On a typical Saturday morning in the East Central African country of Kenya, more than half a million Christian gather in Seventh-day Adventist churches all over the country for worship and fellowship.

On many of these mornings last year, 25-year-old Richard Mc'Otieno could be found standing behind the pulpit looking at the hundreds of faces of his fellow students at Kenyatta University as he delivered the morning sermon. As an ordained elder, or lay leader, for the Adventist Church on campus, preaching was one of his responsibilities.

Kenyatta University is about 37 miles (60 kilometers) from downtown Nairobi, and is just one of the public campuses in Kenya where hundreds of Adventist students gather to worship. The "grownups" are nowhere to be found. Majority rules and in this case the majority are the young adults at the Jomo Kenyatta University and Kenyatta University Seventh-day Adventist campus churches. Most members range in age from 18 to 35.

Adventist churches are often led by middle-aged and older members, but in parts of the world such as Africa, young people reportedly make up more than 70 percent of the church's membership.

Mc'Otieno graduated from Kenyatta University last year with a bachelor's degree in accounting and is now studying for a master's in business administration at the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. He looks back at his time as the head elder with fondness.

"My major role was to help the young people to know more about our Lord and to be drawn closer to Him," he says.

What is the difference between churches led by students and those traditionally led by paid church workers? In some cases there are enormous differences; in others, visitors cannot tell the difference.

There is so much "commitment and dedication of the young adults in the service ... the spirit of sharing together with those of other faiths has been a great tool in the hands of this wonderful group of young people," Mc'Otieno recalls.

This "spirit of sharing," in Mc'Otieno's opinion, is also responsible for the rapid growth of the church. The on-campus church now has 1,200 members, but began with a group of 20 students in the 1960s. Membership grew steadily and, in the mid 1990s, the students wrote a proposal and forwarded it to the vice chancellor requesting an Adventist chaplain and a suitable place to worship.

In November 2001, pastor Enoch O. Omosa came to the school, making him the first Adventist chaplain on a public university campus in Kenya. In early 2002, the university gave the group a piece of land for construction of an Adventist chaplaincy center. March 2002 the Kenyatta University Seventh-day Adventist students group (KUSDA) became a fully organized church officiated by the president of the church in East Africa, Paul M. Mwasyia.

Enoch Mokua, 24, just graduated from the school with an art and design degree and still serves as an associate elder. He sees growth as a combination of factors.

"The presence of a church choir, made up of seven groups, goes on an evangelism trip into the interior each year. These groups help to draw and sustain members because in each group there is created strong friendships. These groups do regular visitations to non-members, encouraging them to join, and to the members, encouraging them not to move away," he says.

He also lists having an Adventist chaplain, the evangelism team, and encouraging programs throughout the week such as devotions, Bible study, choir practices and church services as integral to church growth.

Evangelism seems to be a common factor on many campuses that have Adventist groups or churches. Reaching out to others with the Adventist message is multi-layered. Students not only lay the groundwork with evangelism meetings, they try to meet the immediate needs of community members.

All groups on the campuses organize annual evangelistic campaigns in unentered areas and hold revival meetings all over the country, says Pastor Daniel M'masi, Adventist chaplaincy director for public universities in Kenya.

Students at the school participated in the Elijah Project, sponsored by the world church, which encourages young people to do evangelism. Their work has led to 103 baptisms so far, says M'masi.

With so much responsibility, how do these students manage to balance school, church and a social calendar?

"I have 24 hours every day and it has been my duty to ensure that I grow in all aspects of my life. My spiritual life is more important to me than any other," says Mc'Otieno. "I have managed it to this point and I still serve Him with the same zeal, if not more. God has never let me down in my life."

Enock Ombuna, who grew up in an Adventist family, transferred skills he learned at his home church to his on-campus responsibilities working with the roughly 500 student members of the campus church at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, a separate campus about 20 miles (36 kilometers) Northeast of Nairobi.

As the transportation and publicity leader he has been responsible for organizing retreats for two years. The 25-year-old mechanical engineering major says, "Balancing ... church and school has been so challenging, especially as a leader. Both require a lot of time, I think it has taken the hand of God to go through all these."

Some church leaders often say the reason why young people are not fully involved in local church leadership is partly because of lack of interest or lack of experience. But Baraka Muganda, director of Youth Ministries for the Adventist world church, says these students are passionate about their church because they are a part of its leadership.

"They are running the church," says Muganda, recalling his March visit to both campuses. "I almost forgot where I was. In some ways it was just like any other traditional church."

And like any other church, finances play a significant part of running the campus congregations. Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology raises money by semester subscriptions but, because it is a student church, there is often not enough funds for the programs they want to do.

Opere Akoma, 28, is studying production mechanical engineering and is another pioneering student leader at the campus church at Jomo Kenyatta. He says sacrifice keeps the churches going as students sometimes only have enough to cover their school fees, but many will give regardless. He says the church receives help from alumni and from the local church conference. They have also found some creative ways to raise funds.

"We have printed t-shirts which we sell at camporees, retreats and on the campus with slogans like 'saved to serve' or 'devoted and true.' This makes it easier to support those who are so much unable amongst us," he says.

The church at Kenyatta University leads the way as the only official Adventist "church" among the universities, but others such as Jomo Kenyatta University and University of Nairobi are on the way.

Right now the group is so large that it cannot fit into the campus chapel -- so they meet in random places. "Sometimes spaces are used for games and rallies and when they are worshipping they are told [to] hurry up," says M'masi.

So far the students have only been able to raise enough money to draw plans for a church, a pastor's house and office space, but not enough money to break ground on the building. There are no Adventist church buildings on any public campuses, but if they could raise the funds they would be the first.

Other student leaders say other challenges include not having a chaplain of their own -- there is only one Adventist chaplain assigned to three universities and he must keep track of all Adventist students on campus.

A challenge to their campus church, according to Ombuna, is the great diversity in the backgrounds of members. This diversity, he says, can make it difficult to "harmonize all the people in the one church and have them sing the same songs."

One of the biggest challenges to being an Adventist on a public campus is that most who are not Adventists do not understand the Bible Sabbath -- a 24-hour rest period and fellowship starting at sunset Friday.

"We make special arrangements with the lecturers in case of a test on the Sabbath. We are also encouraging many students to become lecturers," says Akomo.

Still the student leaders say their schools have been helpful. "They know that we are a well organized and a very disciplined group -- that's why when we ask for their support, they have always been more than willing to assist us. A recent case, last month the university gave us free transport to a venue of our recently concluded evangelistic mission," says Ombuna.

Akomo says while he has always loved the teachings of the Adventist Church, there is cohesiveness to his campus church that keeps him committed. "It does not matter where you come from -- we are a family."

The Adventist Church is a mainstream Protestant church with more than 25 million Christian worshipping each week, including 13,4 million adult baptised members in 204 countries. [Editor: Taashi Rowe for ANN/APD]