US evangelist stranded in Nairobi, as church 'rejects' him

Pastor Randy Skeete. [Courtesy]

An American evangelist will leave Nairobi after he was refused permission to preach in two Seventh Day Adventist churches.

Pastor Randy Skeete was originally scheduled to be the guest speaker at this year’s one-week camp meeting at Newlife SDA Church in Kisii County but was turned away.

The pastor opted to conduct the one-week mission service at Gloryland SDA Church in Nairobi but that, too, did not materialise.

Having been blocked by the South Kenya Conference for the Kisii mission and Central Kenya Conference for the Gloryland mission, the American preacher opted to head to Uganda.

“I will be at Mt Olives SDA Church, Kampala, Uganda, this weekend. I look forward to it,” Mr Skeete said in a tweet.

In an earlier tweet, on August 14, Skeete had said: “I leave for Kenya this afternoon to minister to God’s people who attend the Kisii Newlife camp meeting, August 18-25. May God’s name be praised.”

Background details

On August 16, he tweeted: “Wapendwa wa Kenya, I will not speak for the Kisii Newlife camp meeting. I do not know the background details, but humbly accepted the decision. May God grant me another opportunity. I will speak at Gloryland Church, Nairobi. God bless the Kisii brethren.”

He later tweeted: “My Kisii brethren, sometimes as Christians we must accept decisions we do not like. That is part of Christian growth. God is good.”

And on August 17: “The Gloryland Church meetings will be held at Afralti grounds on Waiyaki Way opposite CCK...”

But that meeting was also blocked as it emerged that some officials were not comfortable with his presence, claiming that the church leadership was not consulted.

The SDA Church, which comprises five conferences, conducts annual week-long evangelical meetings in August that involve guest speakers from other regions.

Normally, the church requiring a pastor from outside its conference writes to its conference officials for permission. In Skeete’s case, this was done in March by Kisii Newlife SDA, which belongs to the South Kenya Conference (SCK), and approval was granted.

Church members went ahead to contribute towards Skeete's air ticket and other expenses.

But on July 3, a letter purportedly written by SCK Executive Secretary Leonard Aencha sought to have the church organise for a different pastor to attend the camp.

A source said the SCK leadership was not happy that Skeete was slated to preach at the Newlife camp and not at the Kisii Central Church Camp meeting, whose membership reportedly includes the 'who's who' in the community.