Former PCEA Moderator Rev. Dr. Jesse Kamau has hit back at growing criticism over the church’s fundraising drive to save its debt-ridden Milele Beach Hotel, telling congregants to stop complaining about repeated appeals for money and instead give cheerfully.
In a sermon clip circulating widely online on Sunday, Kamau appeared to mock those questioning why PCEA keeps asking its members to contribute towards the struggling hotel, which is facing a KSh703 million loan balance.
“You know there are people who keep complaining, ‘Hii kanisa ya PCEA inaitisha, lete, lete, lete, lete… January lete, February lete,’” Kamau said, mimicking the complaints.
“People keep on complaining, PCEA inaitisha sana…”
But Kamau rejected the criticism, arguing that the church was not simply asking for money, but following what he described as the example of God as “a giver.”
“Not PCEA. We are emulating God. We want to be like God, who is a giver. So we are like our Father, the giver, when we give back,” he said.
He then issued a pointed warning to those who give while questioning or complaining about the appeal.
“You don’t keep complaining. Your offer is rejectable,” Kamau said.
He urged members not to give reluctantly or because they felt pressured, invoking the biblical teaching that “God loves a cheerful giver.”
Rev. Jesse Kamau went further, saying worshippers could even become poor after giving, but should still give happily because their contribution was ultimately being made to God.
“When you give, you may be poor, yet you are to give, and you give happily because you’re giving to the Lord,” he said.
The remarks have sparked a fresh wave of anger online, coming as PCEA struggles to mobilise funds to settle the KSh703 million balance owed in connection with Milele Beach Hotel.
The church’s financial troubles surrounding the property have already triggered an internal leadership dispute, with the current PCEA Moderator, Rt. Rev. Thegu Mutahi, and Secretary General Rev. Dr. Robert Waihenya publicly taking opposing positions over plans to seek help from President William Ruto.
PCEA has said the hotel’s loan liabilities were initially above KSh1.1 billion before negotiations and payments reduced the outstanding amount to KSh703 million.
READ : PCEA’S Dirty Linen Out: Top Clergy Clash Over Ruto, KSh703M Debt
Now, Kamau’s sermon has added another layer to the controversy: the expectation that ordinary worshippers should continue giving towards a commercial property carrying hundreds of millions of shillings in debt.
The online reaction has been scathing.
“Religious leaders are worse than politicians,” commented Kenkenyaan.
Another user, bobolydiah, sarcastically suggested that the church should “perform a miracle” and raise the money itself.
“They should perform a miracle and get the money. Lol, people are woke more than ever now,” the commenter wrote.
Jac Klyne 098 responded with laughing emojis before adding: “Man for himself, God for us all.”
But perhaps the most pointed reaction came from Tim Chacha, who accused the PCEA church of using religious teachings to pressure its followers into giving.
“They’re brainwashing the people through the word of God,” the commenter wrote, questioning the argument that PCEA was merely “emulating God” by asking for money.
“Does God know that he has a beach hotel in Malindi drowning in debt?” Chacha added.
The backlash reflects a growing question surrounding the campaign: where does Christian giving end and financial accountability begin?
For some critics, the issue is not whether church members should be generous. It is whether congregants should repeatedly be called upon to rescue an investment whose debt has run into hundreds of millions of shillings and whether questioning that appeal should be portrayed as complaining or a lack of faith.
Kamau’s remarks have therefore put the church’s fundraising campaign under an even brighter spotlight.
PCEA now faces the difficult task of raising the remaining KSh703 million while convincing its members and the wider public that the rescue of Milele Beach Hotel is worth the extraordinary financial sacrifice being demanded.
And as the online debate intensifies, one question continues to hang over the campaign:
How much should the faithful be expected to give to save a church-owned hotel and how many times can they be asked to “give cheerfully” before they start demanding answers?
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