Banned From U.K., South Africa, Botswana — Anti-Gay Pastor Steven Anderson Outlines New Plan

Anti-gay Pastor Steven Anderson is referring to his Botswana mission trip as a failure, after being forcibly removed from the country. He hasn’t given up yet, though. He’s still seeking a surrogate to carry his religious beliefs through the country, and start a church that will promote them. In a recent video, Anderson explained what he’s looking for and declares that if the Botswana mission was a failure, he hopes every mission fails equally.

On his YouTube channel, Anderson provided an update on Thursday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=257&v=AvFUKufgMD0

“Obviously the church is not going to be founded at this time. Faithful Word Baptist Church Botswana is going to have to wait until some future date.”

However, Anderson isn’t giving up — he has a series of suggestions for further attempts to spread his views in Botswana.

“Someone local could be trained and spearhead that ministry…”

Alternately, Anderson suggests, someone from his church could go through the process of becoming a naturalized citizen and run his church there.

Steven Anderson became widely known as an anti-gay pastor when he praised the murders in a nightclub in Orlando, calling the LGBTQ community “sodomites” and declaring that an “execution” of these victims would have been carried out by a righteous government.

These anti-gay remarks are a large part of what brought Pastor Anderson to the attention of governments in South Africa, the U.K., and Botswana. In July, as Anderson planned his “soul-winning” trip to South Africa, petitions circulated requesting that the government keep Anderson out. The Department of Home Affairs responded that they had no authority to do so at the time since Steven Anderson had broken no laws there.

Earlier this month, however, the decision was reversed. Pastor Anderson and his anti-gay views were labeled as undesirable, and he was forbidden from entering the country.

Anderson changed his plans, directing his mission instead to Botswana. According to the SPLC, orders were issued to prevent the anti-gay pastor from entering Botswana, but he entered before all border control posts were notified.

Anderson promoted a new social media page for that mission, which proudly lauded anti-gay laws in Botswana.

Saying “This is encouraging!,” Anderson’s new page linked to Wikipedia’s page on LGBT rights in Botswana.

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Botswana face legal issues not experienced by non-LGBT citizens. Both female and male same-sex sexual acts are illegal in Botswana.”

However, the government of Botswana clearly did not support Anderson’s anti-gay agenda, regardless of local laws regarding LGBT rights.

They moved to deport Anderson and other members of his party. As he boasts, other church members were able to stay and carry the message, which Anderson says “half the people in the country, at least” agree with, and his photo and story was featured in multiple news sources in Botswana.

Thus, though Pastor Steven Anderson calls the downfall — or at minimum delay — of the Botswana branch of his anti-gay church a failure, it’s clear that he sees silver linings — he says that at least 250 people have been saved — presumably meaning that they have accepted his church’s views — and they and other church members continue to share his words.

Further, Anderson says he wasn’t allowed into the United Kingdom at all — even forbidden to get a connecting flight in London.

Notably, despite his complaints at not being permitted to proselytize in these countries, Anderson spoke on a separate matter (according to Mamba Online, the assault of a man who questioned Anderson’s anti-gay stances) by asserting that Anderson himself would politely leave when asked.

“The ‘old man’ was given multiple warnings to leave the church building.
I guess you don’t understand trespass law or private property rights.
We respect private property. If you ask me to leave when I come to share the Gospel with you, we will politely leave your property.”

Though the country has rejected the anti-gay pastor, Steven Anderson appears to be indicating that he is still seeking someone to carry on his church in Botswana.

[Featured Image by Steven Anderson/YouTube]