Tucked inside Mowlem estate in Ogopa, overlooking Komorock in Nairobi, is The Light Centre Ministries, a Christian ministry that looks like seven others in the vicinity.
The similarities, however, end there. The message preached inside The Light Centre would shock many Christians: the church implicitly urges them to embrace polygamy.
The founder and director of Light Centre, Apostle Francis Morisi, says his church’s message is based on the Bible.
Talking to Saturday Nation recently, Mr Morisi said he received a message from God to pass on the polygamy message to the world.
“If our lives are to be what God wants them to be, we must be open to His will, whatever it may be. A church is one big family where every woman needs a man and a man is naturally polygamous,” he says.
Mr Morisi holds a diploma in theology from the Voice of Prophesy Bible School, a Seventh Day Adventist college.
He says he got saved in 1993 and served in three ministries before God gave him the polygamy message three years ago.
“I was already married when God sent me another woman to love. I asked God why He did that and He told me not to ask. He (God) gave me an example of Hosea who He ordered to marry a harlot. Hosea complied and bore children with her,” explains the husband of Lorna and the late Margaret Morisi.
“I started preaching the message that God had bestowed on me. I will not tire because I am doing the will of God. Every woman has to be married as God intended,” says the preacher.
The church has two other branches, in Lunga Lunga and Mugumu in North Tanzania. It has over 400 members.
Mr Morisi has written a book, Love is Supreme in a little Heaven on Earth, which warns men to stop being hypocritical by staying in monogamous marriages while they kept mistresses and girlfriends on the side.
The book encourages men to marry more wives to bridge the gap that has given rise to many single women.
Mr Osborn Nyanaro, an elder in the ministry, says only polygamy can reduce immorality in society.
“This church recognises celibacy, and monogamous and polygamous marriages. We have polygamous men in our ministry and more are still coming in,” said Mr Nyanaro, a polygamist himself.
Pastor Duncan Otieno of Great Commission Ministries in Kayole agrees with Apostle Morisi about the Bible not expressly prohibiting polygamy, but notes that the same Bible does not allow church leaders to practice it.
One man, many wives okay for this church-Light Centre Ministries
