Dr Joe Kayo, the man recognized as the founder of Deliverance Church in Kenyan and Uganda died on Thursday, November 2.
According to reports, Dr Kayo passed on Thursday, November 2 while undergoing treatment in Nairobi after an ailment.
At 86, the clergyman left behind a family of three children and celebrated legacy in Kenyan and the larger East African region.
Members of the clergy took various platform to mourn and condole the clergy man with a long-standing legacy.
A church named Deliverance Church Kikima wrote, “This great man raised a strong generation. He will be remembered for his extraordinary life, being a charismatic orator, beacon of wisdom and paragon of faith.”
“A pillar of faith has bowed out. A General exits the battlefield with his head held high. A father of the Pentecostal movement in East Africa and beyond,” another one named Agape Fellowship Ministry stated.
Besides his evangelical work, Dr Kayo was also an accomplished scholar and held several academic qualifications.
Despite having been forced to drop out of school in his childhood, Kayo defied odds to acquire degrees in some of the world’s reputable institutions.
Joe Kayo walks a journey of over 60 years in evangelism
He was born in 1937 in Nyamira County to a family of peasants- according to his biography published by Dr Joe Kayo Ministries.
In what sounds like a perfect definition of going through thick and thin, the pastor had to drop out of school at class six- shortly after losing his mother at the age of 12 years.
At the time, the biography states that he contemplated taking his own life due to the challenges he went through. In 1957, a young Kayo fell sick to an extent where doctors in Mombasa were left without a clue of how to save him.
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As per the statement, nurses in the hospital he was admitted took him to a crusade where they had hoped prayers would help him recover.
However, the poor young man was left lying at the crusade’s venue after he was mistaken to be dead. Nevertheless, the challenges did not deter him from having a purpose in life.
Shortly after his illness, the biography states that he was baptized in a church in Mombasa and consequently started his evangelical mission. He started with two congregations in Mombasa and Kilifi before proceeding to Kisumu and later Kampala in Uganda.
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The rest, as they say is history as manifested in the now widespread church Deliverance has grown to be. In addition to his preaching role, Kayo had also established himself as an author having published several books.
