That is the question that I had after the latest round of International Literature Committee's virtual teachings series where they focussed the topic on Independence of Africa and self rule.
What is quite clear is God became human amongst humans to dry the tears for those oppressed and exploited. God came to this world in physical form to remove the 'stone on top of another'. In the final panel duscussion, Evangelist R Moyo answered the question raised of what really is the 'stone' in this context. He said the 'stone on top of another stone' speaks to any oppression that emanates from another human being, group or system. It is something that is weighing down another human being taking away their God given blessing of being a fellow human being on this earth. This series was about how God removed that oppression mainly by removing colonialism in Africa. The removal of colonialism is a standing order that was revealled in 1960.
The turning point for me was the revelation that God said 'if only you knew how powerful the Holy Spirit is you could acquire independence without bloodshed'. At that moment I froze, my mind kept playing back the words. The next moment my mind was overwhelmed with what does it mean, what did we not do as black people that we should have done when we heard that? Well indeed that question was asked of what we could have done by one of the attendees. The answer to that to me was a little bit too late. The second panel discussion was made up of war veterans who fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe and have become Guta Ra Mwari members. It is only after that discussion that one of them said Joshua Nkomo, the leader of one of the liberation struggle armies said 'we have signed an agreement that we did not want to sign in the early 1960s.
Those words rang even louder for me, 'if only you knew how powerful the Holy Spirit is you could acquire independence without bloodshed'. Elder Malunga, in the first panel discussion revealed that God said to the leaders in Guta Ra Mwari that God gave Ian Smith, the Rhodesian leader, the power to resist the British Empire rule and remove Rhodesia from the British Empire. This culminated with Smith being sanctioned by England. The panelist, Evangelist Nkatha believed this made the liberation much easier to achieve as Ian Smith was a softer enemy than England to have. This revealed to me that God does not work in a linear fashion always like we think as humans. I for one would not have imagined that Ian Smith was part of the liberation process of Zimbabwe.
Colonialism was a tough system that put the few humans at the top and the majority at the bottom. There was no fairness, at all. Black people were just not considered people by the whites. A bloodless liberation was probably not at the top of anyone's ideas of how to get independence. But 'if only you knew how powerful the Holy Spirit is you could acquire independence without bloodshed'. Wow!
I looked at my problems and they all seem small and easy to achieve or let me say achievable given the Power of God. We just do not know or we cant comprehend just how blessed we are. We have formalized and greet each other mentioning the hardships we are going through or put on our WhatsApp statuses our problems yet God is always with us everywhere. The Holy Spirit is within. We just have to call upon that Spirit to take charge. I am still unanswered, just how powerful is the Holy Spirit.
Written by Elder Asimbongeni Dhlodhlo