Welcome to Bull’s Bible School

Shining a light in the darkness of ignorance and false teaching

Bull’s Bible School aims to improve knowledge and understanding of the Word of God among Kenyans involved in ministry. Its motto is BE HUMBLE, STRONG AND WISE. This reflects our need for sacrificial service, mighty courage, and prophetic maturity as we seek to build the kingdom of God for our Lord Jesus Christ.

About four years ago, I met Kennedy Ouko, a pastor in Kenya, on Twitter/X. He had lots of questions regarding biblical theology, and we have had many good conversations since then.

At the time, he was pastoring and overseeing two churches: one in the town of Eldoret, and another in a village about 40 minutes’ drive away. He was sharing the preaching at the village church with a pastor he was training. He was also running a Christian school for the young children in the village, which employed a number of staff.

Sadly, the biggest financial supporters of his ministry put pressure on the pastors to teach some erroneous things about Christ, heresies that the Church Fathers had to deal with many centuries ago. When the pastors refused, these people withdrew their support and departed. This began an extended time of terrible distress and poverty for Kennedy and his family.

A baptism at the church in the village.

This resulted in the family moving from the town because it became unaffordable, and the eventual closure of the church in the town and the school in the village. It also greatly weakened the church in the village. Kennedy could not afford to travel there to minister, so they were relying on their trainee pastor who was not yet capable enough to fulfill the role. All of this was heartbreaking.

With little to no work available, there were times when the family could not afford to buy food. Despite struggling to support them and to continue in ministry, Kennedy remained hopeful. Perhaps this suffering was a preparation for something new.

Graduation at the village school

If you ask him on any day how he is going, regardless of what is happening he will tell you that he is greatly blessed, and “We bless the Lord.” He is very thankful for our theological discussions, but he still does not seem to grasp how much of a blessing he has been to me. Despite all the challenges (including a temporary blindness last year resulting from a blood clot after an accident at a casual construction job), his obvious joy in the Lord is a constant encouragement to me—and a reality check.

On top of that, Kennedy is very disciplined in study, prayer, and fasting, and as a result he preaches with an authority that is rarely heard. And he is as sharp as a tack when it comes to theology. In 2021, he asked if I had any resources for the historical background of the Gospels, so I found him a PDF of Alfred Edersheim’s The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. I have only ever used this book as a reference work, and so assumed he would do the same. But he replied a week or so later than he had read the entire thing! And, get this, he read it all on his phone. He has no computer, and only recently did he acquire a solar lamp to be able to charge his phone at home.

The man has a passion for better Bible teaching in Kenya, and this is the result of an accidental meeting that can only be regarded in hindsight as providential. Years ago, he attended a garage sale at the compound of an American missionary who was retiring due to age and ill health. He was there to look at the furniture for sale but he noticed a lot of theology books. He asked the missionary’s daughter if the books were for sale, and she said they were not. But before he left, the man himself, likely surprised that anyone was interested in his old books, told Kennedy that he could have them all. These books are all solid works of fundamental theology, and Kennedy says that they changed his life.

He started an informal Bible class late last year, and all the attendees were people who are working in Christian ministry in various capacities. In many cases, their training has been limited to practical skills such as Christian living, counseling, administration, wisdom in dealing with people, and denominational distinctives. The courses include a lot of Bible verses, but there is little in the way of actual training in the Bible itself. We have suffered this also in the West, but the problem is much greater in Kenya, partly due to a weakness in literacy. Too many Christian teachers simply teach what they have heard from other Christian teachers, and the results are worse than we in the West might imagine.

Pastor Dan translates as Pastor Kennedy presents the lecture.

Recent nationwide protests were a clear sign that Kenya is awakening from ignorance and tribalism. This is mostly thanks to increased education, an awareness of the rampant corruption that prevents development and perpetuates poverty, and the influence of information available on the internet.

