Looking to the Lord for 2008

With the present situation in this country, we decided to go for grass roots ministry this year, rather than for big meetings or conferences.

This was at a Leaders’ Meeting, which we held on Monday evening, 17^th December, to discuss the coming year and try to get the beginnings of a Calendar for 2008. Not all were free to attend but we had Father Michael Hood, Mr Linus Nyakuhwa, Mrs Pelagia Masuku, Mrs Sesedzai Makaure, and Mrs Emma Muvirimi.

We will not exclude big meetings, especially Leaders’ Training Weekends, and perhaps a Community Day. However, there are many people with big needs these days, even in every family. We want to have Saturday training for point-of-need ministry, and we will encourage the Oldies, as well as the Newbies to be there.

We will have another Saturday afternoon session for Seminar training. It will help us to take a fresh look at the Seminar and share our experiences. Bringing people to baptism in the Spirit is something basic to which the Lord has called us and we want to see it happening all over Harare and Chitungwiza.

For a long time, we have neglected discipleship here in Harare, even though we give it when we go out to other areas. We decided to have discipleship at the Community House, every first Saturday of the month, for supportive group leaders, who can then give the same in their own areas. They can come with one or two others and work as a team. We will have to decide with those taking part whether once a month will be enough.

It will be good for supportive group leaders to meet regularly. Besides discipleship, there will be other topics, and they can share experiences and help one another.

People in supportive groups can contribute to transport costs of the leaders and to the cost of photocopying discipleship papers, (we need our own photocopier).

Next meeting will be with Mr Innocent Zininga in early January, on BLCC youth.

This was a good meeting with everyone showing leadership by sharing openly and in a good spirit. It set an example for the whole community. If we all pull together in this way, we will increase our effectiveness for the kingdom of God.

BLCC Calendar for 2008

First Saturday of the month, starting 2 February – Discipleship

Saturday 23 February, 1:30 p.m. – Point-of-need training

Saturday 15 March, 1:30 p.m. – Seminar Training

25–27 April – Leadership Training at Community House

29–31 August – Leadership Training at Community House

5–7 December – Leadership Training at Community House

That is what we have so far.

CHRISTMAS

See http://thegodbox.blogspot.com

Immanuel – God with us

Happy Christmas!

Learning from experience at Chikwaka

Visit to Chikwaka, 7th to 9th Dec. 2007; team: Liberty Zinhara (leader), Ms Viola Motsi, and Colin Makeche.

They say that it is hard for a man to cry, but in Chikwaka, when they gave a Seminar this weekend, they gave the teaching on repenting and believing in more of a preaching way, and men and women cried.

As God is touching people’s lives and meeting their needs, more people are coming to the BLCC Community at Chikwaka to ask about this Jesus.

Those who came at the start and then disappeared are coming back. They are admitting that they cheated us before and pretended to praise God but now they are repenting because they see God is answering the prayers of those who believe in Jesus.

At the last visit, the team prayed for one woman who was disabled and using crutches for eight years. This time they found she had put the crutches aside and she is walking normally.

They had also prayed for a broken marriage. The father had left, and for twelve years was not looking after his family. The team found this time that the man is providing clothing and school fees for the children.

There was also a woman with a hysterical pregnancy. She had consulted n’gangas (witchdoctors) and diviners and this had caused her stomach to swell as if she were pregnant. When she found she did not give birth to a baby, the doctors told her there was no foetus. Nevertheless, she remained with this swollen stomach for twenty-two years. After prayer, she returned to normal.

Recommendation: next time we need a team to continue with point-of-need ministry while others help the people at Chikwaka to give a Seminar.

Based on a report from Mr Liberty Zinhara

COMMENT

There seems to have been some superficiality in our ministry at Chikwaka, when we thought things were going on well, and we have to develop our approach.

Originally, we used to give a Seminar on a weekly basis with one teaching per week; that is probably the best way to give a Seminar. But it is difficult to do it this way with out-going ministry, and we rarely do it that way even in Harare.

Nevertheless, it might be better, especially in a new place, not to give the whole of a Seminar in a single weekend, but to give only two teachings in a weekend, on different evenings, while carrying on with point-of-need ministry during the day. In this way, we will complete a Seminar over three visits.

