Aflame Ministries together with a handful of students from the School of
Supernatural went on an outreach to Mutare, Zimbabwe during the June
school holidays. Our purpose was to put that which we have learned into
action. Aflame Ministries has a long term relationship with the Exalters
of Jesus Christ Ministries International and the relationship has grown
into a beautiful friendship where we are like family to each other.
Apostle Alfred is the father of the church in Mutare, and he is one of a
kind. He embraces his “church members” as family and the love between
all the people is something that can only be described when it is
witnessed. Us, as students and first time visitors were made to feel at
home and part of the family right from the start. The hospitality in
Zimbabwe is top class! Many friendships were formed!
Our journey started here in Pretoria before we left for Zimbabwe. We
came together as a group for the first time a week before we left to
pray together and make the final arrangements. After the details were
taken care of we prayed. This is when I realised that we are about to go
on a life changing journey! As we prayed God’s presence filled the room
in a very tangible way. This was so special! His love consumed me and
created a passion in my heart for this outreach. God even showed us some
of the challenges that are awaiting us in Mutare. He showed us the
local witchdoctor and to state the obvious, she wasn’t very happy with
our plans to visit Zimbabwe. This made me even more excited! This was
when I knew that God was about to do something that would destroy the
power of darkness and establish His Kingdom in Zimbabwe!
The first night we slept over in Masvingo. After a braai the group came
together and we started to pray again. Almost immediately God showed up!
His presence was so tangible it was almost impossible not to experience
Him. From here onwards for the rest of the entire outreach, God’s
presence was very noticeable and enjoyable. I was aware of the Holy
Spirit in and on me almost 24/7! As we prayed, the prayer sometimes
spontaneously led to ministry where we ministered over each other and
then almost as one we will turn and kneel and be on our own mission
again just spending time with the Lord. This first evening was also a
great opportunity for the team to connect and make final preparations
for our task at hand.
The next day we left for Mutare where we were greeted by Apostle Alfred
and his team. That evening they took us up the mountain on Christmas
Pass. Mutare is surrounded by huge mountains. The view was magnificent
and to see the city lights beneath us took my breath away. We prayed
over the city and prophesied over the city and its citizens. We also
prayed over Apostle Alfred and his leadership team that was there with
us. I got the feeling that these are the men chosen by God to impact
their city. It was a very powerful moment and a great honour to have
experienced that! The sad thing was that behind the mountains in front
of us were many gold mines controlled by the Russians and behind us were
diamond fields which is controlled by the Chinese. This was very
unfortunate because none of the wealth ever come close to the city or
its people. This is quite a sensitive topic in Zimbabwe and when the
Zimbabweans talk about these things, some even get tears in their eyes.
Everyone is so proud to be a Zimbabwean despite the situation of their
country. I believe the biggest problem Zimbabwe have is not politics,
but witchcraft. Maybe through prayer a country's future can change?
The next morning our work started. We ministered at the Bible School to a
room full of students. They were being trained and equipped to be
church and ministry leaders. Some of them are already actively involved
in ministry! I realised that I cannot approach these people in a way
that we just preach the Gospel to them. These people were Spiritually
more mature than many churches in South Africa! They were not uneducated
or uninformed in any way! I had to reevaluate my perception and it
changed my ideas in a very positive way! My excitement grew even more!
Their hunger for more of the Lord was almost written on their foreheads!
And I believe that this was one of the key factors for the success of
the outreach. We need to be more hungry and thirsty for God than for the
knowledge about our faith! I realized then and there that the outreach
was going to be an outpouring of God’s Spirit in a new and very fresh
way! We had an awesome time with the students and ministered there for
most of the day. In between sessions we fellowshipped and prayed with
them.
That evening we went on an outreach with the church to a village (or
just some place in the middle of the bush somewhere) called Pocha. We
drove 17km an hour behind Apostle Alfred’s team on a gravel road that
sometimes almost needed the 4X4’s to be in low range! They didn’t have
4X4, but some small hatchback car. This made the road VERY VERY long! We
only arrived at Pocha around 11pm. The village is really in the middle
of nowhere! When we arrived they set up the sound system and the band
came together to start the worship. The music need to be very loud so
that people far away can hear the worshipping and attend the conference.
The only light is a spot light from a generator, and then the most
beautiful star-filled sky you can imagine! The spirit of the team was
very high and we danced and worshipped with them all the way! This I
believe made the difference for Apostle Alfred and his team. They
apologised about the time and thanked us for having patience with them.
He is very considerate and knows our “white culture”. But the truth is
we had an amazing time despite of the time! What an honour to be at an
unreached place and share the Gospel to people who haven’t heard it
before! We also heard stories of children playing marbles with precious
stones (like diamonds) not knowing what it is!
