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News Release

Kisumu Branch breaks ground for the First chapel in the Kisumu District

Kisumu District members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and invited guests join hands to break ground for a new chapel in the Kibuye area of Kisumu town.

October 15th 2019 will be a historic day for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of Kisumu district. Barely a year after the formation of Kisumu district, many gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony of their first chapel within the Kibuye area of Kisumu. This will be the 15th church owned building to be built in the Kenya Nairobi Mission since Huruma Branch’s chapel, which is still under construction.
 

              

Present at the occasion were: President Khumbulani Mdletshe, mission president of the Kenya Nairobi Mission; Pres Kennedy Okila, Kisumu District President; Dr. Evelyn Jepkemei, Director for Public Affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Mr. Dickson Obungu, County Executive Committee Member of the Ministry of Lands, Physical Planning, Housing, and Urban Development Kisumu County; and various leaders of other faiths.  

The ceremony which took place on an unusually sunny afternoon was complimented by the melodious voices of the choir as they sang Beautiful Zion with the congregation. The delight of the day could clearly be seen on their faces and in the voices of all in attendance.

 

"We were hoping for this and it is the best thing that has ever happened,” President Okila remarked. “The chapel is an identity. Members will be happy to identify themselves with their own chapel and visitors will be able to know the real image of the church’’, he added. Currently, members meet in a rented building in the Milimani area of Kisumu. It has taken 10 years since they first started meeting as a branch in 2009 to get to this point and Presdent Okila felt very humbled that he was able to witness that moment.

Later that afternoon, the dignitaries were hosted at a luncheon where they interacted with the Kisumu District church leaders and they learnt more about the restored Church of Jesus Christ's history in Kenya. They also had an opportunity to see how the church would look like once completed courtesy of Ms. Liz Cheruto, the Project Manager.

The first missionaries, Elders Quinsley and Elder Collyer, set the foot on Kisumu on January 2009. Six members used Bro. Francis Olukoyes home in Luanda as a meeting house for 4 months before moving to meet at Jumia guest house in Kisumu on 31st May 2009 and met with 59 other people. Now, Kisumu District has 4 branches (Kisumu1, Kisumu 2, Luanda and Nyabondo) and a total of 441 members.

Style Guide Note:When reporting about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please use the complete name of the Church in the first reference. For more information on the use of the name of the Church, go to our online Style Guide.