Prosperity Gospel Shocks Missionaries
Moses Mulondo
The New Vision, 9 January 2010
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001111294.html
Kampala — IN the company of missionaries from the UK, popular church researcher, Andrew Strom, of the New Zealand-based revival school, came to Uganda last month. His mission was to sensitise Ugandan pastors on false gospels, especially the sowing and prosperity one.
Strom noted, "I only began to truly understand the magnitude of this crisis on my recent trip to Uganda. I have ministered in Nigeria many times, but I had always thought Nigeria was a special case ¬- that the awful poison I saw there had not spread so far into the rest of Africa. Uganda opened my eyes. The whole of Africa is being infected, and I mean on an epidemic scale."
He describes the situation as utter destruction of truth, undermining the gospel of Jesus and a total loss of the pure milk of the word.
"Greed, corruption and "prosperity" lies are laying waste to it all on a vast scale," he lamented in an online letter, which is a wake- up call to the rest of the church leaders to rise up and wage a courageous war against the prosperity gospel.
This type of gospel is used by selfish pastors who want to take advantage of desperate Christians by asking them to sow a financial seed so as to get financial blessings. The majority of these preachers live extravagantly while their flock wallows in poverty.
"This is not a small problem - it is enormous. Right across the continents of Africa, Asia and South America - we find this gospel of greed beginning to utterly dominate the church - particularly in the big cities," he noted.
However, some church leaders have described prosperity gospel as materialism unacceptable before God.
"The prosperity gospel is a wrong gospel which originated from the US. Jesus' gospel was a gospel of repentance and the kingdom of God. I have never preached the prosperity gospel, but I am successful," argues Apostle Alex Mitala.
In Mark 3:19, Jesus emphasised that the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. That is the danger of the prosperity gospel which focuses on worldly materialistic possessions.
In the recent worship night, organised by Bugembe, many were stunned by the way Pastor Isaac Kiwewesi called upon people, who wanted to be blessed like him to "sow a financial seed" with sh10,000 as the minimum amount required.
"I was shocked to see Pastor Kiwewesi act like that," said Muwanguzi, one of the fellowships leaders at Makerere University.
Asking believers, who want to get rich to sow as much as they have, leaving them financially drained by their pastors, has no foundation in the Bible.
THE GOSPEL OF PROSPERITY IN UGANDA: A CATHOLIC CRITIQUE
http://www.worldmission.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=325%3Auganda-the-gospel-of-prosperity&catid=87%3Adecember-2009&Itemid=72
Imported from the U.S., where pastors lead luxury lives, Pentecostalism is winning herds of followers in Uganda. Not only due to false miracles and witchcraft practices, but because they preach the gospel of prosperity: for the faithful, poverty is a sin.
Kenyan Gitonga opted out of the novitiate of a religious congregation in Nairobi, in the late nineties. It was not because he had realized a calling stronger than priesthood, but had been touched by a gospel taught outside the cloisters - one of prosperity.
Barely in his 30s, he felt poverty was not something over which he would desire to make a solemn vow. He had been born in it and, therefore, bought the Pentecostal teaching that poverty is a sin. He desired taste of riches. When, therefore, he was blessed by a return air ticket to the US, for pastorship, courtesy of one who lured him out of formation, Gitonga was so overwhelmed, he asked to leave priestly formation.
In America, he trained for a couple or so of months, before his return to the suburbs of Nairobi, near his former Philosophy Seminary, to deliver the gospel of prosperity. For him now, 'riches' was his middle name! Dressed always strikingly fanciful, the seminarian-turned Pentecostal pastor gradually mastered the art of fiery speaking, perfected on his criticisms of the Catholic Church.
With his so 'touching' testimonies of life in a Catholic seminary, Gitonga had penetrated to threadbare, the minds of his followers, comprising mainly of desperate young men and women. In turn, his believers rewarded him with hefty 'sowings' and 'tithes' that the young pastor had become wealthy within just a year "of seeing the light."
There are no miracles
In another incident, Anglican-raised Monalisa and James, a Catholic, had dated since the time of high school of the former. When she entered university, Monalisa "accepted Christ as her personal Savior and Lord." She joined a Pentecostal church, whose pastor advised her successfully against moving out (having a relationship) with long time boyfriend James, if he did not get "saved."
James, for all her wants and prayers, was the barrier to God's lending an ear to Monalisa. She also wanted to get married, now that she was of age. But, when she approached James to convince him to "accept Christ," the latter would only answer that he was a Christian, and comfortable as a Catholic. He did not mind his girlfriend being "saved," though.
But, Monalisa could not take that 'no' for an answer. "First of all," she argued, "in the Catholic Church, there are no miracles and I am not ready to live with a poor man." To her, God did not listen to Catholics, yet her boyfriend desired to keep his faith and was adamant on praying with the Pentecostals. So she called it quits with him.
Six years into her marriage with another man, with whom she shared the faith, not even the two lovely children of the couple would prevent Monalisa from blaming herself for having broken up with James. For one, the pastor that ill-advised her about a relationship with a Catholic, had not only since been accused of sodomy, child molestations and practice of witchcraft, he had also long ceased to be 'her' pastor.
