Bishop Kusema on God’s office in Africa

GOD’S OFFICE IN AFRICA: the Divine Commission of Paul Mwazha of Africa

By Bishop Wellingtone G. Kusema

Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; south of the unyielding sands of the great Sahara, there is a land situated between two rivers, the Zambezi to the north and the Limpopo to the south. She is an ancient, mystical and majestic land of many kingdoms of antiquity. She takes her name, from the stoic, ancient regal stone walls, of neither mortar nor water built, the Great Zimbabwe Ruins.

These ruins are located in the provincial town of Masvingo, formerly called Fort Victoria by the colonials. Spread over 720 hectares of land, these stone monuments represent a country with a rich and ancient spiritual legacy, not to mention her vast natural resources over which certain powerful nations of the earth are in lustful contention, wishing to control these, even as I write this piece. 

However, it is not the subject of her vast untapped mineral wealth which forms the basis of this article, but more importantly, it is her centrality in matters of spirituality, which centrality has been grossly underreported in a world so obsessed with material possessions and capital.

Contrary to her being branded a “pariah nation” and therefore relegated to the lower rungs of the international socio-politico world order, by those self-ordained false prophets of socio-political virtue, Zimbabwe has in fact,  become the acropolis for the rebirth of an ancient Christo-centric, apostolic, spiritual-cum-moral, re-created, re-birthed world order. As such, God has chosen that nation, in these apocalyptic end-times, as His place of habitation. I will state with no apologies here, that God’s office in these end times, is now in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe. 

The Political Semantics of Religion in Africa  

Due to colonial subjugation, a form of religious apartheid was practiced in Africa generally and in Zimbabwe in particular. The Christian church in Africa was divided into two major segments, namely the so-called mainstream churches (those originating from Europe/America) and the African Initiated/Independent churches (those formed by indigenous African people). Remnants of these stereotypical theological viewpoints still exist even to this day.

The so-called mainstream churches (those of European/American origins) have always been placed a pedestal higher than the so-called African Initiated/Indigenous churches. They are seen as more “civilized” and more “sophisticated” than their counterparts of African origins. Media coverage of the activities of the AICs has often been sparing and often disparaging (if given at all) as opposed to that given to the so-called mainstream churches. 

This generally negative media view is largely a legacy of colonial injustice as the media in Africa was principally inherited from the colonizers. The media blackout on news concerning AICs has denied people knowledge or information concerning certain positive spiritual dynamics that have taken root in those churches at home and abroad.

But the time has come for the world to know that a great spiritual fire, a fire so fierce that no fire brigade will quench it, has broken out over the African continent and beyond courtesy of  the same marginalized African Apostolic missionary enterprise. This spiritual reawakening taking root in Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular, is a product of divine engineering. It comes at the behest of the Christ Himself, He whose biblical historicity is permanently intertwined with the African continent and her people in a big way which until now has been largely underplayed or conveniently underreported.   

 Africa in Biblical Antiquity

Before the Romans renamed this great continent Africa, she had been known variously as Ethiopia, Cush or Egypt. Africa therefore, was known interchangeably by any of the above names plus a few more not mentioned here. Nonetheless, the most connected name for Africa in the days of biblical antiquity was Ethiopia. All of Africa was referred to as Ethiopia. The rest of this continent was referred to by this name before it was divided by the artificial borders introduced by European colonisers many centuries later.

Africa’s Edenic Roots

Africa’s biblical legacy commences right from the original account of creation as it is narrated in the book of the prophet Moses called Genesis. The place which the Romans later renamed Africa is, in fact, the biblical garden of Eden referred to in the Bible in the book of Genesis. According to Genesis, the first human beings created by God, Adam and Eve, were placed in the garden which God named Eden. Eden was a paradise-like earthly utopia populated by an array of animals and fowls of the air. It is in this place that Jehovah made Adam and Eve and gave as their place of abode.  