A “reformation” of Christianity—which is simply the task of getting back to the Bible—needs to be an integral part of that change. Contact with some local government leaders has shown that they are also desperate for the sort of practical biblical wisdom that I have found in my favorite theologians (such as Richard Bledsoe’s Metropolitan Manifesto, which Kennedy found extremely helpful and inspiring). So there is an additional need for the training of Christian leaders who can serve as ministers and advisors outside of the church.

Kennedy writes:

I’m Kennedy Ouko, a pastor in Kenya. I’m married to Beatrice Atieno and are blessed with a son (Gayle). I currently work for myself as a mechanic repairing motorcycle taxis and doing taxi work with my own motorcycle. I do this to take care of my family since the village church that I pastor is not able to support us.

My nine years of pastoral experience exposed me to a lot of erroneous doctrines in both the village and town churches. The problem is that virtually all our pastors are semi-literate. With no proper grasp of sound doctrine and a lack of training in Biblical studies, the flocks under the watch of these pastors believe many things that are distorted or untrue, but they don’t know any better. The blind (pastors) are leading the blind (many thousands of Christians), so the entire region is under a dark cloud of false doctrine and confusion.

But the ignorance of the people also makes them vulnerable to deception. It is heartbreaking to see how many in the church are taken advantage of, manipulated, threatened and led astray, much like the common people in Jesus’ day who were burdened by the teachings of the Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-4), or the Christians living in ignorance of the Bible under the rule of the Church of Rome. The destructive teachings include:

Mixing Scripture with African traditions and superstitions (syncretism).
The manipulation of people by false teaching so that a pastor can serve his own interests.
People are taught that they must give certain amounts of money to earn favor with God.
Ministers misuse Scripture to back up their own ideas in order to make these look like divine truth.
Misinterpreting the Old Testament so that pastors teach people to practice items of the Jewish Law that are now obsolete.
The absence of Christ in the preaching. Many other things are taught but the centrality of Christ is lacking.

Although we have a multitude of pastors, without the solid foundation of the Jesus of the Bible, the people are sheep without the Shepherd. A desire to see this situation change in my lifetime has always preoccupied my mind. Bull’s Bible School exists to rectify it as much as possible by training pastors and church leaders in the Scriptures. Because the preaching and teaching of a single pastor impacts all those sitting under his ministry, our teach-the-teachers approach is quickly multiplying the impact of this instruction in sound doctrine.

The response to the informal classes was very good so we talked about putting together a formal curriculum. At the beginning of February this year the first day of lectures at Bull’s Bible School was held.

I suggested other names for the school but Kennedy said this one was helpful for him. It would avoid the inevitable accusations of grandstanding on his part if it was assumed to be solely his own enterprise. So Bull’s Bible School it is.

The students meet every Saturday for about six hours in a rented room. Kennedy lectures in English, and a pastor named Dan translates into the local language, Swahili. Because Kennedy studies in English and prepares the notes in English, he finds it easier and more comfortable to lecture in English rather than Swahili. Some students have reasonable English but some have only limited skills, so the interpretation is important.

Pastor Dan is also important for the running of the school. He has connections to many churches through his involvement in music ministry and helps with the mobilization of prospective students. He keeps the classroom clean, maintains order in class, does errands, and keeps the attendance records.

The response from the students has been very encouraging. Their high level of engagement is clear in the questions they ask. And Kennedy runs a tight ship regarding attendance and assessments.

Presently, there are sixteen consistent students who can attest to the impact the courses have had in their lives and ministry. We asked a couple of them to describe the impact of the classes upon them so far:

Isaiah Kawa (Pastor, Anglican Church of Kenya)
I have really benefited from the school. It has enabled me to lead the Bible study in my church in a deeper and better way. I am now able to properly handle both the Old and New Testaments. I now better understand the attributes and character of God. And I have been equipped with proper knowledge about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This course teaches what we require to understand and teach the Bible, and not the denominational doctrines and practices found in other training.