This will give time for the teachings to sink in, and it will give time for the people to adjust their lives and to grow. It will also encourage the people doing the Seminar if the team visits them in their homes and prays for their personal and family needs.

This could result in a deeper change in a person’s life and a better Seminar.

Discipleship at Fourwire

A team of three gave a discipleship weekend, from 7^th to 9^th December 2007, at Fourwire, in Hurungwe. (The name ‘Fourwire’ comes from when there used to be a game reserve in that area and part of it was fenced with eight wires while another part was fenced with four wires.) The team was Mr Shadreck Makore (leader), Manners Sheshe, and Catherine Maisiri.

Due to funerals in some places, a small group of just over 20 people attended, coming from seven different places. However, it was a Spirit-filled weekend with everyone very much involved. The team gave teachings on private, personal prayer, praise, nine ministerial gifts of the Holy Spirit, tongues, prophecy, and singing ministry.

Mr Makore reports that Manners is a good teacher who teaches with strength and authority; Catherine is also a good teacher though she moves into a preaching style when she gets going.

In discipleship, a practice session always follows the teachings, and we often find that the Lord works in the group according to the subject matter. Manners gave the teaching on the nine ministerial gifts of the Holy Spirit, and one of these gifts is the gift of miracles.

In the group, there was a woman with a problem. She had already shared with Catherine that for three years her breasts had been running continually with milk and even with blood, since the time she had weaned her child. She had been to clinics and to herbalists, to diviners and to independent apostolic churches but had found no help. She had also attended various Pentecostal churches, but her problem persisted.

In the practice session of this teaching, the discipleship group prayed for her as part of the practice. She then went outside with Catherine who confirmed that the flow of milk had dried up. In the evening of that day and at the end of the weekend, she testified again that she was having no problem at all.

There was also a man who had bought a car in the 1980s. The first time he had driven this car, he was suddenly afflicted with a pain in his leg, right up to the hip, and was unable to continue driving. He also had looked everywhere for help without finding any.

When the group prayed for him, he became possessed and began to contort his face, manifesting various creatures, which indicated a number of spirits within him. When the group prayed for deliverance and these evil spirits left him, he found that the problem he had borne all these years had disappeared.

At the house where they held the discipleship, one of the sons and his wife were sitting in the kitchen not taking part because they thought it was not for them since they attended an independent apostolic church. However, the ministry going on in the lounge affected this man and an evil spirit began to afflict him. Mr Makore said he must join the group, not sit in the kitchen. The group prayed for him and set him free. He stayed for the rest of the weekend and said afterwards that he wanted to be there next time they came.

The Lord’s work may sound good in the telling of it, but in the doing of it, it is hard work. Even afterwards, on the return journey, the team had to wait four hours in rainy weather for a bus without seeing one, and then had to take an expensive lift to Banket and boarded a bus for Harare from there, arriving late on Sunday evening. In spite of all this, we thank God for this good weekend.

Freeman Mupunga in Hurungwe

We are finding more and more that people from various churches are interested in what we have to offer in BLCC. It has always been a mark of the Renewal that the Holy Spirit is working in the whole of God’s church, wherever people are open and seeking God’s blessing. It is a simple exercise of discernment to see how the Spirit is working and from that, to find what seems to be God’s way.

When Mr Freeman Mupunga learnt about Jesus and witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the BLCC group at Marere, in Hurungwe, he said goodbye to Zion, an African Independent Church, to which he had belonged. He joined, instead, the AFM (African Faith Mission) because their way of praying was close to how he had learned to pray in the prayer group. He might even have become a Catholic, but his marriage situation made this difficult.

Soon after this, Freeman moved from Marere to Muzilawempi, an area where there is a big, new Seventh Day Adventist church and where most of the people are SDAs (Seventh Day Adventists).

Freeman is a member of BLCC and he felt within him that he wanted to do the Lord’s work, as he had seen people doing at Marere, so he wanted to start a BLCC group where he was living. The question was how to get these SDA people to listen to him. He found that they wanted to teach him their doctrines rather than to listen to him telling them about Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

He managed to start a small prayer group when the Lord healed a certain man there of a problem with his legs and he was then able to walk. Jesus healed the sick in the context of preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and it is the same today.

