Unamfahamu Nabii wa Pombe?

Anaitwa nabii Tito (Nabii wa pombe- a prophet of beer) ni nabii anayehubiri watu kunywa pombe akitumia maandiko matakatifu ya Biblia na kudai kuwa Biblia inaruhusu kunywa pombe.Hufanya mahubiri yake maeneo ya posta mpya hapa jijini Dar es Salaam.

Nabii Titto yeye anadai kuwa ameoteshwa na mungu kuwa watu wanywe pombe kwani ni tiba sahihi tosha kwa magonjwa mbalimbali na si pombe tu mpaka sigara. Dini yake aliyoianzisha inarushu watu kuoa wake wengi,kuvuta sigara na kunywa pombe.Huyu ndiye nabii Tito (a prophet of beer)

"Wape masikini kilevi walewe, wasahau shida zao"

Bwana Asifiwe,
Naomba kuuliza swali, kuna vesi yoyote kweye Biblia Takatifu yasemayo; "Wape masikini kilevi walewe, wasahau shida zao"
Shukran sana
Rugambo Rodney

Anataka majibu .....

Was Leonardo Da Vinci Gay?

Many cultures of the past were quite comfortable with homosexuality. Homosexuality was thought of as quite normal in feudal Japan and ancient Greece, for example. It was the wave of Christianity that brought with it taboos against same-sex relationships.

We will of course never know for sure if Leonardo Da Vinci was straight, homosexual, or any combination of the two. There is no "proof" left behind for us. However, Leonardo never married. He never had any female partners that were of note. He was an incredibly handsome and popular man, sought after by courts and patrons. He had no lack of interested females in his social group. He chose to ignore them.

Some say this is a self portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci, while others say it is not.

On April 8, 1476, an anonymous person brought an accusation to the church, claiming that Leonardo Da Vinci was having homosexual relationships with some of his students / companions. At the time, Leonardo was just turning 24. The explicit charge was that Jacopo Saltarelli, one of Leonardo's male models, was also his lover. As the consequences would have been quite harsh for Leonardo, he and the other accused individuals fought the charge and were acquitted. Leonardo had many powerful friends, even this early in his career, who helped him clear his name. He was put in prison for two months during this time.

It is interesting to note that Leonardo had several "close male companions" but never was linked to or married a woman. Leonardo was a great believer in Humanism - that human beings could choose for themselves what was good or bad and did not need to follow strict teachings of the church to find their path in life.

In 1502, Leonardo worked for Cesare Borgia for a short period of time. Cesare is famous as the conniving ruler used as the model for "The Prince" by Machiavelli, a treatise about how to keep power at all costs. Leonardo quit this job after only 9 months, apparently because his good friend Vitellozzo Vitelli was ruthlessly murdered by Cesare.

In 1507, Leonardo begins working for King Louis XII of France, keeping Milan as his base of operations. One of his favorite students was Francesco Melzi, who joined Leonardo at age 17. Franceso remained with Leonardo up until Leonardo's death.

While Leonardo did paint females in the course of his duties, most of his personal sketches involved nude male bodies - not females.

Uzushi wa Injili ya Mary Magdalena na Dan Vinci Code

What is The Da Vinci Code?

The Da Vinci Code is a novel by Dan Brown that has held one of the top two or three places on best-seller lists since early summer. More than 3 million copies (ed: now over 40 million) are in print.

In Brown's novel, the "Da Vinci code" refers to cryptic messages supposedly incorporated by Leonardo Da Vinci into his artwork. According to the novel, Leonardo was a member of an ancient secret society called the "Priory of Sion" dedicated to preservin the "truths" that Jesus designated Mary Magdalene as His successor, that His message was about the celebration of the "sacred feminine," that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children and that the Holy Grail of legend and lore is really Mary Magdalene, the "sacred feminine," the vessel who carried Jesus' children.

Sounds like an intriguing bit of lost history. Is it? Long story short: No.

Is the Holy Grail really the "sacred feminine?"

The legend of the Holy Grail has taken many frms throughout history, but it has always identified the Grail as the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper. The idea of identifying it as the "sacred feminine" and tying it into a supposed bloodline emanating from a union of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is lifted whole cloth from the 1981 classic of inventive esoteric wackiness, Holy Blood, Holy Grail.

Is the "Priory of Sion" a real group?

No. Brown begins his book with a statement, under the title "Fact," that there are documents supporting the existence of the Priory in the Bibliotheque Nationale. These documents havelong been understood to be forgeries, placed in the archives by an anti-Semitic supporter of the Vichy government named Pierre Plantard.

Does Da Vinci's The Last Supper really contain a code?

St. John and Jesus from The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci (click to enlarge)

No. First, the idea that Da Vinci used any kind of code pertaining to any issue Dan Brown raises is unsupported by art historians.

Brown says that in this painting Da Vinci is telling us that the figure always identified as John the Evangelist is really Mary Magdalene, and that these two figures together form an "M," and that, because there is no grail in the picture, Da Vinci is telling us the "grail" is the sacred feminine of Mary Magdalene.

Unfortunately for Brown, art historians tell us that the effeminate-looking John is quite a typical representation for the time, as is a Last Supper portrayal emphasizing betrayal rather than the insttution of the Eucharist. In addition, the Last Supperis a dramatization of a scene from the Gospel of John, in which the institution narrative is not even described. No chalice? No problem. In context, it makes sense.

Who was Mary Magdalene according to the Scriptures?

St. Mary Magdalene is mentioned 12 times in the Gospels. She was healed of demon possession by Jesus (Luke 8:2), was present at the Crucifixion and the tomb and was sent by the Risen Jesus to the apostles to announce the Good News. Her feast day is celebrated July 22.

Who was Mary Magdalene according to Dan Brown?

Brown says Mary Magdalene was of royal blood, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Jesus' wife. According to Brown, after the crucifixion, Mary, pregnant with Jesus' child, moved to France and became the root of the Merovingian royal family.

He also says Jesus intended for Mary to be the head of his Church (celebrating the sacred feminine, remember) but that Peter wrested power from her, suppressed evidence of Jesus' real intentions and set into motion a 2,000-year conspiracy to demonize Mary Magdalene.

