The Sunday service of 433 Church in Miami, Florida, was raided by police as part of an ongoing custody dispute with his ex-wife, Marissa Pardun. The live stream of the service shows the dramatic incident. Pastor E.J. Newton was forced to end his sermon after only 12 minutes. He told his shocked congregation to pray before stepping away from the pulpit to speak with the authorities.
According to court documents, the pastor allegedly violated a custody agreement and threatened to take the children to Nigeria, his country of origin. The judge expressed that Newton might flee the country with the children, noting that he was in possession of their passports. In a post, he stated “I’ve been secluded by the police, not allowed to leave. Now, they’re searching members’ cars and preventing them from leaving church grounds.”
They went on to say that “The Petitioner has made multiple attempts to have the Respondent served with the pleadings. Due to the Respondent’s behavior with regard to the minor children, it is reasonable to believe that advanced notice of this motion and hearing date would cause Respondent to flee and conceal the whereabouts of the minor children.”
The judge wrote that “The Petitioner is in fear that the Respondent is making arrangements to flee the United States to Nigeria which is Respondent’s country of origin. The Respondent has threatened to take the children out of the country and the Respondent is in possession of the three children’s passports. The Respondent has refused to allow the Petitioner to see the children and continues to conceal the minor children and their whereabouts.”
The Nigerian pastor alleges that whom he vaguely referred to as “THEY”, have manipulated his ex into making accusations against him to undermine his ministry. He wrote “I will not stop speaking truth and exposing darkness. If this is the cost of repentance and speaking up against occultism and witchcraft in the church, then use me, Lord.”
He also made an odd comment stating “The moment I stepped off stage, our online service was flooded with false accusations. THEY — the same people who recruited my ex-wife — are now working together. They have my ex-wife claiming that I’m trying to flee the country in the middle of a parenting schedule case. A judge granted an emergency extraction,” he offered context. “They had people come also into the service which we spotted. This whole thing has been so weird.” He expressed concerns about how the dispute between Newton and his ex-wife has affected their children.
Social media personality Larry Reid drew attention to the event. “I can’t imagine how he (Newton) felt and what he thought in that moment. The kids are the main victims here in my opinion. The whole church is locked down with guns drawn until the kids are returned along with their passports,” Reid explained.
The couple is scheduled to appear in court for an evidentiary hearing on 13th January to address the custody dispute. The pastor concluded “Lord. Purify me. Strengthen me. Make me more like You,” he posted with a crying emoji. “I love my children, and this breaks my heart. My babies do not deserve this. I am a great father. A great husband.”