Out of the Bondage of Satan

Clement Titus Adede—Ogongo, Kenya 

EXPERIENCING GOD’S INTERVENTION

I was born a Catholic, but my family joined a Charismatic church in the 1980s. At that time I was still a child but my heart was thirsting for a higher, divine purpose to life.

My mother did not permit me to go to church because I had to take care of things at home. But thank God that through my earnest desire, I was allowed to attend church service at the Charismatic church, although irregularly.

By 1992, I had left home and was staying with my aunt because my family was very poor and could not afford my school fees. My aunt, on the other hand, ran a brewery in her home. At the time, I could not continue going to church because I had to help my aunt with her business.

Without support in my faith, I felt hopeless and developed a bad drinking habit. The drinking gave me multiple stomach ulcers, which made it very difficult for me to eat or drink because the ulcers would act up—causing a lot of pain whenever I ate.

During this time I fought with a man who had stolen some of my possessions, and he had to be hospitalized because of the fight. I was subsequently charged with assault, with a pending court appearance once the man had recovered. The man’s family collected money to sue me.

These two incidents made me remember what I read from the book of Luke. In 1990, my brother had given me a part of the Bible containing the Gospel of Luke, but I didn’t read it through properly until two years later.

Through the Gospel of Luke I came to know Jesus in a more personal way. I believed that just as Jesus healed those who were sick and released those who were in the bondage of Satan (the sinners), I, too, could be released. Back at home, there was no one who could rescue me.

The faith of the woman with the hemorrhage (Mk 5:25-34) motivated me very much and I began to seek God at home on my own, confessing my sins in prayer.

One day, I attended a church service within the village. Before the service, everyone got down on their knees to pray and I mentioned my problems to God.

Thank God that when I came back from the church, I discovered the pain from my ulcers had gone. From that day onward, by God’s power, I was able to stop drinking alcohol.

Even though friends and relatives drank in front of me, I did not find it difficult to stop drinking because I felt a divine power working in me. I also testified to them about how Jesus helped me.

I continued to pray to God about the ensuing court case with the man whom I had injured. Miraculously, the Lord intervened. The man’s family became divided over contributing money for the court case. The case ended without going to court.

This built up my faith and encouraged me to love the Lord more.

LOOKING FOR THE COMPLETE TRUTH

By 1995, I began to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I was diligently searching for the truth. At the time, I was only able to attend a particular church on either a Saturday or Sunday.

Through studying the Bible, I learned about the Holy Spirit, footwashing, water baptism, the Holy Sabbath, and Holy Communion, and how all these were related to salvation. I could not find complete teachings of these sacraments from any of the churches I visited. But I felt that these were important doctrines within the word of God.

I fasted and prayed for God to lead me to a church that preached the whole truth according to the Bible. I believed that only by knowing the complete truth can one enter the kingdom ofGod. Just as the Lord Jesus Himself said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21).

I also promised God that in the same way that He leads someone to share the truth with me, I would also share His truth with others.

During that period of fasting prayers, God showed me three visions.

In the first vision, I had a Bible and was in a radio-broadcasting studio on top of a very high mountain, and I was preaching. My message was transmitted like a radio broadcast to all ofKenya.

In the second vision, I saw a mountain range where I stood on the highest mountain. I had a microphone in my hand and I was preaching as though to everyone in the country.

In the last vision, I was fishing with other people on a very big lake. We were all in the same boat, and when we cast out the net we caught many fish of different sizes. After catching the fish, we brought them out to sell.

I only realized the meaning behind these visions after I joined the True Jesus Church. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I understood that, according to Isaiah chapter 2, the Lord will establish His temple on the highest mountain and the truth will be preached from the temple to all nations. Casting the net is like preaching to people. The one boat in my vision refers to one true church and the one net refers to one faith.

COMING TO THE TRUE CHURCH

In October 1997, I visited one of the Pentecostal churches at Kamwala on a Saturday. That visit confirmed to me that they observed the Sabbath day and also preached the Holy Spirit. So I visited that church again on the following Sabbath to see whether they also preached about the Holy Communion, footwashing, and water baptism.

However, the church member who had answered my questions on the previous Sabbath was not present. I decided to go back a third time the following Saturday. Since I did not normally return to the same church more than twice, I specifically prayed to God on this occasion.

In my prayer, I resolved to question the church members, even if the member with whom I had become acquainted was absent again. I decided that I would not return to that church if they did not preach the complete truth.

Miraculously, just as the church service was about to begin, Pastor Ko and two brothers, Cornell and Silvanus, from True Jesus Church arrived for the first time in Kamwala. When Pastor Ko stood up to preach, he began by questioning the members about the five basic beliefs of True Jesus Church.

As Pastor Ko was addressing the questions to the congregation, it felt as though I was the one asking those questions. After finishing his questions, Pastor Ko began teaching about the Holy Sabbath as well as covering the other four doctrines—the Holy Spirit, Holy Communion, water baptism, and footwashing.

By God’s grace, as we knelt down to pray, I received the Holy Spirit. After coming back for more teachings that Sabbath afternoon and the following Sunday morning, I realized that I had only received a small part of the truth before coming to this church.

The following Sabbath—the fourth consecutive Sabbath that I attended—I saw that the entire church congregation had fully accepted the complete truth, so I decided to join them for regular services. On July 19, 1998 I received water baptism.

I was truly thankful that God had guided me to His true church.

PREACHING THE GOSPEL

I continued to pray in tongues and, being joyful in the Spirit, I shared with others the truth that I had received. But at the same time, I faced some harsh persecution from my aunt’s Catholic family.

For example, there would be no food for me on Saturdays because I upheld the teaching of not working on the Sabbath. Even though I was not allowed any food, I did not feel hungry; in fact, I even felt full, as though I had already eaten.

During this period, I was encouraged by a passage in the Gospel of Matthew: “‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’” (Mt 5:10). So this reassured me further about the importance of maintaining my relationship with God more than my relationship with man.

I also remembered my promise to God to share the truth with others, so I was determined to help preach the gospel.

In November 1998, I went to preach to those in Awendo with another brother. The man who stole from me, whom I had injured, just happened to be there. So we shared the truth with him. Both he and his wife came to join our church services.

However, he did not continue in his faith—he went on to steal someone else’s bicycle. He was arrested and later died in jail. Although the man chose not to continue in the truth, I am humbled that I had the opportunity to fulfill my duty to God by sharing the truth with him and practicing the teaching of forgiveness.

By the year 2000, I had returned to my hometown to preach the truth. On March 25, 2000, four people accepted the truth, and we started to fellowship together. One of these four included my mother, who had previously been determined not to forsake her belief in the Charismatic church.

On June 13, 2000, she was one of the first to be baptized in Ogongo. The following year, on May 19, a new place of worship was stationed out in Kibanga. In these two places, sixty-two members received water baptism.

The Bible says that Jesus laid down His life for His sheep (Jn 10:15). I felt that Jesus had saved my life and released me from all my struggles and from illness. He also guided me to know what I should do for Him. Whoever abides with Christ will have to walk as Christ walked, which is to pursue righteousness and justice (1 Jn 2:6).

I need to always be thankful to God and, while I am still on this earth, I need to be determined to preach His truth to all people because there are so many sheep who have not yet been brought to His fold (Jn 10:16). From now on, I set my mind on Christ and look forward to His return on the last day.

May all glory and power be to God, and may all people come to know His name. Amen.