Talk of the Town

Pastor dreams of building church

- LOUISE CARTER and TK MTIKI

NEMATO pastor Mxolisi Silungu has been running the New Assembly National Ministry in his home for the past ten years and believes that he has been given a divine assignment to preach to all Port Alfred residents, irrespecti­ve of their residentia­l background or skin colour.

Last year, when his congregati­on became too big, he built a tent-like shack in his yard to help accommodat­e the ever growing numbers.

However, he feels that the shack is not safe for the congregati­on as there is not adequate ventilatio­n although the rain comes through the holes in the ceiling.

As Silungu’s church grew, he felt it was time to approach Ndlambe Municipali­ty, who supported his dream by allocating a portion of land near the Gidana stadium. Silungi dreams of nothing else but filling a church and spreading the word of God with his community.

He is also appealing to the Ndlambe and Makana municipali­ties to assist him with expertise and building material as well as funds.

Silungu said he had been praying for people for many years and had encountere­d several people, including children, who had bad spirits attached to them.

He shared stories of scary incidents, including demon possession.

Silungu says people who don’t have faith or whose faith is weak are especially vulnerable to these bad spirits.

In his preaching of the gospel of Christ he said he had delivered demon possessed people in Nemato.

When he was asked about the number of people he has delivered Silungu said: “Yho! Many people. I can even call a girl that I delivered to attest on this.

“By building a church, we can have a safe place for people to gather and pray.

“God spoke to me that I must preach to people of all nations,” Silungu said.

He believes that the presence of Zimbabwean­s in his current church is a good demonstrat­ion of his claims.

The assistance of the public in building the infrastruc­ture will be a breakthrou­gh to him.

“Not having a church venue has never stopped my ministry, for 10 years we have been using my house for our church services,” he said.

Silungu says he first encountere­d Christ in Shaw Park many years ago.

His wife had a vision of a big snake the day before, and he was working on the outside of his house when he heard the voice of Christ saying he must pray.

“I stepped down from the ladder, and I started walking and I then encountere­d a very big snake in the veldt.

“It was whistling at me, I was scared but I prayed and it disappeare­d,” Silungu said.

Silungu then joined the Assemblies of God church, where he became born again.

His church in Mangcangaz­a Street is open to all. Silungu can b e contacted on 083-864-6396.

 ?? Picture: TK MTIKI ?? HEALING HANDS: Nemato pastor Mxolisi Silungu has been preaching in his own home for ten years, but since his congregati­on has grown, he constructe­d a tent-like shack structure in his yard to accommodat­e the community. He has recently been allocated a...
Picture: TK MTIKI HEALING HANDS: Nemato pastor Mxolisi Silungu has been preaching in his own home for ten years, but since his congregati­on has grown, he constructe­d a tent-like shack structure in his yard to accommodat­e the community. He has recently been allocated a...
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