Isabelo Home

OVER 1 000 Nazareth Baptist Church members yesterday flocked the Isabelo Home, Lozitha, for the official opening of the church’s two-week long conference. The conference was officially opened by the church leader King Shembe. He did so by merely coming out of his house and waved to the crowd for less than a minute. Surprisingly, the worshippers celebrated and danced at that short appearance of their leader, saying it was the greatest moment of the day. Before meeting their leader for the few seconds, they first went to the main gate where they prayed then sang their songs to the temple where they normally hold services, a few metres from Shembe’s house. Senior Pastor Mhlephila Mthethwa said the ceremony was called the Umgidi. He explained that throughout their stay in the country, they would have prayer services in the morning and afternoon. weekThe church members come from different places, Kwazulu Natal, Mozambique, Johannesburg and Natal, to name a few. Shembe will spend one more week in the country. Mthethwa said their leader felt that it would not be proper for him to spend only a week in the country having travelled a long distance. He revealed that it would be for the first time their leader spends such a long time in a country.“Swaziland is one lucky country, it has never happened in a history of any country to have King Shembe staying for such a long time,” he said. The Shembe leader arrived on Tuesday during which it was revealed that he would be in the country for only a week. Mthethwa also stated that on Sunday, they would meet His Majesty King Mswati III. Minister of Home Affairs Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze also confirmed that Shembe and his men would have a prayer session with His Majesty. From the country Shembe will visit the Zulu Royal Residence, something Mthethwa described as a rare occurrence; that is, visiting a kingdom soon after departure from another.Meanwhile, Mthethwa came down hard on Swazi church members for not marrying Zulu girls, saying it is not right. He wondered if the Swazi men had problems sexually and otherwise or they merely hated Zulus. “Are you not circumcised? If not you must do something about it because we also have beautiful women who can make beautiful wives. Why don’t you Swazis take from the Zulu King whose Ndlunkulu is a Swazi,” he said. The Swazi men lamented that the Zulu girls were too expensive when it came to paying dowry but Mthethwa said that could be negotiated.

iNkosi YamaKhosi iseSwazini

LEADER of the Nazareth Church Shembe is in the country for a week-long visit and will stay at Isabelo Home at Lozitha. He arrived yesterday afternoon through Lavumisa border Post in the company of his wife, one of his children, over 10 pastors and was escorted by over 20 members of the South African Police. Some of the police officers drove back to South Africa immediately after Shembe had settled down but will return on Friday. followersShembe was welcomed by close to 500 followers who were already at Isabelo home when he arrived.Senior Pastor Mhlephila Mthethwa explained that while in the country, Shembe would heal all sicknesses and even pay courtesy visit to His Majesty King Mswati III. He also revealed that Shembe would tomorrow afternoon hold a mass prayer outside the Isabelo home. “From today (yesterday) to Tuesday he would be ministering in a number of ceremonies called umgidi,” he said. He also stated that they were still working on the schedule for the other days until his departure on Tuesday.

On a Shembe Pilgrimage

On a Shembe Pilgrimage
White smocks clinging to their bodies, the Shembe congregation files hypnotically into the early morning surf on Durban’s beachfront. Predominantly Zulu, these members of the Shembe Church have been visiting the beach for decades to perform their customary baptisms.
Pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain
Known for their celebration of the godly gifts of nature, the Shembe begin each year with a pilgrimage to Nhlangagazi, the Holy Mountain, on the first Sunday of the New Year.
Dressed in spotless white robes, thousands of believers, young and old and irrespective of the weather, walk 80 kilometres from Ebhohleni, the church’s headquarters near Durban, to the Holy Mountain.
Spiritual Calling
The 3-day pilgrimage is a re-enactment of the journey taken by the church’s founder, Bishop Isaiah Shembe, who, in 1910 received a spiritual calling to the Holy Mountain where he was instructed by the Holy Spirit to start the Shembe Church.
The Shembe path he paved includes several evocative pilgrimages and festivals throughout the year, which visitors are welcome to attend.
Month of Prayer
Another key date on the Shembe calendar is their annual October festival. Over 25 000 Shembe gather for a month of prayer, healing and religious celebrations in the village of Judea near Eshowe on KwaZulu-Natal’s north coast.
The village, which does not exist outside of the Shembe festival month, literally springs up overnight. Hundreds of family-run shops appear, selling everything from food to clothing to Shembe icons.
Mixing Business with Belief
The Shembe mix business with belief as comfortably as they do African traditional practices with Christianity. The combination of traditions is their interpretation of the African renaissance.
Reverend Mthembeni Mpanza of the Shembe Church explains:
“Dance has always been part of Bible as a way of worshipping God. Isaiah Shembe integrated African dance with Hebrew dance and merged religion with culture.”
Hero to Healer
The hybrid rituals have another resonance for Mpanza: the Zulu traditional warrior has been turned into a peace-lover and sticks, spears and shields transformed into biblical staffs.
“In traditional Zulu culture, sticks were made to kill, but in Shembe culture sticks are for healing. In traditional Zulu culture, heroes are counted by the number of people they have killed. In Shembe culture, heroes are counted by the number of people they have healed,” he explains.