While Monalisa remains Pentecostal, she is quick to point out that many pastors are just doom's practitioners, "that is why I cannot just go praying in any Church." She believes some of them use witchcraft on their followers. Monalisa, who prays at a particular church seeks instant help for problems and believes it is coming 'one day,' even though 'her pastor,' cannot really help with her desire to leave the husband, for whom she has lost love, to rekindle the old flame with James.
Close to the government
In Christianity, Pentecostalism, a late entry into Christianity, is a consequence of some reformist ideologies. The world over, the renewalist movement is common for its attacks on the Catholic Church. In Uganda, a great number of influential politicians are Pentecostal members, the very reason the religious belief is largely linked to the first family of President Yoder Uneven.
A Church called the Covenant Nations Church, founded by one of Museveni's daughters, Patience Kokundeka Museveni Rwabwogo 'Tangaaza' (light) only serves to confirm the inclination of Pentecostalism on government. That church in Buziga, an up-market residential area hosting several rich homes, opened not so long ago with hundreds of worshipers, who would pass for a list of who's is who in President Museveni's government.
However, the 29-year-old female head pastor of the Church seems to know how hard a task it is to run a Church. She said in an interview with one of the newspapers, it is harder to walk with God when one has everything! To persevere, she believes, would require character, if keeping with God on every step, as a pastor, means accounting for everything.
In 2002, there were over 1,000 evangelical fellowship Churches, as Pentecostal movements are known, in Kampala (the capital) alone. According to the Evangelical Fellowship of Uganda, following a research by their statisticians, only about 635 of the Churches had been duly registered by the National Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Board, as is stipulated by law. Most of these belong to the National Fellowship of Born-Again Churches or the Evangelical Federation, while nothing is known about the other Independent Churches that sprout continually at the whims of men and women, when the urge of making money gets the better of some individuals.
Born in the U.S.A.
Besides nouns like savedees and Pentecostals, evangelical Churches are better known as Abalokole. They usually have as differing theological and organizational perspectives as perhaps there are pastors, apostles or prophets, heading those faith-based organizations. Some of the members, while associating with Pentecostalism, still profess other faiths, such as that of Protestantism.
A one-time director of the Holy Spirit Research Center in the US, Vinson Synan, in a discourse, 'The Origins of the Pentecostal Movement,' traces its development in America, in 1901. "Beginning in 1901, with only a handful of students in a Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, the number of Pentecostals increased steadily throughout the world during the twentieth century."
By 1993, they had become a large family among Protestants in the world. Synan claims that with over 200,000,000 members designated as denominational Pentecostals, "this group surpassed the Orthodox Churches as the second largest denominational family of Christians, surpassed only by the Roman Catholics."
Much of the theology of the schooled heads of these Pentecostals is owed to early British reformists, argues Synan. "At least three of these, the Methodist or Holiness Movement; the Catholic Apostolic Movement of Edward Irving; and the British Keswick 'Higher Life' Movement, prepared the way for what appeared to be a spontaneous 'outpouring' of the Holy Spirit movements in America and the rest of the world, through the dollarisation of the world economy.
Underlined by money, therefore, pastor against pastor has often fought battles for popularity and, therefore, bigger congregations, leaving different trails of scandals among the Churches in Uganda.
Witchcraft and divination
In 2003, an American woman that had worked and allegedly made some sponsorship to Pastor Simeon Kayiwa, Rochelle Gibler, leveled accusations on him of witchcraft, divination, intrigue and occult practices. Newspapers in the country reported that another pastor, Solomon Male that had worked with both Kayiwa and Pastor Samuel Kakande, who followed the takes of the late Ghanaian John Obiri Yeboah, came out to confirm the accusations.
Obiri is said to have come short of becoming a king. He joined priesthood and later turned into a self-proclaimed prophet. As a pastor, he came to Uganda, where he purportedly performed many miracles, some of which are believed to have had an occult bearing. He also cursed those who disregarded him. He died in Uganda in 1987.
Kakande and his wife claimed they had been anointed prophet and prophetess, by Yeboah and, therefore, possessed his powers. In fact, the church, which Kakande calls his own in Makerere, has a big painting of the late Obiri on one of its walls. On the other hand, to partake of the fame, Kayiwa associated himself with one man, who claimed Obiri had bequeathed him a miraculous bible, by the time the 'prophet' died in Uganda.
When he joined Kakande's Church, Holy Church of Christ, in 1988, Male claimed that he witnessed a lot of evil committed in the name of Jesus. That the Kakandes used the dead Yeboah's spirit to torment and destroy perceived enemies. "They wrote and issued paper talismans; used stinking stuff mixed with water to sprinkle on followers to destroy 'enemies' of those followers and allowed animal sacrifices," Male told a media house back then.
He said, "I witnessed marriages and families being torn apart and healthy people manipulated into relationships with known HIV/AIDS sufferers, who the Kakandes had claimed to have prayed over and healed. Then, the faithful were influenced to give their wealth to the couple, in the name of Jesus."
