The Sunday Mail
Kuda Bwititi – Extra Reporter
The story reads like a fairytale, no, like a classic religious narrative about dreams coming true.
It started with the dream of an ordinary villager, Killian Kaseke, who insisted for years that one day he would build a replica of the Great Zimbabwe Monument.
After a chance encounter with Dr Sydney Mabhiza, now the Bishop of the St John Apostolic Church of the Whole World, Kaseke’s dream started morphing into reality.
It turned out Kaseke and Bishop Mabhiza harboured the same dream, and that was to construct a mega religious structure resembling the ancient monument.
Not only that, the two want their own Jordan River and mini Victoria Falls next to their new Great Zimbabwe.
A hospital will also be built.
The two struck an agreement where Bishop Mabhiza would be the architect of the site and Kaseke the constructor.
Both men say they had sporadic dreams over the years to do this. And finally they were doing it. They have already started building on land spanning about 400 square metres, a replica of the Great Zimbabwe Monument.
The Great Zimbabwe replica is being built without mortar (just like the original free-standing structure) and construction is expected to continue for the next five years, with the two dreamers being assisted by church members.
The site is part of the headquarters of the St John Apostolic Church of the Whole World in Mhondoro.
Every year, members of the congregation converge at the site for their annual feast, which attracts thousands of pilgrims.
One day, this could be a major religious tourism site with its Great Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls and Jordan River.
A national theological museum, which will comprise key aspects of the country’s religious history, will also be constructed on the site.
Kaseke simply says of his work: “I am a man on a mission.”
He goes on: “I do not want to beat my chest about what I am doing. I am just fulfilling the mission that I was given to live on Earth.”
A few weeks ago, Kaseke and Bishop Mabhiza received plaudits from Vice-President Joice Mujuru who was the guest of honour at the church’s annual pilgrimage and 29th anniversary. VP Mujuru said: “I find it remarkable that there are men, today, who can construct a site that is similar to the Great Zimbabwe and I am pleased that even though it will be a place of worship, it will carry a great part of our history, which is the Great Zimbabwe.”
Bishop Mabhiza said he wanted to make the site a regional religious tourism centre.
“The site will be interdenominational and we will be open to all other different types of churches that may wish to worship here because it is not the name of the church that is important but it is worshipping God that is important.
“I dream of the day when a member of the Apostolic Church can preach to a member of a Pentecostal Chruch or vice versa. I dream of that taking place at the site.”
He said construction of the site was also motivated by the view that the church was a tool to advance socio-economic development because “worship without work is detrimental.”
“We believe that people have the capability to work for themselves and use the opportunities around them to uplift themselves. This site will create jobs and it will also create opportunities for the people.
“It will make Zimbabwe proud and put our country on the map as a religious tourism site,” he said.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Engineer Walter Mzembi has been at the forefront of promoting religious tourism.
Some of the religious tourism events that have taken place in the country include the United Family International Church’s Judgment Night and the Watchtower Conference, both at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. The events attracted tens of thousands of people, with a significant number of guests coming from outside Zimbabwe.
Globally, the most famous religious sites that promote tourism are Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem in Israel, and St Paul’s Basilica in the Vatican City. A record 3,54 million tourists visited Israel in 2013. Jerusalem is considered a holy city by three major religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
Bishop Mabhiza said he was hopeful that by 2017, the Mhondoro site would be a major draw too. Vice-President Mujuru has donated 6 000 bags of cement towards construction of a hospital on the site; while Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo and Mhondoro-Mubaira National Assembly representative Dr Sylvester Nguni donated thousands of bricks.
