Nakuru Prison Ministry

Nakuru is the fourth largest city in Kenya. It is situated next to a crater lake near the centre of the country about three hours northwest of the capital Nairobi. In 2007, Nakuru was hit hard by post election violence as the tribal nature of politics in Kenya reached a boiling point. At that time many people lost their homes and their loved ones. Pastor Mike Brawan of Nakuru Metro Church lost his church building to arson after gaining a seat on city council.

Pastor Mike is loved and respected in his community because of the positive things he has done as a councilor, a pastor and a businessman.  He lost his parents at a young age and found himself on the streets becoming heavily involved in gang life as an adolescent. 

While pick-pocketing worshipers at a tent rally Mike suddenly felt pulled to the alter call and ended up being saved.  Life became harder at that point as he was alienated from his gang and still had no steady job or place to live.  One evening he heard screams and came across a gang of young men who were trying to rape a young girl.  Mike waded into the group fighting off the attackers until he was eventually able to carry the girl to safety.  Upon hearing of his bravery in protecting their daughter, her parents gave him a place to live with them, some employment and sent him back to school. So at a ripe age of 18 Mike began the process of finishing primary school. Since then Mike has seen God pour out his blessing and in return he has tried to find ways to repay the kindness he has received and help people in crisis.

A major problem in the urban areas of Kenya is men and women not being able to afford licenses to sell goods as street vendors.  If they are caught by police they are sent to jail for 6 months.  For women this is especially difficult as by law their children are incarcerated with them.  However, when it is a question of putting food on the table many take the risk.

Another problem is when employees don’t have proper documents to work in a certain industry.  This is supposed to be the responsibility of the employer to make sure the appropriate papers are held by new hires and that they are maintained. However, if a regulatory authority comes to the workplace and finds an employee without proper documentation they are jailed while the employer gets off with a small fine.

Pastor Mike began going into the prisons a few years ago initially just to bring them basic necessities that are lacking such as toilet paper and soap as well as giving small treats and gifts for the children.  Last Christmas, this led to him providing a feast for all the inmates and the prison guards.

Over the years Mike began to notice some repeat offenders for the petty crimes of no licenses and expired papers.  Obviously steps needed to be taken to prevent this from reoccurring.  To this end Mike began to pay the fines of women so they could be released from jail and then paid their license fees for 6 months or organized employment opportunities so they didn’t have to start from scratch.  To date hundreds of men and women have had their fines paid and found gainful employment through Mike’s efforts.

Over the last year, Pastor Mike has tried to get to the prison at least once a month, depending on financial considerations.  He receives financial contributions internationally from the UK, Canada and the US as well as spending much of his own money. Impact Nations contributions alone have freed over 60 women.

While I was visiting Pastor Mike on October 12, we visited his newly rebuilt church which is almost complete as well as the women’s prison where we brought soap, toilet paper and some small goodies for the children.  At this time we met a sick prisoner who was doing 6 months for not having adequate documentation.  With money donated through a British charity Mike was able to pay her fine and leave her extra funds for transportation and the hospital bill.