Grace MMbone Esipisu (Women’s Leader, Pentecostal Assembly of God)
I have learnt much since the school started and I am determined not to let it fade away. I feel a great sense of peace and I pray about the topic we have covered every time we finish the class so I can see it implemented in my life. I have learnt that God wants us to embody His character in our daily lives. My understanding of Scripture has been greatly enriched and I am inspired to get deeper into the Word. It is a blessing to know the divisions and the books of the Bible and their authors, and gain a greater knowledge of who Jesus is. This has helped me to handle the Scriptures better and also instruct the women in our church better.

Kennedy continues:

Two months into the training, word of the school is spreading and many pastors are expressing an interest. A few weeks ago, a pastor who was sent by his bishop to find out about the school sat in on the class. He was impressed with what he heard and saw, and took his report to his bishop, who then said he wanted about fifteen of the pastors and leaders under his care to join the school. We are now trying to work out how we can accommodate them in a second stream, since they need to start the course from the beginning. We also need to answer some questions regarding transport as they are located a bit of a distance from the school.

It is worth mentioning that our students are now taking initiatives on their own to help the school run in an orderly way. They are discussing how they can partner with the school on certain things such as helping other students when they are in need. They are presently contributing funds to help with the burial expenses of the father of one of the students. They made a duty roster for the cleaning of the classroom. They also have plans for their own little cafeteria so they can prepare food for lunch and save the time currently spent getting food during the lunch break. The fellowship between the students is helping the school to take shape.

All of this—the interest from outside and the loving collaboration inside—has been a very great encouragement to me.

We presently have classes only on Saturday because I have to work to take care of my family. This limits the time I can spend in the school. My desire is to be able to do more days of lecturing and therefore increase the effectiveness and reach of the school.

The extra days of classes will help those who are slow in class to consult further and I can also help those who missed classes to catch up with the rest of the students. I will also be able to cover more ground with the course material.

Our focus is currently on the people outside of town but we hope to start a campus in town in the future, Lord willing. Literacy and English skills are much better there, but there is still the same problem concerning a lack of sound Bible teaching.

Preparing the notes for the week’s lectures.

The class is nearing the end of Module 1, which has been written by Kennedy (on his phone!) and edited by me. I am writing the subsequent modules.

The course notes are printed locally and distributed each week. The page count is over 100 pages for Module 1, and after the end of the course the complete notes will be published as a proper textbook.

The curriculum of this first course is as follows:

The school rents a room on the second floor of a building as a classroom. Although classes are currently only held on Saturdays, the space is there for us to use every day of the week. With some extra funding, more classes could be held (additional streams of this first course, as well as future courses), along with other ministries such as related student prayer meetings and a library. Kennedy would also be enabled to train another pastor to teach the courses and share the burden of lecturing.

The possibility of recording the lectures is out of reach at the moment but it would be a helpful complement to the live teaching, especially for those who are not local.

Some of the regional students are not strong in their English, so the other task we have just begun is the translation of the course notes into Swahili.

Don’t let the funky fashion fool you. These are serious people. I asked Kennedy about his three-piece suit. He said that many Kenyans buy their clothes from dealers who import second-hand garments from the USA and other countries.

At the moment, the school “engine” runs on the smell of an oily rag. Besides meeting the rent, it has acquired a whiteboard, some desks, and most recently some chairs, to avoid borrowing chairs any longer from a local church. There is also the cost of printing the weekly notes.

Kennedy transporting some of our new chairs. I reminded him of what happened to the Tower of Siloam.

Requests to join continue to come in so it would be great to start at least a second stream (a second day of lectures per week) soon.

I asked Kennedy for a prospective monthly budget that would outline the current costs and also allow for three days of lectures per week instead of the current one.

He was reluctant to ask for much but I told him to be bold. And if you would like to help you will know exactly where the money goes.

You can do that at GiveSendGo – Bull’s Bible School.

Any amount that comes in will be a blessing. The school will continue regardless of extra support but it would certainly expedite meeting the demand and achieving its potential for change. Word gets around, and from what we are hearing this could happen very quickly.

Supporters will also receive access to the course notes as they progress.