Odin, Truphena

1918-2000 Africa Inland Mission , 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.

Mama Truphena Odin was born in 1918 and raised under the strict discipline of the Africa Inland Mission (AIM) Church. In 1939, at the age of 19, she was forcibly married to a man she did not know, after he approached her father and paid bride wealth. After only three months, she left the marriage. When her father refused to take her back, she sought refuge with her sister in Gem, Siaya District. While living there, she met and married Thadeus Ogutu, becoming his second wife. In 1947, she committed her life to Christ after hearing the gospel preached by visiting brethren from Uganda, including Joe Church and William Nagenda. Following her salvation, she chose to leave the marriage and dedicate herself to raising her children and serving Christ.

After leaving her marriage, Truphena had no clear plan or place to go. Initially, she stayed with her brothers, but the hostility of her sisters-in-law forced her to move out. She found temporary refuge among the Revival Brethren and began searching for work. Eventually, she was employed as a midwife at Kisumu District Hospital. However, her open testimonies about Christ’s transformative power in her life, particularly references to her past, offended the hospital matron. Faced with the choice between her faith and her job, Truphena chose to stand firm in her faith and was consequently dismissed. She then sought temporary shelter in the home of a fellow believer.

In 1954, Truphena secured employment as a midwife at Bondo Health Centre, thanks to the support of Mr. Isaac Okwiri, a fellow believer and the first Kenyan District Commissioner of African origin in Bondo. In 1960, she was transferred to Siaya Health Centre, where she worked for several years before retiring. Afterward, she joined the staff at Kirk Hostel Children’s Home in Kisumu. However, her refusal to participate in corrupt financial practices at the institution led to a confrontation with the local council’s management. Choosing integrity over compromise, she resigned from the position.

Following her retirement, Truphena devoted herself entirely to preaching the gospel. Truphena emerged as a significant preacher and influential leader in the East Africa Revival Movement. Truphena was a gifted and passionate preacher. She was a sought-after speaker at local, district, and national revival conventions and played a key role in leading revival meetings across the East African region. Her ministry reached people in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and she preached in a wide range of settings, from churches and conventions to markets, homes, hospitals, and door-to-door outreach. Mama Truphena Odin passed away in October 2000, leaving behind a legacy of unwavering faith, bold witness, and sacrificial service to the cause of Christ.

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 June 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).