Bring Back our Girls, Bring back our Pride and bring back our Africa

The climax of the African pride lies in the African woman, whose beauty gives an aura of a coherent society .Her natural beauty resonates with a strong value system that naturally breeds warmth to the fibre of society. She incubates tonnes of love that add meaning to the fabric of life and therefore due respect must be accorded to her. I note with a deep sense of regret and categorically denounce the inhuman and denigrating kidnap of the innocent Nigerian girls, I pray for their safe release and subsequent reunion with their families. Yes as Zimbabwean as I am I pray for their safe release. Why? Because they are my sisters. Why? Because it is the right thing to do and I uphold values of UBUNTU.
I am not a saint and I do not boast of a righteous monopoly of the knowledge between right and wrong but I think I am qualified to see the difference between a stone and a rock. In my late twenties I know the difference between kidnap and a hostile takeover. Heaven knows where the innocent girls are and what they might be going through at this moment. What has come over our brothers? Are we not supposed to be each other’s keeper? Let us say no to Terrorism in Nigeria, and NO to a more sophisticated form of terrorism in the rest of Africa.
This more sophisticated form is characterized by greed and kidnap of the virtues that make our continent a beautiful one. We have been engrossed by a village head mentality that disregards what our freedom fighters fought for. Instead we are now free to line our pockets through corruption, we are now free to fight each other and even kill each other. We cannot fool each other because no one lives in a fool’s day calendar. We have the largest numbers of churches, mosques, schools, universities yet we act in barbarism to the detriment of those that we are supposed to care for. We are people of substance and let us not terrorize each other. We want peace and tranquility. Let love rule.
Please Bring back our Girls,Please bring back our Pride and Bring back our Africa

Be a dreamer-No challenge can stop you

Stopping refers to a sharp retardation of motion that renders a moving body motionless. A stopped body has a speed of zero so that it remains stagnant unless a force is applied to it. It is relatively easy to stop a light body moving with slow speed compared to a heavy one at high speed. A man with a small vision coupled with little zeal and enthusiasm to move forward can easily be retarded and eventually stopped as compared to him with a bigger dream and vision. The one with a bigger vision is like a heavy body moving at high speed. He is like a train of hope that cannot be derailed by anything that blocks its way. The onus is upon each and every one of us to make a difference in life. We can be small today but with a big vision we have the capacity to affect a big world.

Are you that one person who has to make a difference? Are you that person who needs a revamp in a limbo of incessant boredom and terrific loss of self actualization? Are you that person who needs to knock on a door that seems unlikely to be opened? Are you that soul that has chosen to remain silent in an unpleasant situation where the only reasonable toner is a forlorn hope that tomorrow will be a better day; a situation where the clock of darkness seems to conceal a somewhat unusual routine of self retardation; a retardation that seems to slow down all the possible sources of happiness? Are you that one person who is in a bizarre night that seems to have no morning, a thickness of unsolicited blackness that beams of light cannot penetrate? In this unending amount of black you yearn but it will not let anyone hear your call for help. You cry but unfortunately this evil spell of darkness will let nobody realize your urgent need for attention. You are all alone, no one seems to care. That will not stop you from making progress.

No matter how dark the night may be, the visible stars on the blanket of twilight will always make it gorgeous. Amazing graces of true joy will always give an aura of happiness that is worth striving for. Your heart will not be torn apart as true virtues of character will call for it to gracefully survive. It will survive in a mental jungle where you lobby the mind to give you answers but instead you get rhetoric questions that leave you in utter discomfort. This state of mental invasion instead makes you realize that you have to deliver some goods yet you do not have the means to do so. Suddenly you are plunged into this dark mirror that seems to show you the world of impossibilities. Your inner man begins to linger in a sea of possible solutions only to get a pamphlet of toxins that threaten to shut you down into a dooms day legend. You reach a destination where you unfortunately begin to re live episodes of your fierce fears that you thought were long gone. You are in this tabernacle of complex thoughts where no priest can reach out for you. An involuntary shiver cracks down your spine as these prodigal thoughts take control of you.

