The Littlest Messiah

Elias Murambodoro's father was frightened. What kind of son, he wondered, had he put into the world? The boy had begun to talk unusually early, and the father finally concluded that voodoo must be to blame. Throwing mother and child out of his hut, he disappeared into the bush.

According to Elias' mother, the boy was unusual in other ways. He was born with all his teeth, she claimed, a sure sign that he had come straight from Heaven. He was preaching the Gospel before he was a year old, and at five, she said, Elias could read the Bible upside down in several African languages. With her husband out of the way, Mother Murambodoro (who had often listened to Protestant missionaries) loudly proclaimed that Elias was Jesus reborn with a black skin, and many an African believed her.

Nine months ago, in the township of Harere, on the outskirts of Salisbury, capital of the Central African Federation, little Elias first mounted the pulpit--a Pepsi-Cola crate. The six-year-old boy was handsome, dignified; he exuded authority and wore shoes. His mother, in a flowing white robe, stood behind him chanting softly and clasping her hands. About them gathered a crowd of naked children, zoot-suited men and women in gaily-colored print dresses. Little Elias threw back his head and closed his eyes. "Hear my word!" he cried in Shona, a native dialect. "It was your fault, sinners, that our Lord died on that cross. He was nailed up there because you have been liars, thieves and adulterers before and after he went to his death. Repent, if he is to return to your hearts and homes."

No mere parroter of the Gospel, Elias displays an exceptional knowledge of the Scriptures. Two weeks after he began his meetings, he was drawing crowds of 2,000 and 3,000 people. With the jungle grapevine at work, word spread that he had the power of miracle healing, and hundreds of sick and maimed Africans in Rhodesia flocked to pray at his feet.

Mother and child are currently traveling up and down Northern and Southern Rhodesia holding healing services. Last week, before mud huts and in forest clearings, Elias opened his services to open-mouthed Africans: "Do not mock that a child should dare to speak to his elders, because I bring you the words of God." Christian missionaries in Rhodesia plan to dissuade their converts from following little Elias, but they are waiting to see whether the boy is just a freak or whether he will really catch on. Meanwhile, Elias has expressed his earthly ambition. Said he: "I want to become the world's youngest bishop."

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