"Shembe is the way for millions

"Shembe is the way for millions in southern African"

(Reuters, November 13, 2006)

Judea, South Africa - No pill would cure his burning headaches so Njabulo Mjiyahko tried a holistic approach, visiting a religious healer who prescribed a spoonful of holy petroleum jelly three times a day. Miraculously, the pain vanished after a week, convincing Mjiyakho to desert his Salvation Army church and join legions of Shembe converts, born-agains and lifetime followers of the independent church movement. Mbusi Vimbeni Shembe is the fifth prophet of a homegrown South African faith, known as the Nazareth Baptist Church, that infuses gospel preachings of Western missionaries who brought Christianity to Africa with elements of Zulu tribalism. "The Bible says God will send a prophet like you. In Africa that is someone of my skin colour, who speaks my language and can talk to my ancestors in order to solve my problems," said Mjiyakho, 40, a patrol officer in the eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province. "This is the only church that is from God for black people." Stories of the supernatural abound among some 4 million Shembe disciples in southern Africa who consider its charismatic leaders a godsend. The founder was Isiah Shembe who in the early 1900s experienced a spiritual awakening on a hilltop and claimed to possess magical powers to heal the sick and drive away evil spirits. Throngs of faithseekers from far and wide gather annually in South Africa's eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province, 70 kilometres north of Durban, to re-enact the mountain ascent. In a separate month-long pilgrimage nearby, thousands stream to a holy land -- transforming a barren piece of tree-dotted property into a bustling shantytown almost overnight -- to worship and be blessed by Shembe. TAILOR MADE FOR AFRICANS The Nazareth Baptist Church has its own etiquette. Saturday is Sabbath -- the holiest day and a time to rest. Worshippers walk barefoot which they say was an example set by Jesus, wearing loose-fitting white gowns and displaying tribal flair like fur headpieces and beaded anklets. Unmarried women, clutching Zulu hymn books, wrap white sheets over their head to hide from wandering male eyes. Holy Water and sacred tubs of Vaseline are consumed or applied to the body as a remedy to cure whatever ails. Smoking, drinking and sex are frowned upon over religious holidays. During celebrations Shembe men and women slip into Zulu regalia -- popular styles are animal skin and warrior dress -- and line up to perform traditional dance steps including an intimidating stomp. Historical archives about the Bible-based faith are sparse -- or at least concealed -- and its clergy is tight-lipped. The church decided to close celebrations several years ago to outsiders arguing openness yielded little benefit. The religion is solace for many Africans trapped in poverty in a region saddled with some of the world's highest rates of AIDS. It also thrives among rural dwellers who attach great value to preserving age-old traditions. Worshippers believe it is their duty to be generous to the less well off, donating money, goats and basic food items to the church which distributes them to the jobless and orphans. Edward Mkhize, a 41-year-old accountant, said he switched to the religion more than a decade ago because it accepts traditional practices, like polygamy. "In this faith I am able to have two wives and as many cattle and goats as I need. God blesses you with a lot of things," he said.