You begin to wonder if you will find a good thing, or better still if you are that good thing to be found. You begin to wonder if you will find peace or, or better still if you are that peace to be found. How can this be true? All your expectations seem to be nothing but wishes that will never come to be. Ironically even if these wishes were horses you would not want to be that beggar to ride them. In this mental expedition you reach the crossroads where every avenue of possibility seems to be exhausted. You have come to this place where you are scared, confused and bewildered, not by the orientation of it all but by hundreds of flames that want to burn you alive. Amazingly everything seems to be hollow in your world. With eyes closed you sink deep into a caress of thoughts which mercilessly cast you into emotional breakdown instead of unleashing a spate of ease and gentleness in you.

You whisper what is supposed to be a prayer but its words can hardly be heard by anyone, you are now soaked in a salty river that trickles from your eyes which seem to be boiling into red balls. You are now overtaken by a string of desires, desires of liberty that can only be felt by that person who wants to be free. In this haze of daunting pessimism you sink deeper into the limitless spiral of optimism in search of a place of mental rest. You are in search of a comfort zone that seems not to exist. All there is to this fiasco is a paradox of events that incapacitate you to a timid individual. Your self confidence suddenly escapes from you like air from a punctured balloon leaving you in a dilapidated state of affairs. The best thing you can probably do at this juncture is cry but unfortunately your tears are of no use to anyone. Not even the thirstiest of them all is prepared to partake of this waterfall that seems to have developed on your face. No amount of mascara or face powder can hide this impromptu cascade of tears that undoubtedly exposes the malfunction of all your systems. Lost in the corridors of uncertainty you begin to retire to a state of stagnation, you are no longer sure of what to do anymore.

The only thing that you can hope for is another chance, another moment to bask in the victory of a life worth living. In this trance of mental interrogation you are visibly motionless in physical form but highly active in the circles of the mind. Many questions unbelievably pop up in random fashion .At what cost is all this going to come to an end? What mechanism is going to stop this prison of incessant torture, where you find yourself fasting not because of an accolade of prayers but because you simply cannot eat? Your stomach has suddenly become full of these alien pies whose ingredients have caused you this loss of appetite. What kind of physician is going to remove these thorns that have caused so much pain in you? You are baffled by the thousand miles ahead of you yet you cannot even make a single step. You are bewildered by this knowledge that seems to know nothing but confusion that has never been conferred even to a fool. Devious thoughts seem to seduce you to this brothel of naked truth that molests you into malice and dissatisfaction. You never stole anything from anyone yet you languish in this prison of merciless anguish. Is this how you should be, a tear manufacturing machine which unfortunately produces gallons of a product that nobody wants. Are you supposed to be this powerless individual whose fate is in the hands of other people? Are you supposed to be the tail which in spite of being the most energetic is always at the back? Are you supposed to be this good man who is always down when other good men cannot be kept down for long? Are you supposed to be this person who is always running but going nowhere slowly?

Clearly this cannot be the case, take heart and take the bull by its horns. You cannot resign to stagnation so that you stop performing to the best of your abilities. You are unstoppable; nothing and nobody can stop you from being that person you have wanted. It is the strong will in you that will make a way where there seems to be no way. It will save your eyes when they tentatively gaze into the darkness in search of that special pinnacle that never was. The will shall save your soul from drifting aimlessly like a lost sheep in the land of cunning carnivores and predators. In such a state your ears listen in earnest hoping for a break in this eerie silence but alas not even an echo can sip through this spate of wicked quietness. The familiar sounds of comfort and consolation seem to have conformed to the bitter ways of this strange vacuum that seems to constrict every whisper of joy. You yearn for warmth and happiness yet you find yourself burning in what was supposed to be a moderate fire that would drive away the dew from a cold morning breeze.

You might burn but you will not run away, once you were a child and you ran away after touching a pinch of hot charcoal but today history will not repeat itself. Yes back then you were a child and you undoubtedly thought like a child. When you got burnt you dreaded the fire because you knew nothing about fire extinguishers, you knew nothing about fire fighting and you probably could not distinguish between smoke and fire. You probably could not differentiate between flame and fame but today that is certainly not the case. You cannot let fire wreck havoc in your camp; you cannot just run away and let the flames consume the vitality that you earned through hard work. It is unacceptable, you must fight, and you must stand up to fight even if it sends blood percolating from your nostrils. You may feel the heat but that will only be for a season. Hungry flames may stamp an array of blisters and sores on those places that you were not aware of since you became conscious of your existence but that must not retard the all important vision; that of standing out to fight, fight for those things that make you tick even in situations where time seems to bring no healing.

