Of prophets and 2016

Opinion

By Freedom Mupanedemo ---
The year 2016 is teetering towards its end and hey, the year could as well pass as one of those life episodes to remember for the Christian community- those in Zimbabwe and beyond-judging by the religious tragic-comedies that unfolded thorough out the year.

From walking on water to drinking sewerage water, eating grass and anointed condoms, holding a pastor’s genitals for healing to stamping on top of the congregants. From selling anointed cucumbers and maize cobs to that Nigerian comic pastor who grabbed headlines after he drowned while trying to emulate Jesus Christ by walking on water. Tough luck! May his soul rest in peace!

And with Christmas around the corner where the Christian community is expected to kiss good-bye to a wired year by celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ at Christmas, yet another comic pastor, Ngonidzashe Mandengu, is adding to the confusion urging Christians not to partake in Christmas celebrations.

Mandengu, a leader of a Pentecostal ministry with an equally awkward name, Break Free International Ministries is walking around Harare and its environs ostensibly on evangelism mission while telling those who care to listen to him to abandon Christmas celebrations.

According to Pastor Mandengu, who claims to be a Christian, celebrating Christmas is a pagan way of worship hence Christians should shun paganism.

“The reason why I have embarked on this mission preaching against celebrating Christmas is simple. In the entire Bible there is no where it is written that Jesus was born of 25 December. If he was born on 25 December why don’t we have a complete date of birth of Jesus Christ, like yourself? You have a full date of birth like the day you were born, month and year?” Pastor Mandengu asked rhetorically.

Mandengu has a totally different view of the meaning of name Christmas which he believes was coined to worship a goddess.

“Christmas is a two-fold name with CHRIST/MAS

The word Christ means the anointed one and the word Mas means Mother. The definition of CHRISTMAS therefore means the ‘’THE ANOITED MOTHER.’’

The word Christmas has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus but is dedicated to a certain goddess,” said Pastor Mandengu.

He added,

“The English word called Merry means happy, so MERRY CHRISTMAS means ‘’HAPPY ANNOITED MOTHER” and has nothing to do with the birth of our saviour, Jesus,”

Mandengu says he will be conducting outreach programes preaching against celebrating Christmas.

He vowed that he would make the world understand the meaning of Christmas in his world view.

So Pastor Mandengu has a vision and a dream.

Unwavering!

But forgive this poor pastor, he is not the first one to have pounced on the gullible.

Neither is he the first to send gospel enthusiasts and desperate believers into confusion. There is rather a rush of mushrooming comic pastors riding on the easy-to-believe folks.

Below is a list of pastors who have contributed to the religious comedy scsript this year in Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa especially the neighboring South Africa.

Pastor Paul Sanyangore.

Probably the only tragedy is that the field this Zimbabwean pastor has become popular for is religion and church. If it was music, soccer, or some sport, surely Sanyangore could have walked with an award. But for the Victory World International Ministries Church leader, conferring him with an award would be again an act of folly. We have seen good football players losing out on gongs only because of some controversies surrounding them whether on field or off the field. Sanyangore is one pastor how has been marred in controversy throughout 2016.

Early this year, Pastor Sanyangore came in the public glare after he woke up splashed on the front pages of newspapers claiming that he once died and went to heaven where he allegedly dined with the Angels in heaven before coming back on earth.

Pastor Sanyangore was to brew another shocker when he claimed to have walked on water in the full view of his church congregants. He recently reported to have fetched some water from flowing sewerage and prayed for it before giving it out to his congregants to quench their thirst. What an awful “miracle” to end the year 2016 from our pastor?

Prophet Talent Madungwe

Whether they deserve to be called prophets or not, that is not for us the mortal to judge but there is also this comic prophet going by the name Talent Madungwe. He had a bizarre claim that set tongues waging in Zimbabwe.

Prophet Madungwe first sent many, especially his congregants into a rather frenzied anxiety and suspense when he told them that God was to come to Zimbabwe on a beautiful Thursday 20 October 2016.

He even evoked some mixed emortions especially to those who cared to listen to him when after realising that his word could “not come to pass”, chose to be more comic by brazenly claiming that God had actually visited him during the dead of the night and had a buffet with him.

Surprisingly, the newspapers went with his story and with acres of space on offer, splashed him on front pages in what some believed was tantamount to letting the Devil run away with the Bible.

Prophet Walter Magaya

He is one of the most followed prophets in Zimbabwe at the moment but the Prophetic Healing Deliverance Ministries leader had his fair share of controversies this year.

From allegedly healing and constructing a house for an insane person to congregants stampeding for sand and soil at his Water Falls holy ground to being accused of rape.

The rape case against the man of cloth which saw the complainant making a sudden U-turn and attempting to withdraw the charges is still pending before the courts.

Prophet Magaya recently torched a storm when pictures of him allegedly selling holy cucumbers to congregants went viral. He however, defended himself saying the cucumbers were from his farm and were given to his congregants for free.

Emanuel Makandiwa.

Since he received a backlash after he allegedly prayed for a woman who conceived and delivered a child in three days some years back, Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa of the United Family International church has been quiet, so quiet that even this year’s annual judgment night could not produce any earth shuttering miracles.

The only controversy to have rocked Prophet Makandiwa recently is his alleged South African resident permit that went viral on face book and other social media platforms. The permit with signatures and stamps from the South African Government purports that our revered prophet was now a South African citizen.

His church is yet to respond to the authenticity of the document doing rounds in the social media domain.

But it’s not Zimbabweans only to have been subjected to weird miracles and controversies by this crop of new pastors and church leaders.

Across Limpopo in South Africa, a pastor with Mount Zion Assembly church, prophet, Lethobo Rabalago recently caused a social media stir when pictures of him went viral on Facebook while spraying pesticide Doom on congregants.

Earlier this year, another South African pastor, Silago Daniel of Rabbani Centre Ministries torched a storm when he ordered congregants to eat grass before he went on to stamp on them. He received a backlash when the pictures of him stamping on congregates most of them women went viral.

Comment

No Comments

Of prophets and 2016

Related Stories