Pastors Hold Prayers for Accused Compatriot as more Kenyans report Abuse
Rev. Samuel Kimohu of Saint Stephens church in Lowell, the host of the prayer meeting for Dr. Rev. Mumbui Karimi, addresses Kenyans during a burial fees fund raising for the late Teresiah Wambui Wa-Nguyaii last week. Pic by H.Maina/Ajabu Media |
News report and commentary by Harrison Maina, Ajabu Africa News, December 25, 2010. Updated 12/31/10, 10pm
BOSTON,Mass.,_About 7 pastors joined hands last Sunday and held prayers to support the family of a pastor who was tried and found guilty of sexual abuse by a church based tribunal recently, leaving many Kenyans in uproar for the lack of sensitivity by the men of cloth towards the victim in the case.
Meanwhile, as Kenyans head to various churches to celebrate the Christmas holiday, reports of widespread sex abuse by other pastors in the Kenyan community churches in the entire USA continue to flow in and many Kenyans are asking their pastors to respond to the victims of sex abuse in churches during this time that christians are celebrating the birth of the savior.
During the prayer meeting held last Sunday at the Saint Stephens church in Lowell, about 7 pastors attended the event, mobilizing about 200 Kenyans, some sympathetic with the situation while others were just curios.
The prayers had been initiated by a combination of Rev. Samuel Kimohu of the Saint Stephens church in Lowell, Rev. Joseph Ngotho of Saint Stephens Episcopal church in Lynn, Bishop Joshua Wambua of the Rapture Harvest Mission International in Wakefield, and Canon Paul Mwaniki of the Saint James African Community church in Attleboro.
Other pastors present at the prayer meeting included the newly ordained pastor Sarah Wanjiku Kibiri of the Jamhuri Gospel church in Worcester and Rev. Justus Munyasya of the CIC church.
The pastors said that they decided to hold the prayers as a show of support to the family of Dr.Rev. Karimu Mumbui for what the family was going through after the revelation of the sex abuse charges leveled against him by a young female member of the PCEA Ushindi church, and which the Permanent Justice Commission of the Presbyterian Church USA found him guilty.
During the service, a love offering was collected for financial support to the family of the pastor since pastor Karimi has been ordered not to conduct any church related business for a period of six months pending rehabilitation after which the PJC will review his eligibility to return to ministry.It is not clear whether the pastor has appealed the decision or not.
The amount of the love offering raised at the meeting was not immediately announced and efforts to verify with the host pastor were not successful as he did not want to disclose the details citing privacy.
However, many Kenyans in Boston, the entire USA and even from the motherland itself have bitterly complained of the lack of sensitivity and fairness to the family of the victim in the case displayed by a section of the Kenyan pastors..
Deprived of platforms to speak on social issues affecting them, many Kenyans have been using the free speech service provided by Ajabu Media Communications on the Ajabu Africa website to make their stand known.
Others have been calling and sending emails to Ajabu Media offices complaining that the pastors who put together the prayer meeting for their fellow pastor should have also put another one for the young woman who was the victim.
“Why is it that these pastors can not think of the message they are projecting to the family of the victim and the whole community. Are they telling us that they have decided that the accused pastor is innocent and the victim is wrong, evil and does not warrant prayers or financial help”, asked one Kenyan.
 Rev. Samuel Kimohu of Saint Stephens church in Lowell, the host of the prayer meeting. |
“We did not need this issue to be revived in our community again. It is too hurting even to our own children who are watching and reading what is going on”, said another Kenyan.
Reached for comment on the issue, Rev. Samuel Kimohu of Saint Stephens church in Lowell told Ajabu Africa that the meeting was merely organized by friends of Dr. Karimi and does not mean that there can not be a prayer meeting for the victim.
Pressed on why he did not initiate and organize a similar prayer for the family of Caroline Muthoni, who is also an equally important member of the Kenyan community in Boston, pastor Kimohu said that such a meeting would be organized by the victim’s pastor.
“I think if there was to be such a meeting it would be organized by the victim’s pastor, and we shall be happy to attend”, Rev. Kimohu told Ajabu Africa News on the eve of the prayer meeting.
The victim’s pastor, Rev. John Wachira of the Christ is the answer church (CITAC) based in North Chelmsford, Ma, told Ajabu Africa News that the family of the victim is still hurting and it would be inappropriate to set up a public fund raising for them a the moment.
Many Kenyans dismissed the motive of the pastor’s prayer meeting for being a cover-up and creation of a safety net in case problems come up in the future to haunt them in their own churches.
The battered image of the Kenyan pastors in the region from the way they have handled the situation had suffered another blow a week prior to the prayer meeting when one of the pastors who led in the prayers for the family of the accused pastor said at a fund raising meeting that the community and the media should not make it a big deal if a pastor was found kissing a woman or a girl at their church without their consent.
Many Kenyans have been enraged by the comments saying that pastor Wambua was very insensitive and offended the young sex abuse victim and her family as well as the family that was mourning the loss of a loved one.
Meanwhile, reports reaching Ajabu Africa News indicate widespread suffering of Kenyans across the states from abusive acts by their pastors.
In Seattle, Washington, reliable sources said that a church was deserted recently after a married Kenyan pastor conceded to the elders of the church that he has been involved in multiple extra-marital affairs and unwanted sexual advances to young girls in the church, and some women married to members of his church.
Also in Seattle, reliable sources sat that another female pastor who has been accused for a long time by Kenyans of immorality recently quit participation in the Presbyterian Church USA in the state after investigations were started into the allegations. Also her church asked her to leave under the weight of the accusations.
In Boston credible and reliable sources said that a church collapsed last month when fed up members said enough was enough after an assistant pastor was accused of drugging a female member of the church who had given him a ride to his apartment and engaging in an unwanted sex situation.
Several reports of other pastors who have impregnated young women have also poured in through the blogs and other means.
Many other reports from many states, like New York, Maryland, Alabama, Texas and others have inundated the Ajabu Africa News room at a speed that was hard to keep up with for publishing, indicating the serious and widespread nature of problems facing the Kenyan body of Christ.
Many Kenyans said that they have been forced to live under shame and guilt after some pastors have committed untold sexual offenses against vulnerable members of their churches and threatened them with dire consequences if they reported the cases. Continued here >>
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