Jesus Shrine in Vihiga County Kenya

About 3 km from Kiritu is a sight to behold. It is the holiest of the holy sites in Vihiga according to the local population. People come from far and wide to worship at this shrine. Some come to these two rocks, which stand 300 metres apart, to offer prayers, others to seek divine intervention in whatever is afflicting them, while others come out of curiosity. The village leader Mama Edith Mboga told us.
Some come to fetch the “holy water” from the rock.

The latest prominent visitor to the site is Her Ladyship Margaret Kenyatta, Kenya's First Lady, who paid homage to the site during her tour of Vihiga County.
This site is the Givera stone site also known as the “Jesus Footprint”. What makes this rock shrine such a unique divinity?

Vihiga County is home to numerous holy sites. The origins of some of the populous religions have their headquarters in Vihiga County. According to Dr Kisato of Mungoma Chemist, Mbale town, a dozen religions that operate in Kenya have their roots deeply etched in the souls of Mulembe Nation.

• Some prominent religions with origins in Vihiga County are:

• Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) - headquartered at Nyang'ori

• Israel Nineveh - headquartered at Jebrok

• Friends Church - headquartered at Kaimosi

• African Divine Church - headquartered at Boyani

A couple of other churches have their headquarters dotted in Western Kenya. Dr. Kisato opines that the Jesus Rock Shrine is the holiest of the traditional and natural holy sites in Vihiga.

The Jesus Footprint Rock Site

Located by the roadside from Kiritu to Maziguru it is just a stone's throw from the newly constructed bridge. The bridge is on the valley that separates two constituencies. On the Eastern ridge is Sabatia Constituency and on the Western ridge is Vihiga constituency. There is an earth road that dissects the valley off the main Mbale-Hamisi road at Chango and joins Majengo-Mudete road at Kiritu. One can therefore reach the site from all four sides of the compass; which represented equal distance from the directions of Mudete, Hamisi, Mbale, and Majengo.

From a distance, it just looks like a large outcrop of granite rock which are in plentiful in the landscape of Vihiga County. Granite rocks are the hardest to crack and shape. As you get closer, you notice that it is shaped like a large flat bowl placed bottom-up on the ground covering about 100sq metres with the eastern side slopping toward the river. It looks like an ideal and quiet place to have a picnic.

Cutting across the stone running south-north is a colourful 10 cm belt of brown and gold colour. As one approaches the rock from the southern end about 3 steps from the edge of the rock on the left side of the belt is a deep impression on the rock, “This is the left foot of Jesus” explains our guide Christine Gulenya in halting but clear English. She does not delve into the matter behind the step.

Then she steps to the edge and begins walking across the rock beside the colourful belt. The rock rises gradually for about 3 metres then levels and eventually slops sharply in the last 2 metres. Walking beside the belt barefoot, Gulenya explains that this is the path Jesus followed. As we walk along this hallowed ground, Gulenya walks back a few steps, then descends the rock in the slopping eastern direction. At the North Eastern corner is a crack where a small pool of clear water is nestled, “this pond does not dry all year round” says Gulenya. “This is not rain water, it comes deep from the rock. This is the water which revelers say is ‘holy’ and is usually scooped and carried away by visitors and those who come to pray at this site.”

Finally, Gulenya climbs to the centre of the rock where there are some inscriptions of numbers. She traces out the two sets of numbers. At one spot is numbers ‘1’ and ‘0’ and a metre apart is the number “8”.

The Coffin and Bread/Fish Site

About 300m South of the Jesus Footprint Rock up-valley is another expansive rock outcrop about twice the size of the footprint rock.

Again here are mysterious shapes and imprints spread over the rocks’ surface. What strikes you as you reach the site is a huge boulder resting its ‘head’ on another rock. It is as if pall bearers carrying a coffin got tired and stopped to rest. Or perhaps it “tested their faith” and they abandoned it there. Then there are those who believe that it is the final burial place of some entity like the pharaohs of Egypt. The boulder erringly resembles the shape of a coffin including its size and shape. One shoulder of the rock coffin is chirped off.

One of the mysteries of this rock is apparently, it does not want to be disturbed. Our Guide Christine Gulenya tells us of several attempts to relocate the rock which failed. She claims the chirped shoulder was caused when a local stone harvester attempted to crack the coffin and make ballast for sale. However his effort was short-lived as he fell sick and died within a week. Since then no one has attempted to crack it. Actually there is a piece of the shoulder lying at the bottom of the coffin as if to confirm the stone harvester’s folklore.

Besides the coffin, the top of the rock formation has four impressionable features. One of the shapes she says the residents interpret as a shield.  Also as she shows the other two impressions which are close to each other the bread and fish that Jesus used to feed his disciples. The last impression is a flat tablet which she calls the bench where they sat.

Shrine

According to Edith Mboga the village headwoman, many people come in groups either to view pay homage, or pray at the site of the holy rocks. Followers of several sects pay annual pilgrims including Legio Maria, Holy Spirit, and Elijah Masinde. In the early days, religious leaders from a Prophet in Isukha used to frequent the site.

Western Kenya Tourism Circuit

There is “some wild animal” in Kenya's tourism sector called “Western Kenya Tourism Circuit” which was coined over 20 years ago. When you hear of it, you imagine exotic and exciting travel around the Western region of Kenya. The reality is that it is a just mirage created by the doyens given the responsibility of developing tourism in Kenya.  Each subsequent team of government officials tasked with promoting tourism Kenya-wide tourism will revisit the “Western Kenya Tourism Circuit” and produce very impressive paperwork.

Then it remains just that: Paperwork. They retreat back to the well-beaten paths of Nairobi, Mount Kenya, Coast, and the National Parks. At least in those areas, they can safely generate annual figures of foreign visitors. This is Kenya, which wants to work hard to develop unbeaten paths.

The reality is that if the dream of the “Western Kenya Tourism Circuit” is to be realized; the ten counties involved have to pull on their gloves, wear gumboots and get the job done. These counties include Vihiga, Kakamega, Busia, Bungoma, Trans-nzoia, Siaya, Kisumu, Homa-bay, Kisii, and Migori.

Vihiga County has many places of interest. However, they are not officially identified and developed to attract visitors tourists. Vihiga also has lots of cultural interests; including the fact that many religions being practiced in Western Kenya, Nyanza and the Rift Valley have their shrines in Vihiga County which can be developed as pilgrim centres.

One wonders when such sites as Jesus Rock Shrine, Mahiga-ga-Vihiga, and Mung’oma will be declared Vihiga County's National monuments.

The first missionaries to come to Africa faced much hostility in other regions of Kenya. It was only at Vihiga that they met a friendly community with an organized kind of worship similar to Christianity; they settled here.