Two bodies recovered from Kenya church

On Monday, April 21, 2025, two bodies were recovered from the St. Joseph Missions of Africa Church in Migori County, while 57 weak and malnourished individuals were rescued from the premises, according to a police report.

The bodies, one of which was found wrapped in a white robe and grey sheet, were discovered in a prayer room within the church compound, as per the report.

Al Qaeda affiliate struck Benin, leaving a trail of bloodshed and destruction

The rescued individuals, visibly weak and frail, were taken to a nearby hospital but refused to be attended to by medical personnel and instead began to chant and sing religious songs. Authorities are now investigating the church, but the parallels to the Shakahola tragedy of 2023 are impossible to ignore.

The Shakahola disaster was one of the world’s most horrifying cult-related incidents. Over 400 bodies, nearly half of them children, were exhumed from shallow graves in a forest. The leader of the Good News International Church, Paul Mackenzie, allegedly convinced his followers to starve themselves and their children to death to reach heaven before the apocalypse.

Paul Mackenzie and his associates were charged with murder, terrorism-related crimes, manslaughter and torture for allegedly ordering his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so that they could go to heaven before the world ends.

Mackenzie, of course, denied the charges, because why take responsibility when you can claim divine intervention? The case is still ongoing.

Airstrikes and army strikes kill dozens of al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia

And now, here we are again. Another church, another tragedy, another group of vulnerable individuals exploited in the name of faith. It is almost as if we have learned nothing. How many more lives must be lost before we start holding these so-called “spiritual leaders” accountable?