In other words keep focused on the dream in spite of circumstances. Rise above situations because you were created for greatness. Focus and keep your vision clear. Take daily steps that slowly take you closer to your destiny. The terrain may not be even but each time you make a step you draw closer to that place of limitless progress. You are unstoppable

Be a dreamer

A dream is a culmination of ideas and images driven by a wish to achieve a lasting legacy that positively impacts an individual and his dependants. A dream can be individual or corporate. Corporate dreams cut across companies, nations and even the universe. Dreams can grow and as such individual dreams can tremendously grow to impact nations and the world at large. Therefore it is important to associate with dream builders so as to allow for growth that is characterized by impact.

A dream plays a pivotal role in people’s lives. It begins with simplicity deeply seated on the loins and groins of every individual. Its attributes sweeten the music of life even in times when every good thing seems to be collapsing. It implants an enthusiasm and a great sense of vigilance at a time when adversity threatens to diminish the hope in us. In times of confusion it radiates a corrective wave that converts confusion to comfort.

You do not protect your dream by hanging around people who constantly remind you of your short comings and how you can never get it right. Surprisingly they are good at projecting how crazy your dream is, indicating how others with similar intentions failed in the past. In most cases they themselves have nothing to dream about yet they are very good at interpreting your own dream. Whilst others do consultancy work for a fee they are always ready to give you advice and consultancy free of charge. Such advice can indeed be free but the cost of reparation is very high. It surpasses imagination; a dream killed is worse than that which never was. The fact that such people think it cannot be done does not mean you cannot do it. All you need is a push in the right direction and you cannot get that push by contaminating yourself with trash from those who seek to discourage you. There is nothing wrong with seeking advice and guidance but there is everything wrong in telling your dream to people who will steal your coat of many colours. That is why it is important to hang around individuals who generate confidence in you.

We should have a passion for our dream, the kind that is similar to a mother’s love for her child. She travails day and night for her child whose first world was of course her womb. Her words of encouragement are an inscription that will forever be written in the child’s heart. She watches over her baby so that no vulture can take away her bundle of joy. She gives her child a sense of meaning as she whispers sweetness that can never be found anywhere in the world. She is a pillar of hope for the baby who will always seek refuge in her. Her child relishes her tender touch that no Baby Care Center can offer. She is a friend to those who have good intentions towards her child yet so repellant to those who want to suffocate her precious gift from God. Her good values and virtues easily radiate into her baby boy who in time graduates into a mighty man. In the same fashion these adorable virtues flow in the veins of her baby girl who becomes a virtuous woman, all this because of a mother’s unconditional love. Such kind of love is fit to be rendered to one’s dream.

As you look up the sky, you wonder what will be the next move on the jigsaw puzzle of life. All moves seem not to match this puzzle whose components are in unspeakable disarray. You try to sleep but the pillow seems to have suddenly turned into a rock whose rigidity simply cannot even lure you to a second of sleep. Even the usually comfortable bed seems to be worse than the hardest metal. You simply cannot sleep. At this stage you are probably overqualified for a night watchman who at least sleeps during the day. Your body slowly succumbs to exhaustion and probably wishes for another to substitute it in this shift of sleeplessness. Your mind seems to have run out of ideas let alone your mouth which seems to be bewitched into a spell of an unusual quietness. You are now probably worse than a statue which was made to languish in quiet stagnation. You begin to wonder whether this is the beginning of the end of a breathtaking movie with you as the main actor. You begin to feel uproar of vindictive passions that can only be quenched by elimination of everything that weighs you down. You are in a fix that can only be resolved by a strong force that cannot be stopped. This force is of course your dream.

