Written by: Admin_SheEvo
All schools had closed countrywide, and students had gone home for the holidays. There was excitement everywhere since it was going to be a long break. On a Saturday morning, we prepared for a Sunday visit to a different church my sister had told us about. According to her story, it sounded pretty different from other churches. We were curious. I remember my father saying, “Churches have never caused grave difficulties”. Mom kept quiet because she was a hard nut to crack. We woke up early that Sunday morning because the church was far from home. “You need punctuality; it’s a different church, you know”, Mom roared.
We took a taxi that dropped us on the side of the road. It was a 30-minute drive. We walked a few steps away from the main road through the plantation. “We have reached”, Sister Milly exclaimed. There was a church and a big house beside it. We were barely on time, and the service had already begun. Like any church, they welcomed us warmly but with a rule. “We don’t enter with shoes inside the church,” a woman said. This was new to us except for Sister Milly, who had been coming there.
The church was a medium-sized building made of mud with white iron sheets and two doorways. On the right-hand side, as you entered, it was a place for females, and on the left was for males. In front was the altar and two chairs on both sides as you faced the congregation. The three chairs were occupied except for one that was empty. Unlike other churches, some church members wore cloaks on their shoulders with colours like blue, white, and red, with crosses on them. I looked around and saw women and gentlemen in their late 20s who looked pale, weak, and hungry. It was difficult to understand why.
“My name is Adam,” the young preacher said as he continued quoting Bible verses. A few minutes after our arrival, I saw a tall, slim, black man outside the church coming towards the church door. No sooner had he entered the church than all the members prostrated. It was the first weird thing we saw, and we followed it accordingly. He started speaking in tongues, and a woman interpreted. At the time, I was taken aback by the church’s practices. “Humans can’t be worshipped whatsoever, particularly the religious ones,” I thought. He later led us into worship and gave a few Bible verses before ending.
“Don, Flair, and Rita move forward,” he called out. Two ladies and a gentleman stood up. “It’s time for receiving messages,” he continued. The ushers stood behind them as he prayed. My eyes were wide open as they lost balance on their feet, became unconscious, and lay on the ground as we waited. I wanted to go home at that moment, but it was impossible since I couldn’t walk home alone. In the meantime, they woke up one by one. They had a story to tell, especially to us, the visitors. They claimed to have seen cunning and lying people. “I saw your church pastor being beaten in hell,” Flair said. “You definitely shouldn’t go back because you might end up punished, too,” he added. Dan said, “I saw angels welcome them.” “Jesus told me that he (my dad) should join us in preaching the gospel”, Rita stated.
Our minds were full of questions. Prostration, tongues, interpretation, and sending people to heaven were new to us. “Come and take questions from visitors, Adam,” the prophet ordered. Mom and Dad asked many questions, which they answered satisfactorily. It seemed like a mind and soul-trapping game. However, they won our hearts and souls. To sum up, we later accepted and became new church members that day. After the service, they treated us to food and drinks. I was dumbfounded the whole evening, still thinking about what happened. Indeed, the way they addressed themselves was strange.
George was the prophet, the high priest, the commander officer, the son of Jesus, and the Dad. He was feared, and no one could go against his word. As we left for home, I heard them tell Dad they would be coming to visit us. We didn’t have much but had enough to feed them. We prepared food and drinks from plantations, gardens, vegetables, and milk from cows and goats and hens and hard cash. Their visit was one week away, so it needed immediate preparation. It was going to be a three-day visit, so Dad invited people to come and attend the services.
Attention, Brethren! Praise God. Come, listen to your prophecy with Prophet George R. at my home. It will take place on 14th December 2017. Edward N. Because people valued and respected Dad so much, they came in large numbers. A group of church leaders and their prophets also came. It was a successful Wednesday and the day that followed. It was indeed some miracle; people kept coming, and three days turned into weeks and months until Dad and Mom gave a land agreement to build a church. It was the start of giving out everything. Upon starting the foundation of the church, the unbelievable happened. The prophet George raised a white flag with a blue cross, which he explained meant the Holy Spirit. It caught the attention of the local council leaders, who thought it was a rebel group that had annexed our village. Dad explained it to them, and they understood.
Prophet George dug one-foot holes where someone could stand with both feet. “Stand in here,” he said as he placed blue cloaks on our shoulders with crosses on them. He ordered Dad to carry him on his back with a machete facing his head. “Is he going to cut Dad?” I thought. It was a ritual he was to perform that we didn’t understand. He also spoke some words we didn’t understand. He buried a stone in the centre of the church foundation before they started building. We didn’t mind as it was about building the church. After building the church, he acted strangely. Sometimes, he only took Krest soda, which he explained meant Christ. In so doing, he was taking the blood of Jesus Christ. He became worse and taught prostration to people, some of whom accepted it and others didn’t. Numbers decreased because people interpreted it differently.
He would take a crate of Krest soda every week, and we would slaughter a goat every two weeks. He preached miracles daily. There were two hills opposite each other and a gully in the middle, which he said God would fill with sand to form a plateau. He claimed my uncle, who had died and been buried two years ago, would rise from the dead. People interpreted this differently but were already trapped. On the coronation day of the new church leaders, he gave them cloaks of different colours like blue, white, and red to wear on their shoulders, with crosses on them. He said whoever he gave the white cloak to represented the Holy Spirit was the one to lie on his bed and be his wife. The red cloak with white crosses was for evangelists, the one with blue crosses was for pastors, and the blue cloaks were for preachers. It looked like a group of cult leaders, which we never understood because this was nothing like religion.
My eldest sister was the one crowned with the white cloak. She had spent one year at home due to misunderstandings within her marriage. She refused it and immediately returned to her marriage without notice. The prophet George had two wives, whom he got by crowning them with white cloaks, and my sister was to be the third. Ester and Resty were his wives we knew about, but they were hardly official. The daily coming and leaving late at night led to adultery among the teen youths and the older ones. It raised much tension from parents who cared about their children. The parents chaired an abrupt meeting and decided to chase
Prophet George from the church and the community. Most feared him because nobody dared to oppose him, not even the local council chairman. He had created fear amongst the people by saying that whoever stood against him would die, and nobody had ever wanted to die. One man was tired of his actions, so he took the lead and chased him from the area. Mr Charles was brilliant and brave and never went against his word. The following day, when they were having breakfast, Charles cleared his throat and said, “Prophet George, you need to pack all your luggage and leave this village and the church too.
Thank you for the word of God you taught us, but we can’t tolerate your behaviour in our community.” George didn’t reply to anything except to curse the people. “Adam, pack my things; we are leaving forever”, he called out. They did everything in a hurry and left before noon. As a result, parents were sure their children were safe, but the movement had drastically affected them. Sadly, the host family had lost almost half of the animals and birds they had slaughtered for him, and the plantations had grown bushy since he discouraged them from working. But we were all relieved and happy; he was gone.
Izi
It is truly distressing to witness individuals who misuse the name of God for their own unjust or deceptive purposes.