The Sunday Mail
Dr Ruth Gova and Cheryl Mukuyu
PROPHETESS Dr Apphia Clara Manjoro (nee Marimazhira) graduated to Heaven on the evening of Tuesday 12 April, 2016.
She was born to a well-respected Roman Catholic family of four boys and five girls, and that helped pave way for young Apphia to have a revelation of her spiritual calling at a tender age.
She used to reminisce, “My zeal to serve the Lord started when I was child. I have always felt burdened to help people so much that I concluded that the best way I could achieve this and at the same time be closer to God would be by becoming a nun.”
Upon completion of school she enrolled into a convent to become a nun.
Following much counselling to dissuade her by nuns at the convent who, reasoning that her brother had also gone into full-time ministry and who felt for her parents, she heeded the advice and took up teaching.
However, that did not deter her calling.
In 1969 Apphia Clara seriously fell ill and became partially paralysed. The family tried all they could to get her cured but to no avail, until her older sister took her to a pastor who prayed for her and she got instant healing.
That led to her being born again in Christ. That also marked the beginning of her ministry in the Kingdom of God through preaching and singing for the Lord in local townships, on buses, on trains, by street lights and in many parts of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and other Southern African countries including Botswana, where she sang for the then president Sir Tseretse Khama.
Concerning ministry, she used to say, “My greatest desire is to see more women being used by God in the home, business, ministry and in leadership of all respectful nature. My prayer to God is, I want to see great prophetesses and anointed women rising and declaring the Word of God.”
In 1974 she married Evangelist Bartholomew Manjoro (now Bishop Professor Dr Manjoro). Together they travelled extensively around the world, preaching the Word of God and being used by the Lord God to heal the sick.
Together they co-founded Faith World Ministries in 1993 and Faith World Bible College thereafter. Their ministry is still spreading throughout the world to places like South Africa and the United Kingdom.
In the same year, Prophetess Manjoro also founded Virtuous Women Community International, a God-fearing community of women with a desire to make a difference in their local communities by empowering women, through Biblical values, in countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana, Congo, Mozambique, Swaziland, Namibia, Lesotho, Kenya, Uganda, the UK, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and the US.
Mother General, as she was affectionately known, was also passionate about fundraising and getting humanitarian aid for the girl-child, orphans, widows and the vulnerable through Claapphia Rescue Centre Trust, that she founded in 2006.
With her own resources and the fundraising gifts, God enabled her to support, in cash and kind, many children who passed through the doors of Hamandishe Primary School in Gutu, where she also did her primary education.
She also witnessed the construction of Virtuous High School in Gutu too, a school earmarked to provide quality secondary education to the girls and nurture them from early childhood into God-fearing ladies.
The vision of the school is anchored on Proverbs 22:6: “… teach a child the ways of the Lord, and when he/she is old he/she will not depart from them.”
Education was important to Prophetess Manjoro as, from another angle, reading and learning God’s Word was a crucial part of education to her.
For instance, she would post Scriptures (code-named Daily Bread) on WhatsApp to everyone in her phonebook up to the very day she was hospitalised.
Indeed the Word of God was her daily bread.
Besides touring Israel several times, it was her trademark to emphatically teach in church and Bible College that praying for Israel drew God’s blessings.
Prophetess Manjoro was a woman of courage who proclaimed the Word of God in seasons which were Holy Spirit-led.
One spectacular season was in 2009 when Mother General led multitudes of ladies in marches throughout the provinces of Zimbabwe; in the cities, towns, townships, suburbs, rural areas, growth points, schools, university campuses and streets.
The marches campaigned against such vices as rape, abuse, abortion, baby dumping and premarital sex.
She would persuade young girls not to abort and vowed to take care of their “unwanted babies”.
That helped very much because as she prayerfully cared for pregnant teenagers, no abortions were recorded and the girls became prepared for motherhood as she nurtured them to bond with their unborn babies.
Mother General also had a tremendous impact on the general community.
When Zimbabwe was fighting water-borne diseases around 2007/2008, she took it upon herself to supply water purification equipment and treatments.
Using her own resources, she drilled a borehole at Hamandishe Primary School. The team working on the borehole said they had failed to reach the water table but through her staunch faith, Prophetess Manjoro travelled to Gutu, planted a tree and prayed to God for rains.
Indeed God was faithful; heavy rains were received in the area and the borehole became operational. The tree also thrived to testify to her faith.
Both the school and the surrounding community are benefiting from this water source today.
In the body of Christ, Mother General, as the Bishop’s wife, has reached out in mentorship programmes. She has mentored other bishop’s wives, pastors, pastors’ wives, lady pastors, Bible College students, scholars, women and youths all over the world.
That way, she has made an indelible mark on the body of Christ as she imparted her God-endowed personality of the love for God’s work, leadership, motherhood, wife hood, love, peace-loving, giving and all the strive to Christ likeness.
Prophetess Apphia was a Reverend, an author, counsellor, marriage officer, songwriter, composer, singer, philanthropist, international conference speaker, teacher of the Word of God and renowned scholar.
She graduated from Christ for the Nations College (US) in 1984, the Campus Crusade for Christ (Swaziland) in 1979, obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology from Brownell University (US) in 1989 and was conferred with a Doctor of Divinity degree by International Miracle Institute Pensacola (US) in 2014.
She received numerous accolades in recognition of her hard work, including:
Nominated The Greatest Woman of the 21st Century and was listed in the edition of the contemporary “Who’s Who” by the American Biographical Institute in 2004;
Nominated for Outstanding Female Executive Award by the American Biographical Institute in 2005;
Awarded a commemorative medal for Woman of the Year by the American Biographical Institute in 2006;
Awarded an Organisation Certificate and Certificate of Recognition by Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministries International (US) in 2006;
Registered as a member of the Global Emergency Mission Society (Canada) in 2009;
Recognised as Mother for the NAtions by Shekinah Covenant Women (Zimbabwe), Virtuous Women Community and other Women’s organisations globally in 2009;
Became an Azuza Street Centennial Servant at leader level in 2006; and
Member of the Zimbabwean National Council for the Welfare of Children in 2010.
Prophetess Apphia enjoyed gardening, landscaping and writing.
She wrote several books including “Ierene — The Peace of God”, “Kiddushin — Sanctified Marriage”, “Dictionary of Bible Proper Names” and “My Experience in God”, among many others.
In one of her spiritually-inspired books, “Scriptural Masuwo,” she wrote that having experienced what all other pregnant mothers go through, she felt burdened by the pain women experience during pregnancy and childbirth.
She prayed about it and got a revelation on how pregnant women could go through pregnancy more comfortably and without complications through Scriptures that could be meditated on, or “taken” as masuwo.
The Scriptures have been quite powerful and effective to both the pregnant and even those trying to conceive. Amazing testimonies of painless birthing and conceiving have been given by women who were ministered to by “Scriptural Masuwo”.
Prophetess Manjoro is survived by her husband (Bishop Professor Dr B Manjoro), three children (Pastor Dr Batholomew Jr, Rev Dr Faithful IT Mutibvu and Pr Dr Eloi), one son-in-love (Pr Dr Clifford Mutibvu), two daughters-in-love (Dr Ruwa and Dr Patience), four grandchildren (Bartholomew Nissi, Elisha Ezra, Apphia and Isaac), and two other grandchildren on the way.