Freeman had many discussions with a woman living next door, but she only wanted to share the issues of her church and did not want to hear his message. One day, however, someone sent a malignant spirit against this woman, which caused her baby to become seriously sick. She had been to the n’ganga (witchdoctor) to no effect and the baby was in danger of dying.

When Freeman came home, he heard the noise going on next door and he started to pray. Eventually, they sent someone to call him to come and help, and he said to the woman, ‘How come you ask me to help? All this time you have been rejecting the Jesus that I pray to?’ The woman knew the baby was in a crisis and she said, ‘Please, pray for my child’.

Freeman went ahead and, in the name of Jesus, came against the spirit that was troubling the child. The child returned to normal, he gave it to the mother, and it started to breast-feed. The woman stood there and started to shake. From that time on, she began coming to the prayer meeting, and others came with her.

There are by now two BLCC prayer groups in that area with around 30 people in each. One of the groups has mainly SDA members while the other, in a different area has people of various churches. Freeman is working to strengthen them with Life in the Spirit Seminars and Discipleship Teachings.

As the prayer groups grew, the leaders of the SDA church came to Freeman with their questions. They especially wanted to know if he planned to take away the members of their church.

He assured them that it was not his plan to take people away from their particular churches, so long as they are good Christians. He explained that BLCC is not a church, it is a Community, and it holds prayer meetings to which any people can come. If this helps them to be more committed to Jesus and to value the work of the Holy Spirit, this can only improve their church.

It seems, then, BLCC includes a group, most of whom are Seventh Day Adventists, with a leader who belongs to African Faith Mission. I would never have planned or even imagined such a thing, but if this is the work of God, let it go ahead and let the gospel be a blessing in people’s lives. We are not trying to take over their church or to take over their people; when God works with people, they become God’s people, whatever church they attend.

It is good to see leadership in Hurungwe; the Holy Spirit and leadership go well together. We expect to hear more reports of how the Lord is using Freeman Mupunga to bring people deeper into God’s kingdom in the Hurungwe area.

The adventures of Sister Epi

From the time she first arrived at the Community House, it was plain that Sister Epiphania was very much a Sister. We used to joke with her and with one another that she saw all the young men in the community as fit material for the seminary, and she was never shy to tell them so. She had come to us in an emergency and we gave her refuge for two or three months while she sorted out her life.

She was the sort of Sister that, if she went to town by bus, in her grey habit and white veil, someone would always stop and give her a free lift. Even if she was accompanying another to the bus stop and was not going anywhere herself, cars would stop and people would try to insist that they give her a lift.

One day she went to town and this big posh car stopped for her. When she was inside, a man in the back spoke to her and said, ‘Are you not going to greet me, Sister?’ It was only then that she realized that Mr Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank, was the one giving her a lift.

He joked with her on the way, asking her questions like what she thought was the solution for the economic situation, and what she thought of the President. Sister responded in a similar joking manner, ‘The President? Ah, yes. Who is the President, by the way?’ When she alighted, he said he would have liked to give her a gift but he did not have any money in his pocket, only foreign currency.

Sister had a great gift of ‘helper’, and this was very evident as she made herself useful in different ways in the house. What she lacked, however, was the gift of tongues, and this she very much wanted. We did try to help her with this but we could see she was not ready and so we decided not to hurry but to give her time.

Eventually, we were having a Seminar at the Community House and I said to her, ‘Sister, you are taking part in this together with everyone else.’ She did not seem too happy about that but seemed to think that, as a Sister, she should be helping to give it, not to take part. However, when the time came she was there, in humble obedience, sitting on the carpet together with the others.

When we reached the time of preparation for baptism in the Spirit and people were praising God aloud, Sister Epi was quiet and ‘in her place’. I started to move her around a bit and prevented her from returning to her usual place. I have to confess that I took her by the shoulders and shook her and shouted in her ear that she should forget for now that she is a Sister and open her heart up to the Lord and praise Him right out loud. Did I overdo it? I felt I had, but Sister accepted it and responded. Anyway, by the end, we were all happy that Sister was praying in tongues along with everyone else.

Sister Epi would go occasionally to Archbishop’s House seeking help for her problems. When she did this, she would always have two or even three bishops, as well as one or two priests, listening to her and giving her advice.

