WINDHOEK – The Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) has again warned men and women of the cloth to restrain from uttering “prophesies” without an earnest search of the divine wisdom. The caution comes after certain quarters of the public waited in vain yesterday to witness the midday earthquake that was last week prophesied by “prophetess” Elizabeth Sacharias.
“Many times she (Sacharias) prophesied and it never happened. Next time she does it again people will not believe her,” the Secretary General of the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN), Reverend Maria Kapere, said in response to questions by New Era yesterday.
Sacharias had “prophesied” that Namibia would be struck by an earthquake yesterday that would leave infrastructure destroyed as well as people dead, amongst others. Kapere said people cannot just utter words because of hurt or because they have had “visions”.
“On this day, 14 April 2014 [yesterday] God revealed to me that the earthquake with a high magnitude will be felt in the entire country. It will impact our infrastructure. It will cause a lot of destruction,” reads a message from Sacharias who leads the Ministry of Reconciliation, which is said to have a big number of devoted followers.
Yesterday social media were abuzz with many relieved that indeed the prophecy did not occur with some mocking her and referring to her as a false prophet on Facebook. Social networks were abuzz last week with comments of fears, doubts and questions on whether the earthquake would indeed occur.
The message circulated via emails and some print media also published her message. “God says Namibia will be struck worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire will erupt from beneath the ground while clouds of smoke will be seen coming from the mountains. This will be a scary day, a dark day that will bring about disruption. There will be a commotion and people will be terrified, crying, screaming and running about. Some people will die. God said we are expecting a devastation that has never occurred before in Namibia,” read the message from Sacharias.
Sacharias went as far as urging the Namibian Government to ready itself for disaster management and that people would indeed know that she is a real prophet making reference to past accusations that she was a false prophet.
Kapere noted that the CCN is somewhat toothless in interfering in churches’ doctrine as it does not have the mandate to do so. “This woman, nobody will believe her again. Why she is doing this we don’t know,” said Kapere. To avoid people being misled concerning biblical matters, Kapere said preachers should “teach and apply the word of God in the way that it is intended and not use it for selfish reasons”.
She said people should not fear when prophecies come out that way. “It’s time for the nation to seek God, repent and walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ,” said Kapere, who noted that there are people who have the gift of prophecy. She stressed firmly however that it should be used discreetly and prayerfully. New Era tried in vain numerous times to get comment from Sacharias and her church but the phones rang unanswered.
By Alvine Kapitako