American mega-pastor Bishop TD Jakes has
apologised for remarks he made at his church in Dallas, Texas on Sunday
which rubbed off some Kenyans the wrong way.
Bishop
Jakes made the comments that were seen as an exaggeration of his work in
Kenya during a sermon he was delivering at the Potter’s House where his
church is based.
He regretted what he called a
misunderstanding saying that “it was only meant to communicate to his
constituents that his love is for people as demonstrated through years
of practical ministry.”
The Bishop made the Kenya
comments as he attempted to distance himself from a new American TV
reality series “Preachers of LA (Los Angeles)” which he lamented was
portraying preachers in a negative light.
The reality
show follows the lives of six larger than life pastors who are usually
flamboyant and show off their lavish lifestyles with big cars and large
mansions.
Bishop Jakes in his sermon went ahead to criticise the show, saying it was not a portrayal he would want to be associated with.
It
was at this time when he attempted to show the differences between the
pastors in the show and himself that he made these comments:
“So
let the work I’ve done speak for me. You are sowing into good ground.
And the 300 families that are employed in this ministry eat from this
ministry, work in this ministry, and help us to produce the excellence
that we do," he explained.
"The natives all over Kenya
drink water because of this ministry. And the hospital in Nairobi
survives because of this ministry,” he added.
DEMAND APOLOGY
Bishop TD Jakes apology read in part;
"An
attempt in last Sunday’s sermon to distinguish myself from an American
television program portraying preachers in a manner that I found
unseemly has caused some offence in Kenya. For that I apologise.
"My
intent was to show the extensive humanitarian efforts by TD Jakes
Ministries through its MegaCARE arm as a means of further distinguishing
this organisation from the TV programme’s exclusive focus on the
personal material wealth of the individual ministers over the works of
the Gospel."
When the video of his comments surfaced, Kenyans on social media were up in arms with many demanding an apology from the Bishop.
Many
saw the comments as an exaggeration of the Bishop’s work in Kenya and
demanded a retraction. In his apology later, the Bishop added:
"The attempt was to highlight one well and one hospital wing in Kenya as one example of this ministry’s worldwide efforts.
"It was by no means meant to take responsibility for an entire nation or to minimise the contributions of its people.
"I
love Kenya and the entire continent of Africa. I am proud of its
efforts and grateful to have had an opportunity to minister to its
people on numerous occasions.
"I trust that this explanation will end this apparent misunderstanding."
KENYAN PROJECT
In
July 2012, Bishop Jakes tweeted a photo of what appeared to be an
engineering crew starting a project at a hospital in Kenya.
The Bishop tweeted that the crew was breaking ground at Melchizedek Hospital’s new well site in Kenya.
He
mentioned that he has a number of projects in Kenya in conduction with
MegaCARE Missions (MegaCARE) an International Humanitarian Organisation
he founded.
According to the website, in April 2012,
the organisation repaired the TD Jakes Rift Valley pipeline and after it
was destroyed during skirmishes between two Kenya tribes.
The
website also states that in December 2012, the organisation met with
tribal leaders to reinforce peaceful relationships between the tribes
and to discuss goals for returning the pipeline to a self-sustainable
project going forward.
Over 100 representatives from
the Maasai and Kikuyu communities attended bringing 4,000 cattle,
donkeys and goats to reinforce the commitment to peace and to
commemorate the restoration of the TD Jakes Pipeline and Water Station.
The
website says that the pipeline caters for 20,000 Kenyans, local
businesses, farms and more than one million livestock including cattle,
donkeys and goats.
SOURCE: DAILY NATION
SOURCE: DAILY NATION
