BRIEF HISTORY Kingdom of Christ international
The ministry was founded in 1996 as CMTN or CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY TEAM FOR ALL NATIONS in Bukavu DR Congo by a group of three young men: Elijah, Ngoy and Ephraim. The two young men left Mr. Elijah who self handedly ran with this vision; he then organized several meetings within the country and outside.
On 14 August 1998 he went to plant a church in Goma known today as the international evangelism church IEC Goma.
Since the main objective of this ministry was to empower local churches by organizing interdenominational conferences, crusades, revival meetings and outreach meetings (door to door evangelism, crusades, open air meetings…). This did not go well with the political situation in the country especially with the involvement in peace building and reconciliation and the rebel movement in the eastern part of DR Congo.
The Lord then sent him to Kenya to further his studies in Theology and also to advance the vision of CMTN
On the 1st May 2000 he landed in Kenya where he met with another group of people from the Great lakes region (Congo Rwanda Tanzania and Burundi), and some Kenyans. They once again joined forces and ran several meetings through out the country and so many souls came to Christ.
In 2002 The Lord then gave the leader of this team Pastor Elijah M. Ruboneka a burden to plant a church. But then they did not have any money to start the church. They then took a step of faith and started a forty days prayers and fasting in June 2003. On 10th August 2003 a church known as Bonde la Baraka saw the day. This church was started by two families only. The family of Pastor Elijah Ruboneka and the one of Lumumba Mulamba whose wife Pastor Jeannette Imurani is now the vice president of the ministry worldwide and the representative of the same in Canada.
Three years later they planted another church in Ongata Rongai Nairobi known as The Not forsaken Church under the leadership of Rev. Violet Sabatia who is now in America. This church is now under the care of Pastor Judith Wanjiru Njuguna and Pastor Moses
The name Bonde la Baraka centre is from a story of the Bible 2 chronicles 20:1:26, where the people of Israel celebrated their victory after defeating theirs enemies, it is in this place also that they were able to collect turfs which the enemies left. This remains the place from where we shall be sending missionaries to go plant more churches in the world. All the churches planted and the one which will be planted later will be known as Kingdom of Christ international KOCI
Why Kingdom of Christ?
We need perhaps to start by defining the kingdom of Christ; The Kingdom of Christ is spiritual and physical, future and present, domain where God is the ruler and Christ the King and his power is manifested in and through the believers.
We need to state here that the Kingdom Of Christ is a kingdom of peace, because the king came as the King of peace, peace which is not as the peace that the world gives, Isaiah puts it clear when he says “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
The messianic prophecy of a child being born who will be the "Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" has its fulfillment in the life of Jesus. What does the Bible tell us about "peace" and this "Prince of Peace?"
What is Peace? According to Webster's dictionary, peace is a state of tranquility, quiet, calm, freedom from civil disturbance, a state of security - being secure within a community, freedom from oppression, strife and disorder. In harmony in personal relations, untroubled by conflict, agitation or commotion, is peace desirable? Do you have it? Would you like to have it? How may we receive true peace? Then KOCI is the place for you to be.
I agree with Linthicum who believes that the New Testament acknowledges that Jesus is primarily concerned with the Shalom of the have nots, this is particularly evident in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus preaches a message of good news to the poor. His primary interactions are with those at the margins, what Carlos Mesters refers to as Galilee of the Gentiles. His intersections with the haves are often uncomfortable – the centres of religious power Matt 22 – 24:2.
He confronts the Rich young ruler (Lk 18: 18 – 25). However Linthicum notes that the rich are not portrayed as the oppressor but rather that they were invited to enter into the Shalom of the haves to use their wealth and power for the good and welfare of others to be right steward’s of God’s resources.
