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In this interview, Moses Zewedi, a minister of God speaks on the realities of Christianity in his home country Kenya . The pastor reflects on the call of God in his life, the challenges and victories he has experienced in his church, the place of women in Kenyan Christianity and his invitations to missionaries all over the world. This interview was conducted online by Bola Adewara.
Could you please introduce yourself to online readers all over the world?
My name is Moses Zewedi, last born in the Family of 9, son of Mr. James and Jane Zewedi of Kapterit Location, Marakwet District, I am a pastor of Lives Changing Church , Kitale Kenya . I went to Narati Primary School and Narati High School whereby I sat for my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education K.C.S.E in the year 1994.

God called me way back in 1990 at age 12 while I was a primary school student in class 8. However, the call came to fulfillment after the High school. I was trained at the Baptist Faith Institute, Kitale Kenya and I was ordained an Evangelist with the Christian Outreach Ministries.

What was your initial reaction to the call? Were you prepared for it?
I prayed about it until God confirmed it through some missionaries from United States of America , Mike and Pam Anderson whom I met in 1997 and joined their ministry, Calvary Baptist Church where I served as a Sunday school teacher. These missionaries mentored me and God worked through to confirm my call as a Pastor.

In 2003 Dec, after serving with them for 7 years, God spoke to me to start another church. This was an answered prayer for my wife and I. We wanted to leave because our relationship with the missionaries was getting strained. They believe and acted that people who are not of Baptist denomination are not good Christians.

My wife and I knew that denominationalism is not Biblical. The church is not there to preach about denominations or judging others but is meant to changing lives. We had some hard times with them on gifts such as prophecy, healing, visions, etc. They did not believe in it. But to my wife and I, since there were accounts of all these gifts in the New Testaments, we disagreed with them and decided to part in peace. That led to founding of the Lives Changing Church which I pastor today. The church is located at Kitale Kenya about 5 to 6 hours drive towards the Northern part of Kenya.

"...My wife and I knew that denominationalism is not Biblical. The church is not there to preach about denominations or judging others but is meant to changing lives. We had some hard times with them on gifts such as prophecy, healing, visions, etc. They did not believe in it..."
Initial challenges when the church began.
When we started the new church, we had no members, no finances, and no proper facilities on the location. However, we started with faith and as a result of our weekly visitation programs, membership has gone up to 350 on Sundays. But one of the remaining challenges is that we still don't have a permanent church building!

Trends in Kenyan Christianity which you did not agree with before you became a pastor.
These were many. I saw many people who pretended to have professed Christianity but in real sense were not. So many people play church. They did not live by what they were saying and their Christianity was just by mouth and not by actions on daily basis. Most of them were preaching water but take wine.

What is Christianity like in Kenya ?
We have orthodox churches like Catholic, Anglican, Baptist and the Pentecostal. The most popular foreign preachers in Kenya include Evangelist Reinhardt Bonke, Benny Hinn, Morris Cerrulo, Evangelist Peter Pretorious and some more. Some Nigerian preachers like Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel and Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy Ministries are also popular in Kenya.

The greatest threat to Christianity in Kenya are Muslims and the Free Masonry. On unity in the Kenyan church, initially there were a lot of conflicts amongst Kenya pastors, but right now things have changed and pastors are working very much together to the glory of God. So many pastors collaborate to host some International preachers, for example, in the month of August 2005, there shall a big crusade at Uhuru Park grounds in Nairobi where a guest preacher, Prophetess Juanita Bynum from U.S.A will speak.

Quality of sermons from the Kenya pulpits.
Initially, rather than preach about the love of God, most of the preachers in Kenya preached more about giving and this for their personal gains. Other preachers used the pulpits as a place of boasting about their wealth, they went as far as enriching themselves from what they collected from members. But today, things have changed somewhat. The church is also socially focused. We are responding very positively to the AIDS pandemic by creating awareness and speaking openly from the pulpits.


"...we are trusting God for a church property and some good public address systems for the outreaches to the unreached. Also we need a vehicle to enhance our outreaches to the remote areas..."
Areas of improvements in your church and churches in Kenya
We are praying that Churches in Kenya will learn how to depend on God to provide for them and stay in the word. Jesus said that we are to seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness, then all other things shall be added unto us. On our own, we are trusting God for a church property and some good public address systems for the outreaches to the unreached. Also we need a vehicle to enhance our outreaches to the remote areas.

Message to missionaries.
We want them to come and help us disciple and train the locals. We want them to work alongside us, do the all coordination and assist to raise funds for the ministry enhancement because most of our church members are very poor and come from the slum areas.

Place of women in the Kenyan church.
In Africa, we have relegated women to the level of being seen and not to be heard. But if given chance they can play very vital roles in our churches. In most churches in Kenya , women are allowed to participate in some church issues. This gained ascendancy when education made it clear that beside every successful man there's a women.

Personally I believe deep inside my heart that women can be used of God like anybody else. Remember they were the ones who brought the message of the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: “He is risen! He is risen!”

We have many women ordained in the ministry and are authorized to baptise, to administer communion and to perform all duties of an ordained minister.  We now have women who are General Overseers of Churches. We have women Bishops like Bishop Margaret Wanjiru of Jesus is Alive Ministries, Evangelist Teresa Wairimu of Faith Evangelistic Ministries Kenya , U.K and U.S.A, Evangelist Grace Manjau (Mama Mwai) of Charisma Ministries in Kenya etc.

"...Personally I believe deep inside my heart that Women can be used of God like anybody else. Remember they were the ones who brought the message of the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: “He is risen! He is risen!”..."

My wife and the church
My Wife gives a lot of supports to the ministry especially when am not around. She plays a very big role in the church by leading the women ministry. She as well teaches and preaches the word of God at the church and actively involved in evangelism.

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