In moments of devastation, when the eye seems to be engrossed in a spell of illusion; when the ear seems to hear nothing but drums of turmoil throbbing from within only one thing can save the situation, that is the vision for the future. The dream grows hope and expectation in a desert of uncertainty and hopelessness. It gives strength in situations where people think it the end of you. It cheers you on when every one seems to be overtaking you as if you have run out of the all important fuel that propels you. The dream keeps you on track in times when the road seems to be non existent. At such moments you begin to wonder what has happened to the sweetness that was written all over you not so long ago. You begin to hope for Samson’s strength to probably help you destroy this strong room that seems to prevent your prayers from reaching the heavens. Under such circumstances you begin to wonder if you have had visitations from him whose mandate is to steal, kill and to destroy. With tears awash on your cheeks you begin to wonder if you will ever experience seven or more years of abundant happiness after what seems to be seven years of distasteful dryness. You find yourself in this solitary place of seclusion where your only friends are house flies which of course enjoy feasting on your tears.

In such a situation you bleed and no doctor can help you, you feel your strength wearing out and no amount of exercise can resuscitate it. Nothing seems to materialize and maybe you have trusted too much. You let other people hold your heart and now they have dropped it leaving you in need of an operation. It is broken and unfortunately no surgeon can manage to stitch it up. To make matters worse no one is prepared to donate their own heart to save your sorry life. Your heart chambers are in dire need of urgent attention. Even the enthusiastic plumber who fixes chambers will only attend to those of faulty sewer systems and not those of the heart. In fact no one seems to be of help, except for rumour mongers of the North who always undoubtedly render their support in telling how useless you have become. Hoping for a breather you turn to the South were you encounter the full wrath of what looks like preachers propagating a gospel of how the heavens are punishing you for your sins. A sixth sense however brings to your attention that the heavens cannot operate in such a ruthless fashion when they can white wash scarlet red sin.

What you experience in the East leaves you wondering why the Sun chose to rise from that direction. It leaves you wondering why this huge bolus of heat fails to burn these irrational Easterners who seem to be celebrating your seeming demise. As if this is not enough you turn to the West where you encounter worst case scenarios which threaten to wallop you to extinction. You begin to wonder if there is indeed a time for everything since one thing appears to exist in your world. The biblical book of Ecclesiastics surprisingly is true to others who seem to be always in a time to smile, to rejoice and to gather stones of hope. On the contrary the horns of your clock seem to be stuck in the hour of crying so that happiness becomes a taboo. You are in the brink of collapse and heaven knows what will become of you. Only heaven knows what will become of those loved ones who look up to you as their shining star.

You are down but you cannot be kept down for long if the goodness in you is very much alive, you cannot be down for long if your dream still resides at the back of your mind. You cannot give up so that history captures you as a timid individual who never stood up to the challenge, you cannot surrender your destiny to fate so that you become a good example of a wrecked individual whose existence on mother Earth is to add on to humanitarian statistics. If you were born for greatness then you certainly cannot die a death of pity that is loaded with an abundance of legacy deficiency. If you were meant to get to the summit you will rise again no matter how many times you fall. If the sky is indeed the limit you will endeavour to get there even if it does not look blue anymore. You might not know if the sun will shine tomorrow but you can certainly try to make hay today with the ruminant of energy left in you. You certainly can laugh the longest if you choose to laugh last even if it seems as if your chance to show off your teeth will never come.

Stay tuned as we ponder on ways to make your dream become a reality..

Out to make a change

There are times when one feels discontent about his or her present state of affairs. In such a situation one feels alien to the goings on in life. Life seems discordant and everything seems off side. At such moments one seems to be in a bottomless pit with a vast expanse of darkness that is devoid of any traces of light. Nothing seems to work except for the odds that hammer the last ray of hope in the downward spiral that seeks to bury you alive. In this instance eyes cannot see beyond this dark window that ceases to be the link to a world of freedom that Madiba dreamt of behind bars. You are trapped in an island of dissatisfaction coupled with unquenchable thirstiness that can only be redeemed by an uncommon spasm of hope.

Change is the answer in such a situation. Change is a phenomenon that replaces old fashions of behaviour with new ones. It begins with recalibration of an individual’s thought life. A person has to get angry concerning his or her state of affairs in order to activate a thought process that seeks to do things differently. It is well documented that only a fool can do the same thing over and over again expecting different results. This means that change is viable to the wise if they realize that certain actions are failing to yield the desired results. This means that a person has to take steps to move out of the bottomless pit.

