18 Jun 2018

It was an emotionally charged Sunday, June 17, in Francistown as the St Paul Apostolic Faith Mission remembered one of their spiritual fathers in the late Reverend Elias Dima.

Members of the church came in droves to remember the man, who contributed immensely to the growth of the Francistown circuit and many of the church’s circuits around the country.

Different speakers had only kind words for the late man of God, whom they described as loving, kind-hearted and hardworking.

One of the men, who knew the late reverend, Mr Chris Borekilwe described him as having been so passionate about his church that he dedicated almost all his time pushing for its success.

He lauded him for turning the Francistown church branch into what it is today, in that when he took its leadership, the branch had virtually no assets, but currently, Mr Borekilwe stated, the church had its own plot registered in its name.

“The reverend led three circuits of St Paul Church being Francistown, Masunga and Tonota and for all the three, he ensured that he mobilised funds and sometimes used personal resources to erect physical structures for those churches. As we speak, all the three churches are sitting on plots applied for by the late reverend and not registered personally to him but the church,” Mr Borekilwe said.

Touching on some of the late Reverend Dima’s notable achievements, he said, it was through his visionary leadership while chairperson of the Francistown Ministers Fraternal that the Jubilee Hospital Mortuary was built.

“He had seen the need for the city to have a mortuary at the hospital then and he mobilised for funds to have the mortuary at Jubilee built. Instead of having the mortuary registered privately to enrich himself and his associates, he decided that it be donated to the hospital,” he narrated.

Additionally, the late reverend was committed to the welfare of his fellow citizens, said Mr Borekilwe, recalling that at one time, the late led a delegation of other pastors to the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) offices in Gaborone to seek assistance in helping some Francistown residents who had been affected by natural disasters.

“Mr Dima was also an astute businessman known locally and in other areas of the country and what I enjoyed the most was being in his shop and seeing him call random people and handing them free gifts,” he said in conclusion.

Ms Tshireletso Motswagothata, who met Rev. Dima in 1970, recalled how during the infancy of the Francistown St Paul Apostolic Faith Mission, they operated from a temporary shelter at his home.

“His home was always fully packed with many people coming to him for prayers and some to seek economic relieves and he would hand out groceries to the less fortunate,” Ms Motswagothata said.

The guest speaker, chairperson of the Francistown Ministers Fraternal, Bishop John Ramotshabi described how his life had changed after meeting Reverend Dima in the early 90s.

“Although I was one of the youngest pastors then, the late reverend ensured that everyone treated me with respect and he always showered me with the love of a father to a son.

He taught me a lot about God and leadership,” Bishop Ramotshabi said.

Like speakers before him, the Bishop narrated his own story with the late Reverend Dima when they undertook a trip to Gaborone to meet the then Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the late Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe.

“He was gifted in convincing people of what he wanted to achieve and we let him take control of the meeting with the late Lt Gen. Merafhe, until the minister was convinced that what we were there to tell him had to be looked into and a decision on it be taken promptly,” he said.

The Member of Parliament for Francistown West, Mr Ignatius Moswaane commended the church for remembering some of their pioneers.

Mr Moswaane said the church had a rich and diverse history and called for such history to be accurately preserved for future use.

On the day, church members proceeded to the grave yard in Phase 5, where Reverend Dima, who died on June 12, 1998 was buried alongside his wife, Christinah, who passed away in 2016 to pay respect. Ends