Carrying flags marked “One Voice 27 Mission for All” and “All Things New – Hope Starts Here,” the young people symbolised the central place of children and youth in witnessing, ministry and the future leadership of the church.
The launch brought together church members and leaders around a straightforward challenge: every believer should take an active role in sharing Christ and seek to lead at least one person to Jesus. The campaign combines personal evangelism, unity, love, discipleship and digital outreach, making mission a responsibility not only for pastors and evangelists but for ordinary members.
Unity before witnessing
EKUC President Pastor Joel Okindo described the launch as a special moment whose significance extended beyond Nairobi. However, he stressed that One Voice 27 must begin with the church itself. Referring to Jesus’ prayer in John 17 that His followers may be one, Pr. Okindo argued that Christian unity is essential to credible witnessing.
He warned that the church cannot convincingly call people to Christ while allowing divisions among its own members. He challenged Nairobi Central Church, which he described as having more than 9,000 members, to overcome tribalism, classism and other divisions.
“If you are not united, no one will believe the message,” was the thrust of his appeal. For Okindo, the church’s witness is demonstrated not only by preaching but also by how believers treat one another. Unity, therefore, is not an internal matter separate from evangelism; it is part of the message Christians present to the world.
Love as a public witness
Pr. Okindo also drew from John 13:34–35, where Jesus commands His followers to love one another. He said believers need both unity and love for God if they are to convince the world that they have encountered Christ.
His message was direct: where Jesus is, there should be love and unity. Membership in a Christian denomination, including the Seventh-day Adventist Church, does not automatically give someone the power to reveal Christ effectively. Instead, the evidence that a person has met Jesus should be visible in the way they live and relate to others.
He pointed members to the early Christian church in Acts 2 and Acts 4. After receiving the Holy Spirit, believers were united and did not allow differences in wealth, education or social status to define their relationships. Pr. Okindo presented this early church as an example of the kind of community One Voice 27 should encourage.
He called on young people, children, mothers, fathers and every other member to experience oneness with Christ and with fellow believers. A united and loving church, he said, can become attractive to people searching for hope, because new believers will see a community where they can belong and remain.
Win one, lose none
From unity and love, Pr. Okindo moved to the practical heart of the campaign. Every member is encouraged to identify at least one person to lead to Jesus and prepare for baptism during the campaign period ending in September 2027.
The person could be a spouse, child, sibling, friend, neighbour or another individual within the believer’s sphere of influence. Pr. Okindo urged members not to approach the future empty-handed but to consider who they could walk with toward Christ.
This challenge was captured in the campaign’s rallying cry: “Win one, lose none.” The congregation repeated the phrase together, turning it from a slogan into a collective commitment.
Pr. Okindo nevertheless stressed that winning someone is only the beginning. New believers must be nurtured, supported and discipled so they remain rooted in Christ. The campaign’s objective is therefore not merely to increase baptism numbers or produce a larger membership register. It is to build disciples who remain connected to Christ. Okindo also pledged to lead by example, saying he had already prepared people for baptism.
The scale of the mission
The potential reach of One Voice 27 becomes clearer when considered against the size of EKUC. According to the Adventist Yearbook, the Union had 711,436 members worshipping across 4,152 churches as of June 30, 2025. Its territory covers Eastern Kenya and Somalia and consists of four conferences and seven fields.
If every one of those members successfully led one new person to Christ and all the new members remained active, the theoretical membership could rise to 1,422,872. The figure is not a prediction or guarantee, but it illustrates the potential of a campaign built around a simple principle: one believer reaching one person.
Pr. Okindo also challenged Nairobi Central Church to work toward doubling its membership from more than 9,000 to more than 18,000 by 2030. The strategy is simple: one member, one relationship and one soul.
The phone as a pulpit
One Voice 27 also recognises that mission increasingly takes place beyond church buildings. Pr. Okindo encouraged members to embrace digital evangelism and asked them to raise their phones, iPads and laptops as they dedicated their devices to God’s work.
The gesture represented a shift in how ordinary technology can be viewed. Phones used for conversations, work and entertainment can also become instruments for sharing the gospel. The campaign encourages members to use prepared content and digital platforms to engage people with the message of Christ.
At Bamburi Great News on the Coast, EKUC Executive Secretary Pastor Arphaxard K. Kiurire reinforced the digital mission. He reminded members that the church has been entrusted with proclaiming God’s love and the message of Christ’s soon coming, describing it as “a mission for all.”
Kiurire said members can proclaim the gospel through streets, open-air meetings, personal evangelism and digital platforms. He urged them to share messages, post Bible verses, send direct messages, share testimonies, forward gospel content, invite people to hear the message and begin conversations about Jesus.
His instruction was deliberately simple: members do not have to do everything; they only need to do their part. He summarised the digital approach through individual actions: one message, one tweet, one post, one direct message, one screenshot, one testimony and one invitation.
Kiurire ultimately described the campaign as having one voice, one mission and one purpose: Jesus saves and Jesus is coming. He urged members to see every device as a pulpit, every platform as a mission field and every believer as a messenger.
Taking hope to the unreached
At Nairobi Central Church, Elder Lamec Anyona, Treasurer of the East Kenya Union Conference, joined Pastor Joel Okindo for the launch and described the experience as a blessing and a source of encouragement.