But Mary Magdalene is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. How is that "demonizing?"

Don't ask me. What is true is that in the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great conflated the figures of Mary Magdalene, the penitent woman in Luke 7, and Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, saying that before her conversion, Mary had been a prostitute or adulteress. This has always been a disputed identification, however. Church Fathers from St. Ambrose to St. Thomas Aquinas have been undecided on the issue, and in the Eastern Church, the three are seen as distinct figures. This question has never been pushed underground, either, a Dan Brown claims.

So, who is Dan Brown?

He is a former English teacher who began full-time writing in 1996. His second novel, Angels and Demons, featured the Illuminati, a vial of anti-matter and a papal conclave. He holds no advanced degrees in religion.

What's the basis for Brown's views on Mry Magdalene and her competition with Peter?

All that Holy Blood, Holy Grail stuff, of course, but then there are also the Gnostic Gospels.

Gnosticism was a dualistic, esoteric mode of thinking that was widespread during the early Christian era, although its influence was not confined to Christianity. The Gnostic Gospels are works reflecting the Gnostic take on Christianity. Some have been known for centuries, but previously unknown works — in the Nag Hammadi scrolls — were discovered in Egypt in 1945.

Some modern scholars and religious writers have seized upon various passages from the Gnostic Gospels as indicative of a competing, woman-centered element of early Christianity, especially a passage fro The Gospel of Mary in which Jesus kisses Mary and the apostles express envy of His love for her. Brown works this thinking into his novel, but, like many others, ignores a deeply anti-woman passage from another Gnostic gospel, the Gospel of Thomas, in which Jesus says, "For every woman who will make herself male will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

Gnosticism was rejected by Christianity, but not because of gender issues. Its claims (two gods, a belief that the created world was evil) were simply inconsistent with the rule of faith, as it was called, handed down from the apostles.

The canonical Gospels all date from the middle to late first century. The Gnostic gospels cannot be placed any earlier than the mid-second century. It is ironic, as historian James Hitchcock has pointed out, that elemets of a profession that have for years derided the Gospels as unreliable history have now seized on later documents as reliable guides to Jesus' intentions.

Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married?

Dan Brown has one of his fictional scholars say it's a "matter of historical record." No nonfictional scholars would claim this. The "historical record" to which Brown refers are those 20th-century conspiracy books, not early Christian historical records.

Are Mary Magdalene's bones buried within the glass pyramid structure at the Louvre, as Brown presents it at the end of his novel?

No. Many things may have been buried with the pyramid, including good taste, but Mary Magdalene's bones are not among them.

Dan Brown claims that the idea of Jesus' divinity was dreamed up by the Council of Nicaea. Is this true?

No. When you read the Gospels and the letters of Paul, all of which date from the first century, you see a clear affirmation of Jesus as Lord.

The Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 was a response to the threat of the Arian heresy, which claimed that Jesus was a semi-divine creature, not of the same being as God. This was quickly becoming a popular belief and threatening the unity of Christianity.

The Emperor Constantine, aware that disunity in Christianity threatened the empire, convened the Council. Traditional faith was re-articulated in the more precise, philosophical terms that the heresy demanded and was accepted as the most faithful reading of the evidence about Jesus given to us in the Gospels.

Brown indicates that the Gnostic Gospels were widely accepted in early Christianity and that Constantine ordered them destroyed. Is this true?

No. The process of discerning the authentic Gospels was a lengthy one, but it had already begun in the early second century. Some communities used various other Gospels, but second-century Church Fathers frequently cited the four Gospels as authoritative. Their criteria were apostolic origins and fidelity to the rule of faith, not gender issues. Brown's conspiracy theory is a fabrication. Moreover, the final determinations about what constituted the Christian canon of Scripture were made by councils held after Constantine's time.

So, the whole "Mary vs. Peter" thing isn't true?

The historical evidence simply doesn't support it. It's based on speculation and a dramatic over-reading of a couple of passages from second-century fringe writings.

It's also illogical. Brown's argument rests on the assumption that the early apostles were concerned with suppressing the scandalous and radical. If that were so, why would they have the founder of their faith executed in manner reserved for the most shameful criminals?

It also is dependent on the assumption that Peter and his "party" were all about power. For what purpose, we have to ask? Did they get rich from their "version" of Christianity? Were they celebrated in their culture? No, they all died as despised martyrs. Some power trip.

This whole thing should fade pretty quickly, shouldn't it?

Probably not. The movie rights to The Da Vinci Code have been bought by Columbia, and Ron Howard is set to direct the film, probably to be released in 2005.

Oops!

Besides being logically and historically flawed, The Da Vinci Code is filled with more minor, but no less risible, errors. Here are a few:

One of Brown's scholars says, "As the prophesied Messiah, Jesus toppled kings, inspired millions and founded new philosophies." We'd like to meet those toppled kings.

The Emperor Constantine did not make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in A.D. 325. It happened under Theodosius 50 years later.

Gothic architecture was not "masterminded" by the Knights Templar, a medieval military order that had nothing to do with the construction of Gothic cathedrals.

The Church did not burn 5 million witches during the Middle Ages. During the period 1400-1800, an estimated 30,000-50,000 people accused of witchcraft (20 percent of whom were men) were executed by Catholic and Protestant institutions and governments.

MADHEHEBU MAPYA YALIYOIBUKA YANA UTATA?

