Rev Hendrik du Plessis
correct them as a friend in a nice way. You do it because you care about him. I believe that’s what friends are for. The Lord Jesus called his disciples his friends, and we know for ourselves what an enormous impact this had on their lives. I regard the chiefs of Bere as my friends, and I also believe the other way around. At the initial stage of friendship, you are still wary of each other, but later you start talking to each other more and more freely. Two of our chiefs there belong to the ZCC church. It is probably one of the largest churches in the southern hemisphere, with around 7 million members. They march every year to their church in South Africa near Polokwane Moria. Around three million are gathered, if not more. The church is called the ZCC (Zion Christian Church). We all know how busy the roads are here over the Easter weekend on the way to Moria. I’m adding a link at the bottom for those who want to learn more about the church.
It is a syncretistic church that has added all kinds of superstitious beliefs to Christianity, such as the consultation and veneration of ancestral spirits. Syncretism in their case is a mixture of Christian and traditional African religious beliefs, such as:
• Use of faith healing and revelation through dreams from the ancestors
• River baptism
• Ritual garments, mostly white, and prophetic rods.
• Kostaboes, such as not eating pork.
• Some denominations accept polygamy.
To their top leaders, they granted divine statuses so that they could even pray to God through them. One can say a lot about the ZCC, which is not the purpose of this report. My question to the leaders is: How can you be part of a church that has deviated so far from Christianity? How can you even worship with them? Here in Gantsi, in the past, at the insistence of many churches, a joint worship was organized every year during which all the churches in the area were invited to pray together for something, such as rain. My defense has always been, how can I worship with a church or churches that do not have the same confession as us? How can you worship together with the apostolic churches, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Seventh-Day Adventists who believe in another Jesus? It’s impossible after all. How can you worship with the ZCC church that still believes in their ancestral spirits to consult them? How can you pull together with them in the same yoke in worship before the Lord?
On the other hand, many belong to the ZCC church and are unfamiliar with this heresy. If you talk to the chiefs of Bere, it is clear that they are not nearly aware of all this heresy. At the time, like many, they joined the ZCC church because it was an impressive church, little knowing who they were joining. Because the church has so many members across the Southern Hemisphere, it is understandable that the numbers make the church look very impressive. You feel safe among the masses. You even feel honored when you can be part of so many people.
There are several reasons why I befriended these chiefs. First of all, they are influential in the town. They are not ashamed to say they are Christians, even though they are part of the ZCC church. They stand out as leaders. At Christian gatherings such as funerals, it is they who give guidance and preach. In the second place, the ZCC church is very strict and does not tolerate immorality. If you are a member of the ZCC church, you are not allowed to use hard liquor. The result is that you have someone you can count on to a large extent. Among such alcoholism, they are the designated candidates. Thirdly, they have pleasant personalities that I easily relate to. Thus began the training of these chiefs slowly but surely to win the whole town for Christ in the end. By using sound recordings and other studies, they are constantly taught Reformed teachings, and my outreach there revolves specifically around training-from a leader to an Evangelist. One of our other chiefs does not belong to a church and has assured us on several occasions that he feels part of our church. He is the head of the chiefs, appointed by the government, and the whole town falls under him. The other chiefs are therefore his sub-chiefs.
Our problem in Botswana is that we have villages or settlements controlled by chiefs, with practically no one among them who is educated or has the qualifications to further their studies. The chiefs of Bere are not educated, though they can read and write in their way. Unfortunately, you cannot send anyone for further training to become a minister, but you can train them locally to be Evangelists for the village. You train them as disciples to make other disciples. We have already mentioned visiting some towns to preach the Gospel further to the South and the South-West. Some towns are a hundred kilometers or further from Bere. They would like to go with us, they said. This brings us to the question: What about their involvement in the ZCC church? What about their involvement in invoking ancestral spirits? This is one of the first questions you ask when you lead someone to the Lord Jesus. Questions like: To what extent are you involved with your ancestors? Do they appear to you in dreams? Have you approached them for help? Even though none of the chiefs are involved in the veneration or worship of their ancestors, and for that we are very grateful, it is part of their training to warn others. Our chiefs are all Bushmen (Qgõo Bushmen), and the Bushmen do not have an ancestor obsession like the black people of Africa. Although the Bushmen believe in spirits, I have not yet seen the tendency or inclination among them to consult their ancestors. Our Sunday school teacher is indeed a Tswana, but she made it clear that she does not believe in it or is involved in it.
