The Sunday Mail
Journalist and award-winning author Phillip Kundeni Chidavaenzi together with his wife Simba-Lyn recently graduated from Bible School and on Saturday, they are launching an inter-denominational Christian couples ministry. Tendai Manzvanzvike (TM) spoke with Pastor Phillip (PKC) about his faith walk and the vision behind the ministry.
TM: You just graduated from Bible School and next weekend, you are launching an interdenominational ministry. Was this a calling?
PKC: Indeed, this was a calling. This, however, is not a church that we are starting, because we already belong to a church called House of Nations Centre which is led by Pastors Frank and Sibongubuhle Sithole.
Love Feast is just a platform that brings together couples from different denominations to discuss marriage-related issues. My wife and I have always been passionate about this ministry, but what really drove us to start the platform is a prophetic confirmation we received early this year when we visited a church in Harare.
And, both of us are the founding pastors but we are also working with couples from different churches who make up the organising committee. These include Pastors Humphrey and Grace Mutandwa, Pastors Roy and Tinashe Baloyi, Mr Tomson and Mrs Grace Phiri, Mr Boldwill and Mrs Evelyn Hungwe, Mr Tendai Maduwa and Miss Nobuhle Dube.
TM: Many churches have a Couples Ministry, so why duplicate? What new things are you offering? And, what is the vision and doctrine of the ministry?
PKC: True, but Love Feast Couples Ministry’s vision is to build, establish and raise strong and solid Christian marriages. We are seeking to create a platform where issues that affect many marriages but are not necessarily addressed in the church will be dealt with.
During our monthly meetings, we will be bringing in experts from different professional fields to talk to us about issues of health, business, careers, marriage and sexuality, among others.
TM: You are a journalist, Christian author and literary consultant. What does it all mean in your new role and what value do they add to the ministry?
PKC: God has given me the love for words and a burden for books. I am an award-winning author and of late, I have been helping edit, proof-read and layout books by up-coming authors, most of which are Christian books.
We need to get to a point where we have local spiritual authors whose books will be used as references in Bible Schools. Eventually, we will want to publish a lot of books on marriage.
TM: As a journalist, how do you balance the outcry from the media about the mushrooming of churches, and your going into ministry? People will say these are double standards?
PKC: Personally, I see nothing wrong with the mushrooming of churches. Beer halls and nightclubs have also been mushrooming but there has been no outcry. In fact, it’s good to have more churches so that the body of Christ is able to reach many more people and impact their lives with the gospel.
TM: The relationship between the church and the media is not always rosy with the church feeling that the media is always looking for scandals in the church. How prepared are you for that scrutiny of your life?
PKC: I believe that a church sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ and fulfilling its mandate should not be afraid of media scrutiny. The life of a minister of the gospel must be like an open book, and the Bible says we are to be role models in society.
TM: The nature of your job is such that you interface with members of the public a lot. How about your wife and the role she will play?
PKC: My wife, Pastor Simba-Lyn, is the one who really pushed for the establishment of this platform. She has the gift for administration and superb organisational skills. But the two of us will play an oversight role as the visionaries while the organising committee will run with the vision.
TM: On your Google+ profile you describe yourself as: “Blood bought, Holy Spirit filled and sold out for the Lord Jesus Christ.
I fancy myself as a guy after God’s own heart. I love the Lord with all my heart.” That’s a mouthful. In ordinary language, what are you saying about yourself?
PKC: What this simply means is that I am a product of grace. Had it not been for Christ, I would not have been where I am today.
TM: You also say that you are “a teacher of the Word. A man of prayer and it is in this area that I have been fought.” Who has fought you?
PKC: Every believer’s life is fought – not necessarily by people. In fact, circumstances that we go through and our own flesh fight our spirituality when we get distracted. But the thing is that we still have to do what God has called us to do whether or not we feel like it.
TM: You also say that you sometimes get mad at the Lord and ask Him lots of questions. Why should you be angry with God?
PKC: Because you go through stuff. Sometimes you feel that certain experiences are not fair and you wonder why those things are happening. But then, God is sovereign, and you take comfort in the knowledge that all things work together for good as the scripture says.
TM: As I was doing research for this interview, and obviously the Internet these days is the first port of call, it was quite evident that Pastor Phillip uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) a lot. How important are ICTs in the spreading of the gospel?
PKC: During the time of the early apostles, letters were the most prevalent form of communicating the gospel across distances and boundaries. So, in our day, we have to use these multi-media technologies and social networks to do the same. These can reach places we are not able to go physically.
TM: How has Christianity in your view transformed Zimbabwe and how is the coming on board of young pastors like you affecting the process?
PKC: I have so much respect for the path-finding generals of the gospel in this country who include Apostle Ezekiel Guti, Bishop Bartholomew Manjoro and the late Evangelist P.D. Chiweshe.
But in recent years, God has been raising a younger generation of ministers to continue the work. It’s one war we are still fighting and I believe that had it not been for the presence of the church in Zimbabwe, this nation would have collapsed. But because of His church, God has availed His grace.
TM: That’s debatable and let’s hope we pursue the issue at some point. But, ministries are started, and most of them rely on existing ones for membership. What I am saying is that the ministries are increasing but the membership is not growing. How will you grow your congregation?
PKC: Like I said earlier, Love Feast is not a church or a congregation. We already belong to a church so we can’t start one. This is simply a platform that brings together Christians from different denominational backgrounds to a round-table. The reason why our meetings will be done on Saturdays is so that we allow people to be in their churches on Sundays.
TM: Your final remarks – issues you think are pertinent for the body of Christ and the nation.
PKC: I want to challenge the body of Christ to redirect its footsteps back to the uncorrupted truths of the Bible, the first principles of the gospel.
What this nation is going through, in many ways reflects the state of the church, which is supposed to be the light of the world. Our nation is desperate for true revival and this revival can only happen when we begin to genuinely seek the Lord.
Once revival breaks, it will touch every facet of the nation and transform it for the better.
