Festo Olang'
|
The Most Reverend Festo Olang' |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Kenya, Bishop of Nairobi | |
| Church | Anglican Church of Kenya |
| Predecessor | new title |
| Successor | Manasses Kuria |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1950 |
| Consecration | 1955 by Geoffrey Fisher |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1908-1914 Maseno |
| Died | 2004 Nairobi |
| Previous post | Bishop of Maseno North |
Festo Habakkuk Olang' (Maseno, c. 1908/1914 - Nairobi, 3 February 2004) was a Kenyan Anglican Archbishop. He was the first Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, from 1970 to 1980. He was married and had 12 children and over 100 grandchildren.
He was born at Ebusakami Esabalu village, Maseno, in south Bunyore, Kakamega District. His father was a polygamist and had four wives. His mother was his father's senior wife and the only to have two surviving sons. Olang' spent his early years in Kano, Kisumu District, where he acquired fluency in Luo and Luhyia. The family later moved to Nyamasaria, in Kano, where his family raised livestock.
He entered Komulo Primary School, then called Komulo School, in 1925. After passing the entry exam in 1927, he was admitted to Maseno School in 1928. His three years of study there were not a pleasant experience, as he was very far from home. He still was influenced by Edward Carey Francis, the headmaster, who helped grow his Christian faith. Under his guidance, he taught Sunday school classes at the area and also encouraged planting trees near the village churches. While at Maseno he was confirmed in the Anglican faith. He spoke English fluently by his third year at the school. He was the only Christian at his family at this point in time. He moved to Alliance High School, in Kikuyu, in 1931, where he stayed until 1935, three years of this at secondary level and the remaining two in teacher training. Olang' returned to Maseno School, where he was a teacher for four years, until January 1940, when he moved to newly started Butere Girls School, by invitation. He got married to a Christian woman, Eseri Twera, on 24 December 1937.
Olang' decided to study to become an Anglican priest, joining St. Paul's Divinity School, in Limuru, in January 1944. He was ordained a deacon on December 9, 1945. He worked as a deacon at the Ramula pastorate, from 1946 to 1947, being able to baptize and confirm his own mother. He returned to Limuru, expecting to complete his Theological training. In 1948, he won a scholarship from the British Council that enabled him to study at Wycliffe Hall, in Oxford, England, from the British Council, for one academic year. He was ordained a priest after his return to Kenya in 1950. He also became the principal of the newly started Maseno Bible School. In 1952 he became the first Kenyan rural dean for Central Nyanza. At the end of 1954, he became vicar of Bunyore.
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