Followers show peak of faith to Mount of Shembe

Followers show peak of faith to Mount of Shembe


Every January more than a million of Shembe's followers walk 85 km to the sacred mountain of Nhlangakazi, Inanda, north of Durban.
THEY emerge from a hilltop like an endless stream of water, stretching more than 20km.
Clad in white Nazareth gowns, Zulu traditional skirts, animal skin headgear, a sea of toddlers, teens, adults and the elderly sing in jubilation as they prepare to ascend the great mountain of Nhlangakazi.
Their journey began three days ago from Ebuhleni Village, one of the two headquarters of the Shembe Church in Inanda. Sadly, the holy journey was hampered by heavy rain which made the roads dangerously slippery for the barefoot congregation.
There are those who persist on the journey despite serious injury.
"As soon as I reach the top of the mountain , the wound will heal," a congregant says as she rests at the side of the road.
These strong-willed followers continue on their journey to salvation. "We bow to Shembe, for he is controlled by God and the holy spirit. God speaks through him," says Mbali Mkhwenyane (49) of Empandweni.
Vimbeni Shembe (70), the third leader of the Shembe Church founded by his great-grandfather Isaiah, is arguably the most powerful man in the history of religion in southern Africa, according to his followers.
"He is God ," says Enoch Mthembu, spokesperson of the Ebuhleni section of the Shembe Church. "The elderly, the sick and the disabled participate on this holy journey because their spiritual belief is so strong.
"God spoke to Moses and A braham on a mountain top, much as he did with Shembe. Therefore, this ritual is symbolic of the Bible's preachings. God instructed Shembe to rescue African people from self-destruction, much like he did with Moses and the Israelites ."
The people of Ebuhleni attest that their leader was sent by God because he is a people's person who lives a simple life and has dedicated his life to saving the troubled and blessing the less fortunate.
"He is a humble man who is one with the people and lives in a simple small hut among his people," says Mthembu. Upon visiting the great Shembe village, a crowded informal settlement whose residents occupy many tiny shacks, we came across a triple-fenced yard. The outside fence is electrified.
Behind the security fences are two no-expense-spared double storey mansions, paired with a couple of modern houses that spread across the spacious yard.
Helpers and security guards swarm around the mansion non-stop to ensure that no intruders set foot. Ironically, this house is built in the centre of a village occuped mainly by Shembe's followers.
Our hope of meeting this humble preacher on the holy journey were dashed when we found out that he gets driven to the mountain, unlike his million followers, some older than him, who sleep in small tents covered by wet blankets in deserted valleys on the three-day journey.
But alas, this congregation is interested only in the activities that will take place when they reach the mountain top. Most of them have been walking this road for years and they say each year, Shembe has not failed to fulfil his promises.
The festival will be concluded on January 22 and all 1,5 million members will make the same journey back to their homes, hopefully cured of all their ills, including those sustained during the journey.

