When he was about 10 years old, Kamau Wa Ngengi left his home in Muthiga village, Gatundu, in pursuit of education in a missionary centre six miles away.
Kamau, who later become Jomo Kenyatta and Kenya's first President, was living in Muthiga with his old grandfather Magana who was a medicine man.
When he landed at the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM) at Thogoto, the young Kenyatta was taken in by a white woman Minnie Watson who clothed and mentored him.
Minnie and her husband Thomas Watson were the founders of Thogoto mission in 1898 and they are both buried at the church compound.
At the school, Kenyatta studied the Bible, English, mathematics and carpentry when other students were pursuing teaching, nursing or evangelical work.
Dr John Arthur, the school's head, described Kenyatta as a student who "evidently displayed no marked intelligence or aptitude for further skills".
In 1914, he converted to Christianity and he assumed the name Johnstone Kamau upon baptism.
Having completed his studies and worked in Thika and Narok for a few years, Kenyatta landed a job in Nairobi as a meter-reader in 1920.
This is reportedly when Kenyatta started going against the church teachings and as a result angering church elders and missionaries.
When the elders could not have more of him, they summoned him and brought two charges against him.
According to his biographer Jeremy Murray-Brown, Kenyatta was accused of "committing sin with a girl whom he is buying as a wife, and as a result of which she is with child".
The elders were referring to Grace Wahu who become Kenyatta's first wife. The child was former Juja MP Peter Muigai Kenyatta.
It is said Kenyatta wanted to keep his marriage with Wahu a secret so as to avoid paying dowry.
She was then a student at the Church Missionary Society girls' school in Kabete.
The second sin Johnstone had allegedly committed was taking alcohol against church teachings.
When he pleaded guilty to both charges, the elders suspended him from receiving the Holy Communion.
A defiant Kenyatta could not be shaken by the punishment. He married Wahu in a customary wedding and refused to quit alcohol.
As the final punishment, the church excommunicated him. That was the end of his relationship with the church.
It is reported that during the 15 years Kenyatta ruled, he never attended a church service.
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