The role of KOCI is therefore to make sure that both the Rich and the poor have the peace of God “shalom” and can therefore live together and make this world a better place for everyone to enjoy and live. tat brings people into an ever deepening relationship with God and each other, and consequently contributes to the formation of society as God intended it.1
God’s Kingship in the Old Testament
First it is essential to understand that before anything was, God is. The word God denotes “self existing one or self sufficient one” and describes a being that needed noting or no one to exist. Therefore “God” is not a name but rather a description of a character. Because of what and who He is. He alone qualifies for the title of God2. This totally independent God existed before all things and begun his creative process by first producing the entire invisible world, known as the heaven and the visible world known as natural world. Automatically this work of creation initiated the concept of a “ruler” and “ruler-ship” as the creator himself became the Ruler or King. Of the visible domain known as “World” and the invisible domain known as “heaven” according to Genesis3
Now if we are to look at God’s kingship in the Old Testament that where we need to start. That by the virtue of Him being the creator he becomes automatically the ruler over his creation. It is this understanding that helps us understand that even by God saying let us create man in our own image. In Genesis 1:26 By Him creating man at his own image what he wanted was an ambassador or representative to extend His rule just as the chiefs, District Officers, Provincial Commissioners; they represent the President in their respective territories.
It is in this line that when Adam fails God is angry but still have his plan in mind. And so he calls Abraham again he makes a covenant with Him and promises that all other nations of the world would be blessed through him. To understand this critically we need to look at His (Yahweh’s) rule over the nations of the world and the fulfillment of his covenant to Abraham by the establishment of the Davidic Kingship4.
In this chapter 7 of 2smuel David expressed the desire to built a suitable dwelling place for the arc of covenant; however the Lord refuses David’s request to build a temple. Although he refuses his request He himself promises to build David a House or a dynasty and an eternal Kingship 2 Samuel 7:13. We need therefore to note that this promise given to David, he is a representative of the whole nation of Israel, as a King he embodies and represents the people5 of Israel and the entire world since Abraham was promised that through Him all the nations of the World will be blessed.
Now the understanding here is that God still rules his entire creation through His representatives. Because as Munroe puts it, it was God’s idea to share His invisible Kingdom with His offspring, which he calls mankind, and give to them His nature and characteristics6.
Now it is important to note here that for most of their history Jews lived under the domination of evil nations7. The decline begun after King David, with Israel divided into two the northern Kingdom and southern Kingdom at the death of Solomon the son of David. Now the Jews begun to think of the day when the Lord, when he will restore the Davidic blessing of the past. It is at this point that, they begun to develop the concept of the day of the Lord. Their understanding was that God will establish a military Kingdom free from foreign king’s occupation. They were looking for an empire like the good old empire of David, when God would judge their enemies.
God’s Kingdom in the New Testament
As we have already seen above, the expectation of the Jews people was high. Every single day they waited for their King who would set them free from the attack and domination of the foreign kings. In The gospel of Matthew2:1-2, this is the picture we get as we read about the birth of Jesus Christ: Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the rein of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern arrive in Jerusalem asking. Where is the newborn king of Jews? We have seen his star as it arose and we have come to worship Him. In Matthew view as Jew, Jesus was that King they have been waiting for, as a descendent of Adam he would open the way for man to become righteous. This would be accomplished through the offering of his blood at the cross. Jesus came to bring us back and synchronize our lives with the government of God, so that we can once more claim our citizen right
Understanding this is critical to developing solid Kingdom thinking in this new age, That when we are in the right relationship with God he can extend his Kingdom and ruler ship into our lives.
Christ was born when there were many political views: the Sadducees, Pharisees, essences and freedom fighters. Kaybill Donald in the upside Kingdom argues that all these classes though opponent, were all expecting a messiah who would rout out the Romans and set things strait in Palestine. Thus at the birth of Christ the messianic Hopes were alive in the Jewish community9. Such hopes were intensified in the century before Jesus Christ; Luke writes that the angel Gabriel offered Mary a fresh vision of the messianic reign.
