Think of a pastor and what come to mind is an animated sermon of the apocalypse, the unending call to give and the humble lives of these men and women who were called to serve live.
To say that that has changed drastically is an understatement. Take for instance Prophet Elvis Mbonye of Uganda.
The self-proclaimed Prophet sits in chairs of gold, smells of elegance from his taste for top of the range cars to high-end clothes.
It gets better, the prophet who is valued at 650 million Ugandan shillings, is chauffeured complete with chase cars and bodyguards. His chair at the altar envies that of Queen Elizabeth.
“I have seen God and I will be answerable to Him. I do not get into people’s faces; they come to me...I’m not a pastor that I should frequently be with the sheep. As a prophet I decree the final thing,” said Mbonye
Members of his congregation bow cheer and kiss his feet literally. If you said they worship him you would not be mistaken.
The charismatic pastor is quoted as saying that he has been to heaven and to him heaven was a glamorous place so why would he live differently here on earth? Good question.
“Hell is stuffy, poor, sickly, and degrading. I have been to heaven and it is a glamorous place with streets of gold. All attributes about God are glamour and beauty and I’m of God, so I will unapologetically be always on the side of what is rich. I have heard shallow debates where politicians defend themselves for being in air-conditioned cars. You want me to be in a car where I sweat? ” Said Mbonye.
Mbonye was at one time at the receiving end after his church members were handed a card to pledge 200,000 Ugandan shillings as the minimum.
The prophet runs an over 5,000-seater church that prides in have the who is who in the Ugandan political scene in attendance once in a while.