In a distinctive celebration that diverges from mainstream Christian traditions, members of the Legion Maria religious movement in western Kenya gathered on Christmas Day to honour the birth of what they revere as a "Black Messiah."
A Candlelit Celebration for an African Saviour
The observance took place in a modest, candlelit room where devotees, predominantly clad in white garments, offered prayers. Their focus was a photograph of Mama Maria, an African woman recognised as a co-founder of the movement. This ritual underscores the group's core teaching: that Jesus Christ reincarnated as an African man to deliver salvation in a form that Africans could intimately comprehend.
During the event, AFP journalists encountered a man who introduced himself as Prophet Stephen Benson Nundu. He carried a framed picture of Baba Simeo Melchior, the figure followers hail as the "Black Messiah," depicted with hands clasped and a large medallion. "Today is a great day, because the Mary gave birth to King Jesus in the world of Black people," Nundu stated.
The History and Beliefs of Legion Maria
Officially established in 1966, Legion Maria—or Legio Maria in the Luo language—traces its spiritual origins to around 1938. The movement recounts that a "mystic woman" appeared to Roman Catholics with messages concerning "the incarnation of the son of God as a black man."
One of its principal founders, Simeo Ondetto, later known as Baba Simeo Melchior, is venerated by followers as the "returned son of God" and the group's eternal spiritual leader. The church asserts it has millions of adherents across Kenya and at least eight other African nations, including Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Addressing perceptions about the movement, the deputy head of the church, Timothy Lucas Abawao, firmly rejected characterisations of Legion Maria as a cult. "A cult essentially is an organisation that believes in the leader. But we believe in Jesus Christ, and we believe in God," he clarified during the Christmas gathering in Nzoia.
Abawao elaborated on their theology: "Baba Messiah came for Africans... He took on the colour of the Black man so that the Black man could understand him in his own language and receive salvation."
Legion Maria in the Context of African Religious Movements
This Kenyan group is not an isolated phenomenon in Africa's rich religious landscape. The continent has a history of movements that reinterpret Christian messianic figures through local identity.
In South Africa, followers of Isaiah Shembe, who founded the Nazareth Baptist Church in 1913, regard him as a messianic figure. In the former Belgian Congo, Simon Kimbangu inspired the Kimbanguist Church after reports of miraculous healings in 1921. In Nigeria, the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star teaches that its founder, the late Olumba Olumba Obu, is the "Holy Spirit" and the "Triune God."
Another Legion Maria follower, Odhiambo Ayanga, framed their belief as one of divine inclusivity. "As he came for the white, he also came for the black. He went for the Asian, as he went for other races; God came for us all. That's why in Africa, he has to be Black," Ayanga explained, emphasising a universal God who manifests in relatable forms for all peoples.
The Christmas celebration by Legion Maria offers a profound glimpse into how African religious movements have indigenised global faiths, creating theological spaces where salvation speaks directly to local history, culture, and experience.