Against this, Male accused the couple of having claimed to be the only true prophets and ministers of the gospel on earth. They also allegedly claimed they were mandated to destroy every other church, because the other churches were all leading to hell. Many pastors, including their body associations, have since disowned Kakande, even though he still commands a great following that seems to have been hypnotized.
At the same time, some pastors are against Male, who they say 'has no Church of his own' and, therefore, lacks the liberty to comment on those who have. But, the elderly Male, who is not moved, continues to point out perceived wrongs among fellow pastors. Unlike many others, he cuts a character of a simple man, who has nothing worth showing for his fancy.
Pastors' luxury lives
As testimony to their faith and fervent prayers, pastors show off luxury lives to their congregants, marked with desperation for wants. For instance, preacher T. D. Jakes boasts of a fleet of luxury cars and a Lear jet, besides a chopper which he engages to beat traffic jams between different venues in Houston, USA.
His televangelist colleague, Benny Hinn, with his trademark sparkling white suits, earns up to US $1million a year. He puts up, at a seaside, a mansion that costs US $10million, and owns a private jet. He wears tailor-made suits and shoes, while his wrists and fingers are adorned with pure gold and diamond. Hinn dons a diamond Rolex watch, as he preaches and then asks the congregants - including in Uganda, where sometimes people have had to pay to enter his conference - to donate money to him in the name of Christ. Meanwhile, another preacher, African-American Creflo Dollar, who like Hinn, has visited Uganda, is one of the famous persons that own state-of-the-art classical vehicles, Rolls Royces.
From this tremendous faith translated into wealth, Ugandan Pentecostal pastors are virtually outdoing each other for material wealth. One of them, Pastor Pius Muwanguzi, who bedfellows with scandal, claims to heal AIDS. He is a flamboyant young pastor, who drives sports utility vehicles in different makes and sizes. Pastor Isaac Kiweweesi, who some Pentecostals claimed forced some boys into sodomy, held a wedding ceremony, after over 40 years of bachelorhood, and spent a walloping Ush362million, enough to put up a school for orphans in Kampala City.
A colleague of his, Pastor Jackson Senyonga, who was arrested on a flight to the US and briefly detained by the Federal Bureau of Investigators (FBI) for molesting a 13-year-old girl on the plane, owns a TV station and a number of radio FM stations. He runs a non-governmental organization, under his church, for which he managed to erect a thousand-seater building. His ministry extends to the United States, where it is said he owns a home.
Some pastors have come to disown their colleagues' legitimacy of faith, accusing them of being influenced by American funding, some of which comes with strings attached. Pulling the rug under some of his colleagues recently, Pastor Martin Ssempa, who ministers mainly to young people at the public university of Makerere, claimed that Pastors Robert Kayanja and Ssenyonga were enriched with money given them to promote homosexuality in the country.
Ssempa, believes homosexuals are using some pastors to bend Uganda's laws on homosexuality and such other illicit acts as the men of God have been accused of. A follower of Ssempa adds that the idea of money in reflecting one's level of faith, has simply perverted evangelization as it is known to be traditionally.
As worshipers hear testimonies and even see their pastors become rich virtually overnight and even start rubbing shoulders with top politicians, they flock to their churches to partake of the 'blessings.' Meanwhile, among pastors, it has become a competition to win 'souls,' who in turn would make hefty offerings, that some pastors often put to personal uses.
Electric miracles
Meanwhile, the law governing NGOs, under which the Pentecostal Churches fall, does not necessarily require the Churches to make public accountability, save for audited accounts, which can be done even internally, while the pastors seek the renewal of their Churches' registrations. Furthermore, the Churches are usually established and managed by individuals and so when that individual decides to fold up business, followers have no particular claim, legal or equitable.
That happened when a pastor, who after being riddled by scandals, woke up one day to change environment and took his church with him, to God knows where. Before that, his followers had come to terms with him making sojourns away from the church, for business deals that never were for the benefit of the Church, per se.
To enrich themselves, pastors have to show power. Some are said to use mild electric shocking gadgets to jerk followers into a fall, so as to make believe they have been anointed! Not long ago, at Entebbe International Airport, a preacher from Ghana was arrested with such machine, as he made into Uganda, to seemingly do business among the flock. Airport security once pounced on Obiri Yeboah (not the former), whose device is said to be used by magicians for mild electric shocks to volunteers, to dupe onlookers.
When people fall, others believe the preacher has supernatural powers and, therefore, can perform miracles. They start flocking to his Church, where in some, they are asked to make cash offers 'to the Lord' in particular amounts or gifts. There has been a case in which a woman brought criminal charges against a pastor for obtaining her car with false promises. This pastor assured her that she would become rich and also overcome her problems after he had prayed for her. When nothing was forthcoming, the woman ran to the police.
For Monalisa, however, this will not be a solution. While she got her part of the bargain with her pastor, she could not shake off her love for James and the legalities involved to get him back. She is neither like Gitonga, who calculatingly achieved the gospel he had longed for. Almost instantly, Gitonga became an image of prosperity at the expense of his followers.