How we even reached this area was a miracle on its own! The guy whose
front yard we used for this crusade fell very ill. He was almost
lifeless and his wife sent him to the hospital in Mutare. This is where
Apostle Alfred met him and prayed with him. God healed him! He was so
pleased with what happened that he wrote the church’s name all over the
walls of his house and just how great God is so that all could see! God
healed this man not only because of His love, but He also had some other
mayor plans! Elbee (One of our team members) started preaching at
almost one o’clock in the morning. He has a very evangelical approach to
life! Because it was so late, not many people came, BUT compared to
what would have happened if we did the same thing in Pretoria for
instance, we had a massive crowd! As the music and preaching continued
people showed up continuously out from the bushes. God also used this
opportunity to save two people and heal another lady! This was very
special for me to think that here in the early hours of the morning in
the middle of nowhere, people are showing up and are responding to the
voice of our Father calling His children closer to Him. We got home and
in bed by four o’clock that morning. Totally worth it!
After a
short night’s rest we were back with the students of the Bible School. I
don’t think anybody except God was prepared for this day! Anita taught
on the prophetic. She received a nickname on this trip, “Mamma Fire”.
And she is exactly that! Her passion for God is a raging fire! She is
also not afraid to call a spade a shuffle and spoke a lot of truth that
penetrated through bone and marrow opening our hearts for more of God.
After her preaching the students got some practical experience by
prophesying over one another! It was a really special morning!
In the afternoon it was time again to head back to Pocha. This time
putting everyone in the 4X4’s made the journey two hours instead of
four! During the worship we felt that something had to give. We needed a
breakthrough! We prayed and realised that we were at the place where
God revealed the witchdoctor would be. In the spirit one could feel a
war raging. We prayed together and worshipped God with everything in us.
On the photos you can see many dots. Sceptics may call it anything. I
won’t manipulate your opinion and everyone can make up their own mind
and heart on what it is on the photos. But I know that the presence of
God and many angels were there with us and that something happened.
Something big happened! After worship Jacques, one of our team members,
shared his heart and then I had an opportunity to preach. What was very
noticeable is that more or less eighty percent of the crowd was young
men. They came from all over out of the bushes. During the worship they
showed of their dancing skills and we had an amazing time with them! I
preached and testified on what God has done in my life and challenged
the people, especially the young men, to step into their calling and go
make a difference. We called the sick to come forward and God healed
them all! Then we asked them to come forward if they wanted to accept
Jesus into their life. Many came forward! One of the men came to the
front and started talking in their language. We heard afterwards that he
was the chief of the whole area and that he would bring his whole
family the following night! The chief was very pleased with what was
busy happening there.
The next morning at the Bible School things really got out of hand!
After the teaching I cannot exactly remember the sequence of events, but
I remember that this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!
In Apostle Alfred’s church there are two men that function as the
prophets of the church. One of these men is a tall skinny man who never
smiled except when he was praying and in the presence of God! He prays
with a deep voice putting claim on the last letter of his sentence. With
this there is also a large amount of spit being released. Over the
years I have been in meetings where we experienced Gods glory in
remarkable and sometimes strange ways. I am all comfortable with that
because we are all unique and everyone reacts differently to situations.
The Holy Spirit helps me to make some sense of things that differ from
what I am used to. People have very diverse opinions about these
manifestations and seldom understand them, so they get scared. I have
had some experience where my body reacts in a certain way (sometimes a
funny way!). The thing is just to let God be God and trust Him.
Surrender totally to Him and rather say: 'God you can do anything to me
and with me as long as it is You doing it!', instead of trying to reason
Gods ways. Back to the story! That tall thin prophet started to stand
up. Anita saw this and went to pray with him. The next moment he started
praying in tongues and then he also interpreted it. POWERFUL! Everyone
present responded to the sudden drastic increase of God’s presence. At
one stage everybody together started drumming on the tables in an
African rhythm. This is when it hit me! The next moment, without someone
praying for me, I dropped to the ground and I started shaking
intensely. I laid there for what felt like a hour as the fire of God
came upon me. I knew I could stop it if I wanted to but it was such a
special moment with the Lord that it was easy to just let go and let
God. When I eventually got up I saw the rest of the group took the
Zimbabwean and South African flag and entangled it together. There was a
few of them holding on to the flag and praying over it. The anointing
was very strong! They prayed and prophesied over the two countries. This
brought an assurance over me once again that Jesus has a plan for these
two countries and that we can embrace this truth in our hearts and
minds and starts to speak life over politics, economics and every other
aspect. Something in the spirit shifted in that session and from there
onwards we experienced the presence of the Lord in such a more tangible
way.
Drunk with love we again left for Pocha that evening. Henk shared
the word and many more people came to Christ and got healed from their
sickness. The chief also did as he said and his entire family including
brothers and sisters with friends came to the meeting that evening. The
chief also donated a massive piece of land to Apostle Alfred and his
team. There was already a thach roof where they now started a church!
