Kenya Interdenominational Community Church, which later became Kingdom Interdenominational Community Church was started in 1997 with it’s first worship service on November 16th at 5:00 pm in the Wesley Chapel of Westmont United Methodist Church in Pomona. As we take you back in history, we are going to look at the various phases of KICC:
KICC's History
Roots of KICC
KICC Roots can be traced all the way back to what used to be “Kenya Community Fellowship”.
The need for KICC
KICC was started with a desire to unite Kenyans who had fragmented themselves into semi-fellowships in various locations in southern California.
"...those who persisted felt that God was
leading them to something."
"...those who persisted felt that God was leading them to something."
The early beginning of KICC
The late Pauline Mbugua who was a member of Kenya Community Fellowship, before she left for Kenya, had shared her concerns with Rev. Dr. Elias Mbaabu regarding the disunity among Kenyans. In 1997 between August and October, Rev. Dr. Mbaabu called a series of meetings with Christian members of Kenya Community with a view challenging Kenyans in the Diaspora to live in unity for their common good.
At that time, it was not clear what such a call of unity would lead to, but those who persisted felt that God was leading them to something. The first worship service was on the 16th of November in 1997 at Westmont UMC Wesley Chapel under the auspices of what later became “Multicultural Community Outreach of World Quest” (MCO of the World Quest- Started by Rev. Dr. Elias Mbaabu). The first sermon was preached by Rev. Silas Ndonye Wanda. His sermon was based on John 4:24. Rev. Wanda emphasized the need for unity among Kenyans in the Diaspora irrespective of their ethnic, religious, denominational or cultural differences.
The First Services
The offerings for the first worship services was $112.81. This money was donated to Westmont United Methodist Church. The Rev. Dr. Elias Mbaabu was the senior pastor of Westmont United Methodist Church at that time.
Those who were noted to have attended the first worship service were:
- Rev. Dr. Elias Mbaabu
- Mrs. Alice Mbaabu
- Rev Willy Kiilu
- Rev Dr. Benson Andebe
- Rev. Silas Ndonye
- Mrs. Esther Ndonye
- And some members of their families
Officials of the Early Beginnings
Officials of the Early Beginnings
Meeting of November 1997
Following the meeting on the 23rd of November 1997, the following were selected as the first Officials of this early beginning:
- Rev. Benson Andebe- Chairman
- Rev. Silas Ndonyewanda- Treasurer
- Ms. Margaret Mungai- Secretary
Early Growth
The early congregation continued to meet every Sunday at 5:00 pm at the Westmont UMC premises. The Lord continued to increase our numbers each Sunday to the extent that on the third Sunday, the worship service was moved from the chapel to the main sanctuary of the Westmont United Methodist Church.
With this steady growth, it was felt that we needed to form a leadership structure under the auspices of the MCO of the World Quest to respond to the needs and challenges of the new emerging congregation. The Early Executive committee consisted of the following members:
- Rev. Benson Andebe
- Mrs. Florence Andebe
- Rev. Silas Wanda
- Mrs. Esther Ndonye
- Rev Willy Kiilu
- Rev. Dr, Elias Mbaabu
- Mrs. Alice Mbaabu
- Rev. Jeremy Wanjala
- Dr. Rool Noiman
- Mrs. Margaret Muingai
- Ms. Esther Ndegwa
- Ms Audrey Williams
- Ms Polly Lynch
“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:16 NASB
The New KICC and its Future
On September 5th, 1998 it became very clear to the executive committee that God was calling us to begin a church. The executive committee in their monthly meeting on 09/05/1998 resolved to adopt the name “Kenya Interdenominational Community Church (KICC) as the new name for our new congregation.
The vision and mission of the new church was very clear- which was based on the Great Commission in Mathew 28:19-20 which lead to the formation of the Constitution and the registration of the church with the State of California to operate as a Religious Corporation in the United States and in the world. From that time, KICC was in the process of securing her own identity and detaching herself from “MCO of the World Quest”.
At this point, it became necessary to hire a part time pastor to oversee the day-to-day operations of the church.
On May 19, 1999 KICC was officially registered as a full fledged Church in the state of California with its own identity as a non profit religious corporation hence detaching herself from”MCO of the world Quest”.
On January 15, the first KICC council was inaugurated and Rev MacMillan Kiiru was elected the first chairman of KICC council.
In February 2000, Rev. Benson Andebe was hired and appointed as senior pastor and pastor Andrew Wanjau was hired as the youth pastor.
On March 5, 2000, both Pastor Andebe and Pastor Wanjau were installed as senior pastor and youth pastor respectively. In May 2000, KICC received its Tax-exempt status with the State of California.
The vision and the mission of KICC became concrete.