Eld. Anyona said the Nairobi Central programme featured activities running from morning until evening, giving members an opportunity to embrace the One Voice 27 message and prepare themselves for active ministry.
“We have launched people, have accepted the message of One Voice 27, and they are ready now to start working day and night in reading the Bible, and ministering to others and reaching many others who have no hope, so they can be able to come closer to Christ,” Anyona said.
He said the true measure of the launch would be seen in what members do after leaving the church. The message, he said, should move from the launch ceremony into practical ministry as believers seek out people who have not yet found hope in Christ.
Eld. Anyona expressed confidence that One Voice 27 could reach deeper into Nairobi as members work together and take responsibility for sharing the gospel.
“We believe that this One Voice message will be able to reach the deepest parts of Nairobi,” he said.
He called for cooperation among members as the church seeks to reach people and places that remain unreached, saying those who have accepted the message must now become active participants in carrying it forward.
His message reinforced the wider challenge of One Voice 27: members should not simply attend programmes but should read the Bible, minister to others and deliberately reach people who need hope.
The message across the Union
The launch was not confined to Nairobi. Union leaders were distributed across the EKUC territory to carry the campaign to different communities.
In Kajiado County, Associate Treasurer Elder Nicholas Ondicho led worship at Laiser Church. He reminded members that the mission of the church belongs to everyone, not only pastors, elders or administrators. Returning to Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21, “That they all may be one,” Ondicho emphasised that members may have different professions, talents, responsibilities and resources while sharing one identity in Christ and one responsibility to proclaim the everlasting gospel.
He challenged each believer to ask, “Lord, what can I personally do for Your mission?” The answer, he said, may involve time, talent, professional skills, resources or personal influence. He urged members to use whatever they have to reach others for Christ.
A message of hope
Elder Jackson Olango, Under Treasurer of the East-Central Africa Division, delivered the Nairobi sermon and explained that One Voice 27 would run intensively from the launch through September 2027. He connected the campaign with the story of Jesus, from His birth and ministry through His death, resurrection and ascension to the promise of His second coming.
The theme “All Things New Hope Starts Here” draws from Revelation 21:5, where Christ promises to make all things new. Eld. Olango also used Jesus’ parable of the great banquet in Luke 14:15–24 to portray the gospel as an invitation extended to everyone in a world filled with competing voices, pressures and interests.
He referred to Matthew 9:35, where Jesus saw multitudes as harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus responded with compassion, and Eld. Olango challenged Adventists to show the same concern for people around them.
Many people are struggling with family problems, sickness, difficult circumstances and uncertainty. Eld. Olango said Christians have been strategically placed to become “vendors of hope” to their neighbours. At the centre of that mission is love rather than pressure, numbers or recognition.
A call to action
The Nairobi launch concluded with the hymn “Hark! The Voice of Jesus Calling,” whose question, “Who will go and work today?” provided a fitting conclusion to a campaign centred on personal responsibility.
The question now extends across the East Kenya Union Conference. Who will reach a neighbour? Who will share a Bible verse? Who will invite someone to church? Who will use a phone to share hope? Who will prepare one person for baptism? Who will win one and lose none?
With 711,436 members and 4,152 churches, EKUC already has a vast network through which its gospel mission can travel. If members embrace the challenge as more than a slogan, reach one person, disciple that person and help them remain connected to Christ, the campaign could have significant numerical and spiritual impact.
Yet the deeper goal is not simply a larger membership register. One Voice 27 seeks a church that is more united, more loving and more willing to participate actively in its mission. The launch’s images of young people marching in Nairobi, flags rising above the congregation, leaders travelling to the Coast and Kajiado, and communication efforts reaching Kisii all reflected one message: the mission belongs to everyone.
Not every believer will preach from a pulpit, conduct a public evangelistic meeting or possess the same talents. But every believer can contribute something. As Pr. Kiurire reminded the church, members do not have to do everything; they only have to do their part.
That part may begin with one conversation, one invitation, one message, one testimony or one relationship. It may mean walking patiently with a new believer after baptism so that the person does not become lost. In this sense, the words “Win one, lose none” describe both evangelism and discipleship.
One Voice 27 has therefore moved the question of mission from the platform to the individual believer. Its success will depend on whether members translate the launch into daily action: overcoming divisions, showing love, using their talents and technology, reaching neighbours, nurturing new believers and keeping Christ at the centre.
The campaign has begun, but its most important chapter will be written through the ordinary choices of thousands of believers. The final question remains the one heard at the close of the Nairobi launch: who will go and work today?
For East Kenya Adventists, One Voice 27 is an invitation to answer that question together, with one voice, one mission and one purpose. Its rallying call is clear: win one, lose none.
The campaign also places young people at the centre of this responsibility. The procession of Adventurers and Pathfinders was presented not merely as a colourful opening ceremony but as a picture of a generation being prepared for meaningful service. Their participation reflects the expectation that children and youth can witness to their peers, serve in the church and grow into future leaders. By involving members across generations, One Voice 27 presents mission as a shared responsibility rather than a specialised activity reserved for clergy or experienced evangelists. The emphasis on relationships is equally important. A believer is encouraged to identify someone, build trust, share faith and remain present throughout the journey. In that way, evangelism becomes a continuing relationship rather than a single invitation or event. The campaign therefore connects witness, community, discipleship, technology and hope today and hope.