Fare thee well, Evangelist EJ

IN APRIL 2011, my wife and I were privileged to tie the knot before Zimbabwe’s first female marriage officer, Dr. Eunor Guti.

As we exchanged our nuptials, a guest was wheeled into the heaving Ophir Room at Crowne Plaza Monomotapa Hotel, in Harare where the wedding ceremony was conducted.

He was none other than the late Evangelist Ezekiel Guti Junior or EJ, as he was affectionately known.

Together with his wife, Pastor Carol, they also joined us for the reception in the Great Indaba Room.

I never had an opportunity to meet the late evangelist in person following the wedding until May 2017 when we met in a neighbouring country.

“Evangelist asked me yesterday at church — where you were the master of ceremonies — if you ‘were not the son-in-law of…?’ said Pastor Carol.

I retorted: “Ah inga the Evangelist has a sharp memory. We haven’t met since the wedding in 2011 and he easily identified me despite a huge transformation in build.”

Then the late Evangelist interjected.

“Who is Nyaungwa, the one who stays in Chitungwiza, to you?” “He is my father,” I responded. “What about the one who is a businessman in Namibia?” he asked. “He is my uncle,” I said. I was absolutely amazed by his memory, which can only be paralleled to that of an elephant, if you can allow me to employ some hyperbole rhetoric, dear reader.

His passing on late last month came as a shock and left many a people questioning, why he had to go at such a tender age?

The late Ezekiel Junior left an indelible mark in the ministry as he went around preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ followed by signs and wonders.

He didn’t shy away from preaching despite the fact that he had to use an interpreter who could decipher what he was encoding to his audience.

I witnessed demons manifesting and people getting healed as he preached the undiluted gospel of Jesus Christ.

His book ‘The man who defied condition’ is replete with testimonies of people who were delivered from infirmities, barren wombs that became fertile, inter-alia and such was a life of man who indeed defied condition.

As many a people bewail his passing on, it’s also a moment to celebrate his life that was an embodiment of God’s miracle power.

Evangelist EJ, you ran your race, as Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 that, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Although we felt you left us too soon, we are aware of the word, which says in Philippians 1:21 that, “for to me, living means living for Christ and dying is even better”.

As you are laid to rest, I say fare thee well, Evangelist EJ! Mathew Nyaungwa is a member of ZAOGA and also a resource journalist