Uncommon challenges need uncommon ways of tackling them. This means that sometimes the way to changing the outlook in a person’s life might need a unique element that others might have never used. There is no formula for change. In other words one needs to take measures according to the way he or she sees fit. This of course does not eliminate the need for counsel and guidance from those who might have faced similar challenges in the past. What it simply means is that have the final decision to make an impact in your life.

There is an element that can sometimes act as a barrier for effective change. It paralyses fortitudes in people making them prone to manipulative schemes. It makes individuals vulnerable to frictional forces that give them an unspeakable myopia towards life. It makes people swim in a pool of immeasurable slumber that makes their brains go to sleep at a time when tactful thinking is required. This element is none other than fear, fear of what other people might say. In any case why fear a person who cannot even give you a teaspoon of oxygen to add on to the precious God given breath of life. Why shiver at the sight of people who are quick to count your shortcomings yet they cannot even count their own hair? Why tremble at the sight of award winning skeptics who are so brilliant in running your affairs yet so dismal in theirs?  Why bother yourself with people whose arithmetic is so good at adding your misfortunes yet so defunct when it comes to simple addition of their own mess? Clearly fear of other people must not deter us from taking a step of change.

Change occurs if an individual decides to make a difference; it is not easy to take a decisive step that can sometimes be alien to traditional norms and practices. It is clearly not easy to take a grassy path that seems to be in dire shortage of footsteps to follow. However this path can lead to a place of happiness. It can lead to a land of milk and honey. Milk is a natural source of protein that is essential for growth. Honey is a nutritious sweet yellowish juice that wrecks havoc to salivary glands and the tongue which can methodically mop up a plate full of the golden liquid in seconds. However to partake of the milk and honey one has to sometimes endure a kick by a hind leg of a cow during the milking process. One has to make do with a swollen blue eye after a sting by an angry bee which is always at loggerheads with those who prey on its industry.

In essence the road to change is not a stroll in the park. It is an act of perversion to suggest that change is an easy thing to do. Sometimes the easy way out of a situation can prove to be an easy way into a catastrophe and so care must be taken. However individuals must change in spite of the difficulty that can be encountered in the process of change.

These are some basic points to ponder before taking a step of change

• Why do you need to change?
• How are you going to do it?
• What are the risks associated with the step of change? Is there going to be some casualities? If any how significant are they?What steps can be taken to avoid them if necessary?
• Who will help you achieve change?

There are several points to ponder before making a change. You can add on some more for the benefit of others. Stay tuned for more on meeting destiny…

Do not kill them,they are all we have

It is about midnight in Zimbabwe and most are probably fast asleep. Most are probably having sweet dreams with a proper roof above their head. However somewhere in South Africa is a family uncertain of what the future holds, somewhere in the shanty towns of South Africa is a man caught in the horns of a dilemma. Somewhere in South Africa is a fellow brother nursing a wound after being pushed out of a moving train. Indeed the world cup has come. As we draw closer to the final we celebrate teams that made it to this stage of the game. We celebrate teams that have worked hard to book themselves entry into the finals that are due in a few days to come. However one team shivers at the thought of the final whistle, one team trembles at the thought of the end of the final ninety minutes.

This is the team that worked day and night to put up the magnificent stadiums whose spectacle mesmerizes the world. I have no doubt that our fellow brothers and sisters are a part of that team that worked hard. Talk of Mbombela Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium and the Soccer City Stadium to mention but a few. It is a pity that some of our fellow countrymen and a host of other foreign nationals find themselves enveloped in fear as unscrupulous elements bay for the blood of foreigners in that country. Shakira sang “Waka-Waka” celebrating the time for Africa. So did the rest of the world. As Zimbabweans we sang along knowing that our time had come. We embraced the spirit of ubuntu as we stood united with our neighbours in this time of glory. We witnessed the kick off at soccer city. We marveled the festivities at soccer city as World Cup fever took its toll. Today l cannot help but shed a tear at the growing sound of brutality coming from that direction. Does ubuntu condone the killing of helpless people in search of a better life? Does ubuntu slaughter fellow brothers and sisters because of a differing click or dialect? Can ubuntu discriminate us according to our presidents? Honestly spare us the horror. Let Soccer City be Soccer City and not Killer City.

