Makhanda

FAITH

At Word Embassy Church, the pastor hammers home a practical message

Article by
Steve Davis & Reggie Seigler

Photo & Video by
Dominique Hildebrande

Preaching is serious business, but Prophet Lizo Dyibishe sure has fun going about that business. His clearly adoring Apostolic congregation enjoys it, too.

Lizo’s two-hour combination sermon-riff on the last day of 2017 was regularly punctuated with promises he was “wrapping up,” but visitors quickly caught on that this was an inside joke shared weekly with the congregation at Word Embassy Church in Extension 7 in the Makhanda township.

New Year’s Eve fell on a Sunday, reason for the pastor to revisit some no-doubt well-worn but appreciated themes that an accompanist occasionally punctuated on keyboards.

“You don’t need a man. He’s promising you the world — but he doesn’t even have a job! You tell him, ‘Get the job first, please.’ ”

Hovering over a sheepish-looking young man in a light pink jacket, the pastor asked: “What do you know about love? You’re 17.”

Then to the teen girls: “You don’t need a man. He’s promising you the world — but he doesn’t even have a job! You tell him, ‘Get the job first, please.’ ”

The inside of Siyanda Mphelo's home in Extension 6 in Makhanda, South Africa.

The congregation, the very definition of dressed in your Sunday best, laughed in approval in the church meeting hall, a high-ceilinged armory-style structure named Noluthando Hall for the beloved wife of a white township leader from years back. As a plaque explains, rather than name the building after a white person, which could cause problems, residents chose the descriptive Xhosa name for “the one we love.”

Indeed, love was another theme this Sunday to a congregation of 300, thinned by half by the holidays, when many leave town. “Love yourself, first,” the pastor advised. “People who hate you hate themselves.” Lizo paused for effect: If you love yourself, he implied, then how can you hate others?

“My vision was to try and remove that poverty mentality, especially from people of color.”

Lizo, who started the church in 2002 here, oversees three others in other communities. They offer traditional services such as soup kitchens, but Lizo says it’s education and inspiring youth that is at the church’s core. At graduation time, the church invites in speakers from local schools and also Rhodes University, the highly respected college downtown.

“My vision was to try and remove that poverty mentality, especially from people of color,” he said.

The inside of Siyanda Mphelo's home in Extension 6 in Makhanda, South Africa.

“Money is not the paper you hold,” he tells his young members. “Money is a measurement of value. If your value is low, that’s why you are paid like that.” His lesson: Go study and increase your value.

“If you are running after money, money will run from you. Money does not follow people who run after it. Money follows value.”

The inside of Siyanda Mphelo's home in Extension 6 in Makhanda, South Africa.

That two-hour sermon is not the beginning of Sunday service. That belongs to Associate Minister Loid, who starts the worship day off with a rousing and very spirited 15 to 20 minutes of prayer and then moves the services over to Praise and Worship, where he plays the keyboards. Praise and Worship usually involves congregational participation in a litany of lively songs that are written for the purpose of uplifting and praising god’s name, usually led by a small “praise team.”

Loid is 22 years old and began playing the keyboards about five years ago. He sees his playing as an extension of his higher calling, which he says is to “bring people into submission to honor God.”

Asked if he was paid to play for the services he provided at the church, he gave a simple “no,” though with a puzzled expression.

Told that many musicians in America who perform in the church are paid for their services and oftentimes supplement that income with additional performances for funerals, weddings and parties, his mind seemed to be churning for a beat.

No one he knows of is paid for playing in the church, he said, adding that he is trying to build a studio to earn extra money by producing songs for singers and rappers.

“I believe God will provide for me,” he said.

No chasing after money for Minister Loid.