Youngest King in World Visits Kennard Church
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
KENNARD – Tabernacle of Praise (TOP) in Kennard played host to a royal family Sunday, Jan. 14 as the King of the Tooro Kingdom in Uganda and his family joined TOP Pastor Keith Smith and local worshippers in a service led by a visiting pastor from the kingdom.
As recently reported in The Messenger, Smith was recently named a United Nations Ambassador of Peace and has become close with King King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, the world’s youngest king, aged only 31. King Oyo traveled to Kennard to worship and sing with locals, with his sister and Queen Mother and young Prince along for the experience. As Smith told parishioners, King Oyo and his people have adopted Smith as one of their own, even giving him a local nickname, an honor in Ugandan culture.
Originally from Barbados, Dr. Neil Holder, traveling from the Tooro Kingdom, introduced the royal family and thanked Smith and TOP for the opportunity to visit and worship with them. Along with the professional music which characterizes TOP, Holder was a passionate speaker, going through sections in the Old Testament to emphasize his message, that God is powerful and on the side of the faithful.
“I know Dr. Neil to be a man of faith,” Smith joked, as he introduced him to the crowd. “How do I know he has great faith? We toured the Kingdom of Tooro together and this man will travel farther on less fuel than anyone I have ever met! I was watching that needle and praying and asked if we should stop for gas. ‘No,’ Neil answered, ‘God will provide.’”
Smith thanked King Oyo and his family directly for visiting the church.
“It is an honor, Your Majesty,” Smith said to the royal family seated in a front pew. “TOP loves you and is honored to partner with you in the cause of Christ and we know great things will come from your kingdom.”
Dr. Neil paraphrased Isaiah, Chapter 43, “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
“He says, maybe you walk through the fire, right?” Neil interjected. “It didn’t say there would not be a fire. It says, when you walk through that fire, I will be with you.”
With many standing through most of the service, or calling out when they felt moved by the message, TOP attracts believers from far beyond Kennard, or even Houston County, with many coming from as far as Angelina County and further to attend.
Smith was named a U.N. Ambassador of Peace after his work in Uganda building orphanages and other projects was recognized by the international body.
“There’s needs at home as well and we were actively working on taking care of needs in our little area, but we knew there was a strong need in children, especially in Uganda, because of the refugee camps and the unrest in surrounding countries,” Smith recently told The Messenger. “We wanted to expand our global missions and just felt a connection to providing a safe place for children to grow and to be discipled – to be mentored into a life that would be something they can be proud of. That’s kind of how it got started – the desire to have global missions.”
One hopes the royals from Uganda enjoyed their time in our little part of the world and will take some small piece of Houston County’s goodness and kindness back with them as they travel safely home.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