She was coming one day from such a visit and mulling over their advice as she walked through town when she suddenly realized she was in the midst of lots of expensive cars and police and soldiers. Sister Epi realized she was in the midst of government ministers and even the president, as she could hear the voice of president Mugabe calling out from his car, ‘This is my Sister; she is a Sister from my church’.

One big police officer, with buttons and badges on his uniform, came up to her and told her she was not supposed to be in this area. Sister began to apologise and wanted to leave but he said, ‘No, you must stay and say a prayer for us.’

She said she would pray for them as she went, but the officer said, ‘No, you must pray right here’. She was shaking as she prayed aloud there for all those big people, for wisdom for the President, and whatever else, but they were supporting her with big ‘Amens’ and other encouraging comments.

What plans does the Lord have for our Sister Epi’s life that He puts her through such experiences? Sisters and priests can be the most difficult people to help. Many of them seem so fixed in their way of life that they are not very sensitive to the wind of the Spirit. Yet they are God’s servants and the Lord is with them.

Anyway, Sister Epi is now in Zambia for a while. She was in tears when she left us, and I knew we would miss her too. We wait to hear what other tales she will have to tell us when she gets back.

BLCC November Report - from Tafara/Mabvuku

INTRODUCTION

Men were given the floor to lead the Sunday prayer meetings for the whole month of November. This was done to encourage men to fully participate in the prayer meeting. Usually men prefer to sit at the back and interact with only a few people after the meeting. New male members are sometimes left alone, with no male counterparts to help them understand the proceedings of the prayer meeting.

This really worked out so well because each and everyone tried hard to participate throughout the prayer meeting. Some members, who have never participated, were motivated to participate.

LEADING

The following members led the sessions throughout the month, Richard Vheremu, Nomore Mahovo, Derek Nyakupinda (2 sessions), and Sekuru Chiwaura. It was first time for Derek to lead any prayer session, but people were blessed on both occasions. Nomore, Richard, and Sekuru Chiwaura were also known preachers. One person was leading every week though he was free to nominate anyone to assist him, for example, greeting visitors. Team attendance also improved from average of 3 people to about 6, with men dominating the attendance. The above indicated that individuals can be multi–talented, meaning one person can sing, preach and lead, though people had a tendency of concentrating on one gift only.

PREACHING

Regarding preaching, the people who usually preach, preached, these are the likes of Alois Mahovo, Nomore Mahovo, and one week we had to accommodate a visitor as a way of welcoming him – Baba Bwanaisa. The following week Charles Mahovo preached. It was his first time to preach but again people were blessed.

Men could however not give testimonies. This has been a standing problem for sometime. They only give testimonies once in a while and average one person over a long period like a month. The other reason could be that most of them do not attend supportive group (cell group) prayers due to various commitments which range form work to study, unlike most women who are not employed who try to spend as much time as possible meeting and praying. Men are generally shy to stand before a congregation.

SINGING

Singing was another area which lacked something, though they tried. I would say this “awakened” them as they felt the responsibility was in their court. At least those who could not sing would agree by clapping hands etc.

ATTENDANCE

Attendance in number did not change but intercession improved. People have a tendency of coming to intercede when they have been given something to do. This motivated them as they also felt that they are equally recognized in the group.

CONCLUSION

As much as possible men should be given the floor to participate. They have the gifts but lack motivation. There is room for the group to grow if men continue participating fully in the group. New members who may be men would feel encouraged to come to the sessions, currently the perception is that the group is female dominated and somehow, they think it “a women’s group”, but if they see men being active they are bound to be convinced that it is for everyone.

Men tend to be more gifted in preaching and teaching above everything else.

Notes:

1. This report has been compiled by one individual.

2. It is purely based on personal observations.

3. I did not manage to comment fully on week 23.11.07, as I was attending a conference in Chitungwiza.

4. By men I referred to both men and boys.

5. Verses preached were not included due to time limitations but may however be given in due course.

6. The practice did not end on men; December has been given to girls only, women excluded.

7. The whole aim it to try and make every member recognize their potential and ministry should grow to the fullest.

By Evelyn Mahovo

Team of three for Chikwaka

Mr Liberty Zinhara gives this report of ministry in Chikwaka from the 9^th–11^th of November. Mr Zinhara was the leader and Mr Joe Jumpa, visiting from Hwange, and Ms Viola Motsi made up the team.

