SOME PIONEER EVANGELISTS

The word for Evangelist in Shona is Muvangeri and in Kiswahili it is Muinjilisti. In the Gospel of God Church, unlike other cadres who operate at various levels, Evangelists primarily are members of the top councils (or Dares) including Dare Pitros (the council of Peter) based in Kenya and Dare Jacobo (council of Jacob) in Zimbabwe. As mentioned elsewhere in all the councils at various levels including those not in mention, pastors, prophets and teachers will be found. Unlike elsewhere there are no bishops in this church and the work that a bishop would do would be done by an evangelist or pastor. Since the Council of Peter was the first to be formed and is indeed the Evangelical Council, it shall be in focus. It is based in Kenya after early times spent mostly in South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania.

Due to the very diverse readership, it will be important to remember that the role of an evangelist in this church would be difficult to compare with another institution. If we take the Anglican Church for a comparison and understanding purposes, in that particular institution an Evangelist if fairly junior compared to a Reverend – who in some respects can be compared to a pastor. From this blog post, one will learn that there is a lot of specialization and separation as far as roles are concerned. An evangelist does not do the work of a pastor. Neither would a prophet. Even in the case where the pastor is also a prophet or teacher, he usually plays one role at the time.

Some of the historical or pioneer evangelists who come to mind include Saizi Sithole, and Cyprian Nyathi (read Nyati) or also called Cyprian Nedewezo. Nedewezo is a name associated with his origins more like some speak of Jesus of Nazareth or some Kenyans call Barrack Obama “Jakogelo” – the man from Kogelo. Many of us did not see Evangelist Saizi but he is often mentioned and quoted – but hopefully will be written about him and others via this site in days to come. Coming after them were other Evangelists including Philip Muregerera Ndoro and Nathan Kidiavayi.

Cyprian Nyathi

Apart from Saizi another most mentioned and quoted Evangelist is Cyprian. For those who interacted with him, one of the most notable things was his humility. He was a down to earth person and preached against people exalting and elevating themselves – a lesson he demonstrated by example. Cyprian was strict in his adherence to rules and commandments but was very merciful and caring. Having been a pioneer Evangelist he was privy to a lot of information but did not like portraying himself as knowledgeable. He was the kind of person who could easily ask for forgiveness from a person of whatever status if he felt that he has transgressed against the individual.

Philip Muregerera

In the more recent past Evangelist Philip Muregerera Ndoro was in service. Like many, prior to being an evangelist he served as a pastor. His path to pastorship was however rather unusual. He is probably the only pastor in memory who was first ordained as a prophet and then as a pastor. In the case of multiple gifts or callings the converse usually happens. Importantly, for those who will read or observed further, a person usually plays one role at a time. An evangelist doesn’t do the tasks of a pastor such as convening meetings of calling prayers. A pastor can be a prophet or teacher, depending on the occasion. The lesson here is that there are very clear boundaries between different roles even when one and the same person is involved.

Muregerera’s calling as a prophet first was however not unusual compared to some who came before him. In earlier days of the founder,  was known to have woken up and decreed or declared that an Evangelist was coming to church on a particular day. When the intended person arrived later on the day he would be appointed as an Evangelist even as members of the church were seeing him for the first time.

Back to Evangelist Phillip, he was some of those of his generation who became accomplished scholars and teaches of the written word. On spiritual matters he read widely – beyond the Bible that we know. Including a lot of works and commentaries of other writers, and several ancient scripts. For people who had not spent much of their lives in schools and institutions of learning, he was one of the self-made scholars. He also shared his knowledge and readings generously. This shows that a lot can be learned and understood by exploring, studying and being open minded. This is food for thought for present generation that have unlimited access to information courtesy of the internet and other changes.

Nathan Kidiavayi

Another pioneer Evangelist worth mention was Nathan Kidiavayi. He was among the first Kenyans to be appointed to this position and served with dedication and distinction. He was soft spoken, and frank. He was good at mentoring and was a pillar of evangelism. A number also have memories of him telling stories and teaching through narratives. Like all the others, more about him could be revisited.

These are just a few of the pioneer Evangelists and the lessons and attributes that we can borrow for them. The purpose of this write up was to put things in context because many are the times some of these words are used. Hopefully one has gained some knowledge of the ways of Gospel of God.

P/S: On the photo is Galton Fenzi which will be revisited. The gospel is the huge sun on the direction labelled northerly. This is not a depiction of the sun everyone knows that rises on the east and sets in the west.

The next post will discuss some historical pastors.