By the time we arrived back at Lushington Farm, we were wrung-out emotionally. It had been some roller coaster ride. The week had started with vindication of our insistence that the rural areas were ripe for harvest. After all, we had named our ministry “Africa Harvest Ministries” in anticipation of a bountiful harvest of souls for the kingdom of God. Our tent, designed for 300 had accommodated crowds of over 1000. We anticipated hostility and suspicion from police and political officials. Instead, they had opened their homes and schools to us. The Communist Party Youth Brigade provided crowd control without intimidation. They had become some of our most enthusiastic helpers! We now had congregations on five Wedza farms with Norman as pastor and needed someone to stay to disciple the crowds at Matsine. Felix’s abandonment of the Matsine project had been the only disappointment as we approached that final Sunday.
My Sunday interrogation by the Ministry of Information 24 hours after Felix’s sudden departure confused me. It wasn’t the interrogation and the threat of intimidation--it was the hollowness in the center of my chest that came from these two consecutive events. I felt alone as if I were standing on the side of a high building with no one to keep me from tumbling over the edge. You know, you always hear stories of how it is in times such as these that people experience the comfort and presence of the spirit of God. I didn’t feel that at all. I was shaken to the core. Despite all the outward signs of success, I couldn’t escape the feeling that everything was quickly coming to its end in the same manner as we had collapsed our tent a few hours earlier.
Dave and Jen welcomed us back to the farm, but at some point in the coming weeks they received a call from the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) concerning our activities. This organization was what had become of the Special Branch of the BSAP (British South African Police) during Rhodesia, having morphed into a sinister secret police group modeled on the Soviet KGB. We didn’t find out about this until much later, but needless to say, it began to seem to all of us that this might be a good time to suspend new activities in Wedza.
We traveled back to Harare for a break from the pressure. The following is an entry from my journal dated, Monday, 23 July 1984:
- Drove to Harare to return the tent. . . . .
- Went by to see Felix. I tried to share with him our disappointment in his abandoning us. He didn’t seem to understand and cried. We don’t want to hurt him, but we must share this problem with him if we are to continue to work together. I asked him to pray in the next week and then let us know what he believes the Lord wants him to do. He must decide where his commitment is and let us know what he can be depended on to do.
- We spent the night at the Park Lane Hotel and just rested. We wanted to be alone after such a turbulent few days.
During the next week, we touched base with our friends in the Harare-based ministries: AEF‘s (Africa Evangelical Fellowship) Salisbury Evangelical Bible Institute, ‘SEBI’ (owners of the tent and source of some of the films we used), the Deuschles, Brooms and Silks at Rhema, TEAM (Evangelical Alliance Mission), YWAM (Youth With A Mission), Colin and Lynne Taylor, (Chisipite Baptist), and Ron Davies of Lifeline Ministries. We recounted the success of our Matsine meetings and growth of the work throughout Wedza. Even though we needed to stay away for a while so as not to draw attention to ourselves and imperil the fledgling churches and the new believers, these other ministries had the human resources to build upon what we had started.
They were all seemingly impressed with what had begun in Wedza. However, with the exception of Lifeline, a literature ministry which was already supplying us with free discipleship materials and Bible study courses, none of them could be moved out of their comfortable lives in Harare. Rhema was in competition with Christian Life Centre (CLC) and Faith Ministries to claim the largest mostly white congregations in Harare. There was a core group of about 3000 white charismatic Christians who continually moved their attendance and financial support between these three white-dominated ministries. [In 1986 we sought to ally Rhema-Harare, financing from Rhema-Johannesburg, instructors from AEF, Apostolic Fellowship and other independent ministries to rebuild SEBI as the Church Growth Support Centre, a Bible training school for pastors.]
~~~
The final victors were the Deuschles. Rhema would eventually distinguish themselves from Rhema-South Africa and Kenneth Hagin Ministries in the USA, becoming “Hear the Word” ministries founded and controlled by the Deuschles who built a US$4 million church and ministry complex with their ministry broadcast throughout southern Africa by satellite. Renamed again to “Celebration Ministries” www.celebrate.org, their dominance of the charismatic Christian movement in Zimbabwe cemented its role by giving President Robert Mugabe a controversial 2004 Z$30 million gift. Although, this gift certainly bought them some favor with the corrupt Mugabe and his ZANU-PF accomplices, it caused dissension in the Christian community.
~~~
We found the greatest comfort in discussing our vision for reaching the rural areas with those based in Harare most able and likely to actually do something: Shadreck, Ephael, Aggrey, Amos, Charles and, of course, Felix. Norman was carrying the weight of ministry in Wedza all by himself. Someone had to come alongside and build together with him! Alas, it was not to be. The foreign-supported ministries were hesitant to move beyond their current structures and “approved” strategies. Since most of the African ministers were dependents of these white-dominated organizations, . . . well, you do the math!