The land is so big that there are talks about also starting a mission’s
school and hospital. This proveed that God had special plans for the
outreach. Jesus longed to have relationship with His people in Pocha and
He chose a few normal people from Pretoria, Polokwane and Mutare that
was just willing to go and serve. God used us to establish His Kingdom
in that area of Zimbabwe and to have a place where His children can come
together to worship Him! What a humbling thought! The King of kings and
Lord of lords chose us to be part of such a huge event! Jesus loves us
so much!
The following day (Saturday), we took to the streets of Mutare. Just as
any normal African city there were informal settlements in and around
the city. We went into one of them and Apostle Alfred and his team took
us into different homes to pray for people. We saw many people being
touched by God and also did deliverance on a few people. One lady who
was demon possessed tried to run away and grabbed on to the doorpost as
we pulled her back, almost ripping the shack into pieces. The team took
authority and now the lady is delivered and filled with the Spirit!
There was a lady that was totally blind and only saw black darkness
around her. We prayed and unfortunately she still doesn’t see but now
instead of darkness she see light! Three deaf people got prayed for and
their ears opened! Jana, one of our team members was on her first
outreach. She did amazingly well and taught the kids in very playful and
joyful manner about Jesus. Young and old enjoyed being a kid again!
There was a lady whose one ear was deaf. Jana prayed for her and nothing
happened. Elbee then walked passed and asked if the lady knew Jesus. He
led her to the Lord and then told Jana just to love her. She hugged the
lady and prayed again for her and the lady's ear opened up and now she
is deaf no more! What is amazing for me is that Jana, knowing that this
was her first outreach and first time she prayed for the sick, kept on
praying and didnt give up. She handled everything like an expert!
In the evening we headed back to Pocha where Henk ministered and
encouraged the people to step up, go out and make a difference. What was
amazing was that at the end of the service he asked the sick people not
to come forward but to raise their hands and let the people around them
pray for them. Many testified that they got healed that evening!
Normally this just doesn’t happen so easily. We have been to many
meetings like this and the people never just respond to this request in
such a positive manner. People are usually scared to pray for others and
yet here the people responded by taking a step of faith to pray for
their own and in turn God answered! This was very special for me! Before
the service began they showed us the land which the chief donated to
the church so that we could pray there. This too was a very special
occasion!
The Sunday morning we went to Alfred's church. Before church started the
congregation prayed together for a few specific topics including their
leaders and the nations. We prayed for about an hour before the worship
started. We had a great time! As the praises turned to worship, and the
presence of the Lord became tangible , the Holy Spirit started to move.
God’s presence became so strong that the entire worship team at one
stage lay on the ground just weeping and rejoicing to our God. Even
with no worship leaders left, the worship continued. I remember God even
healing people during the worship! This was definitely a moment that I
will treasure for a very long time to come! Brother Alfred called the
team forward one by one. This was very special and a great honour to me.
He personally introduced us to his congregation one by one and also
prophesied over us. This says a lot about a man’s heart!
Henk then took the stage and started preaching his heart out after which
we ministered to the people. This service was such a big blessing for
us, and then it just got better! We had to start heading home to pack
for the road back, but they first wanted to pray for us. We stood in
front of the church in a row bound in each other’s arms. I remember I
stood next to Elbee and was rooted quite firmly on the ground. Brother
Alfred and his two prophets started praying, first for Henk, then the
famous Mamma Fire, Anita, and they prophesied over them. Then that tall
skinny prophet started praying over me. Laughing and not making too much
sense, I tried to listen to him. He gave me a few light punches in my
stomach. I even said to God that this better be You! But as he prayed,
the anointing just kept increasing! He prophesied some amazing stuff
over me but I was unable to hear half of it; I started to go in a type
of trance and was just so aware of Jesus that nothing else mattered. I
knew I was shaking. Shaking so much that I started losing balance and
grip to Elbee! At one stage someone even had to wipe my nose! The
presence of God was so special and strong that it “forced” me to my
knees. I was man down! This experience definitely is a mayor highlight
in my life!
The blessing is to know the heart behind the prayers. These people,
through many westerners’ eyes, have nothing. They live in poverty in a
nation that’s burned to the ground by corruption and politics. They are
criticized all over the world, and yet when you take the time to get to
know them, you will find that Zimbabwe is a reflection of its people.
The pride they have in their country, their world class hospitality,
their love and the unmissable atmosphere of family is but a few key
points proving that Zimbabwe truly is the land of milk and honey.
We
left the church that afternoon with mixed emotions. The excitement of
coming back to one’s family and sharing testimonies just didn’t
overpower the sadness of greeting our new family we now have in Mutare,
Zimbabwe. Thank You Jesus for opportunities like these that establish an
unshakable Kingdom within our hearts!