Mrs Kupara, an old lady, had come back from attending the Community Day in Harare and people were surprised to see her walking around, fully recovered from the problem she had had with her legs. This attracted many people who had needs of their own.

We prayed for one family that had two sons, one of them 45 and the other 34 years old who are not yet married due to psychological and/or evil spirit causes. We are yet to hear from the sons since they are both working in Harare.

We also ministered to another woman who has been coming to the prayer group for almost a year, but without fully repenting. When they gathered on Saturday evening, Mr Joe Jumpa and Mr Liberty Zinhara gave a strong teaching.

On Sunday morning, this woman came and confessed her involvement in brewing beer and preparing snuff for the mhondoro spirit of the area, which is the tribal spirit. This was causing her problems, especially with her children. We prayed deliverance prayer to free her from different evil spirits and prayer for inner healing and she went home praising God.

There was also another young woman who was experiencing abuse like the woman in Acts 16:16, whom her lord used to generate income from the activity of a divining spirit.

We also met one who was under the influence of a spiritual husband; she also had special spirit-connected things buried in the garden so that her family would generate more cash from selling vegetables. She was set free on Sunday morning after she exposed all these activities and went home praising God.

Among other testimonies, some testified to the loving reception they received when they visited the Community House.

We recommend that next time we visit this place we should have one team that will teach the Chikwaka team to give seminars while another team continues with door-to-door, point-of-need ministry.

Community Day (3)

Sunday was another story. We started with a powerful praise session and the Lord was at work in this session and throughout the day.

We set aside the programme, though not altogether, and came in freely on the subject of what we need is the Holy Spirit and we need to see the power of God at work in BLCC ministry. We alternated this with testimonies from different places and these fitted in very well with the teachings. By the time we finished, at around 3:00 p.m., we were exhausted but happy.

We thank God that there were no water cuts or power cuts throughout the whole of this weekend.

We thank God as well that this weekend lifted up the community and gave it a fresh start. The proof of that will be in the fruits that follow and I am confident these will be there.

Community Day (2)

Saturday was a difficult day; we were doing our best but it was hot under the canvas we had erected as a tent and we were tired.

The group was not in the Spirit as it should have been and we had to bring out the fact that this was not like a BLCC meeting. It is easy for a meeting to settle down to receiving teachings but that alone is not enough. Anyway, towards the end of the day things improved. This day included a valuable session of sharing and the lists of suggestions we received from this will help us all.

Community Day (1)

To make it more worthwhile for those who come from outside Harare we start our ‘Day’ on Friday evening and let it carry on into Sunday.

The subject for Friday evening was ‘Communication’, but we saw that what the people who had arrived so far really needed was more of the Holy Spirit. Father, Mr Makore, Mr Chimwaza, Mrs Masuku, and Mrs Makaure each came in briefly on this subject and it built up until everyone was very much in the Spirit.

We were due to finish at 10:30 but it was almost midnight by the time we got to bed. This gives some idea of how the Spirit took over.

We were nevertheless up in the morning for private prayer 5:00–6:00 and intercession at 6:00–6:30 etc.

Jesus makes the blind to see

A team of six went to Banket, in the Chinhoyi area of Zimbabwe, last weekend, 26^th-28^th October. There were from 60 to 100 people at different times gathered there from various places. The team gave both a seminar for the new people and discipleship for the more established members.

On the Sunday, they were at Mass in the parish church. Michael Sheshe was sitting at the back and a man with a stick asked him to help him find the toilet since he was blind. While they were outside Mike shared with him for a while and asked if he would be happy if he prayed for him. The man agreed and after Mike prayed for him, he was able to see light but could not distinguish anything. However, by the end of Mass, he was able to see clearly and walked around without his stick.

The man said to Mike, ‘You must come home with me and pray for my sick wife’. Mike went with him, together with some other BLCC members who were attending the weekend. The wife, however, refused prayer because she recognised one of them as being from the charismatic group and people in the parish spoke against this group.

The wife’s mother then said, ‘Why don’t you pray for me since I am also blind’. So they prayed for her and she looked out of the window and found she could see but one eye was not seeing well. When they prayed again, she went outside to test her eyes properly and found she could see perfectly well with both eyes. She then walked around saying, ‘Is it true; is it true?’