Nakushukuru Mlima Sayuni. Mungu azidi kuwalinda kwa nguvu zake.
Kama tungeweza kurekebisha miaka kama vile kurekebisha mishale ya saa, ikaonyesha wakati tuutakao, tungeirudisha nyuma hadi kiasi cha miaka 2000 iliyopita.
Mfano, tuseme tumefanikiwa na sasa ni mwaka 30 au 33 Baada ya Kristo (30 B.K. au 33 B.K.), kutegemea ni mwaka upi unaotajwa na historia kwamba Yesu Kristo aliuawa. Ikiwa tunaishi katika wakati huo, kwa wale tunaoishi nchini Israeli, dini kuu tunayoifahamu katika mazingira yetu ni dini ya Kiyahudi.
Mwaka huu wa 33 B.K. na miaka michache ijayo, japo kuna wafuasi wengi wa Yesu Mnazarethi katika jamii yetu, lakini bado haijasikiwa imani ya kidini inayoitwa kwa jina la Ukristo. Hivyo ukituuliza habari za dini hiyo tutakujibu kwa usahihi kabisa kwamba, hakuna dini inayoitwa Ukristo, wala madhehebu yanayoitwa ya Kikristo.
Ukituuliza kuhusu Romani Katoliki, Lutherani, Anglikana, Moraviani, Presbyterian, Baptisti, Methodist, Waadventista-Wasabato, Wapentekoste, n.k., kwa usahihi kabisa tutakujibu, hakuna madhehebu hayo hapa Israeli, wala katika ufalme wa Kirumi. Mwaka huu huu wa 33 B.K., ukituuliza kuhusu Uislamu, tutakujibu kwa usahihi kabisa, kwamba, hakuna dini yenye jina hilo. Wala mtu aitwaye Mtume Muhammad. Maana Uislamu ulianza kama miaka 600 B.K. Wakazi wa Makka na Madina wakiutambua kama “madhehebu yaliyoibuka hivi karibuni”.
Ukatoliki ulipoanza yawezekana tarehe haijulikani. Lakini tukio la Mfalme Constantine wa Roma, mnamo mwaka 313 B.K., kuutambua Ukristo na kujaribu kuunda umoja kati ya serikali yake na kanisa ni hatua muhimu katika kuwepo kwa Romani Katoliki; ambapo viongozi wa kanisa waliongezewa na madaraka ya kiserikali. Kinachozaliwa hapa, mwaka huu 313 B.K., sehemu ya jamii inakitambua kama “madhehebu yaliyoibuka hivi karibuni”. Maana kina muundo tofauti na lile kanisa la Yerusalemu la mitume.
Tunasogea. Mwaka 1530 B.K., mvutano mkali unaibuka kati ya Padri Mkatoliki, Mjerumani, Martin Luther na wakuu wa Ukatoliki, hoja mojawapo kuu ni uamuzi wa Vatican kuugeuza msamaha wa dhambi kuwa biashara. Luther anayapinga mafundisho haya na kujiondoa chini ya Papa. Luther na waliomfuata wanaanzisha kundi jipya, hatimaye linajulikana kama Kanisa la Kilutheri, kufuata jina la Luther. Mwaka huu 1530 B.K., jamii inalitambua kama “madhehebu yaliyoibuka hivi karibuni” kutoka Romani Katoliki.
Tunaufikia 1534 B.K. (au 1535 B.K.). Mfalme Henry III wa Uingereza, Mkatoliki, anamtaliki mkewe Catherine. Anamuoa Anne Bolyn licha ya kukatazwa na Papa. Henry anaiondoa Uingereza chini ya mamlaka ya Papa. Anajitangaza kuwa mkuu wa kanisa la Uingereza. Anglikana inaanzishwa. Jamii iliyopo mwaka huu 1534B.K. inaitambua Anglikana kama “madhehebu yaliyoibuka hivi karibuni”.
Kihistoria, dini na madhehebu yote tunayoyafuata viliwahi kutambulika kama “madhehebu yaliyoibuka hivi karibuni”. Yaliyoibuka 300 au 1500 B.K., yana uhalali sawa na yale yaliyoibuka 1900, au sasa 2010 B.K. Hakuna lenye uhalali wa kuyadhibiti wala kuyatawala mengine. Maana YOTE “yameibuka hivi karibuni”. Bali “Aliye juu (Mungu na Kristo) ndiye” anayetawala, Danieli 4:32.

Mwandishi wa makala haya ni:
Elias S. Bilegeya
Box 54655, D’Salaam
+255-765-653 985
eliasb89@hotmail.com

Kanisa linapojaa pomoni

Kanisa la Ufufuo na Uzima maarufu kama kanisa la kufufua misukule lililokuwa likiendeshea ibada zake katika majengo yake ya Ubungo karibu kabisa na Tanesco, limeamua kuamia katika viwanja vya Tanganyika Packers Kawe baada ya kuzidiwa na idadi ya watu.Kanisa hilo linaloongozwa na Mch. Gwajima...maarufu kama serious Pastor...(siriaz kwa maana ya uchapaji wa kazi) limekuwa likikua siku hata siku kwa kupokea mamia ya waumini kiasi cha kukosa mahala pa kuwaweka na hivyo kulazimika kuhamia katika viwanja vya Kawe."Kuna kipindi ilifika pale Ubungo watu walikuwa wanajaa hadi wanafika kukaa katika service road.." alisema mmoja wa watu aliye karibu na mch. Gwajima.Kanisa hilo hivi sasa linakadiriwa kuwa na waumini karibu 30,000 likidhaniwa ndio kanisa kubwa zaidi Tanzania lenye waumini wengi wanaongia ibada moja kwa wakati mmoja.Nilimuuliza mmoja wa watu walio karibu na Mch. Gwajima siri kubwa ya kujaza waumini wengi hivyo kiasi cha kujaa pomoni...akionekana mwenye kujiamini...muumini huyo alijibu kwa haraka kuwa "unajua ndugu Mtade, mchungaji ni mtu mwenye bidii sana ya kumtafuta Mungu...na pia anatumia muda mwingi sana kuwajenga kiimani washirika wake kiasi cha kuwafanya wawe na uwezo wa kujisimamia wenyewe....pia huwezi kukuta mchungaji anawatupia madongo watumishi wengine wakati wa ibada anazoendesha...yeye ni kazi tu" alisema.Mlima Sayuni unafanya jitihada kuweza kufanya mahojiano na Mch. Gwajima.

Misukule zaidi warudishwa

Mmoja wa misukule fresh from shamba Mohamedi Mustapha, akioneshwa mbele ya maelfu ya watu na Mchungaji Josephat Gwajima katika ibada ya ijumaa ndani ya nyumba ya ufufuo na uzima.
Takribani wiki mbili zilizpopita Mchungaji kiongozi Josephat Gwajima wa Kanisa la Glory of Christ (T) Church maarufu kama “nyumba ya Ufufuo na Uzima” aliahidi kuwarudisha na hatimaye kulionesha kanisa misukule wakiwa katika hali yao ya kimsukule akitumia msemo wenye mchanganyiko wa lugha ya kiingereza na Kiswahili “misukule fresh from shamba” ili kuweka msisitizo kuwa misukule hao wamerudishwa kwa nguvu na uweza wa jina la Yesu.

