The Sunday Mail
THE Murefu brothers — pastors in Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe — give the world a story of brotherhood in their life.
Doctors Titus and Constantine, and Pr Paymore Murefu have made a trek to the top as united as they were when they were still little boys in Njanja, Chikomba district.
Born and raised in a family of 12 to parents who were evangelists in Apostolic Faith Mission, the three brothers have stood together and pushed each other to excel in education and pastoral work.
Said Dr Constantine, “My brother (Titus) was part of the last Standard 6 class in the country (Grade 8) and as I was a level behind. This made us the first Grade 7 class in the country. So in other words I skipped Standard 6 and I caught up with him in Form 1.
“So there was a six-month wait before you proceeded to Form 3. This was the juncture when parents said ‘paying fees is becoming too heavy for us. We are able to take the older to continue with school’ while the younger stays at home’.”
This meant Dr Titus had to further his education while Dr Constantine stayed put.
“When they said that I went through various emotions like colours of a rainbow. Should I hate my parents, should I hate myself? I loved education and I was doing well. What should I do?”
As an uncertain future loomed large, an opportunity to pick cotton in the farms surrounding Bindura where the Murefus were living arose.
“My brother and I enlisted in those and we would spend the day picking cotton. At the end of the cotton-picking season I went to my parents and said ‘thank you so much for educating me up to Form 2. From this time on I am on my own’.
“The little I got I saved, and my brother gave me a percentage of the money he made during cotton picking,” Dr Constantine said.
Added Dr Titus: “I remember when I finished my Standard 6 before going for Form 1, I had to work for a white policeman polishing his shoes. And after finishing my ‘O’ Level going to ‘A’ level, I picked tea in Mutare. We would work for school fees and then go to school.”
The year 1974 would be a turning point for the Murefu family as their father passed away at the same time AFM was opening Bible School.
Dr Titus enrolled in 1975 while Dr Constantine followed suit a year later.
While Dr Constantine would move to South Africa and the US to further his studies in Theology after graduating in 1978, Dr Titus ministered locally.
Embarking on a trip to the US in 1980 with only two cents in his pocket, Dr Constantine would at times rely on his older brother for financial assistance.
“I had to send him one US dollar while I was in Botswana because (then) I was already a speaker. I had one US dollar and I didn’t know that foreign currency was used here (Zimbabwe) so I posted it to him,” Dr Titus — who had graduated from Bible School in 1977 — said.
His own journey to being a pastor would be transformed while he was still on probation in 1978, being appointed one of the lecturers at Living Waters Bible College.
“I was not only a local pastor and lecturer but also national director of the youth from 1979 to 1999. I am the one who established and solidified youth ministry within AFM during that period.”
Dr Titus furthered his education through correspondence.
Apart from attaining Masters degrees in Theology and Peace, Leadership and Governance, Dr Titus also put together the AFM hymn book and was involved in writing an indigenous constitution for the church in Zimbabwe.
He also worked with the Ministry of Education as an educator being appointed as master of exams as the Bible College then was established as an examination centre.
After supervising exams from 1981 to 1988, Dr Titus was appointed a marker for Form 6 students. In addition, he founded several assemblies which are now established in the AFM including the one he leads in Borrowdale, Harare.
In 1990, two years before Dr Titus was promoted to become a trainer of teachers marking examinations around Zimbabwe, Dr Constantine had come home from the US to be appointed the first black principal for Living Waters Theological Seminary and was to remain at its helm for a record 23 years.
Dr Constantine’s work was to be heavily influenced by his involvement with chaplains at the University of Zimbabwe and he revamped the curriculum at Bible College to ensure it addressed African concerns as well as global issues.
In the process he coined the phrase “Linking academic excellency with spiritual profundity”, which is still being used at Bible College.
In addition to forming assemblies which included Nyabira, Tynwald, Malbereign and Kuwadzana, Dr Constantine was also involved in acquiring the Bible College campus in Tynwald which lies on a 25 acres.
“So we worked out that curriculum with a lot of relevance because we wanted to produce a student that is thoroughly globalised and comprehensively localised. I had to make that link and therefore expanded the level of education to meet with the standards of university status because while I was lecturing at the college I was also involved with chaplains at UZ.
“So that gave me lots of exposure within a university setting as well as a theological seminary setting. I developed the college to where it is now, with competitive quality education.” Dr Constantine said. It was 11 years into his tenure when he was perusing a list of applicants who intended to study Theology that he noticed his younger brother Paymore’s application.
“He didn’t consult me. I had just seen his name on the list of applicants because when you apply, the academic dean and dean of students handle all the applicants. After they approve and are done with interviews those files would be brought to my office. So while I was checking the files I noticed my own brother’s application. I just thought to myself I will not scrutinise this file, I just signed it,” Dr Constantine said.
Pr Paymore enrolled at Bible College in 2001 and graduated in 2003.
This had been preceded by a physically demanding job of digging trenches for the national power utility. This line of work saw him deciding to become a professional electrician.
“Digging trenches is painful, more-so while you are being monitored. We worked Monday to Friday. But after that experience, at one point I controlled the entire stores department in Chitungwiza,” said Pr Paymore, who also worked for World Vision and a shipping company.
Pr Paymore began his ministry in 2004, pastoring in rural areas before being posted to Harare in 2007. He has lectured at Manna Bible College where he also attained his Bachelor’s degree.
In addition to preaching around the world, he is the superintendent of Kingsway Fellowship International Zimbabwe, an interdenominational organisation whose origins are traced back to the US.
While doctors Titus and Constantine have been pastors for 38 and 37 years respectively, their young brother is now in his 14th year.
