About
History of Harbingers
BIBLE AND MISSIONARY TRAINING INSTITUTE
Harbingers Ministries was founded in 1989 in response to a vision given by God for a Bible School in Africa where local men and women could be trained to evangelize the many unreached people groups around the continent. Theresa Walpole, a former Catholic nun in New Jersey, sensed that she was to travel to Kenya to teach. In obedience to that call, she left the family and life she knew and settled in the bush country near Kaptagat. Theresa initially worked as a teacher in that area to assist the Hickeys, a young family who began the work on the Bible training center. In a short time, the Hickeys needed to return to America and Theresa, at age 56, assumed the leadership of the fledgling ministry.
Theresa relied solely on her faith in Jesus to direct Harbingers Bible and Missionary Training Institute. She and dedicated local friends established a Board of Directors in Kenya; her dear friends, Frank and Joan Testa, created a U.S. Board as well. Since then, the two Boards have worked together making wise decisions enabling the ministry to thrive through the past decades.
The five graduates in the first class went out to fulfill the original mission, and each graduating class since 1993 has done the same. Theresa faithfully served for 18 years and, before returning to the States, turned the leadership over to her friend and co-worker, Pastor Haron Kiragu, who continues to advance the ministry. The year 2024 had the largest graduating class in its history with 38 missionary students.
Along with sharing the Gospel and churches being raised up in remote areas, the many graduate missionaries have established schools for children to be educated where none existed, worked to dig water wells where polluted water caused illness, have fed hungry people and loved and prayed for the sick, the dying and the lost.
Each year, men and women travel under severe circumstances to get to Kaptagat to be trained and then return to their own countries or other unreached areas to share Jesus. The work of Harbingers Ministries has expanded over the years, but the vision remains constant: Many new believers are being welcomed into the Kingdom of God every day as the Gospel is preached in Jesus’ Name.