Maelfu ya watu katika nyumba ya Ufufuo na Uzima wakiwa katika bonde la kukata maneno kwa mfululizo wa siku tatu, jumatatu, jumatano na ijumaa za tarehe 8, 10 na 12 mwezi Machi 2010 walipata fursa ya kuwashuhudia misukule waliorudishwa kutoka kwa wachawi waliokuwa wakiwashikilia.
Misukule hao waliokuwa wamekatwa ulimi kipindi walipokuwa msukuleni huku watu wakidhania kuwa hawataweza kuongea tena ila BWANA Yesu aliwaponya na mara baada ya kufanyiwa maombezi misukule hao walianza kuongea na kuelezea kwa kina ni nani aliyewachukua, chakula walichokuwa wakila na mahali walipokuwa wakitumikishwa waliopokuwa misukule. Watu hao waliorudishwa kutoka msukuleni ni pamoja na Jeremiah, Charles Nduru na Mohamedi Mustapha.

Uganda pastor shows gay porn in church

A Ugandan pastor screened gay porn in a church on Wednesday. The pastor is in favor of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The Uganda pastor - Martin Ssempa is trying his best to persuade the people that homosexuality is evil, and unnatural and he supports the legislation.
Regardless of my position on homosexuality and/or the bill I can tell you what upset me was that Pastor Ssempa was preaching against people encouraging hate and tolerance. He shamed himself as a pastor by disregarding what he thought of as a sin as an action, and turned the people doing what he calls the sin into something less than human, said Kelsey Hartsell, a student from Pacific Lutheran University. She saw the gay porn show, and it upset her so much that she walked out of the presentation given by the pastor Martin Ssempa.
Kelsey studies in Kampala, and she said to Dr. Warren Throckmorton that many people were upset by the presentation. It apparently upset a lot of people, and they accompanied her when she walked out of the presentation. Dr Warren also said that the pastor is resorting to all kind of ways to tell the public that they should not support gays.

Benny Hinn ‘Praying’ God Will Heal Marriage

In a letter to ministry partners, evangelist Benny Hinn said he is praying God will heal his family.
Hinn's wife, Suzanne, filed for divorce from the high-profile minister Feb. 1. The filing says the couple had been separated since Jan. 26, according to the Associated Press.
Hinn said his wife had been under great stress, but he and his children "never expected this to happen."
"Divorce was the last thing on my mind and theirs," Hinn wrote in the letter posted on his ministry Web site. He said it was a "total shock" when his wife's attorney called Feb. 17 to inform him that she had filed for divorce.
"Suzanne never gave the family even a hint that this was on her mind," Hinn wrote, adding that his wife's parents did not know she had filed for divorce until he told them Feb. 17. "Even to this moment, the children and I don't know why she did it. ... I love my wife, and I am praying that the Lord Himself will take care of this and bring healing to my precious family."
Hinn said his wife does not have biblical grounds for divorce because neither of them engaged in immorality throughout their 30-year marriage.
"We both have kept our covenant with God and stayed pure before Him, and I am praying with all my heart that our precious Lord Jesus will heal my family and protect His work for His glory," Hinn wrote.
Hinn said he does not plan to take a break from preaching and leading healing crusades worldwide. "I am going to continue preaching the Gospel and praying for the sick as I have for 36 years," he wrote. "I will not allow anything to slow me down or stop me. My commitment to my precious Jesus is forever, and nothing will ever change that.

Pastor Benny Hinn’s wife files for divorce after 30 years of marriage

Pastor Benny Hinn’s wife Suzanne Hinn has filed for divorce after 30 years of marriage. Evangelist Benny Hinn’s ministry is a multimillion-dollar operation. He is also under investigation by the Sen. Charles Grassley over whether he compiles with the IRS non-profit rules. Pastor Benny Hinn claims in his defense, that he has also complied with the IRS rules, and 88% of the money he collects is given to the ministry.
Suzanne Hinn married the pastor in 1979, and has also borne four children with him. She filed for divorce on the 1st of February 2010, at the Orange County Superior Court. She wants to end the marriage because of some “irreconcilable differences” between her and her husband. There had been reports of problems amongst them, & both of them also claim that they had tried to make the marriage work, but things now have come to such a stage, that they have no option but to call it quits. However when news spread like wildfire that Suzanne had filed for divorce, then Pastor Benny Hinn said that he was taken by surprise.
“Pastor Benny Hinn and his immediate family were shocked and saddened to learn of this news without any previous notice. Although Pastor Hinn has faithfully endeavored to bring healing to their relationship, those efforts failed and were met with the petition for divorce that was filed without notice,” Benny Hinn Ministries said Thursday in a statement.

