Paul Karanja, the presiding pastor at Kiambaa Church located in South Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county has narrated how they were forced to change its name after the 2007/2008 post-election violence.
Speaking to BBC on Wednesday, August 3, Karanja disclosed that the church became deserted, forcing the administration to rebrand to Kenya Assemblies of God Faith Church.
According to the preacher, the church was initially known as Kenya Assemblies of God Pentecostal. The leaders had to drop Pentecostal and replace it with Faith.
Explaining the reason for changing its name, Karanja maintained that it was meant to erase the bad memories of the 2007 poll skirmishes.
Karanja further detailed that well-wishers built the iron sheet church to promote peace and foster cohesion within the region.
"When I came here in 2012. Everything was extremely complicated. People did not want to be associated with it. Then the Holy Spirit instructed me to change the name to give it a new breath," Karanja explained.
Karanja appealed to political leaders and asked them to tone down as the country heads to the August 9 general election. The pastor reiterated that he has spent over ten years promoting peace and lost glory of the Kiambaa area.
"In the past years, people have been concerned and thinking negatively. But we believe this time round; God will not allow bad things to happen." Karanja explained.
"I'm grateful because people are flocking into the church for prayers as we have built a friendly environment," he added.
One of the congregants, also a survivor of the 2007 ordeal, stated that the bad memories had cleared after the establishment of the church and its subsequent rebranding.
"Old the memories have faded away with the changing of Kiambaa Church name. Right now, we are praying that our God will forgive the perpetrators.
We also hope our leaders will continue preaching peace as we approach elections. We need one another, and our political differences should not make us enemies," she explained.
In March, the Kiambaa Church administration published a poster announcing plans to reconstruct the worship centre.
Church leaders stated that they had faced resistance from a section of political leaders who were opposed to rebuilding the altar, adding that they were determined to bring back to life the church, which was raided and burnt down with worshippers inside on January 1, 2008.
"With God's grace, the rebuilding of the Church began last month and construction is currently underway.
"The committee in charge of the project is asking well-wishers to support the construction by making contributions to KAG Kiambaa project," the church stated.
