From Community Center to Kingdom Impact: The Parklands Baptist Church Story

Parklands Baptist Church was uniquely established by the International Mission Board with its own registration, unlike other Baptist churches under the Baptist Convention of Kenya. The church began as the "Parklands Community Center" in 1969, purchased from Consolata Sisters to reach the Asian community in Parklands.

• International Mission Board partnership was crucial to PBC's beginning
• PBC has its own trustees and makes independent expansion decisions
• Originally established as Parklands Community Center in 1969 to reach Asians
• A Baptist reading room was opened at Ngara in the early 1970s
• In 1976, the missionaries started a congregation with 42 members

The remarkable origin story of Parklands Baptist Church reveals God's sovereign hand at work decades before its current influence emerged. Founded in 1969 as "Parklands Community Center" through the International Mission Board, this ministry began with a unique DNA and purpose. Unlike other Baptist churches operating under the Baptist Convention of Kenya, Parkie was independently registered, allowing autonomous decision-making that has fueled its distinctive growth and ministry approach.

What began as a strategic outreach to the Asian community in Parklands evolved through divine orchestration. The purchase of property from Consolata Sisters established a community hub with a library and hall where missionaries built relationships with local residents. By the early 1970s, this vision expanded to include a Baptist reading room at Ngara – a seemingly small addition that would become a pivotal connection point in God's unfolding plan.

Rev. Ambrose shares a powerful testimony of divine positioning – how as a high school student in 1973, he regularly visited this reading room while waiting for his bus, completely unaware that God was preparing him to one day lead the very church connected to this ministry. When missionaries formally launched a congregation of 42 members in 1976.

Through discipleship and community, what started as a strategic mission outpost transformed into a thriving ministry that continues to impact the kingdom. This journey reminds us that God positions people and resources long before we recognize His divine plan unfolding. Where might God be positioning you today for future kingdom impact?

Chapters

• 0:00 International Mission Board Origins
• 0:46 Unique Baptist Church Registration
• 1:43 Reaching Asians in Parklands
• 3:28 Personal Connection to Baptist Reading Room
• 5:31 Church Formation and Divine Positioning

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

We really want to thank God for the International Mission Board that has worked with Paki since its inception and many of the missionaries who came at that time were on the International Missions Board. And Parklands Baptist Church was begun by the mission, the Baptist mission, by the mission, the Baptist mission. The reason why Parklands Baptist Church is not the same as Ruaraka Baptist, angiriko Baptist and Riruta Baptist, hallelujah, is because Parklands Baptist Church was started specifically by the Baptist mission, registered in its own name. The other Baptist churches are registered under the Baptist Convention of Kenya and the Baptist Convention of Kenya has its own trustees because it is registered in the government. Parklands Baptist Church was registered in its own name and that's why we have our own trustees. We do not go to the Baptist Convention trustees to help us sort out issues of expansion. We decide those decisions in-house and we implement them and we move forward. And even though at the Baptist Convention we used to have moderators, now we have a president. So the Baptist Convention the guy in the top there is a president. He's called President Bernard Oboya, hallelujah. But he's a pastor of a local church in Nairobi. And one of the things we have really thanked God is that when the Baptist Convention needs help. Hallelujah, they come to Parklands Baptist Church and so we believe that God saw ahead in time and said Parklands Baptist would be a different, have a different DNA.

Speaker 1: 2:23

And right there at the beginning, the reason why it was even planted in Parklands was so that we could reach out the Asians in Parklands. That church, which is at Ojijo Road, was bought by the Baptist Mission from Consolata Sisters, the Consolata Sisters, the Consolata Sisters. It was bought by them and it was called Parklands Community Center. It was not a church, it was a community center and so planted in Parklands and basically they had a library and they had a big hall and they had some small place and so the Asians would come, the mothers would come and the missionaries would just sit with them and develop relationships with them. Hallelujah, that was way back in 1969. Those days. Relationships with them. Hallelujah, that was way back in 1969. Those days. And so in around 1971, 72, 73, they started what we call a bookshop at Ngara, a Baptist reading place.

Speaker 1: 3:44

Now I went to Jamuri High School in Form 1 in 1973. And I was not staying in Parklands, I used to stay in Nairobi South B, and there was a bus we used to take from Garat to South B number 11, which used to come from Parklands straight through to Uko South B, straight through to Ucos South Bay and while I was waiting for the bus, I saw the Baptist reading room at the bus stop and I used to go into that reading room and read while I wait for my bus, not knowing that God was locating this young boy, one day To be the senior pastor of Parklands Baptist Church. And you know, when God locates you, he locates you. In 1974, I got saved, but I'm not severe. I really liked what Pastor Simon said about going back to your first calling and I remember that time we were on fire and we are still on fire, if you count from 1974 up to today. It's not about being a pastor, it's being a kingdom citizen, and so we really want to thank God for the partnership we've had with the International Missions Board, the Missions Board.

Speaker 1: 5:14

And then, like I was telling you later, when the missionaries needed a place to worship, they started worshiping at the Baptist Community Center in the evenings and around 1976, they decided to start and launch a congregation. So in 1976, a congregation was launched of 42 members, half of them the missionaries and half of them, the young people who stayed around Parklands. By that time in 1976, by the way my dad, who was working for Kenya Railways, shifted from South Bay because he was given a job at railway headquarters and so he was upgraded to come to Parklands in the railway housing. It was an upgrade, hallelujah. That is how we came to Parklands in 1976. That same year, some of my friends who are coming with me to Jamori High School said hey, there's a church here and we can play basketball, volleyball and have a reading room and things like that. That's how I came to Parklands and that's how the missionaries started being our disciples. They started discipling us and slowly and slowly, we began to engage.