Outrage over practice of “facilitating demons”
By Tinoonga Mawere, Masvingo | There was pandemonium at the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe run Morgenster mission last week when a local Reverend chased congregants said to be linked to PHD leader Walter Magaya out of a church building during a so called “healing and deliverance” session.
Tempers flared when Reverend Simbarashe Munamati disrupted the session at the end of a week long revival at the mission. The session was conducted by Pastor Chimvinga from Norton. The incensed clergyman accused Pastor Chimvinga of imitating controversial spiritist preacher Walter Magaya.
Reverend Munamati said the practice of entertaining and facilitating demons was not in line with the RCZ doctrine. However the disruption did not augur well with congregants and in the melee the Reverend ordered the church members out of the temple .
“There was mayhem at the end of the revival because the healing and deliverance session that was conducted by Reverend Chimvinga was disrupted by Reverend Munamati and that triggered commotion such that the so called ‘revival’ ended prematurely. There was a near fist fight as people were being driven out of the church building,” said a congregant who witnessed the incident.
It has emerged main line churches have in recent days been losing congregants who are flocking to spiritist and cultic churches to seek solutions for various social ills. One such mushrooming church is the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministry lead by Magaya. Magaya’s all night prayer known as turn around night attracted at least 500 000 congregants early this month.
Hard pressed by socio-economic challenges, the RCZ congregants were not happy with Reverend Munamati’s disruption of the service adding they had social concerns that required spiritual remedies .