Such works of God as these go together with preaching the gospel, which they were doing throughout the weekend in giving the seminars and the discipleship teachings.

Bus ride to Gokwe

The bus journey to Nemangwe, in the Gokwe area of Zimbabwe, turned out to be a school of patience. By 6:00 a.m., Thursday 9^th October, it had filled up with passengers at Mbare Musika and set off; it went only as far as Sunningdale, where it joined the queue for diesel. When it had refuelled, after two hours in the queue, it went to the bus garage.

There they found that the bus was in need of repair and the passengers had to transfer to another bus. This other bus had to go first to another garage for the repair of its faulty brakes. Eventually, by 12:00 midday, they were at last on their way to Gokwe.

The team we sent on this journey to Gokwe were Constantine Gomo (leader), Michael Sheshe, Charity, and Cynthia. They sang and prayed while waiting for fuel; at one point, they had their breakfast that they had carried with them, or was it their lunch?

They had boarded the first bus in good time and they had their seats. However, when they had to change buses, other people rushed in and took the seats so they were standing, or somehow managing to sit on their luggage, until the last 40 kilometres of the journey.

When they got seats again, they decided it was time to start ministering, so they preached repentance to the whole bus; Gomo started then Mike, then Charity; Cynthia gave her support where she could.

Charity had to stop in the middle of her word when they arrived at Gokwe Centre, but when they got moving again some were calling out, ‘We want the word’, so she continued.

Gomo then came in again and announced that the gospel is not only the word but also the power of God, and he asked any who were sick to raise their hands and they would pray for them. One or two mocked when he said that, but when some of the passengers claimed they were healed by the prayer, they were silent.

They arrived at Nemangwe at about 7:00 p.m. People were asking them for their addresses and phone numbers and people from two places invited them to come and preach at their places.

The team did point-of-need ministry at Nemangwe and were able to visit one of the places where people from the bus had invited them. There they taught on deliverance and on baptism in the spirit and the Lord worked with them when they ministered. They returned to Harare on Tuesday getting back by evening.

For sure, the journey had been a school of patience, but it also turned out to be a school of ministry.

Hwange ministry

At Nekabandama, the Hwange team found a man who was due for an operation. He had a growth on his back, two or three inches long. They prayed for him in the evening and by the morning, the growth had disappeared.

There was also a woman from AOGA, a Pentecostal church, who visited them because she was having a problem sleeping, with evil spirits troubling her in the house. The team prayed for her and advised her to sprinkle the blood of Jesus, in faith, all over the house.

She did this and slept well afterwards; in the morning, she found a very big frog dead under the bed. It might be an exaggeration to say it was almost as big as a football, but it was big. She asked them to come and get it because she was afraid of it. However, they told her to bring it herself, which she did, and they lit a fire and burned it.

Evil spirits can use things like this, but if you are a born-again, Spirit-filled believer, as this woman was, there is no need to be afraid of them.

Burning is the best way to get rid of contact objects or anything connected with evil spirits.

Harare point-of-need ministry

We had asked at the Sunday Prayer Meeting whether anyone had any problem that needed a visit and we received a short list of names and addresses.

Yesterday, 12^th October, Mrs Pelagia Masuku and Mrs Lucinta Bwanaisa left the Community House early to call on two of these people in one of the high-density suburbs. The first person was not in, but her old mother was there and she was sick, so they prayed for her instead.

She was feeling chest, leg, and back. When they questioned her, they found that it was really a question of being upset that God had let her husband and grandchild die. They shared with her, led her to put her faith and trust in Jesus, and prayed with her, and all the pains disappeared.

They then went to the other person and found her weak and unable to stand up straight. When they started to pray for her, she started to show signs of spirit possession, jerking and twisting and trying to remove their hands.

They continued praying and eventually the spirit seemed to be gone and she was feeling better but they want to go back soon for counselling and further prayer.

It was late by the time they finished and they arrived home after 8:00 p.m.

We have since confirmed that both women they prayed for are now well.

Forty-six, plus one, demons

At a place called Kanyambizi, somewhere between Hwange and Vic Falls, the Hwange team (see previous post) were giving the deliverance seminar. One middle-aged woman manifested demons and Joe demanded to know how many they were. They replied in sign language with the hands, so Joe demanded that they write down the answer. The possessed woman wrote in a book, 46.

