African Community Fellowship Church Receives Help from Loan Fund

Rev. John Mondi grew up tending his father’s sheep and goats as a shepherd in Kenya.

Mondi, a member of the nomadic Pokot people, says he never imagined when he was a youth that he would one day work as a shepherd among nomads to West Michigan.

But that is what he is doing, as he now cares for the needs of a flock of people — most of them immigrants and refugees from Africa.

“It is a great gift and blessing from God that I can be here and serving this church,” said Mondi, pastor of the African Community Fellowship Church and a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary.

“In a way, I am reaching out to nomadic people,” said Mondi. “Many of our African people are fleeing political problems, war, oppression, or terrorism. They are running away from trouble, and West Michigan has been gracious enough to receive them.”

His members come from such countries as Kenya, South Sudan, Ghana, Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Burundi.

Just as Mondi migrated to the United States to attend seminary and now serves as a pastor, and as members of his church had to leave their homes to make their way to North America, both he and they are moving again.

This time, however, they aren’t going far. They are moving from a small office building they have been renting in Grand Rapids to a church of their own in the nearby city of Kentwood. They hope to move in by the end of March.

“We have prayed for a long time for this to happen. We raised enough money for a down payment, and we’ve been able to purchase the building with the help of the Loan Fund,” said Mondi.

David Veen, director of the Christian Reformed Church Loan Fund, said, “We're very pleased to be able to help this church acquire its own building, after years of renting space.

“It looks to be a good quality building with lots of visibility in a nice area. It should fit their needs perfectly.”

First located in a former funeral home, the African Community Fellowship Church was born in 2000 as a ministry geared toward reaching the increasing number of African immigrants arriving in the area.

The church was initially led by Rev. Mwaya wa Kitavi, who is now East and South Africa regional director for Christian Reformed World Missions.

“The goal was to begin a church that would serve the spiritual needs of the people coming from Africa and to help them to transition gradually into a new culture,” said Mondi, who has been pastor there since 2009.

Organized in 2006, the church has also tried to help church members economically. But that has been a challenge.

“Regarding finding jobs, whether these immigrants have education or not, the only jobs they can get in order to support their families are low-paying minimum-wage jobs,” said Mondi.

Mondi said he is grateful that others have stepped in to help the church financially. Assisting the congregation has been Christian Reformed Home Missions as well as West Leonard CRC, which became the African Community Fellowship’s mother church. Currently the church draws some support from Classis Grand Rapids North as well.

But for 15 years, the church has been able to move forward in faith and, as it looks to move into the new facility, is gaining members.

“Our current membership is 63, but our regular Sunday worship is attended by 80 to 100 worshipers and still growing,” said Mondi.

The building they have purchased is a former United Methodist church building that sits on five acres of land. It seats about 150 people and is located in a part of the West Michigan area where many immigrants from Africa live.

Sunday services are lively with the singing of African songs and much praise and dancing, especially these days as they look to the future.

“God has been good to us at our church,” said Mondi. “The excitement of our members and the level of joy are very high.”