He bobs his head to rapper Jay-Z, plays video games and reads the "Twilight" vampire books. When he's not doing homework, he kicks a soccer ball in his backyard.
Yet looks can be deceiving.
People in this corner of western Uganda know the young man as King Oyo, one of the world's youngest ruling monarchs. The teen king rules over more than 2 million people in the Tooro kingdom, one of four kingdoms in Uganda that conjure images of pre-colonial Africa.
King Oyo lives for part of the year in a palace perched on a hill in Fort Portal, a place where bicycles stacked with bananas race past ramshackle huts in the shadow of a snow-capped mountain. He also has a palace in the bustling Ugandan capital, Kampala, where he studies at a private school while soldiers stand guard.
Friends at school greet him with hugs and handshakes, but back home, subjects kiss his feet while sprawled before him on the ground, as if they were doing push ups.
"I still find it a little uncomfortable when people bow, especially the older ones," says the king, whose full name is Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. "My friends at school (could not) care less that I'm a king. They like me for who I am, not for what I am."
King Oyo has worn the crown for as long as he can remember.
He ascended to the throne aged three, after his father died in 1995. For his coronation, the toddler sat on a miniature throne and played with toys after a mock battle with a grown-up "rebel" prince. At one point, his majesty dashed from the throne to climb onto his mother's lap. He also yanked off a lion-skin crown that was too heavy for his little head.
The next day, King Oyo attended a meeting with Cabinet members who were old enough to be his grandparents.
Now he stands nearly six feet tall and looks much more regal. He sits on a throne draped with leopard skin and wears a royal robe of blue and gold, his cropped hair covered by a crown with a fluffy white tail.
"The first few years, I did not know what was going on," he says. "I think I realized when I was about 6 that I really was king, and my life was going to be different. I was going to have responsibilities toward a lot of people."
King Oyo oversees a Cabinet that includes a prime minister, board of regents and councilmen. The president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, advises him. So does Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
In addition to serving as the figurehead for members of the Batooro tribe -- the group that makes up most of the Tooro kingdom -- the king oversees efforts to raise money for projects involving such things as health and education. He implements programs to boost cultural pride. He also helps oversee how his kingdom spends tax money that it gets from the Ugandan government.
The king makes major decisions with the help of regents and advisers. His mother, Queen Best Kemigisa, lives in the palace and works closely with him, though King Oyo will become the sole decision-maker when he turns 18 in a few weeks.
"It's a huge responsibility," the king says, "but I have a lot of support from my mother, my sister and others, so I know I can do it."
The job has its perks.
Fawning subjects give him livestock and spears. He travels to meet world leaders. And teenage girls and young women flock to his palace for public events, though the king changes subjects like a veteran politician when asked whether he's dating.
"I can't wait to see the new 'Twilight' movie," he says with a sly smile.
There are downsides.
King Oyo travels with a security detail of military guards who also hover around his school. That makes it hard to blend into a crowd.
"At times, I'll have things I want to do, but I can't just get up and do them like ordinary teenagers do," he says. "I can't always do what I want because I have obligations."
Kingdoms in Africa date at least to the Egyptian civilization, though their numbers have declined in the last few hundred years.
The monarchies are based on ethnicities, sparking concerns of a setback in national integration efforts, said Ndebesa Mwambutsya, a history professor at Makerere University in Kampala.
"Ugandans identify themselves first with their tribes and kingdoms, then as citizens," he says. "This works in most African cultures because people have lost faith in the government, and tribes and kingdoms provide a nucleus around which an identity can be forged."
Finding a balance between national unity and tradition can be a challenge, according to the professor.
"It's a paradox in itself. It is important that African culture is preserved because a people without culture is like groping in the darkness," he says.
"At the same time, there's globalization, there's consumerism, there's national integration. Making all those fit in with traditionalism is a tall order -- it needs perspective to ensure kingdoms are not counterproductive."
Many Africans, like the people in King Oyo's realm, identify themselves as a member of a tribe or ethnic group first and as citizen of a nation second. That is partly a legacy of colonialism, when European powers drew boundaries for countries and territories that lumped together people of various tribes and ethnic groups, including many who had a history of poor relations.
Tension between ethnic groups within the same country often has flared into violence around the continent. The 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which killed nearly 800,000 people, for example, was a result of inter-ethnic violence. So was the post-election violence in neighboring Kenya that left more than 1,000 dead in 2008.
In Uganda, the central government outlawed kingdoms in 1967, but the president reinstated four of them in the '90s on the condition that their leaders focus more on culture and less on national politics.
Other African countries, such as Lesotho and Swaziland, also have kings. The king of Swaziland is famous for festivals at which scores of virgins dance for him, but King Oyo is sedate by contrast. He presides over a kingdom where time seems to have stopped.
Snow-capped Mount Rwenzori peeks through the mist and glints under moonlight, a hulking backdrop to the shacks and banana plantations that dot rolling landscapes. The lush, green vegetation does not translate into wealth, though: Most people in the kingdom -- like people in the rest of Uganda -- live in poverty.
Even so, some people have pinned their hopes on the young king.
"His age brings a lot of financial support from leaders who want to mentor him and see him succeed," says Ruhweza Remigious, 34, a carpenter who lives in a mud hut across from the palace in Fort Portal.
"Most Africans are led by older people who don't do anything," Remigious says. "He is young and eager, and we hope he will give us a better life and modernize our infrastructures."
That's a heavy burden for anyone to shoulder. It puts particularly strong pressure on a teenager who likes to hang out with his buddies from school and root for his favorite soccer team -- Arsenal, of the Premier League in England.
So would he have chosen to be king?
He pauses.
"I'm not really sure if I can answer that question," he says. "Being a king is not easy. Sometimes I wish I could just be ordinary."

Moses Kulola asimulia historia yake

Moses Kulola, born in June 1928, in a family of ten children and five are still alive, registered for my first school in 1939 called Ligsha Sukuma a mission school and after Ligsha, I enrolled for the institute of Archtchture in 1949. I was baptised in 1950 in the AIM Church Makongoro.

Married to Elizabeth with 10 offsprings where seven are still alive.Begun missionary work in 1950 eventhough i was called upon in 1949 just after my baptism.

In 1959 i was enrolled on government work which i did to preach the gospel in towns and villages being a government employee. My great service to my country came to an end in 1962, where i compeletely dedicated my power, body and soul. In 1964 i enrolled in the theological college and 1966 i qualified with a diploma.

I didnt just stop there with education as i continued with correspondenced studies which accredited to my so many certificates accross the world.
ServiceI worked for two years as Pastor before becoming a Pentacostal believer that is 1961 to 1962, worked in TACR church 1966 till 1991 where i begun decided to started the Evangelistic assemblies of God.EAGT has succeded to growth at a great pace in tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and tantamounting to a total of 4000 churches in a range of big and small and I Moses Kulola being the bishop of the four thousand churches, Assistant Bishop Mwaisabira.

Running four thousand churches has never been a simple that is why the division has been done of 34 counties of operation and five zones for simplifying work and every county and Zone has its own Overseer.

ada za maombi

“Toa sadaka yako ili kuwezesha kipindi cha tutashinda tuma katika account halafu nitumie meseji kwa simu namba 0713725473 kwamba umetuma kiasi gani mimi nitakupigia halafu uniambie mambo yako kumi nitakuombea”
- Anthony Lusekelo (Mzee wa Upako), Channel 10, 25 June 2008


Nukuu kutoka Strictly Gospel

Iranian Pastor Tortured, Threatened for ‘Converting Muslims’

An Assyrian pastor the Iranian government accused of “converting Muslims” is being tortured in prison and threatened with execution, sources close to the case said.