Though some teachers of the Bible would want to twist the truth and say the geographical location of Eden is no longer known, the Bible tells a different story altogether. The book of Genesis clearly points us as to where Eden was situated. It uses specific names for Eden, names which we can clearly relate to even in this day and age. Even though the Bible has been tampered with by various church authorities to suit their many perverted theological viewpoints, they have not been able to alter certain fundamental truths in God’s word as contained in the Bible. The story of Africa’s Edenic past is one such truth.

Genesis 2 verse 8 says, “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden: and there he put the man whom he had formed.” The Bible then goes on to give us the geographical location of Eden in very certain and unambiguous terms. The book of Genesis goes on to explain that there were four rivers that went out of Eden. Verses 10-11 say, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the land of Havilah, where there is gold.” Pison is the first river which compassed the land of Havilah. Before explaining this point, it is paramount that we look at the second river that went out of Eden since the Bible tells us of four rivers in Eden.

“And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the land of Ethiopia.” Genesis 2 verse 13. Clearly, the Bible is telling us plainly here that the second river in Eden, Gihon, compassed the land of Ethiopia, placing Ethiopia at the heart of the garden of Eden. When God speaks of a garden, He does not use man’s limited perception of area as in a 20x30m space of land where you grow your flowers and vegetables for human consumption. Jehovah being the Creator of heaven and earth, is bound to regard a “garden” in sub-continental if not continental territorial terms. Hence, He placed four rivers that went out of Eden. The rivers being referred to in the book of Genesis here are not little seasonal streams which dry up soon after the arrival of the dry season.

These were and continue to be giant rivers which traverse large territories of land. The first river mentioned here is Pison (Pishon) which compassed the land of Havilah. Pison or Pishon is the biblical name for the White Nile which passes through the Cushitic lands of Egypt, Somaliland, Sudan passing all the way down to Uganda.  However, the contemporary geo-political boundaries which characterize these lands were later set up by the colonizers. But these collective lands were referred to as (including Egypt) the land of Havilah. Havilah is the son of Cush and he progenitored this Edenic land referred to in Genesis as the land of Havilah, occupied in the present day African/Edenic nations stated above. (Gen 10 verse 7) In biblical antiquity, this was Edenic territory, populated by African/Edenic peoples.

Genesis 2 verse 13 names the second river of Eden as Gihon. The Bible says Gihon compassed the land of Ethiopia. It is thought that Gihon is the ancient name for what is known as the Blue Nile nowadays. Gihon is the name given to this river in biblical antiquity. No confusion of names here. Ethiopia has never changed her name since the days of King David. We know from the above verse that the river Gihon compassed the land of Ethiopia, which land was part of Eden according to this Old Testament biblical narrative. The Romans changed the names and called this continent Africa, yet the Bible had always referred to it as Ethiopia, the original Edenic land of creation according to the above scriptures.

The rivers Gihon and Pison (Pishon) were also renamed the Nile by the Romans who were mesmerized by the mammoth length of these rivers and thus compared their length to the nilus, a pointed, long Roman pencil. When people say Africa is the cradle of mankind, they are not far from the biblical truth. It merely reconfirms Africa’s Edenic roots, restoring the continent’s biblical legacy, placing Africa at the center in the genesis of the entire biblical narrative. It also debunks the satanic notion that the Bible is alien to Africa and it must be discarded in favour of the half-told fables and tales of misinformed and therefore miseducated idol worshippers.

Lastly, on this point of Africa’s Edenic past, it is essential to take note of the last two rivers which demarcate the biblical Eden as related in the biblical narrative of creation in Genesis. The Bible says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God. Therefore, we must clearly establish the veracity of this word today, so that the people will judge for themselves; that which is truth, from that which the son of lies has planted in our midst.

