Heartfelt mission

It’s a long way from Nigeria by way of Chicago and Milwaukee to Saukville, both in terms of miles and the thermometer.

But that’s the journey made by Pastor Sulaimon Jimoh who, with his wife, Christiana, leads the congregation of the Redeemed Christian Church of God-Household of God, which earlier this year bought the former Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Saukville.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” he said in an interview. “It has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, not only for me but for the congregation. People in the neighborhood have been friendly and accommodating.”

Since May, the church has held Sunday services in the building’s gymnasium and makes use of its kitchen and a few other rooms. It purchased the building from St. John XXIII Parish and the Milwaukee Archdiocese for $240,000.

Otherwise, the building is primarily the home of Ozaukee Christian School through the current school year. OCS is looking for a new location but so far isn’t ready to announce where that might be, Administrator Kris Austin said Tuesday.

“Pastor Sulaimon and his wife, Christy, are strong, faithful ministry partners,” Austin said. “They have a heart for reaching out to the community. I am confident that God is already using them, and the members of their congregation, to bless Saukville and the surrounding communities.”

“We have a very good relationship with the people from OCS,” Jimoh said. “Members of our church helped them out during their apple pie (fundraising) drive and we have invited their students to some of our activities.”

Most of the church’s regular attendees  drive up from Milwaukee County, from as far south as St. Francis, many of them with children, Jimoh said.

“We’re trying to motivate and encourage our youth and carry them along as we’re going along  and give them that sense of belonging. They are the ones who will become the church,” he said.

The congregation, most of whom are African American, also is working to connect with the Saukville community. The fact that they are housed in the village’s longtime Catholic school helps.

Just recently, the family of an 83-year-old Saukville man, whom Jimoh called “a friend of ours,” asked to decorate the school grounds for Christmas in his memory.

“We said, ‘Absolutely.’” They came to our services and we welcomed them as our guests. They have come back and are very close to us,” Jimoh said.

Jimoh said the church is attended by 75 to 125 people each Sunday and is affiliated with the RCCG-Holy Ghost Congress based in Nigeria.

He and his wife —they have four children ages 21, 17 and 11-year-old twins — moved from Nigeria to Chicago in 1997 and then to Milwaukee in 2013 to start RCCG.

Jimoh said the congregation had been searching for a new location for a year and that the former Immaculate Conception building was “divinely picked for us. I never heard about Saukville before. The way God does things is beyond human understanding.”

Each Sunday, the church conducts a food giveaway when it serves a meal prepared in the school kitchen and served in the cafeteria.

Holiday plans include a Christmas Carols Party at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 23, at the church, that also will include a gift exchange.

“We are looking forward to adding value to the community. That is when my joy will be full to see not only black people but see different types of people — white, Hispanic, Asian — worshipping God together. That is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preaching.”