Members of the Church of God in Mathira sing and play drums during
worship on May 19, 2014. They say they are getting ready to go to an
unknown destination once "God sends them a message," something that has
caused panic among their relatives. Photo/ JOSEPH KANYI / NATION MEDIA
GROUP
Like many Kenyans, Rael Gathigia is
probably apprehensive about 2017 because it is an election year. But
even worse for the 65-year-old resident of Kangocho village in Mathira,
Nyeri County, two of her sons have joined a religious group, Church of
God, which believes that the world will end in March 2017.
Gathigia
has lost sleep since the younger of the two, Isaac Murimi, 30, took his
belongings and went to live in the home of Charles Kinaro, the group’s
leader, in Ngandu, Mathira.
But although members of the
church are optimistic about living a better life after Jesus Christ
returns in March 2017 — or so they believe — villagers are worried that
they might resort to extremes, such as mass suicide if their highly
anticipated transition to a utopian world does not materialise.
Particularly
disturbing to Gathigia and other parents is the decision by the
church’s members to abandon everything, to engage in endless prayer
sessions.
As she speaks, Gathigia gazes into the horizon, hoping that the next knock on her gate will be that of her son.
“I
have cried many times, but even my pain and anguish have not been able
to soften his heart and make him return home,” she says.
“One
of the church members told me that they are about to embark on a
journey from which they will not return. This is heart-breaking news
since I know that one of my sons is among those about to embark on that
journey!” says the mother of 12.
ENGROSSED IN PRAYER
Apart
from Murimi, 15 other men and women from the surrounding area are now
based at Kinaro’s home, engrossed in prayer as they wait for the
Christ’s return. But some of the sect members come from as far as
Kinangop and Mai Mahiu.
Gathigia says that two of her
sons have been attending the church, but the older one, 45-year-old
Joseph Mwangi, who is married with three children, usually attends the
sect’s Sunday services only and returns home. But Murimi, who is single,
has been living at the Kinaro home for almost nine months.
Gathigia
says she even sought help from the Ngandu chief to bring back her son,
but the administrator declined to do so, saying Murimi was an adult and,
therefore, capable of deciding what was good or bad for him.
In
desperation, she went to the Kinaro homestead, but Murimi, a Form Four
dropout, defied her pleas to return home, saying he would only do so if
directed by God.
“I did not come here by choice. God
spoke to me in a dream and asked me to come to Mr Kinaro’s home and hold
prayers until he instructs me where to go next. At the moment, I am not
ready to go home,” he said, adding that he was praying for God to grant
him eternal life.
Also staying at the Kinaro homestead is Lydia Wambui, 40, who left her only child with his grandparents and joined the church.
DIVINE ORDER
When
asked why, she said God meant more to her than her 20-year-old son, and
that since He had ordered her to join the other church members at the
Kinaro homestead, she could not defy the divine order.
Wambui, who is from Kangocho village, says she has no regrets about her decision.
Then
there is Janet Wambui, 32, who abandoned her weaving job in Kitengela
in 2007 to live in her father’s home, holding endless prayer sessions
with the other church members.
“My God is greater than the job I had, and I will always do what he tells me,” she asserts.
Although
Githaiga says Kinaro is misleading his followers, the 62-year-old
leader says he has never coerced any of the members into living in his
homestead.
Interestingly, Githaiga has found support
from unlikely quarters, among them 35-year-old Loise Wanjiru, one of
Kinaro’s daughters, who disputes the claims of her father.
“He
is misleading these young people, including his own children,” Wanjiru
says, adding that her father is planning to take the church members to
some unknown caves, and that they have already bought some of the things
they will use during their stay there.
KICKED OUT
“I
am not happy with what my father is doing and if the parents of these
youths don’t come for their children now, they might never see them
again,” she says.
Church members, says Wanjiru, were
asked to give Sh40,000 each to enable the church to buy the items,
adding that those who did not contribute were kicked out of the church;
he was among them.
The ex-communicated group, however,
decided to start a parallel church with the same name — Church of God —
in Karatina, about 20 kilometres away.
Although
Wanjiru still lives in her father’s home, she neither attends their
church services nor participates in their prayer sessions.
In
fact, she has been isolated after being declared a traitor whose wish
is to see her father’s downfall. But despite their differences, her
father takes care of her, just like he does his other children.
And
her father is undaunted, saying he is on a divine mission. Kinaro, a
former employee of the Kenya Portland Cement Company, claims that God
told him in a dream in 2004 that people would one day congregate in his
home for prayers.
RECURRING DREAM
And
after some time, he says, along came Murimi, carrying his belongings.
Kinaro says Murimi told him that he had been sent by God to his home to
hold prayers until he received further instructions.
Kinaro allowed him to stay, but after a while, his wife (now dead) forced him to send Murimi back home.
Kinaro
says he kept having the same dream until April last year, when young
people started trickling into his homestead. He adds that they all
joined his church voluntarily.
“I cannot turn away any
person sent to my home to pray and praise God. I will make sure I
provide for them until the day their God asks them to leave,” he says.
Kinaro
acknowledges that they will, indeed, be going on a journey, and have
already bought some of the stuff they need for the trip, but denies that
they will be going to live in caves.
He says they are waiting for God to tell them what to do next.
Among
the things they have bought are bedding, maize and wheat flour,
buckets, boxes and lanterns, which have been carefully packed in sacks
and are stored at the back of the church.
A PROPHETESS
Kinaro,
who is now a farmer, says he has not informed the authorities about the
youths living in his homestead, adding that apart from Gathigia, no
other parent has come for his or her child.
“These
youngsters belong to this church and their work is to pray and praise
God. I employ labourers to work on my farm,” he says, adding that his
church believes in the Holy Bible and the Trinity but does not believe
in women holding senior positions in church or praying on behalf of the
congregation.
In addition, women are not allowed to
wear trousers; they wear long dresses and headscarves. They should
should not have heels that are more than an inch high; and this,
ostensibly, is to enable them to move with ease as they dance in praise
of their God.
Remarkably, Kinaro says one of his
daughters, Mary Nyokabi, 38, — she refused to speak to DN2 — was a
prophetess. He said when she sees a church member doing something bad in
a dream, she gets him or her kicked out.
Kinaro, who lives on his two-and-a-half-acre farm with five of his daughters and one son, all single, says he values education.
“I
believe in education and irrespective of the challenges I have
encountered, I made sure all my children completed secondary school,"
Kinaro says.
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