State Security agents on Feb. 2 arrested the Rev. Wilson Issavi, 65, shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend’s home in Isfahan. A city of more than 1.5 million people, Isfahan is located 208 miles (335 kilometers) south of Tehran.

According to Farsi Christian News Network, Issavi’s wife, Medline Nazanin, recently visited her husband in prison, where she saw that he had obvious signs of torture and was in poor condition. Iranian intelligence officials told Nazanin that her husband might be executed for his alleged activities.

Issavi is the pastor of The Evangelical Church of Kermanshah in Isfahan, a 50-year-old church body affiliated with The Assemblies of God that caters to the local Assyrian population.


During the raid, State Security police detained everyone in the house, later releasing all but Issavi and the owner of the home. Security officials also seized personal property from the home. Typically in Christian arrests in Iran, security officials confiscate all documents, media materials, computers, and personal documentation.
Issavi is being held in an unmarked prison, according to FCNN.

Last month’s arrest seems to be part of an anti-Christian sweep that is taking place across Isfahan. In addition to the politically motivated detentions and executions that have taken place after June’s contested election and subsequent nation-wide political protests, it appears authorities are rounding up Christian leaders.

More Arrests
On Feb. 28, Isfahan residents Hamid Shafiee and his wife Reyhaneh Aghajary, both converts from Islam and house church leaders, were arrested at their home.

Aghajary was at home with a group of other Christians when police came for her and her husband, who was not at home, according to Middle East Concern, a group that assists persecuted Christians. Police handcuffed Aghajary and, upon finding boxes of Bibles, began beating her.

The assault continued until eventually Aghajary was pepper-sprayed and removed from the scene. Her husband Shafiee was arrested an hour later when he returned to the house.

Their fate and whereabouts are still unknown.

Authorities assaulted another Christian visiting the house at the time of the raid when he protested the police action. Other Christians at the house were threatened, but no one else was arrested. Approximately 20 police officers raided the home, seizing Bibles, CDs, photographs, computers, telephones, personal items and other literature.

One regional analyst, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Iranian government is set on crushing religious freedom within the country.

“The recent spate of church leader arrests provides clear evidence of the Iranian authorities’ desperate determination to strangle the growing church movement, along with all other forms of perceived political dissent,” he said.

February’s arrest was not the first time Shafiee has had run-ins with Iranian authorities. He has routinely been ordered to appear before police for questioning and then released. This arrest, however, was different. When family members contacted police on March 1, they were told that the couple’s case was under the jurisdiction of the Revolutionary Court and were turned away with no other information.

While the couple is imprisoned, family members are caring for their two teenage boys.

Frequent Harassment
Like Shafiee, Issavi has been harassed frequently by the Isfahan branch of the State Security police. He has been ordered to appear before the police many times, then arrested and interrogated. In addition, police have threatened members of his family and have broken into his house and taken items such as his computer.

On Jan. 2, 2010, police sealed the Kermanshah church and ordered Issavi not to reopen it. The church continued to have house meetings, and authorities charged Issavi with not cooperating with the government.

The Assyrians were one of the first ethnic groups in the Middle East to adopt Christianity. The existence of the Assyrian Christian community in Iran predates the existence of their Islamic counterparts by several hundred years. There are 10,000 to 20,000 Assyrian Christians living in Iran, according to unofficial estimates cited in the 2009 International Religious Freedom Report issued by the U.S. Department of State. The total Christian population is 300,000 nationwide, according to the United Nations. Most of those Christians are ethnic Armenians.

Isfahan has been the site of some of the worst religious persecution in Iran. On July 30, 2008, Abbas Amiri, a Christian man in his 60s, died in a hospital after being beaten by Isfahan security police. Authorities had arrested Amiri along with seven other men, six women and two minors during a July 17 raid on a house meeting. Four days after her husband died, Sakineh Rahnama succumbed to her injuries and a stress-related heart attack. Later, officials wouldn’t allow local Christians to hold a memorial service.

Iran, where Shia Islam is the official state religion, is known to be one of the worst countries for repression against Christians. The U.S. Secretary of State has designated Iran as a Country of Particular Concern every year since 1999 for its persecution of non-Shia Muslims, among others.

Last year, according to the International Religious Freedom Report, persecution of Christians and other religious minorities continued to get “significantly worse.” The state department placed the blame for this squarely at the feet of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s conservative media, who “intensified a campaign against non-Muslim religious minorities, and political and religious leaders” by issuing a continual stream of inflammatory statements.

“Christians, particularly evangelicals, continued to be subject to harassment and close surveillance,” the report states. “The government vigilantly enforced its prohibition on proselytizing by closely monitoring the activities of evangelical Christians, discouraging Muslims from entering church premises, closing churches, and arresting Christian converts.”

Evangelical Christians were required to carry church membership cards and provide photocopies to authorities, according to the report.

“Worshippers were subject to identity checks by authorities posted outside congregation centers,” it states. “The government restricted meetings for evangelical services to Sundays, and church officials were ordered to inform the Ministry of Information and Islamic Guidance before admitting new members.”

Christian Who Fled Iran Wins Asylum in Kenya

Mohammad Azbari, a Christian convert from Islam who has fled to Kenya, knows what it’s like to be deported back to his native Iran.

When it happened in 2007, he said, Iranian authorities pressured the government of Norway to return him and his wife Gelanie Azbari to Iran after hearing rumors that he had forsaken Islam.

“When we arrived in Iran, we were interrogated by security and severely beaten,” he told Compass in Nairobi, where he and his family fought to persuade the Kenyan government to decline Iran’s demand to deport him back. “My son got scared and began urinating on himself.”

A cousin managed to secure their release, but not before Iranian authorities had taken valuable – and incriminating – possessions.

“They took everything that I had – laptop, camera and some of my valuables which contained all my details, such as information concerning my baptism, and my entire profile, including that of my family,” Azbari said.

Azbari had been employed in the Iranian army before fleeing, he said, and authorities were monitoring his movements because they were concerned that, having left Islam, he might betray his country and reveal government secrets.