Charismatic Shembe thriving

October 31, 2006

Sarah McGregor

Businessman Enoch Mthembu was born a Nazareth Baptist, but became a true believer after its charismatic prophet helped him win a multi-million-dollar contract.
"I went to Shembe to ask that he help me win a contract to supply forklifts to South African ports, competing with big companies. I got the R60 million contract against tough odds," beams Mthembu, of Durban, a port city on the east coast of South Africa. "Shembe shows practical results."
Mbusi Vimbeni Shembe is the fourth successor of Isaiah Shembe, a Zulu healer who formed the Nazareth Baptist church a century ago to infuse African tribalism into the Christianity brought over by Western missionaries.
Legends of his miraculous touch have drawn four million followers across southern Africa who believe Shembe is a messiah and Africa's equivalent to Jesus, making it one of the largest independent church movements in Africa with some 7 000 temples.
Its blend of the traditional and modern provides succour in a region burdened by chronic poverty, unemployment and disease, especially high levels of HIV/Aids, and keeps alive age-old cultural values important to many old-fashioned rural dwellers.
Every year tens of thousands of pilgrims from as far as Mozambique and Malawi stream to the holy land of Judea in eastern KwaZuluNatal province, to pray and stock up on sacred tubs of Vaseline or fill plastic Coke bottles with Holy Water.
Benedict Thwala, 32, had been unemployed for a year when he knelt before Shembe to beg for a stroke of good luck and, five days later, found a steady job with a telephone service provider.
Desperate
"I was desperate at that point," said Thwala. "Now I go to him when I need something and give small offerings, like money or food for the poor. I find that I always get back."
Worshipper Mike Ntuli said petroleum jelly was chosen for its purity and because the clear gel is easy to apply on the body as he licks his hand to demonstrate how he ingests the gel blessed by Shembe for its healing power.
"I rub it on my back if it aches ... It gives people hope, like medicine, but stronger because it is made holy."
The annual Shembe celebration that runs the entire month of October is a large undertaking. Almost overnight, several kilometres of barren land become a bustling shantytown.
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People hoping to make money hawk religious memorabilia bearing images of its four generations of leaders and a popular badge that reads, 'Shembe is the Way'.
Others sell Zulu traditional attire like animal skins or warrior dress. The Shembe church receives some proceeds from sales in the informal marketplace, which also offers food.
Worshippers cram into makeshift tent shelters or sleep in their cars. During the daytime, they socialise or prepare food in the sweltering summer heat.
A strict code of conduct prohibits sex, alcohol or smoking, and unmarried women must cover their heads during prayer to shield them from the wandering eyes of men.
Worshippers are barefoot - following the example of Jesus - and wear flowing white gowns accessorised with African fur headpieces and colourful bead bracelets.
Amplified
They roll out straw mats for an outdoor prayer service led by Shembe whose voice is amplified over loudspeakers so it can be heard by those seated hundreds of rows back from the altar.
"People come with their different troubles and problems to get healed," said Muzi Mthethwa, an evangelist with a local Nazareth Baptist church. "We find it very rewarding."
Many residents in the nearby city of Eshowe are unaware that a makeshift Shembe village four times its population is tucked in the hills just 15 kilometres away.
Leaders in the religious sect say they prefer it that way, but welcome newcomers, especially the sick and poor, in need of divine intervention or eager to turn their lives around.
"Shembe is the prophet of Africa for Africans," said Chancey Sibisi, secretary general of the church. "The white colonial government in apartheid did not think a church established by a black person could last, but we are here to stay." - Reuters

Nhlangakazi,

