A prominent Malawian prophet based in South Africa, ‘Major 1’ Shepherd Bushiri is rebutting a report in The Sowetan newspaper that he charges congregants R5 000 to have one on one sessions with him.
The South African newspaper reported that Bushiri’s church, Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Church is under investigation for charging such amount to its congregation to have sessions with the Malawian prophet and is used to enrich him
But the church issued a statement made available to Nyasa Times that rejects the newspaper report as not a true reflection of the truth on the ground, but rather an “uninformed and misleading” report.
Bushiri’s church said it has grown at an “alarming rate”, attracting thousands of people that come to the Republic of South Africa, every two weeks on the “International Visitors” ticket.
“These are the people who agree and confirm to come under the care and supervision of the church. They are required to pay a fee of R5, 000 that caters for their accommodation, meals and transportation, to and from the hotel and church respectively, for the period of 3 days.
“The prophet has nothing to do with this arrangement as he is only concerned with preaching the gospel to them and making his anointing work in their lives. All pre-arrangements of the international visitors are done by an independent body chosen by the church,” reads the statement issued by Kelvin Sulugwe, Public Relations Officer for Prophet Shepherd Bushiri Ministries.
“History has taught us of unfortunate events that have at times led to the loss of lives of innocent people seeking God’s intervention in their lives. Having the mentioned thought in mind, it is part of the church’s policy and safety strategy to put the international visitors together, on one place, a case that helps the church to closely monitor their affairs and also observe punctuality of all the services conducted at ECG within their visitation period.
“We urge our friends in the media to refrain from reporting stories with inadequate facts, but rather strive to give well informed and accurate information to avoid misleading the general public.”
The Church said its Pretoria branch has a membership of over 30,000 people that come to attend weekly services.
“No one has ever been asked to pay a fee to meet the prophet during all our weekly services. International visitors receive special treatment because most of them are people who visit South Africa for the first time and they become a responsibility of the church the moment they come in the country for prayers,” the statement reads.
ECG stressed that Prophet Bushiri meets every person, irrespective of their colour, age, gender and nationality.
“He is a father that has helped, and continues to help people who come to attend church services without any fee attached.”
The church said the Prophet personally urges its members to restrain from engaging in verbal wars with “people who do not believe in his leadership and anointing.”
“On November 9, 2015 during the Diplomatic Service, our prophet, Major 1 prophesied of moments like these when he hosted the teaching Life and Battles in which he said: ‘The devil has a way of attacking your time. He brings wrong battles into your life. You spend time fighting your friends, relatives, bosses at work and so many other unnecessary battles and your focus is taken away from fighting the real battles of your life to make you succeed, battles to make you have a stable home, battles to make you get educated and battles to uplift your spiritual life.
“In the bible, David heard of Goliath and the reward that awaited anyone who would kill the giant. He went to the battle field and challenged the king to let him fight Goliath. His brothers and other soldiers belittled him and tried to discourage him. The devil was playing with David’s time. David had a discerning spirit. He knew his battle was against Goliath and not his brothers hence he let them talk while he prepared for the real battle ahead. Stop fighting battles that have no rewards. Avoid battles that divert you from the important battles of your life and God. Fight for a prize, not pride.”
The church said the reports are “simply tactics used by the devil” to take their focus away from the main battle, which is to lead more souls to Christ. Nyasa Times
