| Life
Celebration Centre, Deliverance Church Nakuru is the
fulfillment of the vision that Bishop Mark Kariuki received
form God over 20 years ago. It all started in July 1983,
when he attended a conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands,
organized by the Billy Graham Ministry, for itinerant
evangelists. At the end of the conference, he was certain
in his heart that God was calling him to full-time ministry.
Before
this he was performing quite well in his duties as
a teacher and Deputy Headmaster in Kenyatta Primary
School but the interest in his profession died after
receiving the call to ministry. He returned to Kenya
and shared with his wife about the certainty of God's
call upon his life. In response, she said to him that
if that was what God had designed for him and his
family, then she could by no means stand in God's
way.
Bishop
Mark resigned from his teaching job to go full time.
Upon his resignation, he had two options. First, he
was being offered an opportunity to study at the East
African School of Theology; a missionary friend had
volunteered to meet his college fees. Secondly, he
stood a chance of becoming an Assistant Pastor with
the Assemblies of God Church at Nakuru, where he had
been for four years having moved to Nakuru from Mombasa
in 1979. However, he purposed to pray and seek God's
guidance. It was then that God stirred in him the
vision for Deliverance Church. He shared the conviction
with the pastor and elders at the Assemblies of God
Church.
Though
they wanted to retain him, they discerned it to be
God's will that he moves on. They prayed for him and
after dedicating him for God's service, Rev. Lihanda
informed the members of the church that Bishop Mark
was leaving to start a branch of Deliverance Church
in town. They took a love offering for him and released
him into the new ministry. He was joined by a group
of six young brothers from Mogoon in Nakuru who had
attended many Deliverance Conventions countrywide.
They rented the Nakuru Old Town Hall for Sunday services
and the ministry began. That marked the birth of Deliverance
Church Nakuru. The miracle hall located in Bishop
Mark's home served as the church office. Meetings
such as choir practice were also held there.
The
beginning of ministry was marked by devotion and zeal
from the brethren. They would meet every Friday in
his house for prayer and every Wednesday evening for
Bible Study at Kenyatta Primary School. Bishop Mark
took the bible study sessions very seriously. He gave
notes to the brethren, used the chalkboard in class
to illustrate the bible lessons and used diagrams
where necessary. As a result the study lessons became
increasingly popular and numbers continued to swell.
Those who attended the bible study lessons were eventually
drawn to the Sunday service at the Town Hall. He taught
the word over the lunch hour under a tree. The demand
of service in ministry was quite challenging those
days. Bishop Mark would go to the Town Hall on Sunday
morning to find the place messed up due to discos
held there the previous night. He cleaned up the hall
in readiness for the Sunday service. The membership
varied from 25 to 50 at the time.
In
1988, he challenged members to break the 500 members
mark. For the first time, they stepped out in enthusiastic
soul winning and evangelism after a month of prayers.
They were extensively involved in house-to-house,
secondary school & college evangelism and Christian
film shows in the estates. By the end of the year,
membership had doubled and the second and third services
were introduced.
The
stay at the old town hall was not comfortable. Church
activities were curtailed by evictions by council
officials and key wrangles as they tried to deny members
access to the hall. However, ministry continued and
as membership rose, it became evident that more space
was needed to accommodate the congregation then standing
at 1,500. In 1990, efforts to get land started. The
government gave a 31/2-acre plot in Free - Hold area
along Kariba Road where Life Celebration Centre now
sits. A 1,500- seater tent was bought and erected
on the plot for the purpose of church meetings. The
congregation moved from the Old Town Hall to the plot
in August 1991.
As
the numbers continued to rise, there was need for
a permanent spacious building. The plan to put up
the now Multi - purpose Hall was conceived then and
after fifteen months, the Hall was completed having
costed 2.6. million shillings. In 1992 the congregation
moved into the hall whose sitting capacity is about
2000. The growth in terms of membership called for
the expansion of the church sitting area. The church
therefore embarked on putting up a 10,000-seater sanctuary
where our services are currently held.
Deliverance
Church Nakuru is a ministry that believes in ministry
to the whole man, not just the spiritual man. The
church has therefore sought to start projects that
influence the community around directly or indirectly.
In 1994, the King's Medical Centre and King's Academy
were established with an aim of reaching out to the
community. Over the years, more projects have been
established which include Homologeo Detergent Industries,
Homologeo Poultry, Tailoring School and King's Boys
Rehabilitation Centre. The church is also running
a Child of Destiny program in partnership with Compassion
International. This is a program that assists needy
children in the society.
|