Apiyo, Tabitha

? Catholic Church , Seventh-Day Adventist , East African Revival Fellowship (Tukutendereza)
Kenya

COLLECTED MEMORY: The following text belongs to our collection of eyewitness and fragmentary accounts that includes eulogies, obituaries, and primary materials. It may lack sources and proper academic verification for accuracy.

Tabitha Apiyo was born in 1946 in Karachuonyo into a Roman Catholic family. Later in life, she was evangelized by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and began worshipping with them. At the age of 18, she entered into a polygamous marriage as a second wife. During this period, she encountered Revival members preaching in homes, marketplaces, and churches. These preachers denounced sin, particularly emphasizing the immorality of polygamous unions, and called people to repentance and a transformed life. One night, Tabitha had a profound dream. In it, she was taken to a high cliff where she lost her speech and began to weep. Amid her sobbing, she heard a voice calling her by name: “Tabitha, come, and I will give you rest.” The voice called again, and this time she saw a cross, covered in blood. She awoke crying out, “The Lord has saved me.” Moved by the experience, she shared her testimony the next morning with her husband and co-wife, as well as with the local Anglican priest.

A week later, she attended the Revival fellowship in Kanjira, where she publicly testified to her conversion. She was welcomed into the fellowship, joined a Bible study group, and regularly listened to sermons. One day, a reading from Genesis concerning Hagar and Abraham deeply moved her. The accompanying sermon emphasized leaving sin behind. Apiyo interpreted the message personally: like Hagar, she felt she did not belong in the marriage. She came to believe that remaining in a polygamous relationship meant living in sin. After much inner struggle, she resolved to leave what she described as an “ungodly marriage” in obedience to God. She informed her husband and co-wife of her decision. Her husband tried to convince her to stay and even attempted to forcibly retrieve her belongings when she left, but she remained firm and returned to her parental home. However, her family was not receptive. Her father, unable to repay the bride-price of twelve cows, refused to take her back.

A week later, her husband sent the police to arrest her. She was brought before the local chief, who advised her to return to her husband and disregard her conversion. She refused to renounce her faith and instead went to live with the leaders of the Revival movement. For the next ten years, she stayed in the homes of two brothers, Bunde and Musa Amoke, serving as a house help and hosting numerous guests who came for fellowship. In 1977, the Revival brethren arranged her marriage to Mr. Obony, a widower from Southeast Alego. Tabitha became an active member of the Bar Agulu Parish in the Diocese of Maseno West. In recognition of her commitment and service, she was appointed a lay reader in 2002 at the age of 56.

Stephen Kariuki Apollo Warui

Source

Mombo, Esther. “The Revival Testimony of Second Wives.” In The East African Revival: History and Legacies, edited by Kevin Ward and Emma Wild-Wood, 196–206. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2012.

This collected memory was submitted in May 2025 by Stephen Kariuki Apollo Warui, a PhD student at the Boston University School of Theology and a member of both the Presbyterian Church of East Africa and the Presbyterian Church (USA).