Near Inanda, north of Durban, is a sacred site called Ekuphakameni, the ‘Place of Spiritual Upliftment.’ It was named by Isaiah Shembe, prophet and founder of the Shembe Church. A major festival is held in mid-January at an equally sacred location, the mountain dubbed Nhlangakazi, some 30 kilometres north of Ekuphakameni.
“Our pilgrimage to the mountain is based on the third book of Moses,” says a preacher from the area, Reverend Nxumalo. “It dates back to a revelation Shembe experienced in 1916, in which he was told that the Lord would speak to him on the holy mountain, Nhlangakazi, just as He had spoken to Moses on Mount Sinai.”Ekuphakameni is the place where the Shembe’s holiest shrines are to be found. Most of them were erected by Shembe himself. Egumbini, the ‘House of the Tabernacle,’ one of the holiest of holies, lies to the east of the Inanda Road. It adjoins a tree-lined open area termed ‘Paradise.’ As a token of respect, visitors must remove their shoes before crossing this terrain.
It is said that the late founder of the Shembe movement was alone on a hillside when struck down by lightning. The Voice of the Lord thundered the command: “Go south!”. Isaiah Shembe was carried, unconscious, to his hut. He was paralysed, and taken for dead. The women of his village wailed and ululated in hysterical fear. Sangomas and witchdoctors were summoned, and rituals performed to revive Shembe. When he came to, he told his followers that he was among spirits who had instructed him to go south. He duly left on his pilgrimage, carrying his Bible, blanket, stick and precious gifts from his followers.Among the sacraments stored in the Tabernacle at Ekuphakameni is a supply of holy water used for purification ceremonies. The Shembe village is divided into five distinct living areas. Young women live in specially set aside stone dwellings. They are carefully brought up in age differentiated groups by the elders, and subjected to rigid discipline. Within the temple area, the Shembe leader resides in ‘eGumbini langaphakathi,’ near the Tabernacle. The married quarters for men and women are known as ‘ekamu,’ and the older men’s quarters as ‘Inhlalisuthi,’ whereas women live on the eastern side of the main church in an area referred to as ‘Kwa Fourteen’ or ‘Jamengweni.’
In future, boys living within the village will be divided into two age groupings, and once they are older they will move to the ‘Inhlalisuthi’ - quarters reserved for older males. Female children are divided into three groupings, known as ‘Amasheshakungena’ (up to 11 years), ‘Amatubhane’ (teenagers, not yet of marriageable age) and the ‘Twenty Fives’ or ‘amakhosazane’ (those who are ready to marry).The Shembe Church is well known for its spectacular dance festivals and the church’s structure is a fascinating mixture of Christian dogma and the tenets of Zulu culture. The founder of the church inculcated in his followers a belief that closely mirrors the traditional norms of social and moral behaviour among the Zulu people.“Our rituals include baptism by immersion, the keeping of the Sabbath, observance of a seven day fast before Holy Communion, and the celebration of Holy Communion at night, preceded by feet washing ceremonies,” says Enoch Mthembu, spokesman for the Shembe Church. “Holy Communion is celebrated twice a year, during the January and July festivals.”
The January festivals, particularly the one held in mid-January, see Shembe followers, clad in traditional white garments, flock to the holy mountain of Nhlangakazi.Some worshippers travel very long distances to reach the holy mountain, where they participate in ritualistic song and dance. During the exodus to the mountain, the Shembe take part in a hypnotic, trance-like dance, with the men leading the way. The married women follow, carrying furled umbrellas and tiny ceremonial shields in the same colours as their church clothing. They are, in turn, followed by young maidens in full traditional regalia. A constant stream of vehicles and barefooted worshippers snakes along the dusty road to the holy site.
Praising the Almighty on top of the mountain, and executing traditional Zulu dances, the Shembe reflect an alternative version of Christianity, which has evolved based on the Old, rather than the New Testament. The festival has evolved into one of the most colourful spectacles in Southern Africa, and it attracts increasing numbers of tourists each year.

