Ajabu Africa

Home

News

Blogs

Contact Us

Country Profiles

Orbits

Photos

Sports

Technology

Visiting Leaders

'Bad Foundations Leave many Hurting Inside', Bishop Obonyo

Bsp. Jonah Obonyo of the Cathedral of Praise Ministries in Nairobi Kenya leading the praise and worship team at the Christ is the Answer church last Sunday.The Bishop urged worshhipers to shun cultural and spiritual foundations that leave many hurting .Pic by H. Maina/Ajabu Media

By Harrison Maina, Ajabu Africa News, posted April 2, 2011

LOWELL, Mass._Wrong foundations have left many people walking in emotional pain and hamstrung at achieving success in what they would like to do in their lives, with no end in sight even as they strive to work hard.

Among the most debilitating are spiritual and cultural foundations inherited from our forefathers and passed over the generations.

Unfortunately, it is not easy to break loose from these foundations that are manifested in the way we conduct our daily lives.

Fortunately, there is a remedy to get out of the trap.

The stunning message was delivered by Bishop Jonah Obonyo of the Cathedral of Praise Ministries in Nairobi Kenya who is currently in the US for a preaching tour.

Speaking at the Christ is the Answer church in North Chelmsford last Sunday, Bishop Obonyo said that when the entire truth was revealed to him by God, he brought his wife to his polygamist father and sought to learn the foundations his forefathers operated on

“Trust me, i loved my late father very much and I still do. But when I heard the things they used to do, I asked him to release me from those things as I did not like them and did not want to do them”, said Bishop Obonyo to the stunned congregation.

He said that after a long conversation with his father, his father broke down in tears at the realization of the things he had subjected himself to over the years in the name of culture, that his loved son found so deplorable.

The Bishop said that in his father’s culture, it was generally accepted to have many wives, and that if a brother died, it was an honor for the next surviving brother to marry the widowed wife.

“If a brother was childless, some brothers would wish he dies quick so they could inherit the wife and sire children with her on his behalf ” said Bishop Obonyo to a hushed crowd.

“My father had 3 wives. At least those are the ones he disclosed to us so we could count”, he added causing a light moment.

Bsp. Jonah Obonyo of the Cathedral of Praise Ministries in Nairobi Kenya who decried pain caused in people's lives from operating on wrong foundations in life.

The Bishop said that as part of his culture’s misguided foundations, if a man died while away from the rural village, his body would be brought back into the village for a burial and as the body couldn't be passed through the gate a hole would have to be cut in the fence.

He added that some blood and other stuff would be sprinkled on the inside of the fence to appease the spirits so the body could be passed through for burial.

“So when my father finally died in the city . I told the elders back home that the body of my father will be brought home through the gate and no hole would have to be cut.

"I told them I was delivered from such beliefs and they were stunned”, said the man of God adding that the elders thought that he was a crazy man who would soon or later be struck down by a bolt of lightening for defying the 'well known will of the spirits'.

"I told them to let the lightening strike me and they were even more puzzled".

Luckily, for the Bishop Obonyo his mother switched from the cultural position to his side and supported him.

“My mother threatened anyone who would try to cut the fence with dire consequences. I became more bold and determined because I realised I had a follower”, said the humorous preacherman.

As the elders backed off into oblivion, the Bishop told them about the love of God which called for people to destroy evil altars and build Godly altars for a better living.

“Now when we go to the village, we are met with respect and they all honor my position and presence”.

Using the touching personal experience as a vivid teaching example, the Bishop said that too many people in America live under the weight of wrong foundations inherited from way back.

“If you try to do things while not based in the Godly foundations, nothing works. That is why you see so many people try so hard to do the right thing but at the end, everything crashes and they have to start all over again. It is because they are operating on the wrong foundations”.

He said that even in the regular things in life, like in school, work, relationships, marriage or even church, wrong foundations will always manifest themselves in the lives of those involved.

“That’s why you can be a great pastor, coming to church, preaching great sermons and laying hands on people, yet still be a bad adulterer in a way that even regular people would not do. That’s why you also see many men walking around with bitterness saying that their fathers abused them”, said the Bishop from Kenya.

He said that every Kenyan in the Diaspora needs a church where they can submit to a spiritual father who would guide them and intercede for them in prayer to the real spiritual father, who is God.

Pastor John and Joanne Wachira, front, with other worshipers during the sermon by Bishop Obonyo last Sunday

“It does not matter how much your father abused you. What matters is for you to realize that you realize you have a spiritual father who will always protect and lead you in the right way”.

He asked worshippers to destroy the wrong foundations that do not please God and replace them with Godly foundations so that they can enjoy and achieve the potential God put in them.

“You destroy the wrong foundations by casting them away and turning your life to doing things that Godly people do in every day of your life, even when no one is looking”, he added.

The Bishop has been in Boston since last week and will continue his mission trip to various other churches and fellowships in New England and states in the US.

He was hosted at the Christ is the Answer church by Pastors John and Joanne Wachira.

Bishop Obonyo will be preaching at Rapture Harvest Mission International tomorrow, Sunday April 3rd starting at 11 am. Later in the afternoon, the Bishop will lead worshippers in the launching of the Glory to Glory Women Ministry founded by Sister Dorcas Wambua, wife of Bishop Joshua Wambua, who is the pastor of the church.

To read or add views to the conversation click here >>