“The third river is Hiddekel that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Genesis 2 verse 14. The Hiddekel is the river known as the Tigris these days (Genesis 2 verse 14; Daniel 10 verse 4). In Edenic times, it flowed east of Assyria and the Euphrates too is mentioned as the fourth river of Eden, flowing through modern day Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

This too was Edenic territory, largely confederated by nations comprising today of the so-called “Middle East” a political term coined for journalistic convenience since the formation of the state of Israel in 1948. The term Middle East, as you may have guessed has no biblical relevance or reference, just the same as the term Palestine. These terms are not mentioned anywhere in the scriptures. All these lands in the so-called Middle-East today, were African/Edenic lands sharing common Cushitic/Edenic customs and practices. Africa remains a place of prophetic destiny, yet to play a fundamental part in these closing stages of God’s ageless plan of salvation for all mankind today.

Ancient Prophecies

Being a bishop of God’s work here in the nations of the West, I have had the privilege to notice how the LORD God has touched the  hearts especially of the Africans more in these end times as compared to the spiritual bareness I have witnessed in many nations here in the western hemisphere. It is not an exaggeration to say the Christian faith is in decline here in the western hemisphere. Probably this is even an understatement, for in certain places here in the West, the faith has completely disappeared.

A virulent secularism has taken its place. Nations which once adopted a Christian heritage and built their institutions upon it have now renounced such a heritage and embraced a form of godlessness that is hard to comprehend. As I write, many church buildings are being converted into cinemas, supermarkets, libraries and some such arcades of carnal amusement. This is not to say God is worship in an erected building alone (Acts 17 verse 22), the point I am making here is the shocking manner in which Europe and most Western countries have become mostly aetheistic. 

Concerning this spiritual decline in many western nations and the subsequent spiritual reawakening of the church taking root on the African continent today, Edward William Blyden, the late African American 19^th Century thinker and writer wrote the following prophetic words, “…God has something in store for a people who have so served the world. He has something to accomplish by means of a country(Africa) of which he (God) has so frequently availed himself in the past…out of it will yet come some of the greatest marvels which are to mark the closing periods of time…so it may be when civilised nations in consequence of their wonderful material development shall have their spiritual perceptions darkened and their spiritual susceptibilities blunted through the agency of a captivating and absorbing materialism, it may be that they may resort to Africa to recover the simple elements of faith for the promise of that land is that she (Africa/Ethiopia/Eden) shall stretch forth her hands unto God. Ps 68:31” E.W.Blyden,Christianity,Islam and the Negro Race;1888;pg 190. Edward William Blyden succintly predicted the current spiritual state of the world in these end times by giving pointed oracles for both hemispheres of the earth as we know it today. Money the controller, has blinded many peoples’ spiritual impulses in these final days of mankind. 

Central Egypt/Africa 

However, it is the abiding authority of God’s word that we ultimately turn to in our search for mankind’s end time spiritual situation. Blyden’s words echo the ancient prophecies of antiquity relating to the contemporary outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Africa. Concerning the end time spiritual awakening taking root on the African continent today, prophet Isaiah gave this prophecy in the 19^th chapter of the book of Isaiah starting from verse 19: “ In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD…In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, blessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hands and Israel the work of mine inheritance.” Isaiah 19 verses 19,23-25. Here the prophet is talking about the great work of the LORD God Jehovah that would be wrought in the midst of Egypt/Africa. An altar (a true and pure way of worship) would be built in central Egypt/Africa. This would be a missionary Gospel which would build highways between Egypt/Africa and various nations of the earth. The emergence of an apostolic missionary enterprise today which is connecting various places of the earth with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ as preached by the Africans is therefore not misplaced. 

The prophet Zephaniah also prophesied thus concerning the great outpouring of the God’s work in these latter days “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants even the daughter of my dispersed shall bring mine offering.” Zephaniah 3:10. We see here that Zephaniah was quickened by the LORD to give a prophetic preview of the massive spiritual reawakening of the African/Edenic peoples of the world in these end times. Before this Zephanian prophecy, the Psalmist had prophesied thus concerning the African people “Princes shall come out of Egypt: Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.” Psalms 68:31. Both prophecies are being fulfilled today in our time.

