It’s brisk business for cash-for-prayers churches

How Ms Karani spent the borrowed money

Sh17,000

Amount she spent to buy anointing oil. The oil packed in small bottles cost between Sh1,000 and Sh1,500, depending on spiritual needs

Sh5,000

What she paid for prayers to get a spouse. She was desperate to get a partner and borrowed money to pay the preacher.

Sh14,000

Spent on prayers to get a job. Ms Karani trusted that through her preacher, God would answer her prayers for a job, and was ready to pay.

Having been jobless for three years after college, Ms Carole Karani, 25, joined a church in Nairobi to seek divine intervention. She believed that through her preacher’s prayers, the good Lord would grant her a good job and a husband.

“I was desperate and needed help from God. I had no job, no money, and it’s hard to survive without an income, especially if you live in the city. That is why I went to church to pray through the assistance of my pastor,” she says.

However, she soon learnt that prayers in that church were not for free. But this did not deter her because she thought that if she got what she was seeking, then it would be a small price to pay.

“I had a job, but the company I worked for collapsed and I joined others on the streets. I went to many offices, but to no avail.”

Ms Karani joined the little known-church in the city in September 2008. She soon realised that money played an important role in her daily spiritual nourishment.

“You had to go to church with money. The preachers demanded money during a session called ‘planting a seed’. I was so convinced by the preachers that by ‘planting a seed’, one receives blessings and what God has in store for them,” she adds.

Ms Karani says “planting a seed” costs around Sh1,000 per session, depending on one’s divine needs.

“If, for instance, you are looking for a job, you might be asked to pay about Sh1,500, while a problem in your marriage will set you back Sh3,500 for prayers for you and your spouse.”

Ms Karani told her pastor that she only wanted a good job and a marriage partner.
“If a woman is seeking a husband, prayers will cost her Sh5,000. I was in dire need of a partner and I also wanted a job.

Despite being jobless, I had to find money to pay for these divine services.”
And where was she to get the money from?

“I borrowed from friends and tried to convince my parents about my new-found faith in God. Most of the time they sent me the money. I also sold my cell phones and other property to raise cash for the preacher to pray away my troubles,” says Ms Karani.

She adds that every Sunday after service, church boys would hawk “miracle fruits” and “fortune soaps” that cost between Sh500 and Sh1,000.

The “anointing oil” packed in small and large bottles cost between Sh1,000 and Sh1,500, depending on one’s purchasing power and spiritual needs.

High cost of a miracle

For the five months and three weeks that she was a member of the church, Ms Karani spent Sh17,000 on anointing oil, Sh5,000 on prayers for a husband, and Sh14,000 for prayers for a job. She also spent about Sh18,000 to buy “fortune soaps”, “miracle fruits”, and “white divine clothing”.

“Before I realised that I was being taken for a ride, I had paid more than Sh50,000 in less than six months. A small hotel I had tried to start after losing my job collapsed because I used all the profit to pay for prayers.

But nothing changed in my life. I never got a man to marry me and I am still jobless. But I have learnt a bitter lesson: that some church leaders are fraudsters and continue to deceive innocent people by taking away their hard-earned money.”

But some Christians are convinced that “planting a seed”, buying a bottle of “anointing oil”, and paying for prayers are part of contributions to the church.