A rock in Vihiga County is attracting the attention of villagers and visitors from far and wide given the religious symbolism attached to it.
It is located deep in Jivavei village, Hamisi, Vihiga County.
Villagers say the rock has an etching of an image that resembles the biblical Moses (in the Old Testament).
In Exodus and the Holy Quran, Moses was the lawgiver who met God face to face on Mt Sinai.
He received the Ten Commandments after leading Hebrews out of bondage in Egypt to the “promised land” in Canaan.
In Vihiga County, villagers believe the image on the rock has deep religious symbolism linked to Moses and the promised land.
According to Ms Elizabeth Onyenga, David Paul Kivuli, a cleric of the African Israel Nineveh Church, used to go for prayers by the rock.
The church has its headquarters in Vihiga County.
She claimed that the prayers of Mr Kivuli, who regularly visited the rock, led to the “miracle” of the image associated with Moses.
Residents of Jivavei village believe the image is that of Moses.
Ms Onyenga said: “Whenever Kivuli prayed near the stone, water would spring from the rock and villagers would use it in their homes during the dry season.”
The cleric’s home is next to the stone that sits on a hill. She said the rock attracts Christians from different regions who troop there for pilgrimage each year.
A few metres from the rock sits a cave where more Christians converge for prayers and refer to it as a solemn place away from the usual worship centres.
The African Israel Nineveh Church was founded in 1941 and its headquarters is at Jebrok in Hamisi, near the stone.
Members of his church make pilgrimages to the stone every Easter season for prayers while those from Pentecostal churches go to the hiding cave, a stone that has been shaped into a worship room.
Believers say the stone that bears the imprint produced water after prayers by the cleric up to the 1970s when he died.
Villagers said the water was enough to serve the people in the area during the dry season.
This is not happening today but the stone remains a centre of attraction.
Villagers, mainly the faithful, believe the imprint emerged because of Kivuli’s persistent prayers.
“We have lived to know that the imprint is that of Moses in the Bible. He was given the Ten Commandments and also separated the sea waters to enable the Israelites to get passage when they were fleeing from Egypt where they had lived in slavery,” says Ms Onyenga.
While in the wilderness, there was drought and Moses struck a rock and water started coming out to quench the thirst of the Israelites.
Back in Vihiga, locals still long to see the water that emerged from the rock whenever the late leader prayed at the stone.
The miracles of the water from the stone and the imprint of Moses are believed to have first been witnessed in 1947.
Locals believe the water was holy, making them fetch it as a way of taking the blessings to their houses.
They also believed they would be healed after taking the water.
Prayers on the hill that has the rock would also help bring the rain after Kivuli prayed at the stone for seven days without taking food.
Ms Onyenga says the church leader would be accompanied by other clerics, numbering about seven.
At the cave, located in the same neighbourhood, Christians make daily visits to make their prayers.
We found pastors Anne Sasika and Wilson Kibtabut of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God leading prayer sessions in the cave.
“We come here for fulfilment and seclusion. We do this every Wednesday away from our usual prayer places. From here, we get a renewal. This gives us time to pray for our own spiritual needs,” Rev Kibtabut said.
The two said the stone with the imprint of Moses is reserved for members of the African Israel Nineveh Church while the hiding cave is mainly used by members of the other Pentecostal churches. BY DAILY NATION