Exploring Bishop Rwandamura's den of worship

“What should I help you with? Asks one of the two men dressed in brown security uniforms. “We are here to see the pastor,” We humbly replied before an immediate interjection. “Do you have an appointment?’’ As the gateman seemed to be thinking of sending us away, we got lucky because in a flash of seconds, Pastor John Nsabimana, the administrator of the church came out to find out who was standing at the gate. After introducing ourselves, Nsabimana told us to return on Friday afternoon or Fire Friday as the believers call it. At 3:00pm on Friday afternoon, The Sunday Times visited United Christian Church (UCC) premises in Niboye, Kikukiro where Pastor John who handles all the operations for Bishop Charles Rwandamura at the church seemed rather busy but we waited. Bishop Charles Rwandamura. (Courtesy) On receiving us in his office, John sat in a white chair and leaned backwards shortly before starting the interaction. Even as we ‘threw’ questions at him, I kept on swiveling eyes around the square-shaped office hoping to dig up a mystery. From the roof to the walls, it was all covered with clothes of different colors of orange, blue stretching from a common point. There was a flower in a vase placed on top of the red cloth covering the table. Several stories about this church sounded so odd and that is what we had come to find out. On several occasions people have claimed that there are supernatural powers at Rwandamura’s church and even on this day, we gathered a few testimonies. 27-year-old Samuel Dusabayezu from Ruhango told the Sunday Times that he followed his sister to the church after witnessing her success. “I wanted to continue with school but lost all hope because I lacked finances. However, when I came to this place and the pastor prayed for me, I found a job immediately. I continued with school and will be joining Kigali Institute of Management next year,” says Dusabayezu. For Apophia Ngabire, depression forced her to hate life and claims evil spirits begged her to give up on life or worse commit suicide. “If it wasn’t for the pastor, I would be dead because something always pressurized me to do evil,” Ngabire says. The special wall According to Pastor John, there is a special wall that was built by Bishop Charles Rwandamura using soil and water from Israel. “When the Bishop went to Israel, God instructed him that not everyone would be able to come to the holy land. “For that matter, he was told to go build a wall using Rwandan soil mixed with water and Israel soil as a symbol for the holy land. That way every one would have a chance to experience the privileges of being in Israel,” explained Pastor John. “After touching the wall, people receive immediate deliverance. Others also derive healing from the pastor’s instruction, when he says go and be rich, it happens”. For example Erina Mukakibibi from Nyamata had been told that she would move on clutches for 10 years after recovering from a severe accident. Just like others, she witnessed a miracle after going to the wall after crying out to the lord in prayer she threw the clutches away within minutes. Controversy at Rwandamura’s church Despite people seeking deliverance from his church, the self-proclaimed prophet has been quoted on several occasions making controversial statements. While at Inkuru Nziza church two years ago, Rwandamura said that poor people wouldn’t make it to heaven. Those who don’t give tithe would also suffer the same fate because there are no different from thieves. He also warned that beauty pageants should be banished because they were imbalanced. “In this world everyone is beautiful and organizing beauty pageants does not make sense,” he claimed. In October 2014, during a ceremony of appointing an apostle, Marie Claire Mukamusoni at Bethel Revival International Church, Rwandamura said that no bishop was supposed to live without a car. He therefore ordered church members to give enough money so that their church leaders could buy vehicles because it was a shame seeing bishops on foot. In the same year while appointing Bishop Albert Rugamba at Bethesda holy church, the Bishop announced that whoever starts a church starts up a business. And worrying is his recent claim that the world will come to an end in 2414. However Pastor John is fast to react to the sentiments, especially those against poor people explaining that: “My boss was misquoted but from a random analysis poor people have no truth, they are envious, have no God and can bow to their masters’ gods, they always get involved in acts of prostitution, theft among others. That way they are more likely to miss out on heaven”. In 2012, it is claimed that God instructed Rwandamura to anoint the country by moving with his horn and trumpet while reaching out to all borders. And that whatever he prophesied came to life, according to his believers. The rise of prophetic churches Although believers have reasons to defend their churches, there is a rise of dubious churches around the globe but mainly on the African continent. Rwandamura’s church is just a tip of the iceberg with people claiming to witness extraordinary miracles. In a story published by The Daily mail two years ago, a South African preacher made his congregation eat grass to ‘be closer to God’ before stamping on them. Pastor Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Centre Ministries had dozens of followers drop to the ground to eat the grass at his ministry in Garankuwa, north of Pretoria after being told it will ‘bring them closer to God.’ Such contentious worship methods drew criticism from thousands of people although members of his congregation swore by his methods that humans could eat anything to feed their bodies and survive on whatever they choose to eat. Not long ago, a Kenyan pastor also raised eyebrows after telling his female congregation not to wear under wear when coming to church. In a seemingly strange doze of laughter, a West African pastor who wanted to walk on water like Jesus drowned. Pastor Franck Kabele, 35, told his congregation that he was capable of reenacting the very miracles of Jesus Christ. He decided to make it clear through way of demonstration on Gabon’s beach in the capital city of Libreville. However the question remains whether Christians can derive healing from symbols, actions or materials. Christians finding deliverance from special materials In Acts chapter 19, God performed extraordinary miracles through Paul. Handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. Even when these handkerchiefs or aprons merely touched his skin and were then placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled. Still standing is the Holy House of Loreto which is among the most revered Marian shrines in the world. Since medieval times, It was believed to be the very home in which the Virgin Mary lived, conceived and raised the young Jesus. Each year, a large basilica, which was built around the small shrine, and the sacred site, attracts as many as 4 million Catholic pilgrims and visitors. But current concerns are that with the rise of self-imposed prophets, more research should be done to find out the validity of popular claims. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Exploring Bishop Rwandamura's den of worship