The year I started school, we moved from Litein to Mumbuni in the Iveti Hills where the Wakamba people lived. To me, some trees are individuals, and often friends. At Litein I had a good tree friend, our loquat climbing tree. The first tree we met at Mumbuni was on a different order of magnitude. The Mumbu Tree had such a presence that the whole place was named for that tree. Clearly, I hadn’t left mythical stories behind.
The trunk of this trunk was huge. The canopy covered more than the space of two football fields. The branches were like cantilevered beams, much deeper than wide. In the canopy were hives of fierce wild bees.That tree wasn’t only an awesome physical presence. It was key player in spiritual stories.
The first story was a story of spooky fear. The Mumbu Tree was strangling fig. It had started life in the canopy of another tree. Roots grew down wrapping the host tree in convolutions. It was full of hollows with space for nocturnal wildlife. Perhaps because of that, in many cultures, strangling figs were thought to host apparitions that walked in the night. The Mumbu tree had been like that. Before Christianity came, none of the local people would live under the canopy. I searched the web for information on strangling figs. Apparently these terrifying beliefs were present in many cultures. https://underthebanyan.blog/2016/10/31/why-are-so-many-strangler-figs-home-to-ghosts-and-goblins/ .
Later, I’d meet the Narnia stories. One part of Narnia that resounded for me, confirming and explaining my understanding, was the way CS Lewis saw trees. They were also creatures under God. Some were very great and powerful creatures. I remembered the song written in Isaiah 55. “You will go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” I wondered if the Mumbu tree did rejoice to be broken free of the fear and to be able to shelter those serving the creator however imperfectly.
Our Mumbu Tree became a key part in the early history of Africa Inland Mission (AIM). As I understood the story, at the turn of the century there was a terrible famine where the Wakamba people lived. The few AIM team members used their own resources to feed all those could. Some Wakamba were beginning to think there may be something to what these new people were saying. Others were skeptical. As I understand it, when the AIM team asked to start a new location, the local elders basically said, “You say you know a powerful God. Prove it! Live under the Mumbu Tree. See if your God is strong enough for that!” The early AIM team prayed and accepted the challenge. Around 50 years later, when we moved to Mumbuni, we would walk to church under the Mumbu Tree. To me, the huge tree seemed sheltering. The church bell was hung in the Mumbu Tree and rang to call us to church. AIC Mumbuni Church is still thriving. Here’s a recent post from their youth choir: https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx2vABKIqIxeCEbnbdLpVQDevzUt8IAOyS?si=qKLuuaso5d0QAb17
The Mumbu Tree is central on the logo of Scott Christian University. AIM had been key in the development of a locally led denomination of churches called the African Inland Church (AIC). The leaders of these churches were asking for more in-depth teaching than the existing Bible schools. It was decided to initiate Scott Theological College at Mumbuni.The goals of Scott fit right in with mom and dad’s goals of facilitating discipleship, so our family moved to Mumbuni. Scott has gone on to be a fully accredited university. https://scott.ac.ke/
In 1967, when AIM formally turned over all leadershop in Kenya to Africa Inland Church, the ceremony was held under the Mumbu Tree. It provided a huge area of shade for the many who came to celebrate. In the weeks before the event, someone decided it would be wise to reduce the risk from the aggressive African wild bees that lived in the canopy. I have a vivid memory of watching in the night while my father and some of the African leaders lifted flaming rags on very long poles to light the hives on fire. Flaming bees’ wax and honey dropped like strange fireworks through the darkness.
It was so fun in 1988 to get to show our daughters the Mumbu Tree. That’s when we took the photo above. The people in the photo by the tree trunk are my mom and our daughters. You can just see part of the church in the distance beyond the children in school uniforms. By then, I was married and living in Canada. My husband and I and our kids who were 7 and 9 had traveled to Kenya that Christmas to see mom and dad. Seeing the Mumbu Tree with them was a special part of the trip.
It's sad that the Mumbu tree fell around 2005. A friend sent me a little cross made from its wood which I treasure.
