Christian leader says nothing will stop him from visiting Israel

TALI FEINBERG

The KwaZulu-Natal Christian leader heads up the Mount Zion Christian Centre, a church in KwaZulu-Natal which has about 3 000 followers, and his weekly television show has up to a million viewers across southern Africa.

After visiting Israel on his own steam, he says not even an embassy downgrade will prevent him and his congregation from going there again. “Israel is home because of my beliefs. Our [Mount Zion] emblem even includes the Star of David.

“As a Christian, the root of our belief is in the Jewish faith. So people can’t call Israel names. It’s hard to hear people speak ill of my ‘family’. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but politics can’t influence religion. Just like you can’t stop a Muslim going to Mecca, if I want to go to Israel, no one can stop me. Even if there are restrictions, we’ll get there.”

His recent trip was a long-held dream of his father and grandfather, who never made it to the Holy Land. So Mkhize was fulfilling their dreams and his own. “It was always my desire to visit Holy Land. You read the Bible, but I felt that to get the whole story, you have to go to the place where the Bible took place. My father founded our church in 1972, and it was always his dream to make this pilgrimage.”

Throughout the trip, he wore a white hat that belonged to his father and grandfather as a way of paying tribute to them and passing the baton from one generation to the next. It was also a symbol of peace.

“When I got out of the plane in Tel Aviv, I was overcome with emotion. This wasn’t what we normally see on TV. We think it’s only bombed-out buildings, so this was totally different.” Traversing the country over 10 days, he felt he had only “scratched the surface”. The highlight was visiting the Western Wall.

“When I stepped into the courtyard at the wall, I cried. I don’t know what made me so emotional, but I just wept. I had written prayers from my family that I put in the wall. I went again a few days later on a Friday, and again I wept. It’s extremely spiritual.”

Mkhize also got the chance to relax and enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Tel Aviv, which he says felt like being in California. He was baptised in the Jordan River, and visited the Sea of Galilee. He hopes to return at least twice a year.

He says he will encourage his congregants and followers to go to Israel, and is planning a possible tour over Easter in 2020. He knows that a possible downgrade of South Africa’s embassy in Tel Aviv might make this more difficult, but he is determined that no one who wants to visit the Holy Land should be hindered because of politics.

Mkhize points out that he shouldn’t have to go to Israel to connect with the Jewish community. “Let’s meet, share our experiences, and learn from each other. We shouldn’t have to go to Israel to meet the Jewish people – we have you here in South Africa! And we’re here. I’ve never been inside a synagogue, or to a proper Sabbath. I would love to experience that. It would be an honour.”

After expressing this wish to the SA Jewish Report, Mkhize was invited by the Durban Jewish community to join them for their Sukkot celebration.