In the small town of Kadoma, Zimbabwe, I was the firstborn in a family of nine children. I was brought up in a Christian home, though we lacked a full understanding of the Gospel. The church we went to didn’t preach a born-again experience of salvation. Despite this, my parents were true Christians and were sincere in their desire to serve God. In the mornings, I would hear them singing praises to God, and from a young age, that touched my heart. My mother taught me the Bible and at church, I learned to memorize Scripture. One of the early verses I memorized was, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12). My father was a praying man. Over time, he became known as a prayer warrior, and people brought their concerns to him to pray about. My siblings and I would hear him praying earnestly in the early morning hours, again in the evenings before we fell asleep, and then sometimes at midnight. His prayers were powerful, and they touched my soul, especially when they woke me at night.

While growing up, I was not serious about Christianity; I was just a churchgoer. However, I yearned to one day be just like my father, serving this great God and worshiping Him with my own wife and children. Without having any understanding of what that meant, I began imitating my father’s actions by spending time alone in the bush, praying out loud as I had heard him do. My prayers were one-sided, because I didn’t have a real relationship with God. However, developing this habit, along with being brought up in a Christian home, laid the foundation for later having a heart to seek God.

When I was twenty-one years old, I married a young lady named Ellen. We left God out of our lives, and there was no joy in our home, even after our daughter was born. When she was six months old, Ellen took her and returned to live with her parents, because our marriage was so unhappy. Left on my own, I relocated to the small town of Kadoma, Zimbabwe, and led a sinful life.

Then, by God’s grace, when I was nearly twenty-four, someone invited me to an Apostolic Faith church service. I went and the minister preached on salvation as a born-again experience with the power to transform lives. He said God could change a person’s heart, making him able to live without sinning. I was shocked by the message. I had felt privileged to have a background of attending church, and yet I had never heard this. I realized I was lost in sin and said in my heart, “God, may You have mercy on me.” The moment the sermon ended, I rushed to the altar and cried out to God, pleading for my soul. Altar workers surrounded me offering encouragement, and I prayed, “Lord, take away my sin and make me a true Christian like these people.” God was so gracious; He answered my prayer and forgave my sins. His Spirit came into my heart, filling my soul with joy and giving me such peace.

In the days following, the family of God was so welcoming that I just sank in among them. The love I felt from the Apostolic Faith people in that small town was overwhelming. At the same time, their love caused me to miss my own family, and while I glorified God for salvation, it was with a broken heart. It had been more than a year since I had seen my wife and child. I cried out to God that He would reunite us, and He gave me the assurance that He would.

My marriage restored

God created an opportunity for me to visit my wife at her parents’ home. When I arrived, Ellen was surprised to see me and my daughter ran from me because I was a stranger to her. I told Ellen I had come first and foremost to apologize for the ways I had wronged her and then to invite her to return home. She was suspicious of my motives and didn’t give in easily, but I insisted that Jesus had come into my heart and transformed my life. I told her, “I am not the man you once knew. I am a Christian now.” At last, she forgave me and then I had to convince my in-laws that my intentions were good. God prevailed and they forgave me also, allowing my family to go with me.

From then on, our lives were very different than before. Salvation had done a powerful work in my heart, and I had so much love for my wife and child. I wanted Ellen to know God the way I did, but she knew little of the Gospel and was not interested. I prayed for her as she reluctantly attended church with me, and in time she too gave her heart to the Lord. After receiving salvation, she told me, “I will never leave you again.” The family that had been destroyed by sin was reunited by the Gospel.

Transformed by salvation

The state of my marriage was not the only change that salvation brought into my life. For one thing, my prayers were no longer one-sided. Praying was an opportunity to commune with God and receive instruction, guidance, and provision for all my needs. I received everything through prayer. When I needed a job, I sought the mind of God. When it was time to move to the next level in my career, I did not go to my supervisor for a promotion, but went to the Lord. And when I needed to go deeper in my walk with God, I went to the mountains and prayed, and He helped me make consecrations. As our family grew to include three more children, I enjoyed praying with them and encouraging them to have the type of prayer life my father had exemplified.

Another change in my life was that God helped me to focus my thoughts. This made me able to study, improve my education, and do well in the workplace.

When I first became a Christian, my education was limited to primary school. Then God helped me obtain a Junior Certificate. Working and studying left only a few hours each night for sleeping, but I leaned on God and He made it possible. Later, I took night school classes to complete my general education before pressing on and receiving an Associate’s diploma in Bookkeeping. Though I did not obtain a Bachelor’s degree, God gave me jobs that required one and then enabled me to do the work. This led me to tell people, even in interviews, “My BA is the Born-Again experience.” 

