This is a story of seven outlaw men hired by the folks of Rose Creek to defend them from a greedy industrialist in the 60s. Rose Creek is an Old West town surrounded by gold mines and an avaricious man has enslaved the locals to work in his mines as cheap labour. If that’s not enough, he is set on buying Rose Creek at close to nothing and has given the people a couple of days to accept his offer and relocate somewhere else. So far, any form of resistance has been met with the violent murder of some of the residents. The killings and threats have forced the people to enlist the services of a bounty hunter who recruits an eclectic group of gunslingers to take on the industrialist and his ruthless army.
* FAST FORWARD TO 2021*
On September 29, 2021, a team of seven individuals arrived in Leparua. Leparua is in Isiolo County in the northern part of Kenya, approximately 20km from Isiolo town. The place is semi-arid and receives very little rainfall throughout the year. Communities that live around the area are Dorobo, Turkana and Somali. The main means of transport is motor bikes (boda boda), hired Landcruiser or matatu (mini-bus) or walking. The terrain is quite rough and bumpy (hilly and rocky) but as a consolation, one gets to enjoy a free Safari. Wildlife roam freely and can be seen either crossing the road or grazing on the scarce grass or acacia trees along the plain.
The seven just like their predecessors were on a mission – to set the people free. In this case, not from a man but from the prince of the air who has held the Dorobo captive for far too long. The works of the flesh evident were drunkenness, idolatry, witchcraft, adultery and fornication just to mention a few. Unlike the previous seven who were gunslingers, the only weapon this group held was the sword of the Spirit – Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests: Ephesians 6:11-18.
The battle was spiritual than physical and in order to have victory, the team had to spend time in prayer, to seek God on behalf of Leparua. His response was Psalms 24 and in the days that followed, people started giving their lives to Jesus Christ. One man in particular, came to church Saturday morning to testify to the missionary hosting the team that he now believes the message that he has been preaching. According to him it was pointless to deny the Gospel after hearing the same message from the missionary, the team and the Jesus Film.
Not only did the Lord give them an assurance of delivering His people, He provided food in surplus. The area is currently facing drought and the locals barely have enough food to sustain their families but through God’s grace, the women at Isiolo market gave the seven plenty of foodstuff. They doubled what they had purchased and even donated some grain. In addition to this, the Dorobo people not only gave of their possessions (they are pastoralists and their livestock are their most prized possession) but also of themselves in helping the team navigate around, fetch water, firewood and clean up. As a result of the selfless giving, the team had more than enough to feed those who came to the church and even sent some home with food.
God used a team of simple men and women to demonstrate His love for the Dorobo and desire to give them life in abundance – John 10:10. Now that is the story of the modern day Magnificent Seven.
Would you join the seven as they continue to intercede for Leparua:
- God to release rain on the land.
- Healing of the land for it to bear fruit.
- For the hearts of the people to soften towards the gospel.