On one occasion, we visited people’s homes in South Africa. It was at my previous missionary congregation. That evening, my elder and I visited a particular house. It was a Tswana family. Soon, we realized that they still believed in their ancestors. After my explanation from the Scriptures that their so-called ancestors are at best demons who appear to them in the form of their ancestors, the one woman began to nod her head in agreement: “What you are telling me now makes absolute sense, because my mother was always a very humble and loving person. She knew exactly how hard it is for us here and that we have nothing, but now she demands that we bring her a cow as a sacrifice. What are we going to do? So it makes sense to me,” she says, “that it’s not her but a demon.”
My elder in South Africa, who was present that evening, had such an experience himself. In a dream, his so-called “grandmother” told him that he should put a black cloth under his pillow so that he could receive dreams from her. My elder told me he never responded to the request, but his relatives, brothers, and sisters, who still believe in their ancestors, do not sleep at night because of nightmares.
Finally, our time in Bere came to an end, and we were able to reflect on our time spent with them. Besides our visits during the day, they insisted on showing the Christian videos we had with us again, even though they had already seen them so many times. For me, this is always positive because many passages of scripture are repeated. I have noticed this many times when they discuss the film among themselves; they repeat the relevant Scripture verses from memory as if they had committed it to heart. In the photo above is Mereyabone, our Sunday school teacher, to whom we distributed Bibles to the children.
Mababe
From Bere we went to Mababe on Friday. Normally, we first visit Motopi for the weekend, but Dorette let me know that there will be almost no one at Motopi in church this weekend, seeing that it is a holiday. At Mababe, our friends had already prepared a place for us where we could set up camp. Once there, we would see how much effort they had put into getting the place ready for us. We were very grateful for that. Over the weekend and the following week, we were able to hold Bible studies with them several times and show the videos. At the request of people at a hunting camp, we also reached out to them. Bible study was held with them, and Bibles were distributed. Among many people, sometimes among those from whom you least expect it, there is a hunger for the Gospel. We also distributed clothes that we could not distribute last time. These are the clothes that the congregations of South Africa have collected for us. At our previous events, there was no room for the clothes, but the boxes were marked for Mababe. At the beginning of this year, due to heavy rain, it wasn’t possible to visit Mababe, but this time we made sure that the clothes arrived, and for that, they were very grateful and asked us to pass on their thanks.
On Mababe, I became good friends with three people. All three of them belong to the ZCC church. They are also part of my training team and accompany me wherever we present the Bible studies. One evening, one of them and his wife took the liberty of having a long chat with me around the fire. I wanted to know from him how he became a member of the ZCC. He was very ill, he says, and couldn’t get help anywhere. Out of desperation, he then went to the ZCC church, and they were able to help him. He got well and then decided to join them. According to the study I referred to earlier, they often see their ancestors in dreams. Grandfather or grandmother or mother or father, who has already passed away, then appears to them in a dream and refers them to the ZCC church if they want to get well. So it happened that this friend of mine joined them. I then discussed several scriptures with him and his wife, explaining that the people they encounter in their dreams are not their ancestors, but demons, and that such miracles do not come from the Lord. The Lord says in Matthew 7:22 that one day, many people will say Lord, Lord. They did powerful deeds in the name of the Lord Jesus, to whom the Lord will say: “I never knew you.” Healings and miracles and even the casting out of demons are not the guarantee of the Lord’s presence or that the Lord knows you. In Matthew 24:24, the Lord Jesus Himself says that many false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. The fact that the ZCC church is endorsed or recommended by forefathers says everything about this church’s fakeness. After this, the man and his wife steered our conversation in the direction of pork, because the ZCCs do not eat pork either. For the ZCC church, eating pork is a taboo, a sin. From the Old Testament and Acts 10, I explained to them where it all came from, the purpose behind it, and how it was all fulfilled in Christ. My being with these people does not only aim to teach them the Bible but is also apologetic, to refute heresy, especially regarding these churches. Although we were with them from Friday to Wednesday, the time passed quickly.
Motopi
On our way back, we were able to spend the night at Dorette on Wednesday evening. Some of our friends from South Africa visited her. They were on their way for an outreach to Shakawe, and we could spend the evening together around the Bible until late, and the next morning as well. My mental batteries were properly charged. The Lord, I believe, sends such friends your way. Paul was at one point very depressed, and the Lord made it so that Titus arrived there. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:5-6: “5For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, -“
In prayer, we ask for your intercession for these ministry points, particularly for individuals who have a distorted understanding of what it means to be a Christian, who believe but lack the necessary knowledge. My comfort has always been the words of our Lord Jesus in John 6:37: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Along with that, verse 44: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” We evangelize, but it is the Father who draws.
Your brother in Christ, Hendrik du Plessis. (A link to learn more about the ZCC: https://www.tkm.co.za/doc/zcc.html)