A deeper walk

While attending church, I heard messages on sanctification, the second work of grace that removes the root of sin from one’s heart. As I prayed for this experience, God showed me that I needed to make restitution for something I had stolen before being saved. I went to my former place of employment and told the manager about what God had done for me. Then I tried to pay for what I had taken, but he refused the money. Through tears, he said, “Give that money to the church and pray that God will do for me what He has done for you.” I went home praising God. Then, I continued seeking Him through prayer and consecration, asking, “Lord, make me holy,” and He sanctified me. He granted me the grace to live a holy life in this present wicked world.

In time, I learned about the baptism of the Holy Ghost and began earnestly seeking God for this experience also. This became a special time of drawing closer to the Lord and deepening my prayer life. I developed such a hunger for more of God that I prayed day and night—at home, in the bush, and in the mountains. When I was about twenty-nine years old, God filled me with His Holy Spirit and I spoke in a language I had not learned.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit increased my desire and ability to tell others about what God had accomplished in my life. I had a greater burden for souls and loved to share my testimony in prisons, in street meetings, in the small mining towns, and in my neighborhood. I would come home from work in the evenings, sit down to dinner, and feel that God’s Words were burning within me. My heart would break for lost souls and the tears would begin to flow. Then I would tell my wife, “I can’t eat. I am going out to tell others about Jesus.” Outside, I would walk up and down in the streets proclaiming the Gospel into the night air.

This was not a lost cause. One time, a neighbor approached me in the street saying, “I heard you talking about sinners going to Hell, and I am one. Help me.” Then he fell on his knees crying and praying. Right behind him, another man came, saying, “I heard you too. What can I do?” We went to the house of one of these men, and they called others to join us. I wasn’t a minister, so I just shared my testimony with the group. Then one by one, they fell to their knees praying, and God saved them.

Answered prayers

Over the years, God has answered prayers too numerous to count. He brought most of my siblings into this Gospel. In addition, He has been the Healer, Protector, and Provider for my family. One time, I lost my job when the company I worked for became insolvent. At that time, I was about thirty-two and had a family of five to support. As a Christian, I wanted to trust God to supply all our needs. Instead of going to town and sitting with the unemployed hoping to be hired, I prayed at home. After seven days, God’s Spirit prompted me to go join the flow of workers entering the town at the start of the workday. I took my Bible and went, but then didn’t have a job to go to, so I sat down under a tree and read God’s promises. Then I prayed, “Lord, I need this job today for Your glory. If You give me one tomorrow, I might think it is a coincidence.” After a time, I felt a sudden urging to “Rise up! Go get your job.” I spoke to the security guard at a nearby building and was taken to the manager. I told him, “God sent me here for a job.” He was surprised and asked two senior clerks for their opinions. They both said to hire me, and he gave me a salesclerk position. I went away rejoicing in what God can do! There was no application, no interview, and I eventually became a supervisor in that company.

Another answer to prayer took place when I was in my early forties. There were economic challenges in Zimbabwe, so I sought God for a job in South Africa. He provided a position at a car rental company as an administrative manager. However, the managing director did not have full confidence in my abilities and made the job probationary. In the first month, God miraculously secured my job by helping me accomplish something others had not been able to do. Then a second miracle took place. My managing director called me into his office and said, “You must be a Christian.” He told me that he had left God years ago, and now his wife had left him, and he was alone. I encouraged him to repent, saying God would restore his marriage. We committed to praying about the matter, and two days later, he called me saying, “Praise God; I’m born again!” Then he asked, “What can we do about my wife?” I said, “Let me pray about it and then call her.”It took several attempts to get past her father, convince her to listen to my testimony, and thenpersuade her to meet with her husband. However, they did meet, and when she saw how God had changed her husband’s heart, they were reconciled. They invited me to dinner afterward, and there was such joy in that home! Another marriage that had been destroyed by sin was restored by the Gospel.

Retirement

After nearly twenty years at three different companies, I retired and was asked to oversee the Apostolic Faith work in Malawi. The need there was great, and I was thankful to have the ever-faithful support of Ellen working beside me in God’s vineyard. Then in January 2022, she went on to receive her reward in Heaven. That was a very difficult time, but through the prayers and encouragement of the saints, the Lord gave me the strength to press on. In time, God blessed me with another companion, Josephine, and she has proved to be a wonderful partner in the ministry.

I am so thankful that I found this wonderful Gospel that changes lives. God restored my marriage, gave me four Christian children, and has seen me through all of life’s challenges. Now my heart’s desire is to fulfill my assignment in Malawi, winning souls for Jesus. He has promised to keep me to the end, and I commit the remainder of my days to serving Him.