Minister Sells Cow to Pay for Assembly Trip

An impoverished Kenyan minister said he sold his only cow to help pay for his trip this week to the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit & World Evangelization.

The Rev. Simon Ngugi, who has 13 children, is an Assemblies of God preacher in Mungaria, a town of 7,000, where cows are important assets, providing milk for consumption and sale and manure for farming.

Ngugi, 38, said Wednesday that he sold the cow for about $240 and that his brother-in-law and members of his parish raised the rest of the money required for air fare.

Ngugi’s congregation of 200--all of whom he baptized--also provided him with a suit of clothes for the trip. The North American Congress gave him money for meals and lodging during the meeting.

“You see, brothers take care of brothers,” Nugi said of his good fortune.

The pastor said as a youngster he attended a school run by Roman Catholics in his village and was converted to Protestantism in 1965 by an Assemblies of God missionary before starting his own ministry in 1970.

The Pentecostal-charismatic preacher said the trip to New Orleans marked his first ride on an airplane, his first visit to the United States and the first time he’s used U.S. currency.

“But I am not afraid,” Ngugi said. “I have prayed so long about this. I just hold the money out and people take (the portion) I owe to them. And everyone helps me so much.”