Some scholar have argued that that was enough reason for Mary to accept the virgin birth of Christ, after being convinced by the same angel That what is impossible with men with God it is possible Luke 1:37. In 1:32 -33 These were the words of the angel: He will be great, and will be called the son of the most high God and the Lord God will Give to Him the throne of his ancestor David He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Having been able to briefly go through the Old testament and saw what the Jews expected and what happened during the birth of Jesus Christ and even him self what he said about the arrival of the kingdom he said: “The Kingdom of God has come upon You” (Matthew 12:28) and in different parables on the kingdom of heaven. We can then say that his arrival marked the arrival of the Kingdom of God. Even though we are still expecting the futuristic part of it which will take place when he comes for the second time; We can then say that the Kingdom of God is here with us today as we see even in the parables Jesus used as he was preaching on the kingdom of God
1)How the Kingdom of God relates to us today
I might sound ridiculous but I stand to be corrected, my understanding is that God’s initial intention was to establish his Kingdom on earth. The prophets insisted very much on that the Son of man Himself spoke eloquently on this and it is only one time in Matthew 18:16 that he mentions the word “church” and my understanding of the word church as ecclesia or group of people set out of. Would allow me argue that he was referring to this new Kingdom quit different from the one the Jews people were waiting for. And therefore the use of the term church should be used in the context of the Kingdom. And even those who think that we should use the kingdom of God instead of church would carry the day.
We need to understand that every kingdom then has some characteristics, That it must have:
A Ruler: In this case our King is Jesus Christ while his father remains the ultimate ruler
The territory: or the domain over which the king exercise total authority. The territory and its resources and people are all personal property of the King. Now the king by right owns all and therefore is considered Lord over all. This means that we and all that we have by right we belong to Christ
Constitution: Normally Monarchies do not have constitution but the word of the King is Law, these words can be referred to as the covenant, this covenant of a king with his subjects expresses the mind of the King for his citizens and the kingdom. In this case as related to us today, the Bible contains the words of our king Jesus Christ and reveals his mind to us. So the only way to be in harmony with our King and living to the standard of the kingdom is to observe therefore the instructions which are in the Bible Joshua 1:8.
Citizenry and Law: this is the people who live under the rule of the King. We need therefore to remember that we have dual citizenship. We are members of this current settlement of government, but also citizen of the kingdom of Christ and we must do our level best to please our King Christ. It is true that the bible says that we can not serve two masters, it might be out of context in this case but my point is that if we live to the standard of the Kingdom of Christ, then beyond reasonable doubt we will please any other government. By the way we all are citizen of our countries and citizen of the world, and if we abide to the laws of one country you find that it is not very much opposed to the laws of another. The laws of our countries may contradict our heavenly law but the law of Christ will make the law of our countries easy. So my brief comment is that we must adhere to the constitution of the Kingdom and for the rest it will be automatic.
There are many other characteristics unlisted by Munroe10 like Privileges, The army, Social culture, Common wealth Etc. That we must behave like children of the king we must be able to enjoy the privileges of the kingdom, we must be part of the heavenly army of intercessors, but also enjoy the economy of our kingdom that we must not die poor while we confess to be children of the great King Jesus Christ.
In conclusion we can say that all these explanations above are enough to convince us that the initial intention of God was not to build a church which Jesus referred to only once in the New testament, Matthew 18:16 but throughout his teaching in all the gospels, more especially in Matthew he tirelessly spoke of the kingdom.
Both Jesus and even his forerunner John The baptizer had a simple message was simple and that message was repent for the Kingdom of God is here. Matthew 4:17,
This is therefore a call to all of us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and start immediately propagating the message of the Kingdom of Christ and live up to its standard.
I.Vision
Positively and holistically transforming the world with the word of God by restoring the Kingdom of Christ’s values and principles on earth
Positively: Because transformation can either be, positive or negative
Holistically or integral transformation means that we aim the entire human being’s transformation: meaning, physically, intellectually and spiritually
II.Mission
Training, Sending and supporting missionaries with a transforming message of the kingdom of God, thus giving back hope to the hopeless to fully enjoy the kingdom of Christ holistically (spiritually, intellectually and physically ) living by it in our day to day experience.
III.Values
Faith, Hope, Love, Teaching, Fellowship, Prayer, Sharing, honesty, integrity, transparency and holiness to the Lord
