ST. LOUIS 鈥 The city鈥檚 building division has condemned a south city church they say is being used for 鈥渋llegal鈥 activities just days after the congregation found itself at the center of a kidnapping and assault case.
Below a large condemnation sign taped to the front door of Mount of Olives Ministry, in the city鈥檚 Patch neighborhood, was a letter from a city building inspector dated Monday. The letter said an inspection found the church was not being kept up to code and that the building 鈥渋s used or intended to be used for purposes which are illegal and may endanger the health and safety of persons.鈥
No one appeared to be inside the building on Wednesday afternoon. A spokesperson for the city did not immediately provide more information about the reason for the condemnation.
The church gained attention earlier this week after police were called just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday to help a woman who was found near the church, bound by ropes and bleeding from her head. She told officers she had been beaten and held hostage inside the church.
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The woman showed officers a room inside the church where she said she was held. The room had a bucket full of urine and feces.
Authorities arrested three men: 32-year-old Pasi Heri of the city鈥檚 Dutchtown neighborhood, 28-year-old Grace Kipendo of Arnold and 25-year-old Mmunga Fungamali, who has a Canadian address listed on his court file.
All three were charged with one count of second-degree kidnapping and one count of third-degree assault. They were booked just before 3 a.m. Saturday, according to online court records, and remained in custody without bond on Wednesday.
Neither Kipendo鈥檚 lawyer nor a representative for the church could be reached for comment.
The Pentecostal Christian church caters to African refugees settling in St. Louis, according to the church reverend. The congregation mostly speaks English as a second language.
Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Faerber said during a hearing for Kipendo on Monday that the woman who said she was held hostage at the church was not allowed to have visitors at the hospital given the circumstances of the case.
Still, he said, several people tried to contact her at the hospital, including a person who claimed they were a district attorney 鈥 a government title not used in Missouri.
Christine Bertelson, spokeswoman for the St. Louis circuit attorney鈥檚 office, declined to comment on the case.
The other two suspects, Fungamali and Heri, were scheduled for bond hearings on Monday, but the hearings were postponed a week so the court could provide a Swahili interpreter, according to court documents. Kipendo is also scheduled to appear next week for a second bond hearing.
Police have been called to the church six times for crime-related incidents since January 2023. Three calls were for a suspicious vehicle, one for an unspecified disturbance, another to report a theft, and the most recent call was Saturday evening for a security alarm, which was a false alarm.
None of those calls amounted to a police report or further action, according to data provided by police.
There were three complaints about overgrown weeds logged by the city in June and July last year, including two that described the building as vacant.
Neighbors on Monday told the Post-Dispatch they were familiar with the church and its congregants, and several said their behavior was odd and, at times, concerning.
Robin Jernigan has lived in a house behind the church for more than 10 years and said the church members often hang around outside around the back of the church, which butts up to her backyard fence. They would sometimes tease her dog and throw sharpened sticks at the Rottweiler, she said.
鈥淚 always said with my heart, 鈥業 don鈥檛 trust that church,鈥欌 she said, recalling that she heard a woman screaming while police were at the church this weekend.
While the building has long been a church, it was sold to the Mount of Olives Ministry in 2019, according to city records. The Rev. Anna Nyassa Samuel established the ministry as a nonprofit in August 2017.
The congregation had tried to raise $300,000 through a GoFundMe in January 2018 to purchase the building after outgrowing its previous one. As of Wednesday, the campaign was still up and had raised just under $4,000.
The page said the congregation comprises more than 85% refugees.
鈥淪ince its beginning, this ministry has won many souls to Christ,鈥 Nyassa Samuel wrote. 鈥淭his primarily virtual Ministry headquartered in Saint Louis/Missouri has seen its membership increasing now reaching several hundreds of extremely committed and Spirit filled Christians from more than 20 Nations.鈥
In recent years, Mount of Olives put a 6-foot privacy fence all around the property, which is perched on top of a hill.
On Monday, before the condemnation sign went up, a reporter knocked on the church鈥檚 front door, which was adorned with fake flowers.
A woman vacuuming the church鈥檚 front room turned off the machine and came up to the window. She signaled with her finger that she would be back in a minute.
No one ever came to the door.