The Sunday Mail
His father wanted him be a cop and he never wanted to be a pastor, although his calling came in 1994. But God’s will always prevails, and Apostle Tendai Masawi (AM) of Action Family International Ministries was ordained on Easter Sunday in Harare’s Budiro 5 suburb by Bishop OT Chipunza, the founder of the School of Deliverance and Apostolic Flame Ministries of Zimbabwe. Tendai Manzvanzvike (TM) spoke with Apostle Masawi about the ordination and other issues.
TM: You are being ordained when you have been in ministry for more than five years. What does this mean?
AM: What that simply means is that after graduating from Living Waters Bible School, I went into full-time ministry. It was like winning an election, and then going back to your constituency, and people calling you Honourable. But then, there is always an official inauguration. When you are sworn in, it becomes official.
You are officially being given the sceptre to rule. This is the authority now. Dimensions will change and challenges will also change because in Christianity, if we say more anointing, a new level of spiritual warfare intensifies.
Haugone kuzvigadza kuita mambo. (You don’t install yourself king.)
To be honest with you, I never wanted to be pastor although my calling came way back in 1994. But we thank God. It is by His grace.
TM: What did you want to be?
AM: There are five rules that affect a person: individual will, God’s will, parental will, the devil’s will and personal will.
For example, my father was a policeman, and he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He was so resolute about wanting me to join the police force. Had he succeeded, I could have been under a personal will with lots of influence from the inner circle, while I still had my own desires.
The Bible says, train up a child in a way he should go, and not in a way that you want him to go. In personal will, there is a lot of advice coming your way about what you should do. You do it not because that is what you want, but because that is due to influence. But individual will means that that is exactly what I want.
I am a property manager by profession, and that was my personal choice. I got involved in property management during the early days of the land reform programme, where I was dong farm evaluations, working for Government. But then, God’s will was that He wants me to be His servant.
The safest place to be is to be in the will of God because it means that no one can touch you. When God gives you an assignment, He makes sure that He gives you the necessary protection.
But once you are out of His will, you are on your own. If you declare yourself independent, it means that whoever was controlling you, no longer controls you. Because we’re talking about the Kingdom of God, it means you are colonised.
Just like we were colonised by the British, we started dressing like them and speaking their language. If you have been successfully colonised, your dressing also changes. The way you look at things and talk changes.
Drawing from that example, if you are successfully colonised by the Holy Spirit, the way you talk, behave and dress changes. But if I declare myself independent, the Holy Spirit will leave. So, the best way is to be in the will of God.
TM: What is your church’s vision?
AM: To unite families, impacting lives and reforming people.
TM: On your Facebook page, you said this was an historic ordination because it was taking place during the Passover festival in the Shemitah year. And, this is also during the four blood moons period. There is a lot of prophetic stuff regarding the Shemitah year and the four blood moons…
AM: When the Bible refers to the north, south, east and west, people need to understand what God is using as the centre. God is using Jerusalem, which is Israel. And the Bible says in Luke 21:28, “When you see these signs happening, you should know that your redemption is near.”
We are in 2015, and we’re basically counting from the day Jesus Christ was crucified. But from creation we are in 5775. If we were to count from Exodus, Pentecost comes 50 years after the Exodus.
This is also the Jubilee where Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach the Gospel.” And He went on to say, “and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”, which is the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25). The acceptable year is simply the year that God has accepted.
With the four bloods moons, God is simply saying He is showing wonders in heaven. The moon shall turn bloody red. What the four blood moons mean is that when they fall during feasts, it’s a clear sign that God is actually explaining something, and something historic is about to happen. There is a redefining and a realignment that God wants to do in the lives of His people.
But, what does it mean to the Gentiles? It means that we have been grafted in. We are now supposed to look at Israel and interpret what will happen in our lives. What happens to Israel in the physical has got a lot of bearing for Christians in the spiritual realm.
TM: What does this mean for Zimbabwe?
AM: As the four blood moons line up, it means that something is going to happen. Zimbabwe might be in difficulty at the beginning of the four blood moons, but it will always end in a victory. There is also something that God is saying: begin to count.
It is a time for Zimbabwe where God is doing that. But we have to come to a point where we learn how to speak positively about our nation like prophet Ezekiel in chapter 37.
God told Him that the dry bones were not in heaven, but on earth. It was him who was in charge. If you don’t prophesy, you will continue to have dry bones. Prophesy.
God was simply telling him that He gave dominion to man on Earth. Until we learn to prophesy, to speak to the dry bones in our nation, God will be there, but silent and we can’t blame Him for He has given us everything.
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Partial Sermon by Bishop O.T. Chipunza at the Official Ordination of Pastor Tendai Masawi (Action Family International Ministries) on April 5 2015 at the AFIM church in Budiriro 5, Harare.
