2021 News

Learning to Lead in a Challenging World

Wednesday, 31 March 2021

It has been a year of incredible difficulty for Zimbabwe, and for the church there. The number of congregations greatly outnumbers the number of trained pastors. This means that pastors are spread thin trying to serve their community, and typically have six or more local churches to look after. The pandemic conditions have made travelling to these congregations even harder. 

Despite these challenges, a new generation of young leaders are emerging, and creating a hopeful future for the church in Zimbabwe.

Three years ago, we introduced you to Bekithemba and Trymore, two students starting their course at the Zimbabwe Christian Bible College. When they were just starting out, Bekithemba and Trymore were full of hope for their education. They told us how excited they were to learn, and shared why they wanted to become pastors.

“It’s a calling,” they said. “A calling from God. He needs us to serve him, to serve his gospel.”

“To work in the ministry of God, you need to keep on learning,” Bekithemba said.

But, as we well know, in 2020 the world changed. The COVID-19 pandemic struck, and Zimbabwe has been severely impacted. The lockdown and increased border control led to shortages of food, water and other essentials. Medical institutions are struggling to keep up with the number of people needing to be tested. With the new strains that have developed, numbers started rising again at the start of 2021.

Zimbabwe is in need of hope — and young pastors like Bekithemba and Trymore are sharing that hope through Jesus! In September, both men began their work ministering to people in Zimbabwe. 

Trymore is now married, and has two children. He and his family are living in Zvishavane, and he is preaching at Maglas Church. 

Bekithemba is being mentored by Pastor Madzore, an experienced preacher who works in the Palawani Circuit. He is now ministering to three churches in the circuit.

“To work in the ministry of God, you need to keep on learning.”

Bekithemba’s words from three years ago seem even more true now. As he and Trymore start their service, they are learning and adapting to brand new challenges. They are learning to serve a community in crisis, and give them hope.

They aren’t able to do this without the support of people like you. Supporters of GMP helped Trymore and Bekithemba to attend Bible college. It’s the gifts given by people like you that help them, and their classmates, share hope in Zimbabwe despite the challenging year.

When you give to Walk for Hope this year, you’re helping the next generation of pastors like Trymore and Bekithemba to learn and grow. You’re enabling them to go out into their country and spread the hope of Jesus to others.

To give to Walk for Hope visit www.walkforhope.com.au

Church Partnerships Leadership Development


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