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St. Stephen Pastors shed Tears of Joy
Pastors Samuel Komohu and Josephat Njoroge
PHOTO: Pastor Samuel Kimohu of the St. Stephens church in Lowell and his wife get emotional upon his return to the church following a 10 month absence occasioned by a restraining order by the Essex Superior court now reversed. PIC BY H.MAINA/AJABU AFRICA NEWS
 
By:
JAMES GACHAU
Posted:
Oct,10-2018 12:29:28
 
UPDATED 6.55pm

LOWELL, Mass., __Pastor Samuel Kimohu and Rev. Josephat Njoroge Kamau shed "tears of joy" upon the return of Kimohu to St. Stephen's Church, a Kenyan community congregation based in Lowell, Mass.

Kimohu had been defrocked by the American Anglican church that has been the affiliated oversight authority after a dispute erupted alleging his failure to comply with Canons of the church in conducting ministerial duties. As a result, a section of the church sued him, alleging that he had attempted to defraud the church of $1million in the form of church property and assets among other allegations.

Kamau became the acting pastor at St. Stephen's subsequent to Kimohu's departure. The church also severed her affiliation with the American Anglican church, thereby giving them the liberty to invite the defrocked clergyman.

On Monday, September 10, 2019, the Essex County Superior Court in neighboring city of Lawrence dismissed the fraud charges against Kimohu citing lack of credible evidence and failure to enjoin St. Stephen's church Incorporated in the suit. It was not immidiately clear whether the American Anglican church under Bishop John Herzog of New York would appeal the ruling.

A credible source informed Ajabu Media that a faction against of the defrocked pastor, would forcibly remove him if he tried to minister to the congregation on Sunday, September 23.

Following the tip about the impending showdown, Ajabu Media arrived to a tranquil Sunday morning service at St. Stephen's.

Rev. Kamau sat calmly in the minister's chair up on the stage facing the congregation. Samuel "Big" Mbugua, the People's Warden, stood at the front of the church, beneath the stage, addressing the congregation. 

Mbugua, speaking in his usual deep booming voice, said:

"I want to make it clear that I am not on anyone's side!"

"We will not accept battles and in-fighting from anyone," he added. "The trial is over and our Reverend is back. Let us not forget that God bestows blessings as well as curses. We must choose to be on his side so that we can get his blessings!"


Samuel "Big" Mbugua, left, leads the congregation to welcome pastor Samuel Komohu back to  St. Stephen's church Lowell. AJABU MEDIA PIC/H.MAINA

Mbugua explained that Kimohu's name had been cleared by the court, everything was in order, and the church was now ready to move forward.

"I now welcome Pastor and Mrs. Kimohu to the podium to address us!" Mbugua concluded his address.

As Samuel Kimohu and his wife got up from the seats at the left front end of the church, the congregation broke into song, praising God for the good things He was doing in their lives.

"Nyina wa Ciru," Mbugua said as Kimohu and his wife got up to the podium on the stage, "please give us your reflections on this momentous occasion." [Nyina wa Ciru means "Mother to Wanjiru. "Nyina wa...is a form of address used by the Kikuyu community to denote respect for a matronly woman.]

Mrs. Kimohu said that she felt like a mother who had just given birth. She explained that she was not sure if she should even be addressing the church, comparing her husband to a newborn that a mother must first leave hidden from the public glare to ensure that it grows and develops well into a wholesome and healthy child first. She thanked the congregation for giving her an opportunity to showcase her new baby.

However, she added, "I am not sure my baby is ready to perform his ministerial duties, yet."

"Do not stop praying," she urged in conclusion. "Do not stop your prayers because God always hears them. This church belongs to God. It is God's house. It is neither mine nor yours. Let us not be stubborn towards God because we have all seen his blessings!"


Rev. Josephat Kamau, left welcomes and emotionally overcome pastor Samuel Kimohu back to the church. PIC BY H.MAINA/ AJABU AFRICA NEWS 

Taking the microphone from Mrs. Kimohu, Rev. Kamau, his voice cracking with emotion, said, "I have never asked anything from this church since I started my ministry here."

"I am now asking these people to accept you," he added, tears rolling down his cheeks. Big Mbugua fetched a paper towel and handed it to Kamau.

"I said that we shall not fight again," continued Kamau, dabbing his eyes and cheeks with the paper towel. "I said that we shall not lift up swords against each other again! We shall not exchange any more bad words!"

"Take over, Reverend," Kamau said, handing the microphone to Kimohu.

Rev. Kimohu was now in tears too. Mrs. Kimohu fetched paper towels and gave them to her husband.

Wiping tears from his face, Kimohu said, "These are tears of joy! After ten months of being away from you, I am back and I am very grateful!"

He led the church in a thanksgiving song, "Ngai uria wari ho kiambiria!" [Kikuyu for "The God who was there in the beginning!"]

Kimohu thanked the church for their prayers and their support. He also thanked his family for providing him with a place to run to during the ten months when he was without a church.

"The Mbugua I have seen today," continued Kimohu, "is not the same Mbugua I knew before!... Big Mbugua, you can now be a pastor! I am going to pray that you also get saved so that you may translate this gift you have displayed today to become the leader of a successful church."

The congregation responded in joyful laughter at the last statement from their pastor.

Echoing his wife's sentiments, Kimohu went on to say that he should not talk for too long. He said that he was not ready to be a minister as yet. He reiterated that Kamau was still the rightful minister.

In addition, he said that his main message today was to initiate a new sacrament that is not even in the Bible: "I call it the sacrament of love and forgiveness. If I do not get your forgiveness, I will not be able to effectively minster to you. We in turn must forgive all our enemies. Even those who took us to court. A church should never be allowed to run through court orders. I cannot let my destiny be shaped by my enemies. My destiny is not shaped by you. It is shaped by God. My destiny is in God's hands!"

Kimohu acknowledged the presence of Ajabu Media: "Your work has not been in vain!" he declared.

"Your work has done a lot of good for me!" averred Kimohu, addressing Maina, the founder and director of Ajabu Media. "You have supported me and promoted me. I have met many people at Aiports while travelling and they recognize me from your articles. You have made me an international icon!".

He added that due to the Ajabu Media extensive online coverage of the trial, there was a certain university that has reached out to him and is in the process of investigating him with a goal of "awarding me an honorary doctorate for all the evil things I have had to endure from the enemies who wanted to ruin my life as a minster of God's word," he said to loud applause.

"These have been very trying times," he said in conclusion. "For those ten months, I could not even touch the door to this church! A church that I love so dearly! I could not even take a broom to sweep the front steps, something I had loved to do very much!

Kimohu thanked the Evangelist Alice Maina for her sterling role to stand in the gap to minister at the church when he was barred to serve until they found Rev. Njoroge. He also thanked congregation and especially church chairman, Kariuki Kimungu for standing strong to lead and have the function normally during the difficult time.

"The unity I am seeing here today is going to work! We all must work together. No one here is superior to another, we are all equal!"

After Kimohu stepped down from the podium, Rev. Kamau went to the pulpit and preached on the scripture reading of the day.

"This church," he expounded, "has been like the church at Corinth during Apostle Paul's time. Recall how the Corinthians had broken into factions, one saying it belonged to Paul and the other to Apollo. We had become the same here: some were for Big Mbugua and others for Kamau... But God wants a united repentant church. As Mbugua said, 'Everywhere I go, I will always be a sinner!' We must therefore always be repentant."

Additional reporting and editing by Harrison Maina

More pics below...
Source:
AJABU AFRICAN NEWS