PART 2 THE EMMACULATE CALLING The row between Yeukai and Varaidzo had gotten Emmah to think deeply about the phenomenon that had swept over the churches in the country. The allegations made by Yeukai regarding the Prophetic Move of God church were most likely true. She had checked the newspapers online and had established that indeed Prophet Gareth was there in Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia. She was not sure if the miracle stories were true. However they resonated with a lot of talk about the Prophets she had been coming across. It was also similar to other reports and utterances by other prophets and also the sons of the prophets. It was worth checking out, she felt. She made it a point to visit some of the prophetic churches and establish some of the goings on and see for herself. Varaidzo was therefore ecstatic when Emmah requested to join her at church the following Sunday. ‘Please come and see Papa in action!’ she could not hide her joy. ‘Bring Yeukai also so that she can verify that Papa is a man of God and what he says comes to pass. He can even tell you the colour of your bedspread.’ Emmah just smiled. She had her own reservations which she did not want to raise. She feared Varaidzo was already thinking that she was joining their church. She had been a member of GAP Ministries and now Tabernacle Fellowship. * * * * * GAP Ministries International was a countrywide church that had been in existence for more than twenty years. It was a very well-known church with branches in almost every city, town and village. It was also in a few other countries especially where Zimbabweans had gone to seek economic and political refuge. The church had become known as Gap Ministries though its real name was God’s Anointed Partners Ministries International. GAP was an acronym that was threatening to become the full name of the church. Proponents of this argued that Gap Ministries had a strong intercessory wing and the name augured well with the biblical Prophet Ezekiel who prophesied about a man being needed to stand in the gap. The Church had a bible college where it trained its Pastors and also others interested in biblical and theological studies. Gap Ministries was led by the National Overseer who was the overall leader for the whole country. The National Overseer led the National Executive which was made up of his deputy, the Treasurer, General Secretary and three committee members who were in charge of various portfolios. The National Executive was elected every three years. It was an extremely big and influential platform for one to be in the National Executive. It came with power, privilege, resource support and a host of other unwritten benefits. The National Executive was answerable to the Apostolic Council. The Apostolic Council was made up of twenty one members, including the National Executive members. Ten of these represented each of Zimbabwe’s provinces. Another four would be appointed and co-opted by the Apostolic Council at its first sitting and would cater for special interest groups and issues. The Apostolic Council was elected every five years. Each of the Provinces had a Provincial Board made up of ten members covering all the regions of the province. People were voted into the provincial Board by their regions who in turn were elected from their churches. The Provincial Board was headed by a Provincial Overseer who was part of the Board. The Provincial Overseer would sit in the Apostolic Council representing his province. The Provincial Board was elected every four years, a year longer than the term of office of the Apostolic Council. Members of the Provincial Boards would elect the Apostolic Council together with the National Executive. It was not unusual to have some overt campaigning and jostling for positions in the Board and hopefully in the Apostolic Council. Only Ordained ministers or pastors were allowed to sit in the Apostolic Council. Non ordained members could be part of the Provincial Board as long as they would not be more than half of the membership of the Board. Before starting their messages towards election time some Pastors would be heard opening their messages thus: ‘After much prayer and reflection in deep meditation I felt impressed upon my spirit by the Lord to take up the challenge to take our Province to a higher dimension. I will not be disobedient to the heavenly calling.’ Others would be very silent and organise their people to make noise on their behalf while they pretended to be uninterested. At the appropriate time they would pretend to be succumbing to public pressure by agreeing to stand for some positions. The Provincial Overseer for Harare province was Pastor Jani, also known as Overseer Jani. He was a middle aged and fairly charismatic minister. In his earlier life he had been a Group Human Resources Executive for a blue chip conglomerate. The job had taken him to a number of countries on secondments in the ten years he worked there. He had left the job going into full time ministry in Gap Ministries. He was a very intelligent and articulate man who hardly said the wrong things or did the wrong things. He had a very stable marriage. His wife was managing the family Hardware business which had several branches in the city. The rise of Pastor Jani to the position of Overseer at the age of forty had ruffled some feathers. Some of the old guard considered him as a man to watch and were very wary of him. Pastor Jani had been appointed the provincial Overseer in an acting capacity for one year to finish off the tenure left by the previous Overseer who had succumbed to kidney failure. At the end of the term of office he was voted into office as a substantive Provincial overseer not because he was the preferred choice. The two front runners for the post were neck to neck and that split votes and allowed Pastor Jani to remain the Overseer. To his credit Pastor Jani kept his cool. He lived a very modest life and never made a show of his money. Over time people had come to believe he was not as wealthy as they thought he was. Pastor Jani preferred people to see him as one who was of limited means far more than he had. He would silently support many initiatives. He shunned a flashy lifestyle and went about his work diligently. He was very ambitious but kept his ambitions to himself. It was slightly over a year left before the election of the National Executive together with the Apostolic Council. Some names had already started making the headlines on who was going to land the National Overseer’s position. The incumbent had indicated that the next elections would be the last he would stand for before resting as he had some unfinished work he felt led to finish in the last term of office. This already made him a serious contender, though people had heard the same sentiments from him in the previous two elections for the National Overseer. If he won the next then that would be the fourth term of three years. Besides the incumbent National Overseer the General Secretary also felt it was necessary for the mandate of leading the church to go to him. The incumbent was Sixty Four years old and aging whilst he was just above fifty. The church needed a younger generation person to take it forward in this age. T he deputy National Overseer was not interested in standing and had since indicated his intention to retire from full time leadership. The deputy was a highly sober man who was well respected. The competing parties would eagerly associate with him in a quest for public endorsement for the next position. Two other current Provincial Overseers were also seeking election into the National Leadership and they had already approached Pastor Jani seeking his support. Every candidate would try to canvass the support of all sitting leaders at the same time sending warning signals to them to stand aside. The atmosphere was slowly getting more charged as prospects of winning and fears of losing church positions and power loomed.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 05:32:39 +0000
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