Don’t Mislead the Flock: Pastor Kanokanga

Impact Christian Centre, pastored by pastors Davison and Gwendoline Kanokanga, celebrates its fourth anniversary on August 24.

Pastor Davison Kanokanga (DK) (pictured) is also a senior legal practitioner. Tendai Manzvanzvike (TM) spoke with him about his work as a pastor and a lawyer.

TM: You are a legal practitioner, author, marriage counsellor and pastor. How do you manage?

DK: Well, God is a busy God. He is working all the time. He neither sleeps nor slumbers. And, I am created in His image, after His likeness. So, laziness is not my portion. I believe in diligence, and I am passionate about what I do.

As a legal practitioner, I am conscious of the fact that my clients get the best because they pay for the service. As a pastor, I am conscious of my mandate to shepherd and feed God’s flock. It’s not my flock, but His flock.

So, in doing that, I am mindful of the fact that it’s not by power or by might, but by Him. So I depend on Him. I take my calling seriously.

TM: On marriage counselling, what kind of issues do you come across?

DK: Marital unfaithfulness and how technology is being abused: WhatsApp, Facebook and cellphones, with some spouses now using these gadgets to cheat on each other. We are seeing quite a bit of this. People sending each other pornographic pictures. There is quite a bit of that. Then there are issues to do with the in-laws or the extended family.

There are also money issues, and issues to do with roles since we are having a lot of women now being career women and some of them demanding that the husbands take turns to perform certain household chores.

TM: Your advice on this one since it’s quite prevalent…

DK: There are specific roles that are God directed. It’s Godly that the husband is the head of the family, and even if the wife is more educated and earns more than him, that should not result in her usurping his headship.

TM: Impact Christian Church celebrates its fourth anniversary on the 24th August. Where were you before starting the ministry and what was the reason for leaving?

DK: Together with my wife Gwendoline who is also a pastor, we were in Zaoga FIF for 25 years. We both sensed that we had a calling. We were basically responding to God’s prompting and we felt that it would be wrong for us to be disobedient. That’s how ICC came to be.

TM: Did some Zaoga followers join you?

DK: It’d have been very easy to influence people if we had wanted to, but I took the approach that Galatians 6:7 says: you reap what you sow. Being a marriage counsellor, I was also conscious of the fact that when you are an adult and you want to start your own home, you don’t do so by pulling down your father’s house. You peaceably leave and start your own family. It’s part of the growth process. So, we quietly left Zaoga without influencing anyone. We just left as a family and we started witnessing on the streets, giving out fliers for prayer meetings and seminars.

TM: And now the four years – what have they been like?

DK: These have been four educative, transformative and informative years. They have been a time for personal growth. I have seen God stretching me as a Christian. I preach almost every Sunday, do leadership training, and also shepherd people. That has resulted in so much spiritual growth at a personal level.

I learnt to work with people and just see what happens in the Kingdom of God – getting to appreciate people, and to know that they need to be loved, and to identify their gifting.

This is one of the advantages of a small ministry. It allows for interaction between the members and the pastor because we now have other ministries which are such that the members yearn for a time to see their pastor?

TM: Because they are so big?

DK: Indeed! And then, there are others that are not that big, but they are big in their head, so they make themselves unavailable to the congregation.

TM: What’s in store for the 4th anniversary celebrations?

DK: On August 22 and 23, we will have a marriage and a leadership seminar. A week before the celebrations we are going to have an outreach in Warren Park where we are going to have medical doctors giving free medical consultation , and nurses as well attending to people free of charge. Any doctor who is keen to be part of it is welcome to the outreach programme. We will also have lawyers giving free legal advice, certifying and commissioning documents free of charge.

On August 24, we will have two guest speakers from Zambia and South Africa at ICC, Customs House, Inez Terrace.

TM: Some churches are accused of fleecing people…

DK: I will speak for ICC. I am not paid by the ministry. I put most of the money in the ministry. So in ICC, there will be no fleecing of people. That won’t happen. It’s wrong for any pastor to take advantage of people and abuse God’s flock. They will be accountable to God for doing such a thing.

TM: What is your take on arguments that Government should regulate churches? Is there a legal basis and what does the Word of God say?

DK: We have to start from a point where we say, what is it that has caused the thinking about the need to regulate churches, for churches have been around for many years.

Something has happened in the church and the Government is saying we can’t sit back and watch.

As churches, we also have ourselves to blame because the reality is that there have been some pastors that have abused people, abused their power and authority.

But you also have to ask the question: whose church is it? Jesus says in the Bible: “Upon this rock, I will build my church”.

So, it’s not the Government’s church or anybody’s church. It’s God’s church. He regulates His church.

The best thing that churches can do is to self-regulate because if you bring in the Government, you’re having the secular regulating the divine, when in fact the church is supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. It is the church that is supposed to be regulating the secular, not the other way round.

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Events calendar

Event: Ebenezer Convention – United Methodist Church

Dates: August 15 to 17

Venue: National Sports Stadium

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Event: Jesus Summit Conference – Tabernacle of Grace Ministries

Dates: August 11 to 12

Venue: Zanu-PF Headquarters

Time: 10am to 7pm

Guest speaker: Prophet Elijah Chali (Zambia)

Host: Apostle Batsirai Java

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Event: Jabula International Conference

Dates: August 8 to 12

Venue: Harare International Conference Centre

Theme: The Next Years

Guest speakers: Dr Mike Murdock, Dr Mensa Otabil, Bishop John Francis, Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo

Guest musician: Israel Houghton

Hosts: Bishop Tudor and Pastor ChiChi Bismark

Contact: [email protected]

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Event: Youth Convention

Dates: August 9 to 11

Venue: Kushinga Phikelela, Marondera

Hosts: Assemblies of God Zimbabwe

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Event: Spiritual General Conference – AFM in Zimbabwe

Dates: August 21 to 24

Venue: Rufaro Conference Centre, Chatsworth, Masvingo

Contact: +263-4-712871869

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Event: Anointed Water Service – Assigned Ministers Ministries International

Date: August 31

Venue: Mbare Netball Complex

Time: 8am to 1pm

Host: Apostle Freshman Gwasira

Contact: [email protected]

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Event: Crusade – AFM Elshaddai Ruwa Assembly

Dates: September 29 to October 4

Venue: AFM Elshaddai Assembly Damofalls Phase 4 (PaBooster)

Time: 6pm to 9 pm

Theme: Exodus 2

Guest speakers: Dr A Madziyire (AFM President); Overseer C Chiangwa; Overseer M Mashumba and Evangelist Amai Chiweshe

Contact: 0772919349 OR 0774550437

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Event: Today’s Woman Conference / Interdenominational Today’s Female Pastors Conference

Dates: November 20 to 23

Venue: Johannesburg, South Africa

Hosts: Prophetess Eunor and Apostle Ezekiel Guti

Contact: +263 772 933 110/ 782 032 794/772 886 355

Forthcoming events in various churches are a part of this instalment. Please email them to: [email protected]  by mid-day of Tuesday of each working week.