Fan into Flame: An Autobiography

From an early age, John Gatu yearns for and cherishes his independence. At the end of his primary school education, instead of joining a teacher training college, young Gatu opts to travel to Nairobi, believing a better world awaited him there. Much later, after scratching hard, he discovers this ‘better’ world when he joins the army. Serving in Ethiopia and Somaliland, and finally travelling to London for the Victory Parade, thrills young Gatu despite the dangers involved. It is at the peak of his career in the military and after receiving the most coveted awards that John Gatu makes another decision: to retire from the army and work closer home. Gatu, the civilian, engages in different jobs before working as a clerk at Kambui Mission Church.

“It had nothing to do with my Christian faith … it was purely for the salary and my desire to work and live near my family,” he confesses. It was during his service at Kambui that he encountered the ‘flame’ that continues to burn in him as he allows himself to be used to transform others.

Fan into Flame is a multi-layered narrative with the nuances of a thriller as the author unveils dramatic events that took place when he was a soldier in Ethiopia and the serenity that he encounters after his ‘rebirth’. The story spans through the history of colonial and independent Kenya. Rev. John Gatu’s passion for his work as a servant of God, brings out the best in everyone he interacts with, no matter what their station in life. His role as an agent of peace and positive change in the church, his country and beyond, cannot be overemphasised.

The Very Rev. Dr John G. Gatu is the first African Secretary General of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) and was Moderator of the 9th & 10th General Assembly of the Church. He is well known in the theological circles for his call in the early 1970’s for a Moratorium on Missionaries and foreign personnel to churches in the developing world, and a great African ecumenist. He lives in his farm in Karen on the outskirts of the city of Nairobi and continues to write and advise the Church.