The Afternoon of July 18, brought with it traumatic events for some of the believers at Chosen Generation Church, situated along Kenyatta Avenue in Nakuru.

While the anti- government protests went on in the streets, Police stormed into the church chasing a group of youths, fired live bullets and forced those in the church to lay on the ground.

In an interview with Mtaa Wangu, Rev. Patricia Benson notes that this traumatized those in church and they have had to devise certain ways to ensure that a repeat of the same will not occur.

“We have decided to have an usher at the door during lunch hour on protest days to keep a look out and inform police that this is a church, should a similar incident occur,” she says.

Entrance to Chosen generation Church where police gained access during protests on July 18, 2024.

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/MTAA WANGU

Secondly, Rev. Patricia says the door will remain closed during the service to ensure the security of those in church.

Owing to the turnout of events from last week, Rev. Patricia notes that there has been a drastic decrease of church members attending the lunch hour prayer service.

“For the last eight years we have been running the lunch hour service from 12.30 pm to 2 pm. However, we have never seen the number of those attending the service as low as now. We always have more than 200 people coming in for the service but since the shooting incident, less than 90 people have attended the service on protests days (Tuesday and Thursday),” she adds.

Other than that, Rev. Patricia says the elderly have completely kept off from church during lunch hour.

“Although some people still follow the service online, we believe the protest is greatly impacting the spiritual growth of believers. The tension and harm that came with the invasion to some extent limits them to attend the church services, as much as they would want,” she says.

50 seconds of terror: The moment Police entered Chosen Generation church

In her conclusion, Rev. Patricia appeals to President William Ruto to listen to the public outcry and return the country to normalcy.

How police invasion has affected Chosen Generation's lunch hour service

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