It is with a heavy heart to note the recurrence of xenophobic threats to our fellow brothers and sisters in South Africa. It is rather unspeakable and indifferent from the apartheid that stung South Africa less than two decades ago. These are issues that l usually try to avoid but today l was pierced by a friend X on facebook who raised this issue in a way that fuels an orgy of hate speech. I believe it is the duty of every citizen of the world to promote peace and tranquility. It is the duty of think tanks to promote a language of love. Clearly we now live in a world of global interdependence where nations rely on each other in terms of trade and human resource. This does not mean legalizing crime or what is deemed illegal by the law. However where human subjects are involved measures should be taken to avoid a scenario where people’s lives are terminated in the name of job creation. Let us unite against Xenophobia.

Zimbabwe will rise again. She will once again be the breadbasket of Southern Africa if not that of Africa. She may be undergoing challenges at the moment but that does not mean her people are trash. Her people are endowed with a spirit of hard work that works harder even in tougher times. In any case Zimbabwe is on the road to recovery. The rains of reformation will fall so that her pastures will pierce the ground with greener grass. Zimbabwe’s Lands will make paddocks of peace that are free of attacks. Once again the children will play; songs of happiness will be sung as a new era dawns on Zimbabwe. It is possible and it begins with you and me taking the initiative to make our motherland a better place. May the good Lord protect the sons and daughters of Zimbabwe. May He protect them against swords and knives in foreign lands. They passed ports and borders with or without passports to fend for their families. Let no man harm them, let no man burn them, let no man kill them and let everyone say No to Xenophobia.

The Sunday Special:Issue 2-Guerilla Tactics

Featuring Dr T.A Makoni

Guerrilla warfare is irregular warfare. lt refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants uses military tactics, like ambushes and raids, to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army. The term means “little war” in Spanish, and the word, guerrilla, has been used to describe the concept since the 18th century, and perhaps earlier. Guerrilla warfare describes a conflict between armed civilians and a regular army, either foreign or domestic, where the armed civilians (the “irregulars”) use tactics such as ambush, sabotage, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to strike a vulnerable target and withdraw almost immediately.

The tactics of guerrilla warfare were used successfully in the 20th century by—among others— Mao Zedong and the People’s Liberation Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara’s rebel army in the Cuban Revolution, Giap and the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War, Josip Broz Tito and the Yugoslav Partisans in the World War II, the Kosovo Liberation Army in the Kosovo War, and the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.

The Zimbabwean liberation struggle was effective because the fighters used the guerrilla warfare. It made it difficult for the British settlers to fight an enemy that appeared and disappeared. That way the then colonialists were lambasted by the liberation fighters so that Zimbabwe attained its independence. Such is the story of most African countries that were once caught in the ugly horns of colonialism. In any war victory is possible if prior knowledge of the enemy tactics is taken into consideration.In today’s issue of Sunday special, we meet Dr T.A Makoni who displays the importance of Knowing your Enemy.

Dr Makoni needs no introduction. He is a multi-skilled professional life coach and mentor, a practicing dentist, the pastor of Celebration Church Bulawayo, a business man, chairman of Rapha Trust. He is also the chairman and major shareholder in General Steel and Construction (GENSCO). He is also the convenor of the Champions Turf Dinners. The list is endless. It is his cutting edge in many fronts that make him the person better placed to grace this week’s edition of “The Sunday Special”.

“Knowing Your Enemy”. These are the words that lit the white two and a half metre board as Dr Makoni took to the stage. One could have thought that the projector had beamed an illusion but alas that was reality. The title of the message was indeed correct. Many could have imagined what knowing the enemy had to do with them let alone be beamed on a Sunday characterized by communion and the holy remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. However after an encounter with the voice of Dr Makoni everyone was left gasping for more. Therefore Revolution believes that such a word will make a difference in our lives. He believes that knowledge of the enemy does not only enhance our chances of winning but it also fortifies our strength and courage to fight.