Zimbabwe had become independent of white rule, but the community of Christians had not. They still took cues, direction, governance and money from the West. We were hoping to plant the seed of the gospel in African soil to see a harvest of African Christianity. That would mean an indigenous, self-governing and self-supporting African church.
There were two movements that could be considered indigenous and self-governing/self-supporting: The Zimbabwe Assemblies of God (ZAOGA) and the “Apostolic” churches (mapostori - http://www.rtbot.net/mapostori).
- ZAOGA was founded by “Bishop” Ezekiel Guti in 1960 as an African offshoot of the Assemblies of God (AOG). By independence in 1980, Guti’s churches numbered in the hundreds throughout Zimbabwe. Today, under Guti’s leadership (http://www.fifmi.org/), they claim over 2000 churches in 106 countries. During our time in Zimbabwe, 1983-87, ZAOGA was a closed society having little contact with non-members. Although wildly successful, most Zimbabwean Christians (white and black) were suspicious of Guti’s governance in the style of a tribal chieftain. If we linked up with them, they would just subsume the Wedza churches into their empire.
- The Mapostori (Shona for “apostles”) were also based on a tribal model, but had abandoned all contact with the larger Christian world. Their leaders were modern-day prophets and apostles claiming direct divine authority. In 1986 we attempted to form alliance with one of these “apostles” by providing Bible training for his hundreds of pastors and teachers. More about that later, but our attempt was aborted when we lost our visas.
Still emotionally drained from our Matsine experience and not finding practical encouragement or support for the Wedza work, we decided we needed a real vacation. We survived due to the hospitality of Zimbabwean Christians who continued to share the homes, vehicles and financial means with us. We were still “in the hole” based on American support. We had regular support of less than $150/month from the States. However, our friends in Jonannesburg, Harare and Marondera continued to take care of us.
We had met Nick Levy, another Jewish believer in Jesus, in Salisbury during 1977 who owned a dying used car business. Although sanctions had ended in 1980, the fleet of cars available in Zimbabwe was based on imports from South Africa. Most cars were pre-1964 and very expensive. (I remember trying out a 1959 Jaguar sedan that he had on the lot in 1977. The car was in wonderful condition and ran great. The only problem was that there were no brake shoes available. We drove it around the block at the speed of 15 KPH, spending half of the block trying to stop. At one point I considered dragging my foot out the door to stop us! The car was a steal at $600, but the only way to stop would be to run out of gas. That didn’t seem practical.)
Car purchases in South Africa were difficult for Zimbabweans for two reasons. First, Zimbabwe limited foreign exchange to several hundred dollars a year. Second, important taxes were outrageous. In 1987 we “gifted” Felix our South African-built 1965 Peugeot 504 that we had purchased for R3,500, about US$2000 in in 1986. A Zimbabwean rancher paid the Z$1900 (US$600) import duties for him.
The after-market in parts for these ancient vehicles was even more expensive. So, you can imagine how difficult it was keeping a car dealership going! Anyway, our Jewish/Christian friend was still in business in Harare, but just barely. We had recently renewed contact with Nick and he suggested that we get away from the craziness in Harare and visit the tourist resort at Lake Kariba on the border with Zambia. He offered us the use of his vacation cottage there for as long as we needed it. Some time at the lake sounded great! It was a 7-hour drive from Harare. That ought to give us some separation from all the turmoil of recent months.
The long drive to Kariba was a pleasant diversion from the traffic and congestion of Harare and even more sparsely inhabited than Wedza which was in the general direction of Mozambique and the coast. Before the Marxist takeover of Mozambique in 1975, the port of Beira had been a major tourist destination for Rhodesians. With Zimbabwe independence in 1980, the border reopened, but the roads were impossible to traverse. So, during the height of the war in Rhodesia from 1975-79, the only resort town available to Rhodesians without traveling to Durban in South Africa was the small town on the Rhodesian side of Lake Kariba Dam.
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| This image was originally posted to Flickr by Rhys Jones Photography at http://flickr.com/photos/23676445@N00/396831697. It was reviewed on 10 December 2008 by theFlickreviewR robot and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0. |
The terrain was a bit desolate looking as we descended from the highlands of Harare (4000 ft) into the Zambezi river valley. We saw few people, but plenty of elephants as we closer to Kariba. On several occasions we had to pull to a stop while we waited for a herd of them to cross the road ahead of us. African elephants are not like their more docile and domesticable Indian cousins. Get too close and they will trample your car!
The final miles had us traversing switchbacks in the road as it topped out overlooking the lake and the small “Kariba Town” overlooking the dam. It was beautiful and hot--just above sea level, Kariba is sticky-hot all year round. We drove around a bit to see where the resort hotels, shops and restaurants were located. As we headed toward the highest vantage point to view the dam, we noticed an old hotel. It had a sign out front that read, “Kariba Heights Hotel.” [Click on link to view a video of the hotel when it was built.] Since we were in “vacation-mode” and wanting to forget about ministry for a few weeks, we decided to go inside for a meal.