Church of Nazareth South Africa

Church of Nazareth South Africa
The Church of Nazareth Baptists is a prominent instance of the ‘Zion City’ strain within the prophetic-charismatic African independent churches (‘AICs’) of southern Africa. Originating among the Zulu and today led by a descendant of the founder, its focus is thaumaturgic healing and empowerment, and the reconciliation and incorporation of ancestors. The name ‘Nazareth’ is taken from Numbers 6, the vow of the Nazarites - Yahweh’s ascetic warrior elite in the struggle against Canaanism.
In recent decades (1980-2000) the church has grown beyond KwaZulu-Natal, primarily among Zulu-speakers in Gauteng, but also in the Eastern Cape and Swaziland, and the Nguni-speaking areas of neighboring states (Mozambique, Zimbabwe).
The Church was founded in early 20th century Natal, South Africa, by a syncretizing healer-prophet following a revelation and covenant on a ‘cosmic mountain’ - now the site of an annual pilgrimage. Oral traditions show that Isaiah Shembe (c1870-1935) was also a nature mystic whose legacy represents an exception to the AIC tradition, in which human concerns are paramount and a ‘theology of power’ prevails. A majority of the present membership remains unaware of the founder’s writings, in which his concerns for animals and environment are preserved, but consciousness of this aspect of his legacy is sustained by oral traditions. As one elder avowed, "According to our religion, no beast is caught and killed without weapons by breaking the neck" (a Zulu quasi-military custom).
The Nazareth Church’s founder was remembered as "a compound of gentleness and severity (who) loved all living things." An expert horseman and judge of cattle in his youth, he needed just a day to bring an ox to the yoke. He seems also to have had ‘green fingers’, and later
in life, at his citadel/commune headquarters Ekuphakameni, would tell his sons not to sever tree branches, asking: "How if I were to cut one of the fingers from your hand?" He was seen to address tree saplings, and made their names known. Certainly no tree could be cut without permission and good reason. One of his praise-names was ‘flat-crown tree of Mayekisa (his father)’.
Birds were close to God, therefore to be attracted rather than killed: At Ekuphakameni fresh water was put out for them daily, and doves were hand-fed. Followers were ordered to exterminate stray cats preying on them, and they became so numerous that during service in the great temple, open hymnbook pages would be spattered with droppings.
Church legend records Shembe’s command over inanimate nature, in the calming of surf before baptisms, and the turning back of floodwaters. His prophet’s power of Edenic communication with wild creatures is heard in his hymnal (the only instance in the history of hymnology in which animals speak), and their surpassing holiness is extolled. In one hymn Adam, the defiler of Eden, is expelled at the request of its other creatures, who ask "Where shall we go today? We are separated from our Father... Help us God, expel Adam."
One poignant incident was commemorated in another hymn so as to keep people mindful of animals’ sentience: a captive baby monkey appealed to Shembe, who bought it and told the captor to release it where it had been caught. The final verse chastises humanity with a reminder of the spiritual superiority of other creatures: "Awake, it is dawn! / When shall you awaken? / You have been surpassed by the monkeys / In seeing the Lord". Conversely Shembe also mediated human claims to wild animals: When monkeys raided one temple’s gardens, he entreated them to remember that while God had given them forests for their food, people had to grow their own: How would they live if their food was stolen? There were no more thefts after
this.
By Nguni (Zulu and related) tradition, certain snakes are reincarnations of persons - Shembe himself being known by some as ‘the horned viper of grace’; Once when a mamba appeared on Ekuphakameni dance-ground, the men asked if they could kill it, but Shembe warned that this was in fact a person. His request to the snake was immediately obliged: "If you want to do God’s work, go to that tree and stay there, you will be disturbing us here." Likewise he could call upon water snakes to vacate pools in which he wanted to baptize. His followers believe themselves immune from snakebite, since he had prayed for this privilege on the Holy Mountain; accordingly anyone who killed a snake was fined.
Among domestic animals too, ‘some are people’; Cattle and goats as well as dogs were given names, and bulls adorned for the July festival dances. After a day’s dancing followed a ceremony designed as ‘an object lesson in the care of animals’: the feeding of Shembe’s old grey horse, ‘almost as famous as himself’ since it responded in kind when converts danced around it. Rules were made against any callousness or cruelty toward domestic animals. Declaring that "people are like children", Shembe cautioned them against causing misery to donkeys by not using a load-support, or roping a milk cow through the nose (since she steps on the rope as she walks). Prayer rather than charms was prescribed for ill cattle and horses, since God had compassion for all living things. Householders who killed their dogs to avoid having to pay the colonial dog tax should be penalized by having to pay it for five years thereafter, and any chief who avoided imposing this penalty would be guilty before God. Those who killed their dogs for impregnating the dogs of others were asked "Why not castrate the dog if it had to live without a bitch?... One cannot keep a bull where there is no cow".
Although Shembe’s own position on sacrifice was biblical (sacrifices are "a form of
gratitude to Jehovah, they hold people together by blood, (and open) the Gate of Heaven"), he is remembered as having disapproved the killing of animals. Just before one sacrifice, he sent the message "This beast has just come to me to say that it is too young to die". At Ekuphakameni only purchased animals were slaughtered, never the home herd, and only virtuous followers were apportioned the meat. No doubt to ensure humane slaughter, he himself wielded the spear. Said to have been fond only of sorghum, he once cast to the ground some meat prepared for him, then took it back, shook off the dirt, and ate, saying "I only do what I have been told... When you seek the way of God, you do not make the search a pleasant affair".
On the communal farms he established throughout Natal, Shembe pioneered rational and humane treatment of livestock: Rich stockfeed was planted, bulls of good breed were bought, and the tenacious Zulu ‘cattle cult’ discouraged: followers were persuaded to keep a few good milk cows rather than many scrub cattle. Cattle being the cultural measure of wealth, this challenged some fundamental precepts, but was critical to curbing overgrazing and erosion of the already barren lands on which Africans had been confined by colonial legislation, and which by the turn of the 19th century barely supported rapidly expanding populations. Followers whom Shembe settled on his purchases were governed by a strict Protestant-style work ethic, and enjoined to become as productive and self-sufficient as the Indian ex-plantation workers-turned-market gardeners alongside whom the Nazarites lived at Ekuphakameni.
Though many Nazaretha now live in urban areas, nostalgia among older members for life on the land takes most back to their rural family smallholdings for performance of weddings and all domestic ceremonies that require ancestral sanction.

