Of late,
there has been a rise of prophetic activities in Zambia. The influx of so
called ‘prophets’, locally called ‘ma profita’ has brought in an ‘era of
deception’. Some people have observed that all the magicians and witchdoctors
have infiltrated the church. One of the most recent stories centered on members
of a congregation being asked to place their bank account numbers on the ‘altar’
so that the prophet could ‘pray’ for miracle money to drop into each one’s account.
Fascinating! Wouldn’t the country have been wealthy by now? The prophet would
have just ‘prayed’ for gold and money to drop into the national treasury. But before
we get carried away with a quick fix solution to our economic woes let’s get
the facts right.
Religion is ra general term that refers to the belief
in and worship of a superhuman, controlling power, especially a personal god. Christianity is the religion that is
based on the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ or is someone who follows
the life and teachings of Christ and is connected to Him by making an open
declaration. A prophet is said to be
a proclaimer of the will of God. A miracle
is an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or
scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency. Magic is the power of influencing
events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. Witchcraft is the practice of magic, especially black magic and the
use of spells. A witchdoctor is a
magician accredited with powers of healing, divination and protection against
the magic of others. (Google Dictionary)
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| Photo credit: Kafula Mwila |
Now that
we are all on the same page with definitions we can ably agree that literacy
has significant impact on the growth of religion and Christianity. One of the
key things that religious leaders should endeavor to do is to invest in the
development of the literacy of their congregants. Christianity is very strong
in Zambia- more so that it is openly declared as a Christian nation.
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| Photo credit: Kafula Mwila |
The question
is with high illiteracy levels, how many of the church goers have a clear
understanding of the various truths that are presented to them every week. In the
major cities and in churches that are in the upper class areas, illiteracy
would not come up as a hindrance to the success of religion. What about in the
high density areas, the shanty compounds where most of the so called ‘prophets’
have strongholds? Do all the churches there preach significantly enough to sway
their members away from the scourge that has hit the country in the recent past?
For how is it that one cannot differentiate between miracle and magic? How is
it that one cannot see that being asked to engage in sexual orgies in full view
of a congregation is immoral? The hordes of people, especially women, taking
part in these outrageous events is now alarming! If more people could read,
write and understand the same scriptures that are abused by their manipulators,
they would not for instance discontinue taking medication in favour of ‘miracle’
water. How can anyone be so naïve to believe that money can suddenly appear
into one’s bank account without them making any effort?
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| Photo credit: Kafula Mwila |
As a
nation, we must draw lessons from the preceding era of the prosperity gospel
when people were duped into giving their last ngwee or even property. This era
led to a lot of laziness among some people who thought that by giving to the
man or woman of God, the good Lord would bring about miraculous riches. After this
phase came the ‘prophetic’ era. Many woke up to the fact that they were being swindled,
therefore, the style changed. The ‘prophets’ crawled from the shadows like
phantoms and infiltrated the religious circles with all sorts of tricks to
squeeze gullible followers. The gimmicks vary, short of being called magic or
witchcraft, as long as there is a willing soul desperate enough to do anything
to get out of dire situations.
For those
who follow Christ and his teachings- there is need for them to have the ability
to read and write the teachings in order for them to begin to understand how they
can apply them in their day to day lives. The church therefore has a key role
in not only building the moral fibre of the communities they operate in but
also to lift up the literacy standards of their people. Someone who fully
comprehends the scriptures will not be cheated. “Now the Berean
Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received
the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see
if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11.
The scripture is self-explanatory and emphasizes that religion should define
its role in the lives of the believers, beyond the four walls of the building
where people meet to worship. It calls for the church to join in the efforts of
government and civil society to lift the standards of the citizens through
literacy. If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian Genre’, all citizens must be able
to read and understand the times that we live in, so that they do not get
cheated.
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| Photo credit: Kafula Mwila |