To our surprise, the old hotel was now “Kariba Christian Centre,” a resort for missionaries based across the dam in Zambia as well as local Christian ministers and workers. It was run by an American couple, Lester and Peggy Seiler. Lester suggested that we take our meals there rather than shopping and cooking for ourselves while we were staying at Nick’s cottage. We didn’t really know what to make of all of this as we had come to Kariba to get away from it all, but it couldn’t hurt to rest and relax with some other missionaries could it? While we eating lunch with them, we ran into Rhoda Hess, the sister-in-law of Dave Hess in Marondera. Dave and his family had grown up in Zambia where their parents were Brethren missionaries. Frankly, Rhoda didn’t seem interested in talking. Maybe she was as exhausted as we were!
Puzzled as to what this all might mean for us, we headed over to the cottage for the evening only to discover that it wouldn’t be ready for us until the following day. So, we climbed in the car and went back over to Kariba Christian Centre to stay the night. The Centre had air conditioning in the rooms and that was a welcome break from the overpowering heat! This was the first time we had encountered or needed air conditioning since first arriving in Rhodesia in 1977. The air in Kariba was hot and thick enough to chew. We wouldn’t be spending too much time outside during this vacation.
In the morning we joined about a dozen others for breakfast before departing to move into the cottage. No sooner had we unpacked and settled down for tea at the cottage that Lester showed up at our door. Inviting him in, the first words out of his mouth were, “I don’t think you are hearing God very well.” Kind of a strange way to start a conversation with people you have just met. Rather than taking offense at the abruptness of this odd statement, I asked him just what he meant. He continued, “You don’t understand that God sent you here.”
I was beginning to wonder if we had made a mistake in coming to Kariba in the first place. We weren’t getting much of a vacation. Instead, we seemed to have walked right into a “Christian” hotel/ministry that was going through some real difficulties. The meals had not been great. We were used to plentiful meals at Lushington Farm or in the homes and restaurants of Harare. The lunch had been a very salty and greasy mutton stew followed by a breakfast with eggs, but none of selection of fruit common everywhere else we ate. The atmosphere at the Centre was not welcoming nor restful. You could feel the stress in the air. Something was going on there--something was wrong!
Lester told us that the Centre was struggling, needing refreshed ministry and leadership. He said that he believed the Lord had brought us there, not for a vacation, but to establish a new base for our ministry. He began to paint a picture of a place that needed the infusion of fresh vision and energy that we could bring. He insisted that we stay in the Centre instead of the cottage and meet the local African ministers. He also told us that the other couple that helped him run the place where struggling with the husband’s alcoholism and planning to move out. When we had shown up there, he believed God was sending us as their replacements.
Well, that was a lot to swallow, especially as I was still digesting that greasy mutton stew! But, we agreed to stay the week at the Centre and explore options. With the heat, there was really nothing to do in this resort town anyway except to spend all day sitting in the cottage. The town felt really deserted and lonesome. There was no question of returning to Lushington and Wedza right now. We needed to stay clear for a while. The Harare ministries with the exception of Chisipite Baptist, had never opened their doors to us to allow us to become co-laborers with them, so there was nothing for us right now in Harare. They were so focused on squeezing every dollar out of their American and South African donors that they saw us as competition. And, of course, the door at Chisipite had closed unpleasantly.
Over the next few days, we met with Sidney Moyo from YWAM who assured me that he knew some other African believers who shared our vision for reaching out into the rural areas. We also met Tinos Sakala at the Centre. He was already actively involved in ministering to Kariba township. We hit it off with Tinos right away. He was more than eager to work together to help us reach out from Kariba.
The traffic began to pick up at the centre too. We had opportunity to talk with experienced missionaries, mostly from Zambia, with whom we shared our ideas about rural indigenous church growth. We got a lot of good advice and support for ideas as being “on the right track.” We also had opportunity to minister to many of the visitors. Our fresh approach and crazy ideas seemed to encourage them. We had wanted a vacation from ministry. We were getting our vacation by ministering. Each day we found ourselves more refreshed and stronger. The A/C in the evening didn’t hurt either!
On the first Saturday (28 July 1984), we woke up “at peace” with idea of moving to Kariba to live and base our ministry out of the Kariba Christian Centre. Feeling back to normal for the first time in months, we were open to wild ideas. As we were having tea that morning, two busloads of secondary school students unloaded at the overlook in front of the Centre. Seizing the wild opportunity, I grabbed my guitar. Pegi and I went out and sang for them, passing out literature from Lifeline Ministries. That afternoon, another busload of tourists unloaded a group of from an Ndebele (a minority tribal group from southern Zimbabwe related to Zulus) teachers’ college. We sang for them eliciting another enthusiastic response. There is nothing we liked better than ministering in music. This had turned into an unusual vacation! Whatever it was, it was working.
Next: Contrasting Hearts
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