Allan and Kathy Kiuna: We were auctioned and slept on the floor for a year

Despite all odds, Bishop Allan and Reverend Kathy Kiuna have continued to display unity in their marriage.

Bishop Allan Kiuna is the general overseer and founder of Jubilee Christian Church and Rev Kathy Kiuna, who works under the leadership of her husband, is a gospel musician and founder of the Daughters of Zion Ministry.

According to Allan, he and Kathy and met by divine ordination. He was serving in the Faith Evangelistic Ministry and Kathy would sing at the ministry once in a while. One day, during a lunch hour prayer meeting, Allan was making a phone call to his mother at a booth outside Charter Hall.

“I saw Kathy, and suddenly, something was stirred up on my inside,” he says. “Immediately I saw her, there and then, I knew this was my lifetime partner. I knew that she was the right woman for me and the fact that we became very good friends made it easy for me. Moreover, when my spiritual authority Rev. Teresia Wairimu saw her, she approved of her.”

Allan put his mum on hold, and asked Kathy out for lunch but she turned down the offer. Later, she agreed to go for a cup of tea at Utalii Hotel.

“From the day we met, our relationship was godly. My husband took the leadership role and made it clear that there would be no inappropriate hugs and touching, no cuddling, no kissing. We endeavoured to value and esteem each other highly,” Kathy says. 

Kathy had a daughter from a previous relationship but Allan was not put off by that. Allan proposed less than a year after they met and they were married shortly thereafter. They have been married for 22 years since December 10, 1994. The say their wedding was simple but fabulous. 

“Having been brought up in a broken home, at first I had mixed feelings but the fact that I was marrying a friend and the right person ordained for me by God, gave me the courage and boldness to look forward to our marriage. I was excited,” Allan says.

Since then the Kiuna’s have learned that to be happy in marriage, you must put God first and then your spouse. “Not even your children should take the place of your spouse,” Allan says.  They have also worked hard at remaining friends, being committed to the institution of marriage and to one another.

But they have had their fair share of ups and downs. One of their most challenging times as a couple was when they lost all their earthly belongings.

“We were auctioned, lost everything and had to be housed by a widow. We had to sleep on the floor for a year, our children were out of school and we were completely down and out. It was very humiliating,” Allan says.

The tide has since changed for the Christian power couple. “We moved from renting to ownership of both the Church premises and our residence. And our biological children have made us proud parents. Our first born Vanessa is 26 years, a lawyer and happily married, Steph is 21 and an architect and Jeremy, 16, is in high school,” Kathy says.

Their expensive lifestyle often draws comments from Kenyans on social media and public scrutiny is something the family has had to learn to live with. Kathy says they have taken it in their stride: “Dogs never bark at parked cars. So, the fact that people talk means that we are doing something worth talking about. Nobody high up in life will waste their time talking about someone below them. And I am certain that there are many lives that have been transformed through my ministry and this helps me forge ahead.”