When he and his Christian wife, a native of the Philippines, first fled Iran in 2000, he was still a Shia Muslim. The previous year authorities had arrested his wife after finding a Christmas tree in their house in Tehran; Azbari was not home at the time and thus escaped arrest, but as authorities took his wife away they left their then 3-year-old son unattended.

“I was put in a small cell for two days,” Gelanie Azbari told Compass, through tears. “While in the cell two police guards raped me. It was the worst of all the nights I have had in my lifetime. Since that time I have been sick both physically and mentally.”

Authorities soon took her husband in for interrogation, suspecting he was a spy for foreign states.
Still a Muslim, Azbari allowed his wife to follow her Christian faith. He had grown accustomed to watching her pray as a Christian and watch the Jesus Film. As time went by, he developed an urge to embrace Christianity. They started reading the Bible together.

The idea of trusting in and following Christ filled him with fear, as it was against the law to convert from Islam – it would mean losing his life, he said.

“I started questioning our leaders, who see themselves as God,” he said. “The claim of Jesus as the prophet as well as the Word and spirit of God is indicated in the Quran. When I read in the Gospels of Jesus giving people rest, it made me want to decide to accept him as my Lord and Savior.”

Sensing danger, the family fled to the Netherlands in 2000, and it was there that Azbari embraced Christianity. In 2003 the family left the Netherlands for Norway.

Azbari was an avid student of his new-found Lord; while in Norway, he became seminary teacher of Christology.
Throughout, Azbari said, the Iranian government had been monitoring his movements. In 2007 Iranian officials persuaded the Norwegian government to send him, together with his wife and son Reza Azbari, back to Iran.

After their interrogation and mistreatment upon arrival in Iran, Azbari managed to call his sister, who connected him with the army general cousin who helped secure their release. His sister took them in, but his brother in-law was not happy with their Christian prayers; he began quarreling with his wife, Azbari’s sister.

“They began looking for trouble for us,” Azbari said. “Sensing danger, we then left the home and went to find a place to stay. Everywhere we tried to book in we were rejected, since we were people who had been deported.”
They began attending a church made up primarily of foreigners, where Azbari’s wife and son felt more at home than he did. His army general cousin found out and, angry that they had sought refuge in a church after he had secured their release, grew furious.


“He was very angry, as they had also discovered this information from the laptop they had confiscated and threatened that I should be arrested,” Azbari said. “I then decided to move to central Iran to look for employment, leaving my family behind.”

The couple felt they could not go to Gelanie Azbari’s homeland as the Philippines has such friendly relations with Iran, he said.

“To go back to Philippines or Iran is quite unsafe for us,” Azbari said.

In October 2009, his sister notified him that police were looking for him and his family.

“I then decided to flee the country through Turkey, then to Kenya where I was arrested and then deported to Turkey,” Azbari said. “In Turkey they could not allow me to enter the country, hence I was returned to Kenya.”
They were arrested in January for illegal entry into Kenya. On March 4, a judge at Chief Magistrate Court No. 3 of Kenya dropped the charges against him, declaring that Azbari required international protection from his persecutors. The court also directed that Azbari be given back all his documents and the 10,000 Kenyan Shillings ($US130) in bail he had deposited.

They had applied for asylum with the United Nations. Appearing before the court on behalf of Azbari on Jan. 15, a representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees had argued that he deserved asylum because his religious status had forced him to flee from his country of origin. On March 4 the court found that Azbari and his family require international protection under Section 82 of the laws of Kenya, and he was set free.

“We have witnessed the love of God and the sacrifices of what it means to love one in word and deed,” Azbari said moments after the decision. “We saw the love of Christ from the people who understood and stood with us.”

He thanked friends who introduced his family to Nairobi Pentecostal Church, which provided them spiritual strength. Three attorneys represented Azbari: Wasia Masitsa, a legal officer for the Urban Refugee Intervention Program; Christian lawyer John Swaka; and Laban Osoro of the United Nations. Rene Kiamba of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce had helped him post bail.

Christians in Jos, Nigeria Fear Further Attacks

AGOS, Nigeria, January 19 (CDN) — Gunshots and smoke continued to alarm residents of Jos in central Nigeria today, with the Christian community fearing further violence from Muslim youths who on Sunday (Jan. 17) attacked a Catholic church and burned down several other church buildings.

A 24-hour curfew imposed yesterday in Jos and the suburb of Bukuru by the Plateau state government was extended through Wednesday. Police said continuing violence was initially triggered by Sunday’s unprovoked attack by Muslim youths on worshippers at the St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Nasarawa Gwong, in the Jos North Local Government Area.

Also burned were buildings of the Christ Apostolic Church, Assemblies of God Church, three branches of the Church of Christ in Nigeria and two buildings of the Evangelical Church of West Africa, Christian leaders said.

The number of casualties continued to grow, reportedly reaching more than 100 as security forces tried to rein in rioters, with both Christian and Muslim groups still counting their losses. Hundreds have reportedly been wounded.

“We have been witnessing sporadic shootings in the last two days,” said the Rev. Chuwang Avou, secretary of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria. “We see some residents shooting sporadically into the air. We have also seen individuals with machine guns on parade in the state.”

Avou said many of those who are shooting are civilians, not policemen, and that they have been mounting road blocks and causing chaos in the area. At least 35 people have been arrested.

“What we have witnessed only goes to show that the problem in the state is far from over,” he said. “Many families have been displaced. There are a number who are receiving treatment in the hospital. The dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed in the state has not solved any problem, as there is still tension in the land.”


Avou said the crisis broke out when Muslim youths pursued a woman into a church during worship on Sunday, wreaking havoc on the service.

“Some Muslim youths invaded some churches and started burning and destroying properties,” he said. “We were told that the youths pursued a lady to the church. Nobody knew what the lady did. What we just discovered was that the entire atmosphere was ignited and houses were being burned.”


A Muslim group in the area, however, dismissed claims that Muslim youths ignited the tensions. They accused Christian youths of stopping a Muslim from rebuilding his house.

State Commissioner of Police Greg Anyating stated that Muslim youths were to blame for setting off the violence.

As violence continued today, there was a mass movement of Christians and Muslims from areas where rampaging youths were unleashing mayhem on the city despite heavy security. The Nigerian army was reportedly summoned to try to restore order.

The Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, co-chairman of the state Inter-Religious Council and Catholic Archbishop of Jos, condemned the recurring civil disturbances in the state and called on all to “sheath their swords and be their brothers’ keepers.”

The secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Pastor Wale Adefarasin, said attacks on Christians are a manifestation of terrorism in the country.

“What we should realize is that the government is not helping situations,” he said. “It is an illusion that Nigeria is safe.”

He added that terrorism affects both Christians and Muslims negatively, and that it is the duty of elected officials to ensure that terrorists are detected early and deterred.

“The Muslim fundamentalists want to take over Jos by all means,” Pastor Adefarasin said. “They claim that Jos is a Muslim state, which is not true.”


Violence hit the same area on Nov. 28-29, 2008, when murderous rioting sparked by Muslim attacks on Christians and their property left six pastors dead, at least 500 other people killed and 40 churches destroyed, according to church leaders. More than 25,000 persons were displaced in the two days of violence.

What began as outrage over suspected vote fraud in local elections quickly hit the religious fault line as angry Muslims took aim at Christian sites rather than at political targets. Police and troops reportedly killed about 400 rampaging Muslims in an effort to quell the unrest, and Islamists shot, slashed or stabbed to death more than 100 Christians.

The violence comes at a time of a leadership vacuum in Nigeria, with illness requiring Muslim President Umaru Yar’Adua to leave the country on Nov. 23 to seek treatment in Saudi Arabia.

Sectarian violence in Jos, a volatile mid-point where the predominantly Muslim north meets the mainly Christian south, left more than 1,000 people dead in 2001. Another 700 people were killed in sectarian outbreaks of violence in 2004. Located in Nigeria’s central region between the Muslim-majority north and the largely Christian south, Plateau state is home to various Christian ethnic groups co-existing uneasily with Muslim Hausa settlers.

Source: Compass

Nigerian army 'ignored warning of massacres' in Jos

The governor of Nigeria's Plateau state has accused military commanders of ignoring warnings of an attack on Sunday near the city of Jos.

Hundreds died during attacks on three villages in the area between the mainly Christian south and Muslim north.

The massacre is seen as revenge for a previous bout of killings in January.

Earlier, a Christian group also accused security forces of failing to stop the clashes. Nigerian police spokesman Yemi Ajayi categorically denied the claims.

The army has not yet responded to the accusations but troops are patrolling the area to prevent further clashes.

There were fresh reports of gunfire in villages near Jos late on Tuesday.

Witnesses later said the troops were firing into the air to disperse crowds of youths.

Warnings ignored

Governor Jonah Jang said he had warned the army about reports of suspicious people with weapons hours before they attacked, but they failed to take action.

"Three hours or so later, I was woken by call that they have started burning the village and people were been hacked to death," he said.

"I tried to locate the commanders. I couldn't get any of them on the telephone."

The head of the northern area of Nigeria's Christian Association said he believed mercenaries were involved.

Saidu Dogo told the BBC that fighters from neighbouring Chad and Niger took part in the violence.

"For quite some time we have alerted the government to training grounds in some part of the northern state where people are being trained to cause problems in the country... Nobody did anything about it," he said.

"Many people come into Nigeria under the pretext of [being] pastoralists, they are mercenaries. They follow pastoralist routes to gain entrance, carry out their activities and then leave," he said.

Earlier, the Plateau State Christian Elders Consultative Forum complained that it had taken the army two hours to react after receiving a distress call, the AFP news agency reported.

By that time, "the attackers had finished their job and left", they said.

The authorities believe the attack on the three villages near the Plateau state capital, Jos, was an act of revenge carried out by members of the mainly Muslim Fulani community.

The US and human rights campaign groups have urged the government to arrest and try those responsible.

"The Nigerian government should ensure that the perpetrators of acts of violence are brought to justice under the rule of law, and that human rights are respected as order is restored," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

"Three hours or so later, I was woken by call that they have started burning the village and people were been hacked to death," he said.

"I tried to locate the commanders. I couldn't get any of them on the telephone."

The head of the northern area of Nigeria's Christian Association said he believed mercenaries were involved.

Saidu Dogo told the BBC that fighters from neighbouring Chad and Niger took part in the violence.

"For quite some time we have alerted the government to training grounds in some part of the northern state where people are being trained to cause problems in the country... Nobody did anything about it," he said.

"Many people come into Nigeria under the pretext of [being] pastoralists, they are mercenaries. They follow pastoralist routes to gain entrance, carry out their activities and then leave," he said.

Earlier, the Plateau State Christian Elders Consultative Forum complained that it had taken the army two hours to react after receiving a distress call, the AFP news agency reported.

By that time, "the attackers had finished their job and left", they said.

The authorities believe the attack on the three villages near the Plateau state capital, Jos, was an act of revenge carried out by members of the mainly Muslim Fulani community.

The US and human rights campaign groups have urged the government to arrest and try those responsible.

"The Nigerian government should ensure that the perpetrators of acts of violence are brought to justice under the rule of law, and that human rights are respected as order is restored," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

"We feel that the world just has to do something. If the Nigerian government cannot do something then the world has to do something to stop this killing."

He also blamed local politicians for stirring up the violence.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked the country's national security adviser, Sarki Mukhtar, in an apparent response to the killings.

But the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said the villages should have been properly protected after the January killings.

"Clearly, previous efforts to tackle the underlying causes have been inadequate, and in the meantime the wounds have festered and grown deeper," she said, according to the Associated Press.

Nigerian troops are patrolling the villages which were targeted on Sunday in a bid to prevent further violence and police say they have arrested more than 90 people suspected of inciting violence.

But residents of nearby communities say they are already getting ready to leave, fearing a fresh wave of violence.

"We are fleeing our village because we are afraid we might be the next target of attack by these Fulani," Patricia Silas, 30, told AFP.

"They have been making phone calls warning they are going to attack. We take these threats seriously. We don't want to be caught off-guard."

Many of the dead in the villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa, largely inhabited by Christian members of the Berom community, are reported to be women and children.

Clashes have broken out periodically since 2001, with competition for resources and political power seen as being at the heart of the conflicts between the rival communities.

Source: BBC