We are witnessing how despite her so-called material poverty, Africa continues to lift her hands to God in prayer. On the contrary, on account of their substantial (though declining) material fullness, many nations of the West are abandoning the spiritual posts they have so gallantly manned over the years, leaving them to be over-run by the villainous garrisons of evil one. This too is prophecy in fulfillment. So numerous are the prophecies of biblical antiquity and the African/Edenic peoples thereof who are interlinked with the evolution of the Judeo-Christian religions but that subject does not form the basis of this piece of writing. It is important to simply point out the fact that Africa stands at the center of end time prophecy in these times.                                                                                                                                        

In keeping with these ancient prophetic predictions, a great fire of revival has been kindled to purify God’s chosen vessels before the final judgement. We are witnessing in the Southern hemisphere of the African continent ( Zimbabwe) an ancient apostolic dispensation emerging, enarmoured with all the spiritual arsenal to combat the devil in all manner of spiritual warfare. This apostolic dispensation is rising like a phoenix, towering like the obelisk of the ancient land of Ethiopia.

So compelling and restless is its spiritual energy, and as stated before, it is clearly a product of divine engineering. Missiologists, phenomenologists, theologians and indeed the general populace in various parts of the world, have been struck by the sheer power in its simplicity. It shares remarkable synonimity with the 1st century Pauline Apostolic Dispensation which took root in Asia Minor at the behest of the born-again Paul of Tarsus more than two thousand years ago. 

Recreation of Africa (& the world)

 Its founding theological ethos is rooted in both Old and New Testament biblical teachings. Having evolved and refined itself by agency of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Divine Commission which He has dispensed to its patriach and chief apostle, gentleman extraodinaire and charismatic teacher, Enerst Paul Mwazha of Africa. In the first of his two part quasi-biographical books he wrote of the following vision which cemented his apostolic theological ethos:

“In 1940 when I was doing my teacher training course at Howard Institute a vision came to my head as I lay asleep. I saw the soft blue sky being wiped as if by a giant cleansing mop and presently divine characters were imprinted on the soft blue sky the reading of which said RECREATION OF AFRICA. The voice of the LORD then spoke with great authority saying, ‘send out an invitation to students in universities and colleges so that they will help you with the work of re-creating a new Africa. (world)’ 

I wrote to the Bantu Mirror (a paper for black Africans since in those colonial times Africans read separate papers from the white settlers) the article was published under the heading GOD HAS SET UP A PLAN TO RECREATE AFRICA! It was also published in the Readers’ Digest of the same year” The Divine Commission of Paul Mwazha of Africa;1997; pg 16.

By interpretation, this vision signified a new paradigm shift in the spiritual constitution of the African continent and its peoples and by missionary extension the rest of mankind world wide. It connoted a new beginning, a new spiritual order to be birthed under the midwifery of a new Christo-centric apostolic dispensation which would be rooted in the ancient righteousness of Christ’s redemptive grace. It bears resemblance to the first century apostolic dispensation nonetheless remaining relevant to a modern way of life. 

Craft competent young men and women, senior citizens, students, peasants, technocrats, rulers, all classes of people under the sun would come to be moved by the saving grace of the Christ as enshrined in this new apostolic enterprise, this spiritual recreation of Africa anew. It would become the fountainhead of a global spiritual rebirth which would beginning with the recreation of Africa and the African. The inward spiritual rebirthing of a new man and woman, guided by the tenets of the Most High God in his or her daily living. A return to the Edenic pristine constitution of the human spirituality. This is the spiritual significance of the vision dispensed to Paul Mwazha in the Autumn of 1940 at Howard Mission in Mazowe, Zimbabwe.   

