On 19 April 2015, District Apostle Shadreck Lubasi, the head of the New Apostolic Church East Africa, will retire. He served as a minister for nearly 30 years. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider will be in Dodoma in Tanzania to celebrate this special divine service.
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District Apostle Shadreck Lubasi
Photo: Oliver Rütten
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District Apostle Helper Joseph Opemba Ekhuya
Photo: Oliver Rütten
Shadreck Lubasi was ordained as a Deacon in 1986. Further ministries followed. In March 2009 then, he was ordained as a District Apostle by Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber. For District Apostle Lubasi’s upcoming retirement, the current Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider writes: “We thank District Apostle Shadreck Lubasi from the bottom of our hearts for the many years that he served the Lord and the souls entrusted into his care with such love and loyalty. We wish him a retirement that is richly blessed by the Lord.”
The new District Apostle is from Kenya
His designated successor, and thus the new leader of the New Apostolic Church East Africa, will be District Apostle Helper Joseph Opemba Ekhuya (45). He lives in Nairobi in Kenya and is married. He speaks Luhya, Kiswahili, and English. Chief Apostle Schneider appointed him a District Apostle Helper in a service in Kampala in Uganda on 14 July 2013. Joseph Ekhuya is a professional surveyor. He worked on a number of projects in Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, and the Seychelles. In the year 2010, he was appointed as the managing director of KUMEA (Kujenga Maisha East Africa), the aid organization of the New Apostolic Church East Africa. On 13 February 2011 he was ordained as an Apostle.
The New Apostolic Church East Africa is comprised of the countries Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. An additional 16 Apostles work in Kenya, eleven in Tanzania, and six in Uganda. The Church in East Africa is comprised of more than 650,000 members. They gather for services in 6,400 congregations and are cared for by 17,500 ministers.