Judea

Shembe Gathering at Judea near Eshowe Shembe's gather en mass at Judea every year in October.(16th October - 2nd November 2008).

SHEMBE, Mbusi Vimbeni (27 April 1933-):

Shembe, Mbusi Vimbeni-uThingolwenkosazana (27 April 1933-28 March 2011):- the successor of the Lord Amos Khula Shembe .He assumed leadership of the church in 1995.In His leadership He made the church to be the largest church in the African continent.

SHEMBE, Amos (!906-1995):

SHEMBE, 1906 September 25 and past away in 1995 September 25 the son of Isaia SHEMBE and leader of the largest branch of the Zulu amaNazarite movement in South Africa

SHEMBE, Johannes Galilee (1904-1975): the successor of Isaia Shembe whose able leadership made the amaNazarites the second largest independent religious movement in Southern Africa.

SHEMBE, Isaia [Isaiah] (1867-1935):

SHEMBE, Isaia [Isaiah] (1867-1935): Zulu religious leader, healer and founder of the amaNazarites, the largest independent religious movement among the Zulus. Regarded as God by many of his own people

Isaiah Mdliwamafa Shembe

Zulu religious leader and founder of the Nazareth Baptist Church. Shembe was born at Ntabamhlophe near Estcourt, Natal, South Africa, of Zulu parentage. After involvement with Wesleyans, he associated with Baptists and was baptized in July 1906. He seems to have acted as an itinerant evangelist prior to coming into contact with Nkabinde, a former Lutheran who was regarded as a prophet. Nkabinde led him to develop a healing ministry in 1910. A year later, he founded the iBandla lamaNazaretha (Nazareth Baptist Church), a controversial religious movement rooted in Zulu tradition. Shortly afterward he acquired a farm that became his holy city of Ekuphakameni and established an annual pilgrimage to the sacred mountain of Nhlangakazi. Shembe was noted for his vivid parables, dramatic healings, and uncanny insights into people's thoughts. He wrote many moving hymns, composed music, and provided his followers with a rich liturgical tradition based on modified forms of traditional Zulu dancing. Critics of the movement claim that his followers regarded Shembe as an incarnation of God. Others, led by Lutheran scholar Bengt Sundkler, argued that Shembe's theology was an Africanized form of Christianity.

uMqali walolu hambho!!!

