Joseph Nimrod Hellon, who once headed the controversial Finger of God church, which is now Kingdom Embassy International, says he is still going strong nine years after his church was put under police investigations when it became an issue of public concern because of its mannerisms.
Speaking to Milele FM’s presenter Wilbroda, Hellon said he holds services every Sunday at the Kenya School of Law and has more than 300 members.
“After cult accusations in 2010, I contemplated changing the name of my church so I partnered with an American preacher and in March this year, changed name to Kingdom Embassy International in March. I have learnt to forgive people, including the media who called my church a cult,” he said.
“There is nothing cultish about my church. I just do things differently,” he added.
When questioned about his relationship with former Kenya Television Network (KTN) news anchor Esther Arunga and her husband Quincy Timberlake, after an Australian court handed Arunga a 10-month suspended sentence for her lying to authorities about the circumstances that led to her son’s demise 2014, Hellon, who doubles up as a jazz artiste, said the two met in his church.
He also said Quincy was his neighbour in his rural home in Migori County, where he raised.
“He was my deskmate at Kokuro Primary School. One day after seeing me on TV on the Tusker Project Fame show, he reached out and asked whether we could meet. We rekindled our friendship and started doing music together,” he said.
“He then became a member our church and people started saying it was a devil-worshipping church because Quincy was a conman. We were arrested and put behind bars as investigations went on. The case was later thrown out for lack of evidence,” he added.
Hellon said that Quincy helped him in registering the Placenta Party which he co-founded in 2013 when he was vying for president with Arunga as his deputy.
“When he joined our church, he saw Arunga and fell in love with her and when things started spiralling out of control in church, I contemplated chasing Quincy [away] and sat Arunga down, asking her to leave him,” he said.
“I told her that Quincy is a con man and a liar and went ahead to chase him out of church then recorded a statement,” he added.
According to Hellon, Esther left his house where she had been living with his family since 2009 when she started working at KTN. Even after falling out with Arunga, Hellon says he is still good friends with Arunga’s family.
“Her mother is my friend, we speak a lot.
Hellon is looking forward to being the President of Kenya and said he will either vie for the position in 2022 or 2027.
