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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Preacher Brings Forceful Style, Global Message

When Bishop Francis Bushebi looks out from the pulpit, the faces are always different - different from day to day, different from his own.

The preacher has his own flock of 250 pastors and 300,000 believers. But he hasn’t seen them for weeks. They are halfway around the world in the remote Bungoma region of Kenya.

For their sake, Bushebi has come to America. His mission is twofold: to preach African-style revival to American congregations and to raise money for his church in Kenya.

Sunday he was at the Rose of Sharon Pentecostal Church in Millwood for two healing services.

“I am Francis Bushebi and I love Jesus Christ,” he introduced himself to the eager congregation.

His preaching had them speaking in tongues and his healing had them collapsing on the floor.

“I thought he was pretty cool,” said Dale McCallum, a 16-year-old West Valley High School student.

Bushebi was born the sixth child to his peasant parents in the village of Mukhweya, on the western edge of Kenya. Although he was baptized as a baby and schooled by Catholic missionaries, he said he didn’t know God until he was 21 years old. Then, sick with tuberculosis, a Pentecostal preacher healed him.

“The grave was calling for me,” he told the congregation. “It was saying, ‘Bushebi, don’t wait until this hole fills up with water and grass.’ I was hoping to die.”

After the preacher prayed over him, Bushebi said God called him to preach the Gospel throughout Kenya.

“The last 30 years I have been walking with the Lord and I feel young,” he said, straightening his shoulders. At 53, he looks strong and healthy.

After living the life of an itinerant preacher for several years, Bushebi attended the Kaimosi Bible College. From there, he went into portions of Kenya never reached by Christian missionaries.

He preached a revival, founded a church and sent out his new converts to start other churches. He’s now head of a string of more than 200 congregations, mostly in rural areas.

Many of his converts used to worship ancestor spirits or practice witchcraft, he said.

“The Pentecostal movement brings a total deliverance from paganism, idolatry and evil worship,” he said. “It is the best answer for many of these people.”

Bushebi and his pastors conduct long, extensive healing services back in Kenya. Before preaching on Sunday he glanced at his watch. “I’m not going to do this on African time, or we’ll be here three hours. I’ll stick to American time.”

In 1993, Bushebi said he realized his church was not doing enough. The poverty of the people in his churches is at times inhumane.

In some villages there are no schools for children. Women routinely walk miles with children on their back to get water. Finding a bicycle for one of his pastors to visit church members is considered a miracle. No one in all of his churches owns a car.

His church is rich in spirit, but otherwise poor, he said. So he looked toward America, the land of plenty, to find money.

His trips to the U.S. have been funded by American churches.

So far on this trip, he has raised $5,000. He needs $60,000 - to dig wells, build schools and a Bible college. A van would be nice too, to travel to Uganda and Tanzania to preach, he said.

In coming to America, he is hoping to infuse some of the life from the African churches into the sometimes comatose American Christians, he said.

“Unless America will turn back to God and repent of their ways and repent of their inequity, a revival will not take place in this country,” Bushebi told the congregation at Rose of Sharon. “The sin of inequity will never be removed without a sacrifice.”

While Christianity is holding its own - in terms of membership numbers - in America, it’s spreading like wildfire in some African nations.

Many people are hungry to believe in something other than traditional native religions. There is a competition for souls between Muslims and Christians, Bushebi said.

“But even the Muslims are converting,” he said.

Many at the morning service said they had never given much thought to Christians in Third World countries.

“He talked a lot about the sacrifice thing,” said Julie Nelson, a 16-year-old East Valley High School student. “That’s not always easy to think about.”

Sterling Homer, 31, who works for Northwest Microfilm, said that although he knew Christianity was a global religion, he’d never thought about Africa.

“It’s kind of nice to hear God’s message is in Africa too,” he said.

Bushebi urged the congregation not to forget the big picture.

“The Christian that doesn’t take a step of sacrifice is dead in the flesh,” he said. “That’s the great commission.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo