I was encouraged to share my testimony here on Fulcrum, and I thought it was a good idea.
My story begins in Africa four generations ago with my great-grandfather. As legend has it, he was struck by lightning but survived un-singed and earned his name “Wangai,” which translated means “man of God.”
It wasn’t until the next generation when his son, my grandfather, Wangai Sr., came across White American missionaries who gave him Bible studies, baptized him and ordained him to become an Adventist minister. But the land was British East Africa and in those days church leadership was comprised of European or White American missionaries.
When Kenya gained its independence from the British in 1964, my grandfather was entrusted to become the first Black or African head of the Union and take the reins from its White leaders. I can’t imagine what that was like. My grandfather, like many other Africans, had participated in the struggle for independence from British Imperialism and was jailed for his participation for freedom. He never talked about those dark days and I never heard even an ounce of bitterness come out of his lips even though he may have seen the blood of his own comrades in the hands of White British men. After all he endured, he was tasked to bridge the divide between what White missionaries started and expanding Adventism among African people.
My grandmother, his wife, discovered that ministry as a pastor’s wife was almost as good as being a pastor.
Together, they endeared themselves to the White missionaries and learned all they could about raising her family in an Adventist way, which to many Africans seemed too “White” for their liking. They gave up eating meat (which in Africa is a big part of our diet), they gave up their ritualistic traditions and by-and-large became as Adventist (read: “White”) as possible, save for their native language which they still spoke. They were weird to their own people and were cultural outcasts who refused to participate in social events on Sabbath or drink traditional fermented brews. But that weirdness, or separateness, became a hallmark of their 65 years of ministry as they baptized thousands into Adventism and opened schools and dispensaries among various tribal and ethnic groups in the region.
I once asked my grandfather how many languages he spoke, he started counting and didn’t stop. Africa is diverse and so is its culture. But his persistent foe was what we now call Black spiritualism.
Traditional culture in Africa is collectivist and identities span throughout generations to safeguard the perpetuity of the people and their culture. Take for example, our naming system. In my tribe, we name our children after their grandparents: so, I’m named after my grandmother and my dad calls me mom, even though she has been dead for almost ten years. Then you have the extreme part of other cultures that believe in ancestral worship or necromancy as a way to maintain closeness with their departed family members. This brings us to the heart of spiritualism.
My grandfather was invited countless times in his ministry to exorcise spirits from villages and cast out demons from the possessed. The Africans always wondered why this Adventist pastor had the power that their Sunday-keeping pastors didn’t – it’s simple, in Adventism we do not ascribe to the doctrine of immortality of the soul (memorize, if you can, The Great Controversy). It wasn’t what he believed, it was how he lived, my grandfather didn’t live as an African he lived as a Seventh-day Adventist, he allowed Jesus Christ to be his only Lord and Savior and did not subject himself to anything else. That is surrender: racially, culturally, and spiritually.
Fast forward to me, how did I end up a conservative on Fulcrum? Well, like many church-bred Adventists I was born into the faith and attended our church schools. I came to America at the age of 17 and was immediately confronted with the issue of identity. Was I African, Black or Adventist – and why did I have to choose between the three?
After a lifetime of travel and living among different cultures, I moved to my current home in California and found my grandfather’s persistent foe: spiritualism. What many don’t know is that California is the capital of spiritualism.
First, Hollywood is deeply entrenched in the occult world of witchcraft (watch sermons by Walter Veith if you can) and I met many who worked in Hollywood who confided in me that they had persistently encountered countless demons controlling the industry.
Secondly, because of the predominantly Latin culture, Catholicism is the predominant denomination, and again I met many former Catholics that frequently encountered spirits of their departed relatives.
Thirdly, California is a weird place period: It’s the gateway to anything and everything.
So, when strange things started happening in my own life that I couldn’t describe I turned back to the writings of Ellen White: this was spiritualism, but in my own life too? Which door did I leave open? I wanted to maintain my identity as a Black woman and stay as closely connected with my African culture – that was the open door.
