A SHORT TALE OF THE SIGN OF THE SHAKING CROSS AND THE FUTURE SPLIT IN THE CHURCH….THE NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH
On 4th December 2022 a new church called True Apostolic Church will be launched at OYDC in Lusaka. The faith and doctrine of this church is believed to be based on the original doctrine of the New Apostolic Church of which this church IS breaking away from.
The New Apostolic Church started in the 19th century in Europe and transformed over a period of time until around 1955 when the then head of the church, Chief Apostle Friedrich Bischoff with the council of Apostles prepared the main foundation of the current New Apostolic Church which has stood the taste of time until the current Chief Apostle Luc Schneider took over.
He came with a different face towards the administration of the church globally. He brought a lot of changes in the short time he has been at the helm of the church and this incensed a lot of conservative members of the church.
His decision to introduce women ordination to priestly ministries was just the last straw for many culminating in the split we are seeing today in Zambia and DRC.
The New Apostolic Church arrived in Zambia in 1928 through a Malawian missionary, George Henwood Mkandawire who brought the faith from South Africa. Over the years the membership grew in numbers and is today one of the notable churches in Zambia in terms of high membership.
In 1980, the church built its administration office in Longacres area of Lusaka and in 1982 a new modern church at the same location was built and became the main congregation for the church in Zambia and was opened on Christmas day 1982 by the Chief Apostle at the time Hans Urywler who was based in Bern, Switzerland.
After the congregation was opened faithfuls started attending services at the new church which was called Central congregation, but as time went by, something very bizarre and weird started happening at this church. Some people started to make sightings of a weird occurrence, which was to be known by very few people and mainly those operating in the perimeters of the church.
This church can take up to about 5,000 people and has a gallery inside and a pipe organ at the altar with a protruding roof over the alter. Above this protruding roof of the altar is an aluminium or metal made cross which has been constructed and placed at the highest point of the church. From nowhere strange occurrences started happening to this cross.
A number of people started sighting a situation in which this cross would wobble or shake like it was made of jelly or some kind of elastic material or plastic. They would tell of what they saw and everything would get back to norma afterwards but the same sightings would happen to another person and these sightings continued for a few years in the same manner.
A few named people who happened to witness this were these three who happened to be workmates at the Church office next to the church; Salome Njamba, Evangelist Kamatula and Apostle Makukula. Salome Njamba was a daughter to one of pioneers of the church in Zambia, Apostle Jeremiah Njamba and she worked in the Church office.
Evangelist Kamatula was an Evangelist in the church and also worked in the administration department of the church and Apostle Makukula headed the entire administration of the church office. All the three have since all died over a period of time.
This happening which has been kept under wraps but made people uneasy and when interpretation was sought, it was given at the time by the interpreters that the wobbling, shaking of the cross was a sign that the church in the times to come ahead would be shaken and members had to prepare themselves for those times.
These sightings happened about forty years ago and many forgot about them, until now when the real meaning of the shaking of the cross seems to be happening and maybe members should just prepare themselves for the storm and not run away from it. These sightings were made to people 40 years ago for a purpose. As they lived it never happened in their lifetime, but 40 years on it’s coming to reality meaning God revealed this to this people for a purpose.
They were only carriers of the vision at the time to be given to the new generation at the right time. Many who witnessed this are either old, or died. It is thus important for those who take this matter seriously to decide on whether to fight and sacrifice for the church in it’s existence in these hard times or simply leave and join the splitters.
May God bless you all as we pray for the better future of this church of God.
Prepared by a concerned member of the New Apostolic Church from the old era who does not want to be identified and a witness to the witnesses of the sightings..
Pic: Late Salome Njamba, left, who witnessed a sighting of the cross wobbling and shaking, here with another member of the church in the construction zone of the new church in 1982, before the church construction was completed.