The General Director of Authentic World Ministries and the Senior Pastor of Zion Temple Celebration Center Churches in the World, Apostle Dr. Paul Gitwaza, was heavily criticized on social media after he appeared in a sermon he had prepared saying that Rastafari is a satanic religion.

This evangelist, who has had a great reputation since the last 30 years, returned to it in detail in his lecture in the city of Queensland in Australia, on Saturday, December 7, 2024.

It is part of an evangelistic series called ‘Divine Provision’. It was a meeting attended by a large number of young people, leaders of various churches, pastors, bishops and others who were influenced by the teachings of this evangelist.

During the two hours and 50 minutes, Gitwaza focused on telling the pastors of the churches the behavior that should characterize them; and how they should help Christians communicate with God through various activities.

At the 30th minute, he starts to make it clear that it is not appropriate for a girl wearing pants to appear on the dance floor preaching or even singing; it is while at the 32nd minute that he is very careful to say that no boy is allowed to go to the party with earrings, and even the hair on his head.

He continued, “No boy is allowed to come and sing here with braids, braided hair, No!”

He said, “The Rastafari is a religion called Rastafari. Rastafari is the religion of Satan. So children wear them without knowing what they are. Go get a haircut and have a good hair.”

Apostle Gitwaza told the youth and others in his meeting who have curly hair to change it early ‘because that’s how your culture is’. “That’s what the Bible tells us to do,” he said.

He continued saying, “I say this to you everywhere, because I know the truth of it, I know what is hidden in it. The spirit of cannabis and unhappiness are holy in the hair. Even when God is going to use the holy in the hair.”

Rastafari mentioned by the Apostle Gitwaza, what are the people?

Rastafari is a family but on the other hand it is considered a religion. Rasta culture is largely associated with the colonization of Africa.

In other words, the Rastas compared Ethiopia as the Promised Land, while the European countries were taken as slaves and treated as ‘Bablyon’.

That is why ‘Rastafarian’ dominates Ethiopian culture because Ethiopia is believed to be Africa. But the Rastas did not come from Ethiopia.

This organization started in Jamaica in 1930 after the prophecy of Marcus Gavin who was a black politician who led the Universal Negro organization, who was considered an evangelist.

It was this man who spoke the word that led to the creation of ‘Rastafarian’. Somewhere he said “Look in Africa where a black king will be crowned and he will be your redeemer”- These are the words that became the basis of this organization.

Marcus Gavin was a Jamaican political reformer who died in London, England on November 2, 1930.

When the first Haile Selassie was proclaimed as the first king in Ethiopia, the Rastas saw it as the fulfillment of Gavin’s prophecy and the Rastas took their name from this king.

Rastas believe that Haile Selassie is descended from Solomon and the Queen of Shebab.

That is, the common point is that the Rastas believe that on the day Sheba visited Solomon, they slept and gave birth to a child named Menelik who became the first king of Ethiopia and Haile Selassie is descended from this king Menelik.

This makes the Arabs believe that ‘King Seras is related to David and Jesus through Solomon’.

Ras King, who is among those who have shown it on different occasions, and who is a strong believer in Rastafari, told the media that he and his colleagues firmly believe that Haile Selassie has been chosen, and that he has won everything, and that it is also mentioned in the Bible.

He said, “So Haile Selassie is the one we believe has been chosen and is the winner. This is not a fabrication but from the Bible, for example in Genesis 49:10 it says “The rod of authority shall not depart from Judah.”

“It is when in Revelation 5:5 “The Rastas believe that Seras is the king (even) that was mentioned since that time and the religion of ‘Rastafarianism’ began to be known and was introduced among the blacks who were taken to Jamaica.”

He continued, “The name ‘Rastafari’ came from the real name it was called before it was baptized because it was called ‘Rastafari makoneni’ when the followers of ‘Rastafari’ started to meet, Howen was the one who popularized ‘Rastafarian’ when he was telling the world that ‘Rastafarian’ will be more popular than ‘Babylon’. Their faith is amazing!