After years of praying and fasting, it became evident to me that Black spiritualism had not departed it had only resurrected in the form of liberalism or leftism and pan-Africanism. As a member of the African diaspora, the great lengths that Africans go through to maintain their culture kept us inoculated from hearing the truth about our own culture. We as Blacks and Africans have our problems and they are all rooted in what we call Black Spiritualism. Our insecurities, our fears and our mistrust of other races are the strongholds that the enemy uses to keep us in the faulty system of racial separateness. We don’t like to hear the truth because we are afraid of upsetting our ancestors. Our culture is a fear-based culture. Blacks are being tormented, not by Whites, but by the spirits we empower by our fears. Racism is a demon that can only be overcome by the love of Jesus Christ. My favorite text is 1 John 4:18: “Perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment.”
When I recommitted my life to Jesus Christ, it was a complete turn-around for me. I got rid of all traditional cultural artifacts, stopped listening to Black music - Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B, Soul, Jazz and Gospel - and I threw out my TV. I stopped listening to the garbage that came out of most Black churches and pulpits – and it stopped. The spirits that hovered around me no longer had power because Jesus Christ is my shield and defender. I have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ – I belong to Him and no one else! I am free indeed (John 8:36).
So yes, yes and yes: I am Black and African and Adventist. But a Christian first and foremost. I don’t have to wear traditional clothes or behave or talk in a certain way to prove that I am who I am. I have encountered racism but sadly, like my grandfather, it has come from my own Black people whom I love but who don’t want to hear the truth. I am a conservative because the lies of liberalism have almost cost me my life that’s why the truth is worth fighting for. I even dated a White man who had British ancestry – yes a White British man whose forefathers were possibly responsible for my own forefathers tragedies. You know what I learned, that there is nothing in my heart but Jesus Christ and him crucified for me. I belong to Christ and no imperial or racial power can change that. My life is surrendered – racially, culturally and spiritually.
We are living in strange racial times I understand. It is hard to be Black, White or anything else because hatred is being pedaled by the media, Hollywood, Black pulpits, White pulpits and everywhere you turn you can be labeled a racist.
This is what I have to say, we are in spiritual warfare not racial warfare. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” says Paul (2 Corinthians 10:4,5). You do not have to turn up to the battle because the war has already been won by Jesus Christ. You do not have to prove that you are not racist by doing this or saying that because Jesus Christ knows your heart. Those who care about you will accept you regardless of your appearance because Christianity is in the heart, the character, not the skin color. Is there still work to be done? Yes.
Are there tough conversations to be had? Of course. My question is, do you really love your brother as yourself or are you trying to prove how good you really are or virtue-signaling (John 15:13). The heart of the matter is the heart - not the skin color. Bitterness, resentment, racism, hatred, unforgiveness, fear…what door are you leaving open? There is heaven to be gained and hell to be renounced by our attitudes and choices here on earth.
I also have a dream like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but my dream is for my Seventh-day Adventist church. “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). I dream that we will abolish race-based conferences in America. I dream that our Adventist faith will firmly renounce all forms of spiritualism whether it be Black or White. I dream that our church will expose and renounce the demonic stronghold that Hollywood has on our culture, our children, and even some of us still. I dream that we will renounce all hate groups in America and around the world such as BLM. I dream that Blacks will stand up for Whites - their lives also matter. I dream we will call out racism by its rightful name whether it comes out from the pulpit, what our children are reading in our schools, or conversations that are happening behind closed doors in the halls of Adventist power. I dream that we will not have to have painful conversations with our children because they will grow up in a church where they feel safe whether they are Black or White. I dream that we will have the boldness to show the world that we can get along and respect each other – and hopefully come to love one another. I dream many things and so do you.
What I really hope is that we will keep trying to do the good works which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). One foot in front of the other till we reach those pearly gates above. And so, we journey on.
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Liza Ngenye is a third-generation Adventist living in Southern California.
She can be reached by email: lizangenye@gmail.com