CHAPTER 1

Angelica Mugariri (POV)

REVOLUTION IN CHRIST INTERNATIONAL CHURCH

“…… We are perfect in You

We bless Your name

I am complete in You

I praise Your name

I am perfect in You

I bless Your name

I am complete in You

I praise Your name……..”

Men and women dressed in purple and black were busy singing, standing in front of the church’s congregation with gusto. Their gowns moved from side to side and they sang along the beat.

With the drummers, guitarists, and the pianist on the other side of the well-formed choir, everyone was quite in sync.

Even the men and women of the congregation were all on their feet, singing and dancing along.

Who wouldn’t want to praise the Lord when all the children of one family were gathered in such a holy place?

This was one of the greatest moments in church. Whenever children of God gathered together as one, it was always a happy moment and they were all happy to be part of this.

It was one of those special days for this church in particular and everyone, including the new people that just visited the church for the first time that Sunday, could see it as well.

While the choir was busy singing, Glory to Glory to everyone, some well-dressed men and women were busy leading a group of elderly people to the front, where chairs were neatly arranged.

This group of elderly men and women sat on the chairs, and there were around twenty of them.

Everyone who was an old member of the church had an idea of what was happening exactly, but for those that didn’t, this was quite a mystery, for they were indeed curious about what kind of activity these people were pulling.

When the leading singer of the choir saw that everyone was seated, she began to slow down her singing, motioning for the praising moment to come to an end for this particular moment.

And when the song came to an end, everyone began to applaud in happiness. After all, there wasn’t any better choir that surpassed theirs. And this was just a fact that everyone understood and knew.

While this was happening, some congregants began to sit down, and this automatically called for the MC in charge of that Sunday’s service to go to the podium to continue the service.

And the person in charge of that was someone that everyone from young to old loved so much. And that person was me.

Seeing that everyone was starting to get seated when the choir finished the song, as the person in charge of that day’s service, I obviously had to stand up and resume from where I stopped earlier.

This was one of the services that I enjoyed the most, for I get to see a lot of people attending church and, above all, I get to see just how greedy, naïve, and foolish people can be.

Rising from my comfortable chair in the VIP area where only the church leaders sit during services, I stood up with confidence with a smile on my face.

Just because I am in a church doesn’t mean that I should cower and try to tone things down. I am a confident woman and, as one, I should portray myself that way. Otherwise, what would these people who look up to me see me as?

I am a role model and as one, that should be portrayed otherwise all the teachings I have taught so far would mean nothing and what would be the reason for me wasting my time like that when I could have done something better and worthy?

As I walked towards the stage, the choir band played their instruments so that it wouldn’t be quiet, for it would be awkward if I just walked like that.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of my heels resounded low as I walked on the wooden tiled platform at the front of the church and the sound of it just made me feel overpowered.

After walking for a short while, I soon reached the podium where I picked up the microphone that I had left earlier allowing the choir to have a praise and worship moment so that the elderly could come to the front and get seated the way they were at the moment.

Standing in front of the mass, I looked up at the sheep that came to attend the service to seek God, be in his presence, and, above all, find a way for themselves.

So many thoughts were running through my mind, but this wasn’t the time for that. For I had something important to announce and everyone was looking forward to that.

Placing the mic closer to my mouth, I opened my mouth and began to do what I was best at.

“Praise the Lord, children of God!” I called out to the masses.

“We praise Him!” the wonderful children of God answered back enthusiastically, as they always do.

Hearing their enthusiastic cheers, I smiled even brighter and even shouted a few more slogans to rile up the masses, something that always gave me energy and made me feel as if I was indeed doing the right thing.

After a moment of praising the Lord, it was soon time to get down to business.

“This is our last segment of today’s service and I just want to thank you everyone for attending church today and coming in huge numbers,” I sincerely thanked the church members.

After all, it wasn’t every Sunday or service that the church gets full like on this day. And that is one of the reasons why I always love services like these, for they truly remind me about the nature of human beings that was difficult to change.

“I won’t waste everybody’s time and just cut the long story short,” I said as I scanned the masses, who all had different emotions on their faces.

“For those who just came for the first time, may we praise the Lord for that? Today is a special big Sunday for us. We call it special because once in every three months, every church member here will be taking part in doing some good deeds for our beloved seniors of the church.”

“So, just like before, our beloved ushers will enter and hand over these hampers to our mothers and fathers seated in the front here. And I sincerely hope and pray that we all will continue to do good and help our elderly, for we wouldn’t be here without them. Remember that the Bible always teaches us to love each other, and this is another way of showing that love.”

When it comes to convincing people with words and verses, honestly, I can say that I was one of the best. And seeing the women ululating while the youth stood on their feet as they cheered as I talked, I felt even prouder.

Who cared about stopping being prideful, as the Bible warned against at this moment? I completely threw this out of my head and just let nature take its course.

It’s not like this was something that could easily be changed in a short time. Everyone has secrets, and just because I was standing in front of a church and spewing some verses didn’t mean that I was a saint.

However, one thing for me was sure: I was not an ordinary person and would never be. Standing right in front of the congregation as the ushers handed over the food hampers while the choir band was already playing an energetic instrumental song, wasn’t a nobody.

But who stood in front of them was none other than Pastor Angelica Mugariri, the youngest female pastor in the Revolution in Christ International Church.

And as a person that enjoys drama too much on top of that. And looking at the several familiar faces that looked holy on the surface and yet pretentious, just like me.

I just couldn’t help but wonder as this wonderful moment was ongoing just to what lies, deceits, and secrets these people were hiding.

What could it be? And what could I also be hiding from them?

Who knows, but as they all say, the light will always shine on the truth, and who knows when that would just happen?