Like columns of ants, thousands of men stream back to the massive stage towering eight storeys high. The morning service finished minutes ago so why are they being called back to the arena?
The announcement leaves them speechless: Uncle Angus collapsed after the service, he has been taken to hospital and no one knows how serious his condition is.
The crowd drop to their knees and start to pray for evangelist Angus Buchan’s recovery. Men cry openly, their hands outstretched to the heavens, searching for an explanation. Their voices echo through the green hills of the KZN Midlands surrounding the arena.
The next morning an exhausted and emotional ANGUS BUCHAN (62) is back on the stage and everyone here believes they’ve witnessed a miracle.
The first Mighty Men Conference held five years ago on Buchan’s farm about 70 km from Pietermaritzburg drew 240 people. According to the organisers about 150 000 attended the 2009 conference.
Dean Wright and Niven Viljoen of Pietermaritzburg sit next to a grey BMW, a fold-up table with snacks between them. “People from all levels of society have gathered here. No one feels out of place or unwelcome,” Dean says.
Nearby a bunch of guys from Frankfort struggle to pitch their caravan tent. Louwrens Bibbey says it’s the fourth time he’s attending a Mighty Men event and his wife doesn’t mind that she’s not allowed to come along. “Because when we get back we’re nice to them again,” he says with a laugh.
Amanda Snyman came from Howick for the last day. She rants against those who judge Buchan as a sexist, rigidly conservative man with outdated ideas. “He’s just saying what it says in the Bible. That’s all. Of course these are old values but time has taught us these are the only values that are steadfast.”
The crowd’s beloved Uncle Angus appears on the stage amid loud cheers, a Bible in one hand, the other stretched out to the heavens.
He has never felt as helpless as when he collapsed the previous day, an emotional Buchan tells the crowd. “The Lord brought me back from the jaws of death. Thank you, Lord!”
The service is over within an hour. Buchan is exhausted. He’s led from the stage and taken in a bakkie to his house.
Emotions were still running high after the events of the weekend. By Monday afternoon new SMSes start doing the rounds: Uncle Angus had fallen ill again.
But these were all just rumours. He’s in good health and at home. And in the next few months he’ll preach in Krugersdorp, Rustenburg. Bloemfontein and Upington.
