Life of Pastor Ezekiel Odero, ups and downs of New Life Evangelist from Homabay to Kilifi County

Pastor Ezekiel Odero ~ Adede Owalla

 

Pastor Ezekiel Odero was born on August 13, 1981, in Ngodhe Island (Rusinga), Suba North Sub County, and Homa Bay County, all in the former Nyanza Province.

His dad was a fisherman and his mom was a small-scale farmer. His grandfather, Daniel Odero, was a former Kenya Wildlife Service warden.

Pastor Ezekiel began fishing as a young boy because it was popular among boys his age in the village. This later influenced his KCPE score.

Pastor Ezekiel first sat his KCPE at Ngodhe Island Primary School (near Rusinga) in 1994 and scored 210 marks out of a total of 700. Funnily enough, Pastor Ezekiel was the best pupil at Ngodhe Primary School that year.

He was later taken by his maternal grandfather to Seme Sub County, Kisumu County, where he was admitted to Standard Seven at Lieye Primary School that same year.

He sat for the KCPE for the second time in 1996 and doubled what he got at Ngodhe, scoring 398 out of a total of 700.

Pastor Ezekiel was then admitted to Miwani High School in Muhoroni Sub County, which was one of the best schools at the time (1997); Miwani is now a shell of what it once was.

Pastor Ezekiel sat his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination in the year 2000 and scored a mean grade of C, a very strong grade by then.

In December 2001, Pastor Ezekiel travelled to Mombasa in search of greener pastures after completing his secondary school studies.

He joined the Maximum Miracle Center Church of Pastor Pius Muiru right away. Ideally, Pastor Ezekiel is the spiritual son of the legendary Pastor Pius Muiru.

His abilities as a pianist and choir director aided him greatly, as the church would pay him a stipend from which he could survive.

These crafts he nurtured while serving in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Seme and as a member of CU at Miwani Boys High School.

He later became a praise and worship leader. Pastor Ezekiel later enrolled at Mombasa Polytechnic (today's Technical University of Mombasa) in 2005, intending to pursue a diploma in chemical engineering, but his grades prevented him from doing so, so he pursued a diploma in chemical processing technology instead.

However, he dropped out of college in 2006 due to a lack of school fees.

He met his wife, Pastor Sarah, in Kongowea the same year, 2006, and they courted briefly before getting married the following year.

Pastor Ezekiel and Pastor Mama Sarah started preaching in Majaoni, Mombasa County, around that same year when they met.

The two also hawked at Kongowea Market to earn a living. At first, they didn't even have a proper church; they just preached in the field.

But soon, their church grew, and they acquired a space to put up a decent Church in Majaoni. After 15 years in Majaoni, Pastor Odero purchased a bigger piece of land (a 65-acre parcel) to accommodate more worshippers in Mavueni, Kilifi county.

New Life Church Mavueni (Kilifi) sits on six-and-a-half acres with a capacity of 45,000 people, one of the biggest in the country.

Pastor Ezekiel has also constructed a four-story flat to accommodate 64 families in the compound, with bedsitters and one- and two-bedroom units for our employees.

Among other developments on his 65-acre parcel of land are an international school that opened its doors this year, a petrol station, a supermarket, two hotels with guest rooms under construction, a TV station, a mega poultry project, and a restaurant.

Pastor Ezekiel has also purchased a separate piece of land to start a University which he hopes in less than five years shall open its doors.

Early this year, he donated Ksh 6.6 million to needy students in Kilifi County who were unable to join high school.

Together with Pastor Sarah, they have also adopted a number of needy children from and outside Kilifi. Some of their adopted children are currently enrolled in various universities throughout the country, while others are still in primary school.