The Sunday Mail
The History of the Zion Christian Church traces the trials and tribulations of one God fearing man – Reverend Samuel Mutendi – who received his Spiritual calling in 1913 whilst serving as a police officer at Chegutu (Hartley).
He was sacked from the Police force by the colonial masters because the Holy Spirit made him speak in tongues, which was mistaken for an illness by the police community. Above all, Rev Mutendi’s sense of justice began to differ from the colonial perception so much that he was in constant conflict with his superiors. This spirit manifested itself in many ways
In 1923, Rev Mutendi was led to South Africa by the Holy Spirit and he went in the company of fellow migrant labourers. The Holy Spirit told him on the way that he would find peace in a church called Zion. When he arrived in South Africa he was eventually baptised in the river in a Church called Zion Apostolic Church and he returned home to Southern Rhodesia briefly to preach the word of God, after he had made very good friends with a fellow parishioner called Enginas.
The two friends later on teamed up to submit applications in the Union Buildings for the formation of a new Church called Zion Christian Church in 1925. When the South African government would not accept their submissions, Reverend Mutendi came back to Zimbabwe where he tried for years to register the Church in Southern Rhodesia. His efforts failed to yield positive results until 1929.
Before 1929, Reverend Samuel practised his missionary work from his home base at what became known as paMubveve, the first command post of the church where his popularity as a faith healer and rainmaker earned him a lot of enemies from the chiefs, headmen, spirit mediums and traditional healers. These people made several attempts to kill him by burning his huts and accusing him of child abuse. He had to relocate to Mukute to escape repeated attempts at his life through arson. Rev Mutendi stayed at Mukute Mission from 1929-1949 during which time the Church had running battles with colonial authorities who did not accept a Christian organisation founded and led by a black man.
The authorities mistook black organisations for political nationalist groupings. Six schools that were put up by the Church from 1929 in some three districts of Masvingo: Gutu, Bikita and Zaka were all burned down in 1932 by the colonial government at the recommendation of the then white Native Education Officers who then reported Rev Mutendi for the so-called offence. Rev Mutendi was arrested and found guilty for putting up unregistered schools which were taught by untrained teachers.
He served a long jail term with hard labour in Fort Victoria for that offence. Custodial sentences were also designed to disturb his Gospel crusade by alienating him from his congregants.
Meanwhile, Church services were banned and ZCC congregants were under siege because they would be arrested whenever and wherever they were found worshipping God. Church services were thus conducted at night or in thick bushes and maize fields to escape police raids. When crossing the roads, the people would walk backwards to mislead the trackers. The colonial hostilities went on until 1939 when Rev Mutendi eventually got a government Peace Order which protected the Church from the incessant police raids and harassment. The Peace Order in 1939 was a landmark development which set the Church on a vibrant mission to advance a variety of socio-economic development projects. Ironically, the Second World War broke out in 1939 and for the record this was the same year when the current leader of the Church, Dr Nehemiah Mutendi, was born on the 15th of September 1939. Because of the Peace Order, the church was free to spread its wings to many places and a significant upsurge in the number of church members was realised. Hundreds if not thousands were converted and baptised. Reverend Mutendi’s gifts of the Spirit took centre stage as many people visited Mukute to seek healing from various infirmities from around the country and some from overseas. His popularity as a special healer and rainmaker illuminated the ZCC gospel so much that Mutendi became a household name in Victoria province and beyond. The blind were made to see, the barren were blessed with bouncing babies and some who were haunted by evil spirits were exorcised. A number of miracles were performed by Reverend Samuel in the name of God and church members increased in number every day. At one instance, Rev Mutendi prayed and raised a young lady called Miriam Rukuni from death. Miriam Rukuni was a headman’s daughter in Bikita and Rev Mutendi came to the funeral just before burial. He was told that one of his congregants at the funeral had prophesied that Rukuni would rise from death if Rev Samuel prayed for her.
That is exactly how it happened and the funeral turned into a thanksgiving ceremony. Word spread so fast that Bikita was host to a Man Of God who could perform such wonders. In 1949, the Land Husbandry Act moved the Church to a new place called Mutarara Mission in the same neighbourhood and hardly two kilometres away from Mukute. It was at Mutarara Mission that Rev Mutendi unveiled an ambitious development programme beginning with the construction of the Church’s administration block. When he went on to put up a church hall and a full-fledged primary school in a very short time, the colonial masters and conventional churches were not amused. The local traditional leaders and the then colonial government authorities joined ranks with Rev Mutendi’s persecutors and hatched a plot to evict him from Mutarara to Marimasimbe in the then secluded semi-arid, tsetse-infested district of Gokwe in 1967. This was designed to banish him and confine him to the wilderness where he would have little contact with the people and seal the fate of his new Church organisation. Rev Mutendi had no choice but to make the great trek to Gokwe with his whole clan and church administration. The new school which had gone up to grade three at Mutarara was abandoned and the school children were deeply frustrated. However, because of his prophetic role and reputation, the movement to Marimasimbe in Gokwe led instead to increased fame and popularity as he brought a new lease of civilisation to this remote part of Gokwe which had no roads and no schools.
Pilgrims from all over the country hired buses and cars and travelled to Gokwe Marimasimbe for Church conferences and Marimasimbe became a centre of attraction in the area because of the arrival of the Man of God. In keeping with his legacy, a school was put up again by the church at Marimasimbe and to this day, the Rwetsanga school is a living testimony to Mutendi’s quest for education.
The popularity of Rev Mutendi and the Church in Gokwe Marimasimbe did not please the authorities at all. They had hoped that by removing him from his home area in Bikita and relocating him in Gokwe the spread of the ZCC would be derailed. Little did they know that Reverend Samuel was unstoppable because of the Spirit of God which commissioned him in the year 1913 at Hakireni/Chegutu.
The government authorities played their last card when they decided in 1972 to push him further to a place called Defe Dopota on the fringes of Chirisa Game Park in Gokwe South where his community would live like Bushmen and share their water facilities with the wild animals.
In all these trials and tribulations, Rev Samuel kept his faith and continued to praise the Lord for His hand in the ministry. His church members never lost their faith either as they followed him to whatever place he went. More people followed him to Defe than to Marimasimbe.
Those were the days when songs of deep commitment like “Tinomutevera Tose Tose vana VeZion” were popularised as church members wanted to confirm their allegiance to the Zionist faith under their God-given leader Rev Mutendi.
Little did the colonial authorities also realise that the movement from Bikita to Defe Dopota was as the Lord willed.
Defe has outlived Reverend Mutendi’s ministry, as it has remained the Church headquarters to this very day, after Rev Mutendi had passed on.
Defe is one of the fastest-growing missions in the country today, going by the projects currently underway at Defe Dopota. Reverend Samuel passed on in 1976. He was succeeded by his son, the current Bishop Dr Nehemiah Mutendi in 1977 at the age of 37.