Theme: Season of Unparalleled Favour
ABSTRACT: We have brothers that God called, who did not go through the process we are performing today, a tradition that is performed by churches that came before us – the tradition of officially ordaining church ministers according to God’s dictates, and according to the laws of our land.
ALL demonic spirits from the ten provinces of this great country will now have another spiritual warrior (“mushungurudzi”).
The devil took the church for granted as the current indigenous men and women of God were made to move around without spiritual covering so that whatever God deposited within them failed to outlive them.
We were beaten to the game by the likes of William Booth, and we were also beaten by missionaries coming from overseas when they brought the gospel to Zimbabwe.
They had spiritual covering, thus they did not encounter many hurdles here, and those that followed them into the church, did not have problems.
That is why you find today that the Anglican Church is still standing very firm. That’s why you find that the Methodist Church is standing very firm.
That’s why you also find that the Church of Christ is standing very firm. That’s why you find the Apostolic Faith Mission the great church I came from is standing today.
Why is that so?
It is because the church founders did not begin the work of God just because God had called them. The ministries that were put in them outlived them.
I declare that this Church will outlive its founder. And today, we’re doing it in the land of Zimbabwe, the only land that we know of. We want to thank God that when He has raised men and women in Zimbabwe, they should have spiritual covering.
John Graham Lake is dead. He is one of the founders of AFM the world over including the SADC and Central African regions; the European zone where he came from.
He died long back but the church did not die with him. We refuse to start things that have an immature end: something that is started today but ends with the founders.
It must outlive him and go to future generations. Let the Church outlive its founders.
John Wesley is dead, but I can see him smiling and saying, “Lord, you did not make me start something with a dead end. The work that you started is still progressing.”
Listen to me; we reject the things of God started in Zimbabwe that end with one person. That’s why I am declaring right now that all the spiritual dark forces that are fighting against Zimbabwe, its economy, marriages and families – we now present another spiritual warrior.
We want to thank God that when He has raised men and women in Zimbabwe, they should have covering.
Therefore today, we are doing this in the name of Zimbabwe, the only land that we know, the only land that God is raising men and women.
This Church stand will eventually be too small. There are people that will come from afar. You cannot be a true and successful minister in a particular land, without acknowledging the national anthem of your particular land.
People will flock from all four corners of Zimbabwe to come and look for the man and woman of God.
As a Bishop, I look beyond your assembly. I look into all the provinces. The man and woman of God will minister in every province of Zimbabwe and when they do, demons must bow down; cancer must submit; the dead must be raised. Those that are suffering from the spirit of infirmity must be given their health and strength.
We are ordaining other men and women of God, the way I was ordained by another man of God who has got churches throughout the world (Archbishop Ezekiel Guti of Zaoga FIF). Today, I am only duplicating what he has done to me, to another man of God who came to seek for spiritual covering.
Whilst he runs his own ministry, he is saying he needs this ministry to be fully recognised not only in the land of Zimbabwe, but in the spiritual realm.
There is a time when demons say that Paul we know, Jesus we know but you sons of Sceva who are you?
In this land, we have got so many sons of Sceva that are running around and putting the Church into disrepute because of their character; because they are not covered.
It is a very important office that I will ordain him into and then on the Easter Monday, I will hand him his ordination certificate, but tonight we want him to be recognised in the spiritual realm. We want to acknowledge that Zimbabwe is the only place where God is raising giants.
Whoever comes to AFIM crying, must go back with a smile; whoever comes here childless, must go back with a child; whoever comes here without the knowledge of Jesus, and must go back after receiving Jesus as Lord.
No demons will remain stubborn in the ten provinces of this great country. He is not going to preach in Harare only. He is going to go to all four corners of this great country. You don’t go outside Zimbabwe before you have put a legacy in your own country.
Your ministry is Action Family International Ministries. It was supposed to be Action Family in Zimbabwe, because, we first subdue the demonic spirits of our land. Remember I am an Afro-centric Bishop.
We are not preaching to whites here. We are ministering to people from Zvimba, Bindura, Checheche, Mutoko, Rusape, Hwedza, Matabeleland, etc. The man of God who pastors you must first of all be received/accepted in the spiritual realm of the land he is ministering. You hear me?
Wherever he goes, he will plant a seed that survives. We don’t want churches limited to one section. It should spread.
I once preached a sermon titled “Magariro akanaka” (How to live a good life).
You don’t partake your blessings before you subdue the spiritual forces/territorial spirits.
Our minister had just given himself a title. This is what youngsters do. They give themselves titles.
There is no king/chief who ordains himself. I come from a royal family (Chipunza chieftaincy). I will not wake up one day and call myself Chief Chipunza. There is a day of inauguration.
