LISTEN: Chief Justice Mogoeng shares how God raised him to position, called him to lead healing campaign

At an online service on Resurrection Sunday (April 12), Chief Justice Mogoeng accepted a call to lead a national 50-days-of-healing campaign. And in a follow-up Zoom meeting on Monday, around 300 national Christian leaders responded positively to his impassioned call for unity in order to partner in what God is orchestrating in this season. Janine van Niekerk of Radio Pulpit caught up with Judge Mogoeng yesterday — the article below is based on her interview. You can listen to the interview at the bottom of the page.

Asked to share about God’s hand in his career path, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said the Lord first revealed his intentions during a crusade organised by his church in Mahikeng in 2004 when he was Judge President of the North West High Court.

Towards the end of the service, the guest speaker, Richard Grey, who now ministers in Durban, called him forward and asked him what he did for a living. When he replied that he was a judge, Grey told him that the Lord said he was going to occupy the highest position among judges.

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“I was shocked. I did not see myself as somebody who could ever be thought of as a chief justice,” he said.

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Then in 2011, two weeks before he was nominated as Chief Justice of South Africa, an apostle in Washington DC emailed him, saying that while he and his wife were praying the Lord had said that Mogoeng was about to change office and that his name was being discussed in the highest office in the land.

Thereafter, when he was approached by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, and asked if he would accept if nominated to succeed him, he said he could readily agree because the Lord had already spoken.

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He said that some time before he was interviewed for the top post by the Judicial Service Commission, Apostle Linda Gobodo, founder of Vuka Africa Foundation, which is a key player in the 50-days of healing campaign, was driving somewhere in Johannesburg when the Lord told her to stop her car.

Then God said to Gobodo that she was an intercessor and knew that there was a vacancy for the position of chief justice but she had not inquired of Him who he wanted in that office. He told her he had chosen Mogoeng Mogoeng and that she should start praying for him.

Gobodo got together with fellow intercessors and they repented and began to pray for Mogoeng and started to look for him. Gobodo tracked him down in North West where she met with him and prayed with him. And since then he has continued to pray with her and with other children of God, said Mogoeng.

Asked what it means to him to know that God had appointed him to his position, Mogoend said: “Well, I know that I am nothing without God. Every morning I make sure to observe my quality time with my Father in Heaven — praying — in preparation for the day.

“We never know what lies ahead and dangers abound — particularly for the children of God. The devil is always on the lookout to catch you out, destroy you. So if you are not covered by the hand of the most-high God you are finished.”

He said on Monday he was told by an intercessor who prays for him from time to time that the Lord said He looks forward to His times alone with Mogoeng. “It really excited me how my Daddy in Heaven really does appreciate this time as much as I do. So I wake up every morning knowing that if ever I get to the point where I allow pride to make me believe that I got where I am by my own ability or cleverness then I am finished. So I am dependent on God and on His grace.”

Questioned about how he navigated standing boldly for Christ in a space where it is not politically correct, he said some people were trying to silence and nullify Christians, but God is present in our national anthem and the preamble to our Constitution, which means it is proper for believers to speak about God.

“More importantly, freedom of religion is a fundamental right which we all have.”

He said he is committed to carrying out his duties as Chief Justice in a way that does not undermine others. “But that does not mean that I must now, hypocritically, act as if I am not a Christian.”

He said that in the face of agendas that seek to discredit Christianity and remove it from the public square, believers should stand up for their faith.

“If a man like me doesn’t stand up for this constitutional right, who is going to? If I allowed people to intimidate me out of professing my faith, out of acting out my choice, who is going to say:  no there is unfairness here. That’s how I navigate this space — I don’t interfere with other people’s practices or faith but I enjoy mine and when the opportunity arises I don’t hesitate to say that Christ is my Lord and Saviour and to tell others that Christ can help them if they want help from Him.

“Remember, I am not trying to impose Christ on them, I am telling them about the goodness of Jesus Christ in my life, so if they want that goodness it’s fine.”

He acknowledged that he was pleasantly surprised that an online Resurrection Sunday service on April 12 in which he was the main speaker, was picked up by the SABC and broadcast live to the nation on its news channel.

“We have a miracle-working God — and people around the world must realise that revival has started in South Africa. You can only explain what happened on the 12th by recognising that God has taken over — the SABC did not tell us. It’s a miracle to us. God just wanted to spread His message — wanted people to know about the hope and healing and restoration project.”

During the service on the 12th Mogoeng was asked publicly if he would be prepared to lead the national 50-days of healing campaign. He accepted.

Asked to explain the healing campign, he said it was fundamentally about encouraging people to know what Luke 4:4 means — “…man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord”.

He said that many people in SA had lost their dignity and were living in squalid conditions. They lived in fear and had lost hope. But the Word of God is loaded with all the hope — all the healing medicine — needed for every situation. For the body, for marriages, for relationships in the nation where there are still pockets of racism, tribalism, ethnicity and gender discrimination.

All of us are equal before the eyes of God and every challenge — even economic challenges — can be broken by the Word of God, he said.

“So those of us who understand the power of the Word and the power of prayer — would be failing in our duty as children of God if we don’t tell many others: ‘Do you not know that the Word of God works? Do you not know that prayer works?’

“If you want to participate in this programme for your own good and to pray for the country and for the continent of Africa, God will answer. That’s what the programme I am leading is all about.

“Also every Friday from 6pm until Saturday at 6pm we have a 24-hour reading of the Scriptures by the children of God.”

He said the campaign will be spread across the continent in response to many requests from around Africa. They had also had a request from somebody in America requesting that they visit after the lockdown to share the message there.

You can join the 50-Days of Healing the Nation Campaign by emailing a request to info@vukaafricafoundation.co.za

Listen to the full Radio Pulpit interview here: