By Christopher Man’ombe
Some 45 years ago, on Sunday 11 July 1976, as the Americans were dancing to the new hit song “Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band, and the British charts were reverberating with the sound of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee, one of the greatest prophecies of the time was unfolding in Southern Rhodesia, then led by Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith’s white minority government.
The founder of the Zion Christian Church in Zimbabwe, Rev. Samuel Mutendi, was giving his last sermon to congregants at the church’s holy shrine in Sote, Gutu district, in Fort Victoria, now Masvingo province.
The people had gathered for a conference, which the church traditionally held at the shrine on the Rhodes and Founders holiday, on 12 July every year. In 1976, 12 July happened to be on a Monday, so the conference was held from Friday 9 July to Sunday 11 July.
The nonagenarian reverend eloquently told the gathering that his time was up, that he would die soon and three days after his death they would see a sign.
He added that if they did not witness such a sign, they were free to go back to their former wicked ways.
According to popular narrative in the church, one churchman called Dhibhi Munaki stood up and loudly implored God to spare the prophet for some time, but Samuel – quoting from the book of 2 Timothy 4 vs. 7 – rebuked him, arguing that his days were up and he was now waiting for his coronation.
On 20 July 1976, nine days after this fateful prophecy, Rev. Samuel Mutendi peacefully passed on at his Defe Dopota seat in Gokwe South district, in the Midlands province where he had moved to a few years earlier.
On 23 July 1976, exactly three days after his death, a mystical light was seen slowly gliding westwards in the night sky. So slow and unusual was the object that it was witnessed by many around the country and beyond.
According to press reports, the Rhodesian meteorological office, and at least one commercial pilot, saw the object but could only describe it as an unidentified flying object (UFO).
Over the years many have given an account of this notable spectacle, with some church members attesting to have clearly witnessed the visage of the recently departed reverend on the moonlike, gliding object.
According to people who had gathered for the funeral of the late church founder, as soon as they saw the aerial object they started speaking in tongues, including children.
It finally landed at the late prophet’s home in a misty aura, reportedly marking the place where his remains are interred.
To date the Sote prophecy remains one of the most discussed prophecies and one fulfilled in a very short time, nine days to be precise.
While Rev. Mutendi performed many miracles, including raising people from the dead and becoming a renowned rainmaker, the Sote prophecy is widely believed to be the clearest sign that he was, indeed, a true prophet of God.
Samuel Mutendi had started his ministry in 1923 in Bikita, ten years after he was baptized by the holy spirit at the farming town of Hartley (now Chegutu), about 110 km to the west of the capital Salisbury (now Harare).
He was persecuted by both the colonial authorities and the traditional leaders who regarded his newfound Christian faith as a threat to their authority.
He was arrested several times and had six local schools destroyed by the colonial authorities, was forcibly relocated to the tsetse and mosquito infested Gokwe area under chief Jiri around 1967, before finally settling at the current ZCC headquarters at Defe Dopota around 1973.
The ministry he established continues to grow in leaps and bounds.