Joe asked where they were from and found that some were from different places in Zimbabwe, some were from under the water (njuzu, or mermaid spirits), and others were from other countries.

When Joe asked, what was their intention they replied it was to destroy the woman’s life. When he asked who sent them they replied they would rather not answer that one.

The team delivered the woman of the demons, starting with number 46, and they manifested one by one, using different languages, including English, then left. It took a long time, over two hours.

At the end of this, they found she still had a spirit; it was what we call a religious spirit and it was ‘praying’ in a sort of tongues. So, they delivered her of this one as well and she ended up on the floor, what we call ‘slain in the Spirit’, and remained like this while they went on with the next seminar, which was on baptism in the Spirit.

When they got to the ministry of baptism in the Spirit she sat up; she was baptised in the Spirit together with the others and began to pray in tongues.

She testified the following morning that she had never felt so free in all her life.

The team arranged for her to pray regularly with some leaders of the group so that she could grow strong in the Lord and not revert to her former state.

Generally, it is not a good practice to speak with evil spirits during deliverance ministry. You can easily be led astray and not know what is true and what is not.

Presumably, Joe had his own purpose, or guidance, in doing this. It may have helped them decide to do the ministry starting with the last and most recent one, and working back to the first one that had invited the others in.

This one had tried to remain, first by saying they were 46 instead of 47, and then by trying to disguise itself by imitating prayer in tongues. If it had remained, it could have invited the other spirits back in again.

Return from Hwange

On Saturday afternoon, 6^th October, Mr Shadreck Makore and Constantine Gomo returned from Hwange after spending about four weeks ministering in various places there.

They joined up with Mr Joe Jumpa and started ministry at the house of Joe’s mother at Empumalanga, a suburb of Hwange town. They then went to Number 2 and Number 1 areas in Wankie Colliery. After that, they went to Nekabandaba then to Dete, then to Lubimbi.

From there they came back to Hwange to rest for a day or two before going on to Victoria Falls. From the Falls they went to Kanyambizi then back to Hwange.

On the way back from there, they stayed at Bulawayo for three days at the house of Mr Eric Eluwasi. They visited BLCC members there and Father Muthombeni encouraged them to fix a date for giving the seminar that they should have given earlier in the year.

We were happy to see them back and to see them looking so fit and strong, both physically and spiritually.

They have been telling us many stories of what the Lord has been doing in their ministry; I can just give some of them, from time to time, in posts that follow.

Revival at Makumbe

The leader of the Makumbe area, Mr Cuthbert Mariwo, invited Mr Joseph Zimuto to come with a team and help them with a revival weekend, which they were holding at Manhenga on 28^th-30^th September. He took with him Mr Liberty Zinhara, Admire Mango, Nomore Mahovo, and Alphonse Bhunu.

There was a Life in the Spirit Seminar for a group of 42 new people and they gave discipleship teachings for revival to a group of 75 people. Makumbe Mission has 35 centres that they visit from the mission; 19 of these centres have prayer groups and were represented at this weekend.

Mr Zinhara reported that they found the singing at this place better than we manage in Harare, but the praise was weak and ended too quickly. Therefore, among other teachings, they gave the teaching on How to run a Praise Prayer Meeting, this gave them a fresh start, and the praise was better after that.

One woman was there who had been walking bent over for nine years; they prayed for her and she straightened up. There was also an 87-year-old man who gave a testimony of how he had been baptised in the Spirit and was praying in tongues. His testimony was so inspiring that it was a challenge to the younger people there.

Good Community the Key

The last few weeks we have been struggling to uplift the Sunday Prayer Meeting of BLCC, which we hold in Queens Hotel, Harare.

It is very difficult to keep a prayer meeting going ‘above the line’, that is, above the level needed for a meeting to be genuinely in the Spirit and where people can go away happier than when they came because they have met with God there. In contrast, a meeting will all too easily go down ‘below the line’.

With all our hard work lacking lasting effects, I have come to see this truth. We will only have a good prayer meeting when we have a good community. We have to put our efforts into building community.

I am sure the same will apply to any local church or fellowship; we will only have a good church meeting when it has a basis in a good community.

