Unwanted Preacher + Unwanted Gospel = Terrific Opportunity for Jesus!

This past Saturday, Sept. 29th, I had the opportunity to preach the Gospel at a memorial service, called "nyaradzo" in Rugare, Harare, Zimbabwe. So, three of us set off to preach, Ian Fry, Jamison Deacons, and our brother and good friend, Simon Mupesewa who is kind enough to translate for us on these odd opportunities that arise. We arrived at the location at about 9am and fellowshipped with the family and found that the proceedings had been scheduled to begin at 9pm, instead of am and would proceed until 6am. We were not really expecting this, but agreed because we had come 3 hours to preach the Good News, day or night, rain or shine. So, we found accommodation for our wives and children and prayerfully prepared and rested, getting ready to head back to the memorial service in the evening. At 7:30pm we arrived back at the site and were instructed to remain in our car. For the next 2 and a half hours there were arguments and discussion about whether we would be allowed to be present at this memorial service and whether we would be allowed to preach. Little did we know, we had been invited to speak at this service because of or friendship with a local farmer whose mother-in-law had died. This mother-in-law was a member at a apostolic sect called Johan Masowe. This group was founded in 1931 after Johan died and reportedly "came back" with a "new" revelation from God. This sect does not use the Bible (in fact they are forbidden from reading the Bible) and have incorporated much of the ancient Shona religion into their "worship." They practice some really strange syncretism. They supposedly still trust Jesus for salvation, but they require one to wear white garments and no shoes, or you will be unholy and unable to "hear" from the spirit. They mainly rely on prophecy for their instruction from God, but use veiled references to Scripture without context or the entirety of the witness of God's Word! So, they were deliberating about whether we would be allowed to preach because they believe white people crucified Jesus and that our presence would hinder the prophet (bishop/leader) from being able to call the dead woman's spirit back to ask her if she went to heaven or hell. (They also said that speaking English would hinder the spirit as well, as it is the language of those who killed Jesus.) So, we were excited that they recognized that they would not be able to call up her spirit if we were present, because we were praying against every spiritual power and principality in the name and authority of Jesus! So, they decided we could not speak and should leave. However, we waited and the head father "baba" of the family came to us (he is not part of the cult, he is a drunk) and said, "You must not leave! I am the baba, this is my home, my mother and I invited you. You MUST speak!" So, we were delighted and excited to get the chance to speak! Eventually, at 10:30pm, the service began. We sat for the next 2 1/2 hours as one after another, men and women would get up and say what "word" or "vision" they had received, then another would stand and interpret what the former had said and what it meant. This was pretty challenging as we sat on the ground (which we are not accustomed, physically, to doing) but we endured with joy, waiting patiently for the chance to lift Jesus high! Finally at 1am we got the word, it is time for you to preach! So, Jamison went first, he rose and courteously thanked everyone for the opportunity to speak the Gospel. After about 50 seconds, one of the woman from the sect interrupted and began singing a song (we didn't know there was a  "rule"that if someone sings 3 songs during your time speaking that you have to stop talking, because they are done listening to you.) So, someone warned Jamison about the rule and when the song finished, he began to hit really hard on some of their core fallacies including: praying to the dead, discerning whether someone is a false prophet or not, the need for the Word of God and many other "touchy" subjects. At mentioning that a prophet can be tested to see if he is from God by the simple reality that everything he says comes from God must happen, if he is a true prophet, most of the men from this sect stood up and left the meeting to discuss how to keep us from preaching. So, after the 3rd song, Jamison came to me and told me about the rule and I, Ian, walked forward and began to wait for my turn to speak. However, they never stopped singing! After 3 songs, we went to find our friend Joshua and discern what was happening. As it turns out, the "elders" of the cult decided that there wasn't enough time for us to speak before they needed to call up the woman's spirit. For obvious reasons, we could not and would not remain as they did this practice of witchcraft. So, we spoke to our friend and the men who were still out of the meeting and explained that we could not stay for this unholy practice and we left.
So, we spent three days, several hundred dollars and lots of energy for 8 minutes of preaching! Now, to the flesh and natural eyes, that seems like a waste! However, there were many there who were not Christians, besides everyone in that cult and we were able to speak with many of them about Jesus, the need for Scripture, and begin truly born again! We are especially happy to see what takes place in the life of the baba! Those who were not from the cult were definitely asking themselves, "If these Masowe (the name of the cult group) are from God, why are they so afraid of these two tiny white men! Maybe there is something more to what these guys have to say." For both Jamison and myself, this is a first experience of being completely rejected and disrespected in this culture! We were all joyful in the Lord though, because we were able to shine His light in a completely dark situation! One of the greatest benefits to the weekend, we believe, will prove to be our relationship with Joshua! He wants to come and learn from God's Word with us! He saw the way the Masowe treated us and wanted to know how we could take their disrespect (because that is very huge in Shona culture) and still be joyful and take the small opportunity to preach!

Thank you for your prayers! We believe God has fulfilled his purpose of our presence last weekend! We may only know in eternity what the fruit truly was from this weekend! So, I want to encourage all of you to be using every single opportunity to lift Jesus high! You have no idea why God has things go wrong sometimes and you can choose to lose that opportunity to frustration and anger or to use it to lift Jesus high and possible introduce a lost soul to its loving Creator! I hope you take the chance in your next difficult or unexpected circumstance!

Until next time,
The Frys