FPFK Head Office distributes food items to its needy members thanks to Sweden churches donation
By FPFK Media Team
Over 50 members from the Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya (FPFK) churches in Nairobi’s urban informal settlements on Tuesday received food donations.
The donations are meant to support them during this time, where the Coronavirus( COVID-19) pandemic has affected many households leading to loss of their jobs and closure of businesses that they used to depended on.
Some of the items included four packets of maize flour, tea leaves, sugar(1kg), cooking oil(1 liter), bar soap, surgical masks(4pcs) and salt(1kg).
The items were donated by Sweden Churches through Mr and Mrs Jonas and Josefine Fallsten.
The church members were selected by their various Pastors after assessing their situations and concluding that they needed help.
Six FPFK churches in Nairobi namely; Kawangware, Gatwekera, Kibera, Ngando , Gikambura and Waithaka are targeted to be beneficiaries of this donations.
Speaking after donating the food items at the Head Office premises in Nairobi, FPFK General Secretary Bishop Walter Andhoga appreciated the Sweden churches for their generosity.
“We really appreciate the donation from Sweden churches through Mr and Mr Jonas and Josefine Fallsten for this food items. May God bless you so much. These food items are going to help our members, who are in dire need because their sources of income have been affected by the Coronavirus and are facing starvation,” said Bishop Andhoga.
“Our desire is to reach as many as possible but currently our target is to support 200 members from FPFK churches that are in informal settlements of Nairobi for the first phase then extend to other members outside Nairobi County,” added Bishop Andhoga.
The Bishop also said that the support will not only be to members but also Pastors, who have been feeding the members spiritually.
“We understand that the Pastors, who depend on the member’s offerings for their support in terms of salaries, airtime and rents have also been affected. As a leader of the church, I have been receiving a lot of calls from our pastors who say themselves and their members have really been affected by this pandemic. We therefore also plan to support our pastors with the little we can afford in terms of credit (airtime), food baskets and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) ,” said the Bishop during the interview in his office.
He also requested other FPFK members, friends and all people of goodwill to join hands and support our brothers and sisters through an initiative of the Relief Fund that the Head Office has established.
You can send support in terms of money through our Equity Bank Account Name Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya, Account NO 1470262339401 Swftcode EQBLKENA or .For MPESA, we are still working on getting the PayBill Number and we shall communicate soon once we get it. The Head Office will also accept food items.
He added that as the church, they have come up with a guiding and counselling department, which will be headed by Pastor Francis Mutuku (0713663 or 0784463220) from FPFK Embakasi and who is also a professional psychologist.
This, he said was necessitated by the recent announcements by Chief Administrative Secretary for Health Mercy Mwangangi who said during a media press briefing that cases of domestic and gender violence in families have increased of recent.
He also encouraged the pastors to use technology platforms like Facebook and YouTube to share the gospel to their members since churches cannot meet physically now, due Government directives on social gathering and social distancing.
One of the beneficiaries Anne Otieno from FPFK Gatwekera in Kibera slums in Kibra Constituency, had this to say about the food donations.
“I am very happy today because I have received food, which include maize flour, cooking oil, salt, sugar among other items and I aIso thank God, the donors and FPFK Head Office for them. From today and few coming days, am going to have enough meal for my family. I was a salonist but since the coronavirus case was reported, many clients have not been coming into my saloon for fear of being infected with COVID-19 because I cannot afford to buy sanitisers, hence affecting my earnings,” said a happy Otieno, a married mother of four, after receiving the donations.
Mrs. Otieno asked the Government to allow churches to open so that people can go in even if few to cry unto God for the sake of the nation.
Cleophas Onyancha, who was also among the beneficiaries from the same church as Mrs. Otieno did not hide his joy.
“I really thank the donors for this food items. I am a self-employed electronics trader but now wholesale shops that we get our goods from are closed and we have nothing to sell. Today am going home happy and God bless FPFK and its donors,” said a smiling Onyancha.
FPFK Kawangware’s Pastor Bishop Silas Mbabu, who witnessed the event said the donations have come at the right time. He thanked the donors, asking God to bless them more.
“I am a witness that our members have been much affected by this coronavirus. Without work in this city, it is hard to survive considering some families have more than five children and therefore we thank God for this donation because it will go a long way in helping our members and all those in need,” said Bishop Mbabu.
He urged the FPFK Head Office to consider helping pastors in all FPFK churches affected by this pandemic.
“This COVID-19 has affected almost all pastors. We depend on member’s giving for survival, rent among other expenses and now since we cannot congregate anymore, there are no offerings coming in. I urge that the Head Office come up with a way of helping many pastors, who have been affected by this virus because they do not have shambas to cultivate but their food comes from the church,” said Bishop Mbabu.
FPFK Gatwekera’s Pastor Nemwel Nyaribo, who was also present thanked the donors.
“May God bless the donors for their kind donation. I have a church of about 150 members but today about 11 have benefited. I therefore urge that more well-wishers should come in and support us,” said Pastor Nyaribo.
FPFK Kibera church Pastor and Rev. Andrew Ogembo was not left behind neither in appreciating the donors for the food donations.
“Our Kibera church has a total of 120 people most of them who are jobless and are just at home with no food and some even come to church asking if there is some support. We thank God today we have something to take home because many members sleep hungry. The Government’s food donation programme has not been enough since the slum has many people and accessing the food is hard but if churches like FPFK and other well-wishers intervene, it will really help to reach vulnerable and poor people,” said Rev. Ogembo.
He said the pandemic has really affected them as a church and as a pastor because now they are struggling to pay even security bills, pastor’s salary and other expenses.
“The Head Office should think of supporting the pastors to be able to also even preach to their congregants through technology like others are doing,” said the pastor.