Aunty Tracy returns from heaven

We were surprised to see Aunty Tracy outside Silveira House when we attended the funeral of Mrs Kambuku. She came running towards me, gave me a big hug, and said, ‘Father, I’ve come back; I’ve come back from heaven.’

Aunty Tracy had been very ill and was dying. She had stayed at the Community House for a time and although it helped her when we prayed for her, she seemed to be getting generally worse and we saw she was on her way. She had then gone to some relatives in Chitungwiza and we lost contact with her. To see her now fit and strong, physically and mentally, was a wonder to us.

She told us she had gone to heaven and seen a street with houses, and further on it was like it was the king’s palace and it was very bright. She had entered different houses on this street and been told that this was not her house; her house was not yet completed. Someone told her to look behind her and when she did, she saw a vision of her son, Peter, sitting alone and forlorn with no one to look after him. She heard a voice saying clearly, ‘You have to go back and look after Peter’.

I asked her if she had been dreaming. She replied, ‘If it were a dream, I would have forgotten it. No, it was not a dream, it was real.’

It is often hard to know where the reality is with spiritual things. She might have gone to heaven, or the outskirts of heaven, or the Holy Spirit may have given her a vision or a meaningful dream, a Holy Spirit dream.

An ordinary dream, however, would not have produced the healing and well-being that we saw in her now.

Aunty Tracy is now telling everyone, ‘Heaven is there; heaven is there’, and I am left wondering whether there are really houses in heaven or whether this is symbolic of some kind of reward. Your house is not yet finished because you have not yet finished the task God has for you on earth. But if it is ‘some kind’ of reward, why should it not be this kind, a real house. Jesus did tell his disciples He was going to prepare a place for them (see John 14: 1-3).

In the end, we can only say that God is the One who knows what it is like in heaven, and as for us, we will see when we get there.

But I wonder, I really wonder, what sort of house…??

Mufakose

Sunday 16th September, Mrs Lucinta Bwanaisa visited Mufakose high-density suburb, where they have started their own Sunday prayer meetings because the high bus fares prevent their coming to the prayer meetings at Queen’s Hotel in town. About 40 people attended and it went well. Melissa gave the teaching; if they were still coming to town she would never have had the chance to give a teaching but in fact she gave a very good teaching. After the meeting they went to someone’s house to pray for her and then to an inter-church service.

Beginning of the BLCC Blog

This weekend, 14th-16th September, we have had a team of two people at Chikwaka, giving discipleship, a team of four at Welstone doing point of need ministry, and a team of three people at Hwange visiting all the places there for whatever ministry is needed.

We have already heard from the Chikwaka team that although the numbers were disappointing, the ministry went well. The team was Mr Liberty Zinhara (leader), and Franciscar Madzingaidzo. We have agreed that next visit in October we must go back to doing point of need ministry and perhaps another Seminar before going on with discipleship.

At Welstone, the team was Mrs Pelagia Masuku (leader), Collen Makeche, Alphonse Bhunu, and Charity Muronzi.

At Hwange, the team are there for three or four weeks; they are Mr Shadreck Makore (leader), Mr Constantine Gomo, and Mr Joe Jumpa. They are doing the rounds of all the BLCC groups in the Hwange area, including Victoria Falls.

Joe Jumpa has left his job with Hwange Game Park and we have asked him to be BLCC Promoter of Ministries in the Hwange area. We have helped him start a project for the support of his family and himself, and we will send him something each month to supplement that project.

In BLCC, we are committed to the work of evangelizing. We are prepared to evangelize in the church, the whole of God’s church, wherever this is still needed and the way is open to us, and in the world.

Mrs Masuku has now come and has reported that at Welstone they visited 17 homes and shared and prayed for people according to their needs as well as for others who came directly to Aunty Patti’s place, including Aunty Patti herself.

To give one example, a woman arrived, dragging herself along, barely able to walk. When her husband had died she had been sent away from her husband’s family in a way that told her they did not want to see her again. When the team prayed for her for this and for her physical condition she began to walk normally and could hardly believe that she was walking about like this.

Another example: at one house they found a man all huddled up; his wife had died and two of his children had died and he was always sick and was expecting to die. The team shared with him and prayed for him and he began to feel better. He even started walking and went off to tell other people what had happened to him; he told them they should receive these people well that had prayed for him.