The Stone which the builders refused: A vision of Jesus Christ in 1934

Prior to Archbishop Paul Mwazha’s vision of the Recreation of Africa (1940), the Lord Jesus had paid him a spiritual visitation when he was a youth of sixteen years of age at a place called Guvambwa southeast of Zimbabwe, Africa. He encountered the Lord Jesus sitting inside a rock with a large book opened in front of Him. He sat facing northwards. According to his book, The Divine Commission of Paul Mwazha of Africa Part One, this event happened in 1934. He recounts this as a profound spiritual experience which happened to him at such a tender age. In this same encounter, Paul Mwazha says he then went on to see in a vision of a group of African men standing under a green leafy tree, wearing some white garments as they sang solemn spiritual hymns from their Hymn books.

The Rock in Rabbinical Exegesis      

Symbolism has always occupied a central place in the evolution of Judeo-Christian religions. The use of the rock/stone symbol in the vision of 1934 is not misplaced at all, it is both prophetic and scripture-compliant. Paul Mwazha’s encounter with the Lord Jesus in which he meets the Lord Jesus sitting inside the rock has solid spiritual significance. The rock/stone in Old Testament rabbinical exegesis relates to the Messiah. Psalms 118:22.

The rock becomes the Messianic Stone upon whom the entire body of Jewish expectation hinged. With the coming of the Christ, came also the rejection of his mission at the hands of the Jewish leaders. The message he came to proclaim was at variance with the political expectations of Jewish agitators. His message of a heavenly kingdom of peace as opposed to an earthly one mastered by the Jews at the behest of an all-conquering Messiah did not augur well with the political currency obtaining within the ranks of the Judaizing political theocrats. 

Christ’s message was one of a global messiahship which would include the extension of God’s plan of salvation even to gentility. He became the Messianic Stone with Shilohic personific qualities as prophesied by Jacob in Genesis 49:10 in which Shiloh is treated not as a place but as a person who would come with messianic qualities.

Christ’s messiahship interpenetrated Jewish messianic expectation,  even interpermeating the hearts of the gentile peoples thereby bringing even the Gentiles into God’s Plan of salvation. In Paul Mwazha’s vision of 1934, Gentile messianic expectation comes face to face with the reflection of ancient Jewish expectation, only this time, it is a globalised and universal expectation which came to fulfilment in Jesus’ atoning death at Golgotha. 

By crucifying Christ for his rejection to fulfil the role of a sectarian Jewish Messiah the Jews and the Roman authorities effectively turned him into a universal and global Messiah who would be accepted by the Gentiles who were previously discounted from the salvation of Israel through a narrow and sectarian interpretation of God’s plan of salvation.

The rock in Paul Mwazha’s vision of 1934 represents the security which the new and unfolding African Apostlic Missionary enterprise would enjoy at the hand of the Saving Messiah. It would be a permanent salvation, signified by the permanence of a rock which is indestructible. Just as God’s law was also written on a stone to signify its permanence. It would be a global missionary enterprise with an African initiative at the behest of the Christ spreading to all the corners of the earth in these end-times. 

“Whom shall we send. Who will go for us?”  1951 

In 1951, Paul Mwazha heard the voice of the Lord Jesus saying to him, “Whom shall we send and who will go for us” In 1957 as they were return from an Easter convention at Murambinda, with the faithful in the open truck they were travelling in, the voice of the Lord called out saying, “The African Apostolic Church! VaApostora veAfrica!” The Church was duly established after the Chivhu courtroom vision of 1959. To date, the work of God has spread and continues to spread to various parts of the world including here in the United Kingdom, America, Africa, Australia and various other parts of the world.        

All are invited to the provincial meeting/ Gumano of the African Apostolic Church (Northern Province) in Nottingham the Sabbath meeting starts at 10:30 am the venue Hyson Community Center post code NG7 6BE

Bishop W.G. Kusema is the Bishop of the African Apostolic Church (UK & America). For more information contact him @ ziongates33@yahoo.com or Bishop W.G. Kusema 07851681286

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