The first part discussed the demanding needs of this Harare congregation and we catch up with the story at this point -
Sadly, the small group couldn’t raise enough to support the minister, however when he left, they continued to gather, singing songs, praying and waiting for breakthrough to come as adding donations to a locked box the former pastor had left.
Then, some ladies in the church asked Guide to preach. Somewhat forthrightly they announced that they had tasked him with preparing a sermon for the following week. Somewhat taken aback by this ‘request’, Guide told them he didn’t have a Bible. The retort from the ladies was “That’s why we asked you a week early!”.
There was no getting around this, so taking up the challenge, Guide joined the local scripture union to find inspiration for his message and was given a Bible by one of the members. After preparing a sermon based on material he obtained, he found that he actually had a gift of preaching. The congregation were thrilled by his message! There was no going back from there, and Guide became the preacher over the next two years from age 15.
Two years after the tent crusade had completed, the original minister who preached there came to visit the village and was astounded to see that the group was still meeting! He wanted to know who was preaching, and they invited him to hear Guide speak. He was sufficiently impressed to endorse Guide’s role as a preacher. As a gift to the visiting minister, he received the original locked donation box the small church had been contributing to over all these years.
Guide continued to lead the church, and was eventually heard by a visitor from African Enterprise called Sheke Masila, who happened to run the youth evangelistic program. Recognising Guide’s ability to reach to younger people, Sheke invited Guide to join the Foxfires.
Guide became one of six Foxfire leaders, preaching in farms, cities and border towns and then he was accepted into a Pentecostal bible college.
The Principal accepted Guide in good faith, recognizing that Guide had no financial support but would pay colleges fees when he could, and he offered every service he could including food and board until Guide could achieve this. “God will provide”, Guide told the Principal, and indeed that came to pass, with an anonymous donor taking care over all his costs over three years.
With support funds received, he was able to assist not only his fellow students, but his sisters who needed assistance to attend school. After all the challenges , he reconciled with his dad and family and finally his dad provided some support and a new suit for his graduation day!
Guide’s ministry progressed as an evangelist and church planter, and he planted new congregations in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and even in the UK. He took on other roles with Bible Society (as Chairman) and leadership roles within the church and faith based organisations, before finally being appointed Team Leader of African Enterprise in 2011.
Through his varied life experiences, in obedience to the Great Commission and Great Command Guide retains his passion to see every believer have their own bible, for lives and communities to be transformed through Jesus. He wants to encourage all of us to stay strong in the faith and reach others for Jesus. Who knows if there is another budding evangelist like Guide, just waiting for the opportunity to witness to hundreds of thousands of people and bring many into the kingdom of God, through Word and Deed.
For those of us reading his story, Guide provides with some final encouraging words. “God does not call the qualified but he qualifies the called”, he said. “Do not be limited by your background, upbringing or past experiences.
Like in my testimony, God can turn your trials in triumph, your testing in to a testimony, your rags into riches, stumbling blocks in to stepping stones, your bitter lemon into lemonade according to Ephesians 3:20.
I therefore challenge you in your sphere of influence to seriously consider giving chance and opportunity to those budding, passionate, gifted and talented people, quite promising, but lacking the means and encouragement.”
More details about AE evangelists and their countries of operation are found here: https://africanenterprise.com.au/our-locations/
Ben Campbell (Sydney) is the CEO Africa Enterprise.