UMPHROFITHI Isaiah Shembe wazalelwa eNtabamhlophe eMtshezi. Kunendida ngonyaka azalwa ngawo kodwa ikhonjwa phakathi kuka 1860-70. Wathutha kanye nabelung ababkhele lendawo bakhuphukela ngaphezu koNdi endaweni yaseHarrismith District. Ngaleso sikhathi wayesengumfana omncane Kuthe uma eqala ukungena ebubhungwini wasebenza kubelunu elusa, ngelinye iLanga wezwa izwi likhuluma kodwa engazi ukuthi liqhamuka kuphi waqalaza akabona muntu.Ngelinye ilanga wayeseluse eduze kwensimi yezithelo zanapetshisi omlungu epulazini elithile wazizwa eselambile, wafikelwa wuvalo lokuthi umlungu angamoni engena ensimini, wathabdaza ukuthi angamboni eseqedile wangena ensimini yezithelo wakhwela emthini wamapetshisi wawakha ewaqhulela esiphukwini ayesibophele entanyeni, ithe ezwa kwakukhuluma umuntu ngeBhunu kanti nguyena umnikazi wensimu ethi:{Uma ngingababona laba bafana abdla amapetshisi ami ngingabenza into emnyama}wayeseduze kakhulu umLung, uShembe engasakwazi ukuhla emthini abaleke wathula enokwesaba okukhulu, kwafika izwi lathi kuye "BHEKA PHEZULU UNGAMBHEKI UMLUNGU". Wabona sengathi kukhona into eyehlela kuye.Kweza umlungu wafika wema phansi komuthi kodwa akambonanga, wadlula esihlahleni waqonda ekhaya. Noma esekhulile eseyindoda eseganiwe lelizwi lalide lifika kuyekwazekwathi esesebenza eHarrismith wangena eBandleni laseWeseli(Methodist Church). Yilapho-ke abona khona ukuthi izwi elikhuluma naye lisuka livela kuNkulunkulu.Walithanda kakhulu iBhayibheli walifunda futhi walazi, akahlalanga kakhulu ebandleni laseWeseli ngoba waba nemibuzo eminingi emayelena nokuseBhayibhelini ngendaba yokubhabhadisa ebunzini nokudla inyama yengulube.Umfundis wakhe yamehlula lemibuzo, emuva kwesikhashana mahlanga noMfundisi webandla laseBaptist bezwa naye ngoba amaBaptist abhabhadisa emanzini nalhona waba nemibuzo eminingi ngokulotshiweyo eBhayibhelini.Nakhona eBhaptist kwabonakala ukuthi imibuzo yakhe iyasinda waqhubeka kodwa khona waze waba Ngumshumayeli, ngelinye ilanga kwakunomhlangano khona wanokezwa inkonzo. Wathi uma eqala ukushumayela abantu bonke endlini bagcwala umoya, abanye bavukwa yizifo, abanye babaleka bekhala.Babona abefunduisi ufuthi unomoya omkhulu waseZulwini, uthe uma esenguMvangeli, uMfundisi wakhe wathi kulungile ukuthi ahambe eshumayela, ashumayeze abantu ukuze akwazi ukuthi uma esebashemayezile akwa ukubenza bagcine lemithetho eBhayibheleni ahlale ababuza ngayo ukuthi ayigcinwa ngani.Kwathi ngelinye ilanga ebophele izinkabi zidonsa inqola laduma izulu kakhulu washaywa umbani kwafa nezikabi zakhe. Esaqulekile elele kwafika izwi lithi makahambe ayoshumayela eNatal. Waboniswa isigodi esikhulu kuhleli abantu abaningi bembethe izingubo ezimhlophe, wathi uma ekhuluma bathi bonke ngzwi linye,{UYINGCWELE}Kwathi uma eselucabanga ukuhamba aye eNatal kwafika abeFundisi emzini wakhe beseBaptist ababili bevela eNatal bathi bathunywe weNkulunkulu ukithi abamlande, babuye bagoduka bamshiya.Kwaphela izinyana wabopha imithwalo yakhe washiya umuzi wakhe makhwela isitimela esiaya eThekwini. Ngaleso sikhathi-ke wayesenamandla amakhulu okuthandazazela abantu baphile masinyane, wafika eThekwini mahlala eMsizini, Kwakukhona ibhalekisi(indawo yokuphuzela) elalilapho eduze kwekamu lamaphoyisa, washumayela kakhulu ethandazela abantu baphile kwakulhona abantu nabelungu, amKhaladi namaNdiya bacela ukuba babhabhadiswe.wavuma wathi ngoba umfula ukude uMngeni uzobhabhadisela olwandle, nebala wahamba nabo bamlandela kodwa benovalo ukuthi bacwila olwandle waqonda laphaya lapho kusebhishi labantu khona. Wathi uma efika eduze kwamanzi wema, waphakamisa isandla sokudla wasibhekisa olwandle wathandaza waqeda wangena.Kwaqhamuka igagasi elikhulu waphakamisa isandla lehla, wangena emanzini aze afika ovalweni, wema wabiza abantu babesaba, waphumama wabalanda ababili wangena nabo, mabhabha abantu babengamashumi(30) emi khona lapho, kuthi uma kuza igagasi ephakamise isandla libohle.Wathi esuka eThekwini waqonda eNanda ebizwa khona emzini wakwaShangase eMzinyathi wafica umakoti wakhona eneminyaka engaboni evaleke amehlo, wamthandazela wabona masinyane.Bonke abantu ayebashumayeza babethi bangakhetha iNkosi athi kuhle baye kubefundisi noma yimuphi oseduze basonte khona. Nalabo ayebathandazela bekholwa kwezinye izinkonzo wayethi abaphindele kuzo izinkonzo zabo.Abantu abangabalandeli bakhe sebebaningana bathi kuhle abasontise yena ngoba uma beya kwamanye amasonto bafik bathi abafundisi ababazi abaphindele kulona owabashumayezayo.Waliqala-ke iBandla lakhe landa, Uma selandile waliqamba igama wathi yiNazareth Baptist Church.