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NO CLEANSING IN SACRED DAM – BISHOP KHANYAKWEZWE

28/12/2021 08:41:00 BY SIBUSISO SHANGE

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NGCOSENI – February 4, 2022, has been announced as the day for a cleansing (siwasho) ceremony for Melika Jericho Church in Zion.

However, this time around, the church Bishop, Khanyakwezwe Vilakati, made it clear that no one would be going to the sacred dam due to COVID-19. The man of God was addressing the church congregants during a Christmas vigil held at the church headquarters at Ngcoseni in Mankanyane. Instead, he said the date had been set aside for other church activities such as ordainment of preachers (bashumayeli) and evangelists at Enkhabeni Church, in Gege. “As you all know that we are living at a time when the world is affected by COVID-19, we will not be able to go to the sacred dam for the cleansing ceremony next year as you are all aware that we are a big congregation and we congested during the event. We should not be seen breaching the COVID-19 regulations put in place by the Ministry of Health. The angels of the church will forgive us for that,” he said.

Ordainment

The bishop invited all church leaders (bafundisi and bashumayeli) to participate during the ordainment, which he said would be held on Saturday. He mentioned that some preachers would be elevated to the position of evangelists on the day. Meanwhile, the bishop condemned disputes among members of the church. He said the church had learnt with concern about the ongoing disputes among some churches, something he said had put the church into disrepute. Vilakati said when the founder of the church, Melika Gadlasenyama Vilakati, was called by God, the sole purpose was to unite all nations. “The principle of the church is clear. It was founded so that people would unite and be one in spirit. It is disturbing to hear that some members of the church are involved in disputes,” he said.

The bishop stated that as a result of the ongoing disputes, the church had set up a committee to resolve the animosity at community level. He said the headquarters would only deal with any matter referred to it by the selected committee. “We should not erase the mark that was left by God and revealed to the founder of the church. Erasing the mark will invite trouble for the church,” he said. He added that some people had homesteads, jobs, families, good life because of the mark. On another note, the bishop warned members of the church against any initiative that was not embodied in the church policy.The bishop advised members of the church to consult the headquarters on any initiative.

He said it would be after the consultations that the elders would decide whether the initiative should be incorporated into the church policies. “We have received reports to the effect that some church members have started new initiatives in the churches without informing the headquarters. We have heard that some congregants contributed towards maintenance of their leaders and widowed women in the church. This is a good initiative but it is not in line with the policies and principles of the church which we should always stick to,” he said.

Caring

The man of God said in as much as caring for church leaders and widowed women was the right thing to do, the initiatives should be looked into holistically to ensure that they did not cause trouble in the future. “Stop these initiatives and engage the headquarters for a way forward. Remember that God left a mark which was revealed to the Founder of the Church, Melika Gadlasenyama Vilakati. This means we should consult with the angels of the church if we want to add new initiatives to the mark. The angels will guide us and reveal the possible challenges,” he said.

The bishop stated that the headquarters was not expecting to hear announcements concerning the new initiatives pending the finalisation of the issue. He invited all members to come forth with their initiatives so that they could get approval and blessings. On another note, the bishop smelt a rat on some gifts directed to some of the pastors who were sent to conduct the passover meals. He stated that he had received reports that some pastors received valuable gifts such as cows and money just for attending a passover meal.

Worth noting is that, some church leaders (bafundisi) are selected by the headquarters to conduct the passover meals across the Jericho churches across the country. Their duty is to conduct the passover meal and send a report back to the headquarters. They also take the offerings directed to the ongoing construction of the multimillion churches to the headquarters.

However, some of the church leaders confided in the bishop that they received gifts such as cows and money from some of the visited churches. One of those who confided in the bishop was his elder brother, Jeremiah Vilakati. In his brief remarks, Jeremiah shared that he had received more than one cow from some of the visited churches. “I am still asking myself what is it that I have done that deserves a cow. Why would one just give me a cow without doing anything? I’m still shocked and afraid because I am asking myself what next after receiving the cow,” Jeremiah said.