By Abraham Anyon Ngoor
The founder of Cush International Church has been banned from leading church service by the church high council after he allegedly denied Jesus Christ and demanded congregation members to worship him as god, according to Cush International Church council.
This came after he was given an order not to come to the church following his release from prison on the 28th March, 2023 to avoid chaos, since church members split into two groups with those who worship him, and those who worship Jesus Christ.
Pastor Samuel Mabor Aliet, the current head of Cush International Church headquarters in Juba, told No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper that they stripped Abraham Chol of his prophetic title after he invented new doctrine which claimed Cush is not a church but a kingdom.
He said the claim infringes the constitution of the church.
“We don’t call him Prophet Abraham Chol, we call him Abraham Chol Maketh. He came up with a new doctrine that there is no church. Cush is a kingdom and it’s not a church, but according to our constitution, Cush is a church” Pastor Samuel said in an interview.
Samuel said the main reason Abraham Chol was banned from church is that he claimed Jesus is a white man who was sent to the children of Israel, not to the Cushites.
“The reason why we banned him is that he denied Jesus. He said Jesus is for illuminati and Jesus is a white man……and Jesus was sent to the Israelites not to the cushites. He demanded to be worshipped by the believers in the church. [And] he ordered all those who did not worship him to leave the church immediately to go to other churches,” Pastor Samuel expressed.
“He [Abraham Chol] incited those who believe in him to fight those who believe in Jesus Christ, so he has violated the statement of our faith, that is the constitution of Cush international church,” he added.
Chol Machar, one of the members of Cush International Church High Council, confirmed to No.1 Citizen Daily newspaper that Abraham Chol was banned from “preaching before the congregation” because his new doctrine caused chaos in the church.
“We as the church high council have banned Abraham Chol from preaching before the congregation to avert chaos between those who worship him and those who worship Jesus. He [Abraham] claimed to be a god and demanded worship. And also [he] declared that he is not a Christian, so we had to stop him since it’s not legal to lead a Christian congregation when you are not a Christian,” said Chol.
Efforts to reach Abraham Chol for comment were unsuccessful, but Pastor Eva Samuel, who is aligned with him, confirmed that the controversial preacher’s name was changed and that they were blocked from accessing the church.
“His name has been changed from Abraham Chol to Abraham Cush son of Adam, son of God . That is his full name. So Sunday [2nd of April, 2023] we all went [to] Cush Kingdom. But we were surprisingly warned by the government officials that we should go back because those inside the church didn’t want Abraham to enter. Right now, Abraham is at home He didn’t go back again until the process of his return is done”.
“He is not a prophet now. He was a prophet when he just came from Egypt, but it was in 2013, God told him to establish a kingdom to the size of all the land in Juba and the whole world. In 2016, God told him you are not the prophet, but you are the King of Cush. And in 2016, the Cush International Church was changed to Cush Kingdom International, and all those officials inside there were all there. They all used to bow before him” she added.
However, Pastor Eva refuted the claim that Abraham refused Jesus, but she said they worship him because “God is in him” adding God told him that he is a Cushite not a Christian.
“He [Abraham] didn’t refuse Jesus, but God is in him so the God they worship is in Abraham. We worship him because God is in him. He didn’t declare that he is not a Christian, it was God who told him u are not a Christian, you are a Cushite. The first person God gave dominion was Adam who was a cushite, so we are Cushites” Eva asserted.
Adam Emman Cushi, the administrator of Cush Kingdom International who is also aligned with Abraham, said they were not allowed to the church adding they are pursuing a legal case to resolve the matter.
“When Abraham was released, we decided to go to the Cush kingdom on Sunday. But surprisingly, we met authorities that stopped us from nearing the church, claiming that there are people in the church who don’t want Abraham to enter until you solve the problem that divided your members, those who worship you and those who worship Jesus” said Adam.
“That’s how Abraham went back home till now he didn’t return to Cush kingdom; so Abraham was not banned from the church. Right now we are following up a legal process since Abraham was given back full ownership of all that had been detained from him after his release from prison” he added.
But, Apostle David Makuach, who heads Cush International Church Rumbek branch, told No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper that the congregation in Rumbek have distanced themselves from Abraham Chol after he denied that he is not a Christian and turned the church into Kingdom.
“He turned the church into a kingdom. So we planned so that he doesn’t enter the church and this is the condition. After he left, all members were happy because he used to say let him be worshipped. And he came with a new teaching that he is not a Christian, even all cushites are not Christians. The People of Cush International Church Rumbek, are not standing with Abraham with the new teaching, they are very happy with what has been done to him” Apostle David explained.
Several sources within the church have told this paper that, in fact, Abraham Chol was kicked out of the church.
Pastor Marco Muonyror, reinforced that indeed Abraham was banned from the church for the same reason of denying being a Christian.
“Abraham declared himself not to be a Christian. Then how can he lead the church while he is not a Christian yet the church is led by Christian that is why he is banned” said Pastor Marco.
However, Pastor Eva argued that all the church members agreed for Abraham to be King because he does wonders that no human being can do.
“2021 in July, all Cushites agreed and voted for him to be king of Cush kingdom, because of the things he does no human being can do, healing people sick of HIV . Who can do that? We are defending our true identity. It was Jesus who told Abraham that this is the route you have to take, you are a Cushite. Jesus was sent to the Israelites, you [Abraham] are sent to the people of Cush. So [it was] revealed to Abraham in the spirit that you are not a Christian but a Cushite” Eva argued.
Hellen Nyantoc Manyiel, who is a member of Cush International Church, said the banning of Abraham gave the church freedom to worship Jesus as before it was not the case.
“Abraham has refused to be a Christian, refused Jesus who [was] sent to us on earth. [I] am very happy that Abraham has been banned from church; God is now worshipped in freedom. You can pray now in the name of Jesus, but before they used to say in the name of Abraham Cush. But right now there is freedom in the church in worship of Jesus. You can’t worship a normal human being walking like you” said Hellen.
She further said they were with Abraham because he was showing them the way to life by worshipping Jesus. However, now she said he is taking people astray.
“When we were following Abraham Chol [it] was because he was worshipping Jesus. So we knew he was showing us the way to life. But now Abraham is misleading people from the way of truth for a person to meet God. How can he call Jesus illuminati? He [Abraham] is the one that we are skeptical about. We have a question about him. When Jesus was sent to clear the way for our salvation” she said.
In 2021, Abraham Chol was arrested and taken to prison after he hauled his prophetic tongue that both President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar would exit power before the independence day of that year. A prophesy that never came true.
In 2022, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison (31 months) by a special court in Juba on charges of interfering in politics. The court ruled that he violated sections 72 and 202 of the South Sudan Penal Code Act, 2008.