Kenyan Community International Church building close to completion

By Emily Riehl, For the Kent Reporter

The Kenyan Community International Church is in the process of relocating to their own new building in Kent, and this means big things for the congregation in terms of freedom and convenience for members.

KCI Church has been renting out a space in Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church in Seattle for around 20 years, but have plans to move to a location off of Pacific Highway in Kent. A new building will eliminate many challenges they face at their current location.

“The other [Seattle] space was a rented space, and we had certain time slots. If we wanted to do anything outside of that, then we had to go and consult with the other congregations. At one point we had three congregations in that building,” said Edgar Rurii, the KCI Church building committee chairman.

“It’s very difficult to expand service offerings because there are a lot of parts that are moving,” he said. “But now over here in Kent, it’s very simple.”

In 2015, the church created a building committee consisting of seven elected members from the congregation to spearhead the project of building a church on a new piece of land.

“We tried looking for buildings for almost 10 years, but we could not find a building which would really have accommodated us fully,” says Joseph Karanja, the Chairman of Missions Ministry at KCI Church. “So we decided to come up with a brand new building with our own designs, and also incorporate what we want and what we like.”

Working with contractors and the City of Kent to obtain permits for the building have led to the new building project being delayed. Rurii said they expected to move into the building a year ago, but because of the number of permits needed, it has been challenging to stay on schedule.

“It’s exciting and tiring. Working with builders and a broken supply chain these days, and rising cost of materials,” said Rurii. “Everything is just delayed, especially all the finishing items like the electronics.”

Despite challenges surrounding working with contractors and the city, KCI Church is excited to have their own building that is much more convenient for members to attend services.

“Most of our congregation moved from the Seattle area to the suburbs around Federal Way, Kent, Puyallup and Tacoma,” said Rurii. “It has really been a drive for them to be able to go here [Seattle]. Eighty percent of the congregation is within 20 minutes of the new site. It’s much closer for everybody.”

The building is over 20,000 square feet with an additional 4.35 acres of property. The congregation plans to hold services, conduct ceremonies, teach Sunday School and other classes, host daycare, run a bookshop and gift store, and serve as a meeting place for community members.

Ruth Njoroge, the communications director for the church, said members have also been wanting flexibility with service times. At the old location in Seattle there was only one time for their service as the church had three other churches to schedule around. The new building allows for services during the morning, afternoon, and even during the week.

“We have a lot of people that work in healthcare and are not available on Sundays, especially the new immigrants,” says Rurii. “We’re really hoping the weekday service will be able to fill that gap.”

Not just a church

The Kenyan Community International Church is a non-denominational diaspora church. The congregation of KCI Church is made up of many Kenyan immigrants who have moved to Seattle.

“Most of our members have Christian backgrounds and Christianity is very vibrant in Africa, especially in Kenya where we come from,” said Joseph Karanja. “So we know that moving to our new location is going to improve the diversity of the people who come to our church. We’re going to try and reach not only Kenyans, but also to the general public in America.”

The congregation is excited to honor their culture at the new building by being able to freely celebrate with loud worship music, barbecues and large parties — all big parts of the Kenyan culture, and activities that a lot of members have grown up with.

The new KCI Church building will not just be a church, but a community center for members to do life together.

“This is where they’re going to do their events, birthday parties, baptisms, weddings and graduations,” said Rurii.

Services at the new building will also be held in a mix of languages featuring English, Kiswahili and Kikuyu to cater to their multi-ethnic congregation, as many are trilingual.

Rurii said that when people from their culture move to the United States, they are very vulnerable and are new to fellow-shipping with people. By incorporating services in a variety of languages, celebrating with traditional worship, and holding large community events, they hope this will make the transition for many immigrants easier.

“We are trying to make this a home for people to come and feel like they’re not alone,” said Njoroge.

Fundraising and more

Fundraising for the new church building has been entirely from members of the community and congregation. The church holds two to three fundraisers a year and community members have been instrumental in the funds needed for the new building.

“When we did our first $100,000 fundraiser in 2017, doors opened … and in the last two fundraisers we did around $350,000. People continue believing and giving and that is something that makes the job easier,” said Rurii.

The church building also received funding through pledge forms. These forms were given to members, and the church started receiving a lot of donations. Njoroge explained that there is a high level of trust between members and the church, resulting in such donations.

“We are very transparent in the way things are being done. What we have realized is the members like the truth and to see that things are happening. Members are always free to go see when construction is going on to see how the project is upcoming,” he said.

On March 30, the church’s leadership will close their mortgage and learn how much they need to pay back the bank. They estimate the building will cost around $5 million, but have already raised over $1 million from the support of church members.

“When you have a dream you keep wondering what it’s going to be like and if you’re really going to get there,” Rurii said. “Now people come and think: I can touch this building, I can see it, I can see where my money has gone and my years of being faithful to the project, I can actually see it.”

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