The senior pastor of the Faith Healing Temple of Jesus Christ located on Bushrod Island, a suburb of Monrovia Rev. Henry M. Saway, confirms an alleged theft in the Church’s finance/administrative office, resulting to loss of US$6,000 and 85,000 Liberian Dollars, but says matter surrounding the alleged theft has been resolved.
Speaking to this paper following worship on Sunday, 9 September at the church, Rev. Saway did not however disclose how the matter was resolved.
The theft was reportedly uncovered on Saturday, September 8, 2018.When this reporter contacted Rev. Saway about the alleged theft on Sunday, 9 September after regular service, he summoned the church’s Technical Supervisor Christopher Gotieo, whose son is linked to the theft, to provide clarity on the issue.
But Mr. instead, asked this paper to meet him on Monday, 10 September.When contacted on Monday, September 10, 2018, he was unavailable for comment despite contact made with him by his wife, who refused to call her name via mobile phone to provide clarity on the reported theft allegedly involving their son.
This paper gathered that US$6,000 along with 85,000 Liberian Dollars were reportedly taken from the administrative office of the church, which prompted the church to launch an internal probe, involving the church, a private security firm which provides security services to the church compound and the son of Technical Supervisor Christopher Gotieo.
This paper also gathered that following immense pressure on the son of Mr. Gotiea, he reportedly produced unspecific amount of the money with assurance by his father (Mr. Christopher Gotiea) to pay the balance through salary deduction.
Mr. Gotiea himself subsequently told this paper that he has just returned from the burial of a family member of his wife, thus, asking this reporter to return on 10 September 2018 at which he would have compiled report on the matter.
But, several visitations made by this reporter to have Mr. Gotiea provide clarity on the matter proved fruitless as he was absent whenever he was visited at the church compound with the latest visit being Tuesday, September 11, 2018.
However, a woman who claims to be a church administrator, Tuesday, 11 September walked into the newsroom of this paper asking, “Who told your that money got missing at our church compound?… no money got missing, so your please take our church name out of your missing money business”, and later walked away.
The money in question was allegedly stolen from the administrative office after Mr. Gotiea’s son got hold of keys to the office and reportedly conceived the money within the church compound with an aim transferring it elsewhere subsequently when alarm blew about the situation.
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Another female pastor of the church, Rev. Dorathy Karr, who earlier spoke to this paper while Rev. Henry M. Saway was absent from the church’s promises, explains that she learnt about the alleged theft when she reported to work on Monday, September 10.
The Faith Healing Temple Church of Jesus Christ was established in the late 1970 by the late Rev. Mother Wilhelmina Dukuly to provide spiritual guidance to Christians in Liberia during the administration of slain President William R. Tolbert, killed on April 12, 1980 in a bloody military coup. Editing by Jonathan Browne