So, when he was calling himself Apostle (Masawi), well it was just a ploy so that you fear/respect him.
Ask everyone who calls themselves prophet who ordained them? We have brothers that God called, who did not go through the process we are performing today, a tradition that is performed by churches that came before us – the tradition of officially ordaining church ministers according to God’s dictates, and according to the laws of our land.
So, he had just given himself a title. I was also told that by the man of God (Baba Guti) who ordained me that I had given myself a title, so that I could move around. But now, you can walk freely.
This Easter I tested the ordination I had. I did not gather people for a conference. Some churches gather people making them look like they own them. The ordained pastors I have here ran the whole Easter programme alone. I was in Rusape marrying off my children.
Everything was moving smoothly because the Church has got a covering. You don’t worry about something that has a covering. You are not fazed when a follower leaves the Church because God replaces, and because of the anointing.
I want to acknowledge once again all the churches that have gone through this tradition whether its United Methodist Church, Reformed Church of Zimbabwe and the great church that I came from – AFM.
They don’t release a pastor into full time ministry without ordaining. Whether it’s Zaoga FIF, they don’t release a pastor into full time ministry without being ordained.
I don’t know what is happening in this great land, but we thank God that we will set the correct precedent.
And (Apostle) Masawi, it’s not you who is going to shepherd them. It is going to be through God’s anointing that we will bestow on you, the gracious anointing that God gave me that will shepherd this flock.
They don’t belong to you. They belong to the Most High God, the one who died for them, the one whom we are celebrating. He is risen!
He is the one that ordains men and women into sacred offices.
I know it’s not common to most of you, but we are ministering in Zimbabwe. The man and woman of God that we are going to ordain today, they are ministering to Zimbabweans. They will be another powerhouse here. Let’s all stand up and acknowledge God’s mighty task before us in our land.
Singing of the National Anthem
Simudzai mureza wedu weZimbabwe
Yakazvarwa nomoto weChimurenga;
Neropa zhinji ramagamba
Tiidzivirire kumhandu dzose;
Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.
Tarisai Zimbabwe nyika yakashongedzwa
Namakomo, nehova, zvinoyevedza
Mvura ngainaye, minda ipe mbesa
Vashandi vatuswe, ruzhinji rugutswe;
Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.
Mwari ropafadzai nyika yeZimbabwe
Nyika yamadzitateguru edu tose;
Kubva Zambezi kusvika Limpopo,
Navatungamiri vave nenduramo;
Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.
ENGLISH
O lift high the banner, the flag of Zimbabwe
The symbol of freedom proclaiming victory;
We praise our heroes’ sacrifice,
And vow to keep our land from foes;
And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.
O lovely Zimbabwe, so wondrously adorned
With mountains, and rivers cascading, flowing free;
May rain abound, and fertile fields;
May we be fed, our labour blessed;
And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.
O God, we beseech Thee to bless our native land;
The land of our fathers bestowed upon us all;
From Zambezi to Limpopo
May leaders be exemplary;
And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.
I shared with Apostle Masawi that God gave me a revelation where I saw the Zimbabwean flag hoisted, but the mast broke. Then I heard a voice saying, “Zimbabwe will never bow down to her enemies.”
There are spiritual enemies that want Christians in Zimbabwe to suffer. From there, I saw water covering the whole map of Zimbabwe – from all corners of this great country.
I declare today that ordained men and women of God start to speak favour into this country. Rivers of life will start to flow.
Ordained men and women of God, start to speak into families! There is going to be healing in those families. There is going to be a revival and a restoration in our economy.
I have known Apostle Masawi straight from Bible College. He did not break away like others who poach followers from other churches, instead of witnessing to their own.
And, if you examine the current crop of indigenous pastors, they are not calling altar calls for people to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. They are only talking about money and promising endless miracles: “Unoroorwa chete; Uchadhiraivha mota inoti, kwaziwai, makadii! Ndiri kuona waita mari yakakura kwazvo.” (No matter what, you will get married. You shall drive a posh car. I see you making lots of money…)
God does not bless you with money before you get salvation. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added unto thee…
(Transcription and translation by Tendai Manzvanzvike)
Events Calendar
Event: Fire Service – Greater Light Covenant Ministries
Date: April 19
Venue: Rankini Secondary School, Glenforest, Harare
Time: 10am
Theme: Let the fire come down (Hebrew 1:7)
Host: Apostle Paul
Contact: +263 778195138
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Event: Miracle Crusade — Jesus for Africa Evangelistic Ministries
Dates: April 28-May 2
Venue: Mukumbura Primary School
Speaker: Evangelist Paul Saungweme
Contact: +2634 779508; +263 772544944 <tel:%2B263772544944>; +263 772969069
Email forthcoming events to [email protected] by mid-day Tuesday
