In a tragic incident recently,  Elijah Misiko, a Kenyan pastor of Ground for God’s Gospel Church in Mombasa got up from his front-row seat to stab his wife, Ann Mughoi — the senior pastor who happened to be preaching at the time. He then proceeded to kill himself.

According to reports, he hid the knife in an envelope as he approached the pulpit, stabbed her twice believing that she was dead, then stabbed himself three times and slit his own throat. He died immediately, however, his wife lived for several more hours passing away at the hospital. Apparently, they had been fighting over ownership of the church.

Misiko had a history of violence against his wife, according to the report,

In 2017, Misiko was detained by the police in Mombasa after his wife alleged he planned to kill her, [police commander Julius] Kiragu said.

Misiko was released the following day after police said they found the accusations untrue, Kiragu said. The couple, which had four children, had lived apart since the dispute began two years ago, police said.

“She had been trying to stay away from the husband since the dispute over the ownership of the church began,” Kiragu told CNN. “They had even reported the matter to church leaders but they were unable to resolve the dispute.”

The African Church is wrought with violence, sexual immorality, charismaticism, and a false gospel which has led the country’s religious into an era of pervasive idolatry and greed. While there are pockets of hope and true gospel springing up around Africa thanks to missionaries and Evangelists such as Voddie Baucham and Conrad Mbewe, the vast majority of African churches are devoid of Christ and in need of biblical repentance. There are many who need to hear the gospel and who need a good shepherd to teach them. Sadly, this is par for the course on this continent.