admin
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
AS numerous women who are struggling to conceive testify that they managed to conceive after getting help from indigenous church – Guta RaJehovah (GRJ) International – theories abound on the sort of ‘help’ the church offers them.
Over the years, women from Manicaland and the rest of the country have been trekking to Mai Chaza’s Zimunya headquartered GRJ shrine in search of the gift of the womb.
Most have come out smiling.
However, a section of society in the vicinity of the shrine believes that resident ‘bulls’ at the shrine – loosely translated to mabhuru – have the duty to impregnate the women.
The theory is that the ‘bulls’ are a closely guarded church secret whose services are rendered to willing insider couples who are desperate to have children.
As the debate gained intensity, The Manica Post made the trip to the Zimunya shrine, which is a private place of worship.
There are very strict rules for church members and visitors who would have been granted access to the shrine.
The GRJ shrine has 1 000 two-roomed apartments that are used by church members during pilgrimages as well as guests seeking healing from different ailments, including the barren.
Two meeting halls and a spacious place of worship adjacent to a well maintained indigenous trees’ forest complete the shrine’s set-up.
The tranquil environment is indeed perfect for spiritual escapades.
But behind those walls, outsiders believe opaque transactions take place.
When The Manica Post visited the shrine last week on Sunday, elders of the church admitted that one of the things that make their church popular is the ability to help the barren conceive.
This newspaper established that a late senior church member (name withheld) was popular in Zimunya for being a ‘bull’.
However, church elders said the late congregant was just a promiscuous elder who was later ex-communicated before his death as he was tarnishing the image of the church.
They admitted that the promiscuous behaviour of the deceased and ex-communicated elder could have fomented the bulls theory.
GRJ International executive secretary, Mr Kudzanayi Mukamba said barren women only get spiritual help from the church.
“We do not have any bulls here. We only hear about that when we get out there but we are actually surprised that people think that way. In fact, we frown upon promiscuity.
“When the founder of this church (Mai Chaza) begun her work here, many people were against her and did everything they could to ensure her downfall but that did not work.
“Many people who have been assisted her have become witnesses of Mai Chaza’s good work,” said Mr Mukamba.
The church secretary said barren women are not helped in private, as their spouses are always part of the process.
He said what separates their church from the rest is the way they prioritise confessing one’s sins to unlock the conception of children.
“Without confessing your sins, one cannot be healed from barrenness.
“It is not only the barren that receive help here; all sorts of ailments, including mental illness, are curable spiritually,” said Mr Mukamba.
Sixty-six-year old Mr Israel Zuwarimwe Chiwanga, one of the ‘miracle children’, told The Manica Post in an interview that he was conceived after the surgical removal of his mother’s womb.
He was named Zuwarimwe as his mother had longed to have a child of her own even for a day.
“My parents were lawfully wedded in Mundenda Village in Mutasa but they couldn’t conceive. They seek spiritual remedies from traditional and faith healers, all to no avail,” began Mr Chiwanga.
“When they eventually consulted a Dr Montgomery at Mutare Provincial Hospital, they were told that my mother’s womb was infected and it had to be removed to save her life life. They did exactly that and my parents lost all hope of ever conceiving.
“However, in 1954, they heard that Mai Chaza was helping couples who were failing to conceive. My father accompanied my mother to GRJ’s Seke shrine to get treatment for the pain my mother was now going through.
“A child was no longer part of their expectations as my mother’s womb had already been removed. Mai Chaza encouraged them to confess all their sins and told them that all their prayers would be answered.
“My parents received a miracle as my mother became pregnant. I was named Zuwarimwe and my parents went on to have another child, my sister,” said Mr Chiwanga.
Mai Chaza, born Theresa Nyamushanya, was a Zimbabwean church leader and prophetess who broke away from the Methodist Church in the 1950s to found her own faith-healing movement, GRJ.
Her church established a large commune where she lived until her death at the age of 46.
Online Reporter