A United Methodist Church Reverend (pastor) avoided getting hurt badly when churchgoers pushed him out of the building during a fight between his family members.
Reverend Blessing Saunyama, who is in charge of the United Methodist Church's Stream View Circuit in Chikanga, Mutare, was leading a service when his relatives stormed the church.
Eyewitnesses told The Manica Post that Saunyama's family members went to the church around noon and asked to talk to the reverend about their problems.
They said that the man of the cloth was causing trouble in the family by doing things that were against God and almost like wizardry.
Local church elders are said to have stopped Saunyama's family members from getting to the pulpit. In response, Saunyama's family members yelled obscenities and threatened to beat up the reverend.
The Reverend's family members said that he was to blame for the deaths of several of them. Said a congregant:
People in the church pulled Rev. Saunyama out of the building as the marauding group called for his blood.
Some people say that the angry men hit him a few times, but I didn't see it.
I know that Rev. Saunyama's relatives beat up church elders because the elders helped Rev. Saunyama escape.
If the angry group had been able to trap Rev. Saunyama in a corner, something bad would have happened.
Another church member said that the disturbances got so bad that the police had to be called. She told me:
I'm not sure if they said they were from Mutasa or Nyanga, but I think they did.
They cursed and said that the reverend was to blame for the deaths in their family.
They were really angry. To stop the trouble, the police had to be called.
Reverend Saunyama, on the other hand, denied that his relatives beat him up. He said:
I've never been hit. During the trouble, no one touched me. Physically and emotionally, I'm fine.