Has the Church lost its moral bearings; curious case of missionaries & modern-day papas

As per our established protocol, Sundays we try to avoid taking the plunge into the murky world of politics, as much as possible, and confine ourselves to social or religious issues.

Today, we take a look at old-school missionaries and our so-called men of God……nay, Modern-day papas if you like! During the past few days, we’ve engrossed ourselves in a book, “NDOTOLU,” (doctor in English) about Dr and Mrs Fisher’s missionary work in Angola, and then in North western parts of Zambia. The book provides great insights on how they humbly surrendered themselves to Christ to do the will of God.

We shall first begin by taking a microscopic view at our ‘papas.’ As opposed to leading simple and humble lives, you’ll see them living a life of bliss and splendour – enjoying themselves in palaces in posh neighbourhoods, driving impressive limousines straight from the showroom!

Sundays, they pitch-up in Church spotting designer labels effusing the sweetest fragrances you can find on the market – usually costing an arm and a leg! Instead of preaching the proper gospel that would enable adherents lead better lives now, and in the after life, they spend a huge amount of time accusing believers of disobeying God by regularly failing to give tithes and offering.

In their exaggerated hoarse and coarse voices, you’ll hear them urging believers grappling with various infirmities, excruciating poverty, lack of employment and in need of marriages or children to keep praying to God for miracles and continue flocking to the mountain to be delivered from their “demonic attack!”

Alas…..whenever these ‘papas’ suffer the slightest flu or pain in the knee, they won’t resort to prayer at all, but rather seek the best medical attention in town! What hypocrisy!

And when their congregants aren’t giving enough tithes and offerings to satisfy their expensive and grandiose appetites, they resort to kowtowing to politicians singing praises of them at the pulpit as long as concerned politicians have done the needful – given them brown envelopes!

We are not here to judge anyone as judgement belongs to our Lord. However, our ‘papas’ are expected to religiously adhere to the ways of Christ….or better still try to follow the example of missionaries – looking after widows and vulnerable children, running medical facilities, conducting soup kitchens and providing skills training to our youths.

Without seemingly speaking from without, we shall now seek to delve into the exploits of Dr Fisher…..a household name in North western province and the rest of Zambia and beyond.

Unlike the present-day ‘papas,’ early Christian missionaries weren’t motivated by the 3 pieces of silver. According to the said book, in 1888, Walter Fisher was a promising surgeon in England at a tender age of 22. Unlike most of his peers who would obviously go on to practice medicine in the comfort of zone of their country, that was not to be for young Fisher. He would soon meet Fred Arnot, a great Scottish pioneer missionary who had seen service in South, Central and West Africa. From him, Dr Fisher would learn of thrilling stories of conditions prevailing in the “dark continent” at the time which would turn his life around for ever.

“The attitude to sickness and death is one of pure superstition. Illness to them can only be caused by evil spirits, who work at the behest of some human enemy. This unknown enemy can be discovered with the help of the ‘witch doctor’ and punished, generally by death.”

This would immediately change the world view of the young doctor. He thus made a decision to travel to Africa to serve the Lord as a missionary – sharing the “Good News” while at the same time using his skills as a medical practitioner to treat mankind of different ailments.

In the book, he shares an harrowing account of a girl abandoned on the dirt floor of a hut with unkempt hair. She had multiple sores on her hands and foot as a result of previous burns. It was obviously clear one had been to check on her for days for fear of being attacked by her evil spirits. In another instance, a patient ill with pneumonia was simply drenched with cold water by the relatives, while another suffering from fever had a pint of blood drawn from his arm by cutting tattoos on him and squeezing some ‘muti’ in them.

The missionary also invested a great amount of time visiting villages trying to convince our people cataracts aren’t the work of the Devil, but a medical condition that could be addressed by a medical procedure or indeed delivering them from total ignorance or utter backwardness!

He shares another account: “The treatment of one witch-doctor surprised me much. Having gathered some leaves, he lay on his back on the ground with a heavy wooden mortar on his chest, while an assistant pounded the leaves. The doctor then mixed the mash with a little water in a calabash, and approached the patient walking backwards, holding the medicine with his hands behind him, and in this way bringing it to the chief’s lips (patient).

What are we trying to say? The Church must go back to the ways of Christ…..preaching the true gospel, encouraging the sick to seek medication, urging our people to work hard if they’re to escape from poverty, and most importantly, looking after widows and vulnerable children. Salute!

Prince Bill M Kaping’a
Political/Social Analyst