The Church at Crossroads

The Church is entangled in the intricate web of politics and tribalism. This comes at a dire circumstance when the State of the Nation needs peace and development. Will the centre hold? This is a story of the place of Church in modern times and its role in the ever changing dynamics of the world.  Caveat: It is a scathing criticism and unapologetic as it may be. The writer puts the truth before anything. After all, it is mirroring the reality. Nothing personal.

CAST

Mark: Churchgoer

Milly: Churchgoer

Jane: Pastor Bill’s Daughter

Chris: Jane’s fiancé

Pastor Bill: Head of Upward Church.

Police Inspector General

TV Presenter

Congregation

PRODUCTION TEAM

Scripter: Musyoka Ngui

Producer/Director: Lawrence Kitema

Scene One

(Upward Church. Faithfuls are streaming in for Sunday Service.  They are chatting as they enter the Church)

Mark: Praise Jesus!

Milly: Amen!

Mark: Did you hear about Mama Sarah’s daughter wedding?

Milly: No, Tell me about it. I can as well start ordering for wedding clothes.

Mark: She is marrying from the lake.

Milly: What! I thought us people from the mountain should marry from the mountain. Ni bwana alikosa ama walitoana na huyo wapi?

Mark: He is her college colleague. They used to study together at the big city, Nairobi.

Milly: (Shaking her head) Wasichana wa siku hizi. Can they be tamed?  Let them not bring us kisirani ya ziwa na kurusha mawe. We want mundu wa Nyumba. Sisi kwa sisi, wakae na vitu zao.

Mark: But sis the Bible says you love your neighbour…..

Milly: Yeah but it is the pastor’s daughter, our pastor’s daughter. It can’t happen

Scene Two

(Pastor Bill enters the church. The congregation is in a prayerful mood. It is time to usher in the sermon speaker)

Pastor Bill: Every eye shut and mouth closed shall we pray. Lord Jesus we come before you this beautiful day. We thank you for my daughter’s wedding. We give their wedding plans in your hands. May you fulfil them. In Jesus name….

Milly: No no! Pastor. You are forgetting something. The Holy Spirit just spoke to me at this very moment telling me the marriage is doomed. Pray for repentance and giving so that God may bless the couple.

Pastor Bill: Ribashagarabardfigbra! Shindwe! Pepo ya ukabila ondoka. I am commanding you to go. Leave, flee. Pack. Ondoka!

Mark :( In meditation). Oh God may you help us. I know Jane loves Chris but the mere fact that they come from opposing political factions their parents will not allow them to marry. Tribalism is the curse they will have to live with.

(The rest of the congregation join in prayer. The prayers degenerate to shouting matches before noise takes over.)

Scene Three

(In Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. Jane and Chris are strolling around the park holding hands. They are in love)

Chris: Babe do you love me?

Jane: (Blushes): Yeah but father will not allow our marriage.

Chris: Why? I thought being a man of the cloth he would pronounce peace and blessing in our lives.

Jane: You don’t know dad. He objected to this. We are just wasting time. I told the church elders to advise him but some of them, am afraid, support him.

Chris: So what is the issue? Does it require referendum or dialogue?

Jane: None. We are adults and they want to micromanage our private little life. Hell no. Kama ni laana na iwe.

Chris: I will never let you go.

Jane: I will go where you go. So don’t you ever leave me. Even if it is eloping we are going to do it. Us two. Me and you. We are the ones who know how special the bond we share is.

Chris: What if they let curse befall us? Will our love work without the goodwill of our parents?

Jane: It is for us to make it work by working on it.

Chris: (Kissing her): They say the forbidden fruit tastes sweetest. (Laughs)

Jane: (Hugs him): They also say banned rallies are most attended. See here we are in the historic Sabasaba ground. Uhuru Park. Shouldn’t it embody freedom? Freedom to choose who one wants to hang out with, marry and love? Am afraid dad is behaving like police. He’s raising alarm on seeing unarmed gathering of lovers.

Chris: This is really symbolic; let’s go before police or kanjo come for us for gathering without licence.

Jane: Siku hizi ata serikali inadeploy NYS. Those kids who wore GK shorts during the Moi era to control crowds.

(Chris and Jane leave Uhuru Park. The next day they attend a church service at Pastor Bill’s church.)

Pastor Bill: Today I want us to depart from the normal way of doing our things here. Everyone knows that tomorrow I will hold a press conference to outline the position of the clergy on State of the Nation.

Jane: Yes dad.  You need to prepare what you will say on TV. We can help you draft the statement you will read as the Chairman of the Clergy.

Milly: I think we can start. Time is running out.

Mark: I suggest you drop the idea of tribalism. Your daughter will miss this handsome young man here for just belonging to the wrong tribe. Who knows, he may be even be killed for loving her. God forbid.

Chris: I am willing to lay my life for the sake of the love I have for pastor’s daughter, Jane.

Pastor Bill: The pre-wedding between my daughter and her fiancé is cancelled until after security is restored in our country. I cannot risk mortgaging my daughter to people I do not trust. I love her more than this boy is claiming.

Jane: He is not a boy. Chris is a man. A real gentleman. I’ve resolved to go with him mpende msipende.

Pastor Bill: Shhhh! Do not raise your voice before the elders and more so your father. I can curse you to the nth generation. Keep quiet and wait my decision and it is final.

Milly:  I support Baba Jane.

(The entire church erupts into chaos. Rival campus for pastor and the other supporting his daughter. They want to shed blood on the pulpit.

That night during prime time news the country watches the depressing news.)

TV Presenter: Hello viewers, we are sad to report that a scuffle ensued this morning at a Sunday service at Upward Church when the congregation went head to head with the pastor’s camp on national security matters. Apparently, the pastor’s daughter, Jane, had planned to marry a young man called Chris who comes from a rival tribal and political outfit. We further regret to announce that the couple tried to elope in order to marry secretly at Zanzibar Island but they have since gone missing. Police have mounted investigation into the matter.

(Two days later)

Police Inspector General: Hello distinguished Kenyans. Our comrades have completed the investigation into the church saga. Sadly, the couple Jane and Chris died in a boat accident that capsized in Indian Ocean if the DNA samples we collected are anything to go by. We urge the public to maintain peace. Our condolences to the affected families. Bye. No questions from the media please.

SEQUEL:

While receiving blood from the donor, does the doctor ask you which tribe you belong to? Do you refuse to take it because it is from another ethnic community or because it aint your blood group? Think and stop being stupid, petty even. Each of us, regardless of race, creed, religion, region, culture and tongue bleed when we get cut. Beneath the skin we are all the same. The rest is superficial. Including your beauty and ugliness. Tafakari babu.