Do not take loans to please bishop - Khanyakwezwe
ST LUCIA SOUTH AFRICA “Do not take loans from banks or borrow money from shylocks to please the headquarters and the bishop.”
This is what Melika Jericho Church in Zion Leader Bishop Khanyakwezwe Vilakati told members of the church ahead of the second leg of the cleansing ceremony held at St Lucia in South Africa yesterday.
Vilakati said it was not good seeing members of the church struggling to pay back banks and microlenders just because they borrowed money to please him and the headquarters.
Offerings
He urged members of the church to make offerings from willing hearts.
“Do not go to the extent of taking loans from banks or borrowing money from shylocks just to please the bishop. Whether you offer E100 000 or E10, both offerings carry the same value before God as long they come from a willing heart,” the bishop said.
He also warned church leaders against forcing congregants to offer more than they could afford.
On another note, Vilakati told members of the church that all church leaders, be it bashumayeli and bafundisi, were equally important to the church. As a result, he encouraged church leaders to treat them equally whenever they had Passover meals (emakwata). Worth noting is that Passover meals are the stronghold of the church as congregants are afforded the opportunity to contribute towards the church activities.
Recently, the congregants contributed over E10 million towards the construction of the state-of-the-art church at Gege. He stated that he had already started leading by example as he had visited some events led by bashumayeli.
The cleansing ceremony was attended by thousands of members of the church from Eswatini, South Africa and Mozambique, among other South African countries. Meanwhile, the bishop made it known that the church remained obedient and loyal to the authorities, starting from Their Majesties and government.
Representatives
As a result, he said the church sent representatives to the second leg of the Marula Festival, which was held at Hlane over the weekend.
“May I make this clear, the church remains loyal and respectful to Their Majesties. We had a challenge when our cleansing date coincided with the Marula Festival. However, we got the green light from the League of African Churches after we sought advice,” he said. Vilakati said they had members of the church at the Marula Festival.