Moria Moria


So curiosity got the better of me and I finally decided to visit Moria. Yes, Moria the headquarters of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC). To jog your Sunday School memory, Moriah is the mountain where Abraham was to sacrifice his son Isaac, at God’s command. If you’re a member of the ZCC, Moria is your spiritual home where the prophet Bishop Dr Barnabas Lekganyane resides and it is the destination of each Easter pilgrimage where more than 3 million members gather. The ZCC has membership of more than 6 million, making it one of, if not the largest Christian denomination in Southern Africa.


                            Aerial view of the City of Moria courtesy of Ivan Muller

Moria has been on my to do list for a few years. I have enormous interest in people of different denomination, culture, religion, race & nationality. This is the main reason I travel the world, especially Africa in recent years. I still dream of Pre-colonial Africa where there was freedom of movement and no segregation along ethnic or geographical lines. The reason behind producing a passport to travel a mere 40 minutes between Nairobi & Kilimanjaro or a 1 hour flight between Johannesburg and Maputo still baffles me.

 I digress...

Back to Moria, I bet you have heard or even made a few jokes about Moria or the ZCC but have you asked yourself who they are or what they stand for? I'm not going to give you answers to those questions here unfortunately but I WILL tell you about my experience in Moria.

On 22 March 2015 my horseband Kenny, my sister (niece) Lil Q and I decided to take the #RoadTrip. I love road trips to nowhere. When Kenny arrived to pick us up that morning, he was surprised to find us wearing shorts instead of long dresses, long sleeves and headscarves. You HAVE seen ZCC women, right? They dress very presentably, long dresses; heads scarves; not forgetting the ZCC five pointed silver star badge on the left side of the chest. *shrug*  I was not prepared to go on a road trip dressed in long dress and a doek. Where's the fun in that? Hellooooo?!

                                   VERSUS


Anyway we got the car & our stomachs filled up, took a few selfies and made our way towards the North.  The trip was a blur adventure characterised by laughter and a random playlist from Kenny's iPhone. The untamed beauty of South Africa remains unparalleled. Limpopo & its beautiful views, the gentleness of its people is enough to disarm you.                                        




                                                         
A few hours later we touched down, Moria!!!



Security directed us to the search area where we parked and awaited further instruction.  As we got off the car, we got very weird looks from the community. You know that Exodus 3 "Moses do not come near here. Take off your shoes (or rather put on some decent clothing in our case) for the place on which you are standing is holy ground" kind of look? Yeah that. Well, Lil Q and I WERE plastered in make up and had large earrings on. We had covered our legs in long pants by then at least LOL! It got so awkward, one of the elders mumbled "we wear pants because WE are the men here" That did not bother us too much, our church back home shares the same sentiment. Luckily our father has never forced such rules upon us. We responded by "we do have clothes to change into bontate" Lil Q & I were escorted to the ladies' change room and we got into more conservative clothing. We had to show respect, Moria IS the holy city after all. Under the blazing 38 degrees of Limpopo, I had on a maxi dress; long sleeved sweat top and a doek. One lady even complimented Lil Q "Bona o montle yang?  Doek ya o tshwanela." Kenny on the other hand was dressed to the nines: pants, formal shirt, blazer and all. 

                                         Lil Q selfie in her Makoti swagger

The elders (security) were strict about cameras. We were instructed to leave our phones and cameras at the gate after being quizzed about how many pictures we had taken inside and outside the property. I would have loved to take pictures of the village, Lil Q in her makoti gear and the congregation at large but alas.

Once we were in the car, ready to start our tour of the village one of the elders offered or rather insisted to accompany us. I gave up my front seat, as is customary. My parents would disown me for letting an elder sit in the back while I assumed the position "yo mfazi we polisa" (This is a Nguni saying about how a policeman's wife sits in the front-seat while prisoners sit uncomfortably in the back of the van)


We drove slowly through the village, the elder (a man of very few words) giving us more information on the church itself, the hierarchy and the different uniforms. He also showed us the school where the Bishop did his primary education. I asked a lot of questions, I was there to find out more about the church. 
A few moments later we stopped in front of the main church building. Our tour guide emphasised "do not get out of the car until I come back." There were at least 4000 members walking around the village that Sunday. They simply stood there staring at us. We felt rather very out of place.Without our phones, it was worse. Technology gives one that assurance that one can easily communicate with the rest of the world.

The elder came back to collect us. We were rather apprehensive about getting off the car.  It would be impossible to blend in, I thought. First of all we were not in uniform. How do we even explain our friendship/polygamy? We decided that Kenny & I are husband and wife and Lil Q is our daughter ahahahahaha. We were taken to the offices on the first floor of the church building to meet a church representative, whom at the first sight of me asked whether I did not have a blazer to cover my shoulders. I thought "No this again, I'm boiling under all these layers, dude." The second question was whether we are journalists, where we come from and what we are doing there. I guess our response that "no, we are mere citizens of South Africa interested in the ZCC and decided to visit" did not quite cut it. He told us a bit more about the faith & spoke proudly of their prophet and committing to a life where alcohol and cigarettes are replaced by a badge and a cap. I have to say that people there live a simple life man. Uniform, no pressure to look better than the next person. They all look the same. 

Once we were done we got back in the car and made our way to the gate. The elder's attitude had changed so much by then. He was very welcoming and conversational, even tried to accommodate Lil Q & I by speaking English. My Setswana only takes me as far as Hammanskraal and not further. I was totally out of depth. Thank goodness for Kenny's presence, he did his best speaking his Setswana First Language, which came in rather handy as we tried to negotiate our way into & around the village. The time was not enough, I would love to learn more about the church. What the media tells us is nothing compared to what we witnessed that day. When you have time, take a road trip and get lost in the beauty of Limpopo. Make your way to Moria, you won't regret it. 

The experience for me was a once in a lifetime. To the people of Moria & Limpopo at large: 

KGOTSO E BE LE LENA



                                  Infrastructure upgrades in Moria (Department of Transport)



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