IT was perhaps the most striking picture that came from the
spectacle that accompanied Shepherd Bushiri’s appearance at the Pretoria
Special Commercial Crimes Court last week.
It was the picture of a man, said to be in his mid forties
by some social media, seemingly distraught at the persecution of his spiritual
father, the 35 year old Bushiri.
In the picture, a flood of tears are streaming down the
cheeks of the unnamed man. His eyes are firmly shut and as he cries, he appears
to also be in passionate prayer for the man called Major 1 by his followers.
Just like many of the prophet’s disciple that afternoon,
the man in the picture seemed to be diluting his prayers with tears and at the
exact moment when that picture was snapped his sun battered face seemed a
perfect illustration of both faith and grief.
This man, probably a father to children of his own, was
exhibiting for his spiritual father the kind of grief usually reserved by most
for their biological parents. With the eyes of the world on that square outside
the Pretoria Special Commercial Crimes Court, the cameras had found him and
some might have wondered what his children, if he had any, thought of their
father or what his parents, if they are still alive, thought of their son.
It was a picture that illustrated perfectly the drama that
accompanied Bushiri and his wife’s appearance in court on money laundering
charges as the faithful gave a taste of the unrehearsed theatre that they
exhibit in Bushiri’s halls of worship every Sunday.
As they rolled on the ground, spoke in tongues and cursed
police cars with chants of ‘Fire’, it was impossible not to admire the power
that Bushiri has over his flock. It is the same power that other prophets like
Walter Magaya seem to hold over their followers as well.
In traditional churches, pastors and other leaders were
always revered and thought of highly but few have ever managed to reach the
spellbinding influence that Bushiri and his prosperity preaching cousins have
attained.
As dramatic as events outside the Pretoria court were, they
were only the tip of the iceberg. Modern day prophets seem capable of
convincing their followers to do almost anything. In 2016, Prophet Bernard
Takavadiyi of Ruach Embassy Worldwide Ministries managed to convince his followers
that eating grass, tree leaves and grass was one way through which they could
attain salvation.
While the rest of Zimbabwe watched in shock, his
congregants ate it up, with one lady from Chikonohono claiming that she had
breast cancer but when she consumed the grass, the lump that had been in her
right breast disappeared.
Such is the world of modern day faith were acts such as
drinking fuel, feeding on mud or eating live snakes can deliver instant healing
from ailments whose cure have eluded science.
The faith and belief of Bushiri’s followers is only matched
by the doubt and ridicule of those that do not subscribe to their unorthodox
ways of worship.
To outsiders, the claims made by the likes of Bushiri are
laughable. Last year, for example, the whole world laughed as the prophet
claimed that he could walk on air. His claim was proved almost immediately to
be false but that did not shake the faith of his followers. His flock, which he
has claimed is close to a million strong, instead seems to grow bigger with
every miracle.
While Bushiri’s lawyers battled some of South Africa’s
sharpest prosecutors, Zimbabwe’s own Walter Magaya was also in a legal battle
of his own. While Barry Roux, a man who reportedly charges R50 000 a day, began
shadowboxing with some of South Africa’s brightest legal minds on behalf of
Bushiri, Magaya avoided a legal brawl altogether, pleading guilty to
contravening the country’s laws when he announced that he had found a cure for
HIV/Aids.
In a different age, a man of God admitting to breaking the
law or getting hauled before the courts for money laundering would cause ripples
and dent their image in front of those they lead. However, when they stand in
front of the pulpit again, it looks highly unlikely that these latest legal
battles would have lowered the standing of the two men of God in front of the
eyes of their followers.
But how did these prophets become so powerful and so
infallible in the eyes of their followers? According to some scholars, miracle
making Prophets have become powerful because of their ability to shock and awe,
a feature that makes them particularly appealing in Africa where most people
are still superstitious.
In his paper titled The Political and Social Impact of
Prophetic Churches in Zimbabwe, Nonimous Hameno observes that the popularity of
miraculous prophesy stems from Christianity’s roots in the country. At the dawn
of colonialism, instead of Christianity completely eclipsing African religion,
it instead got diluted by Zimbabweans’ own traditional beliefs, in which the
supernatural is not uncommon.
“Most Christian teaching from the West was influenced by
the age of reason, secular humanism and the scientific advancements of those
times. Liberal theology which rejected the supernatural had gained acceptance.
Christianity as it came through the missionaries therefore lacked spirituality.
“The African, on reading the Bible immediately saw a
disconnection between the Christianity taught by the missionary and biblical
experience. The Bible is full of miracles and supernatural encounters, a
spirituality the African was more familiar with,” he said.
Perhaps more than their ability to deliver an eye catching
miracle now and then, perhaps their popularity comes from the gospel that they
preach. While they claim to be agents of the Lord and therefore enemies of the
devil, perhaps their strongest prayers are reserved for the scourge of poverty.
“You are poor because you are stupid. The demon of poverty
rebels when its deliverer comes,” Prophet Uebert Angel once told his excited
congregants.
While the Christian gospel has always emphasised that hard
work will be rewarded and that an excessive love of money, the proverbial root
of all evil, will lead to one’s downfall, modern prophets encourage their
followers to be enterprising and seek wealth.
In that regard, there are no better examples than the
prophets themselves, who in most cases live lavish lifestyles that some might
associated with hip-hop stars than men of God.
Besides a private jet, Bushiri also boast of owning a fleet
of luxury cars, including a Maserati, a Rolls-Royce, an Aston Martin and a R3
million Mercedes G63. He also bought his daughter a Maserati in December 2017
as a gift for her sixth birthday, ten years before she is legally allowed to
drive.
Such extravagance might attract the disapproval of those
that do not subscribe to Bushiri’s church, but it seems to be admired by those
who flock to his church week after week seeking wisdom and religious insight
from the designer suit wearing 35 year-old.
As events unfolded this week, many were amazed at how
people, who law enforcement agents claimed had been swindled by their ‘Papa’,
came out in full voice at the man who was allegedly preying on them. To
observers, the congregants are will accomplices to their own robbery, a flock of
sheep cheering on as a wolf leads them.
Perhaps, looking at his wealth, his followers believed that
one day his teachings and prayers will make miracles in their own lives and
they could be just as rich.
In December, Bushiri is said to have prophesied that he
would become a target of law enforcement agents. Perhaps he had already caught
wind of an investigation into his financial affairs. Or perhaps it was an act
of true divine insight from a seer who the Lord had already been shown a
glimpse of the gathering clouds.
As the case unfolds, that prophesy is likely going to be
used by his followers as an example of his power and a reason why they should
stand by their ‘father’ in his hour of need. Their faith, and that of millions
who follow similar prophets in Africa, is unlikely to be shaken by anything,
including the truth. Sunday News
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