In his introduction Dr T.A chronicled the importance of knowing the enemy. He deliberately placed himself in the minds of the people so that they understood the fundamentals of warfare. He gave a variety of examples of tactical combat so as to ensure victory. In all these examples the crux of the matter was that people must not go into battle without knowing the enemy. Talk of guerilla tactics, world cup games to solid biblical examples and quotes, all these were embedded in his message.

Knowing your enemy gives you a clear understanding of his or her capabilities. As for Christians the number one enemy is the Devil and so knowing him means one knows the appropriate course of action to take in order to annul his plans. In this case Jesus is the way.(if you wish to access Dr Makoni’s full Sunday message join the facebook group Celebration Bulawayo Network)

An enemy puts an individual in a place of agony. An enemy assassinates every form of progress that wants to grow in a person. He would take away a woman’s energy at the point of giving birth so that she miscarries her bundle of joy. ln short the enemy is out to destroy. To destroy is to cancel,to annul, to render ineffective and to undo. An enemy delights in a doomed destiny, a destiny without a backbone so that one becomes imbalanced. However people should be in a position to stage an unbelievable comeback.

Of particular interest is the fact that the enemy should not be underestimated or overestimated. Overestimating the enemy results in fear and timidity whilst on the contrary underestimating the enemy can lead to a surprise massacre and bloodbath. Therefore correct assessment of the enemy is pivotal in order to win. Overestimation of the enemy renders an individual ineffective. It destroys all avenues of victory so that the enemy wins even before the battle has even started.

The enemy can never engulf us. He was defeated two thousand years ago. Dr Makoni said some words that sounded simple yet so profound. He posed a rhetoric question that queried the people’s continued casting out of devils most of the times yet the very same people spend less time lifting up Jesus. He did not say casting out Devils was wrong but that an equal amount of energy should be spent glorifying God. In such a scenario people would spend time focusing on what the Devil does instead of the good things that God has done for them. The Devil must not be feared because he was dethroned years ago. His capacity and legitimacy were ripped off him. He lost his authority but he still has the power and so he must not be underestimated.

In recapitulation we must be sober and watchful. We must walk with courage even in enemy territory. We are fully human but sometimes we must use guerilla tactics in order to destroy that which is meant to incapacitate us. All we need to do is to play our part even behind enemy lines. When we play our part God will sneeze at our enemies so that we romp into unquestionable victory.

God created you and me because it delighted him to do so. He did not give us a guerilla image but instead he gave us that of His own. This alone makes us unique. Let no one tell you otherwise. Let no enemy undo that image of God by beheading that special dentity.  We will fight for our Destiny at all costs,we will answer all wicked and deadly maneuvres of the enemy with our full might. So help us God.

I trust that you enjoyed this week’s edition of ‘The Sunday Special’.Stay tunned for more next week.

Redeeming Destiny:3-Through Prayer

“Dear Lord

Sometimes when l look at the ocean before me; all blue and deep l wonder if l will ever cross over. When l look at its angry waves coiling in circles and threatening to swallow me, l wonder if l will cross over. When l come face to face with the deep abyss of endless blue stretching into infinity, l wonder if l will ever get to the dry land. Sometimes when l stretch my eyes up the mountain in search of its summit l cannot help but get scared. When l look at the solid rock sitting in front of me; l wonder if l will ever get the strength to climb.

My Lord l have never seen you physically neither have l met a burning bush like Moses, but l have experienced you. I remember how you carried me at the crossroads; l remember how you lifted me up from the miry clay. You gave me strength to swim across streams and rivers. You carried me over hills and valleys so that l saw the light of day when lions and wild animals of the forest could have ripped me into pieces. I remember how you shielded me from projectiles, missiles and stones that could have crushed me into mince meat. That remembrance gives me hope that l can once again swim across the ocean. It gives me hope that l can once again climb up the mountain whose summit seems to be above the sky. That remembrance gives me hope of a sweet Destiny.

Amen”

Prayer is a culmination of words and utterances that are rich in intent, reports and even emotions so as to generate a message to God. It is a vertical link to the heavens that connects to the Almighty. It gives a rare aura of hope to the hopeless and avails an ear that is always ready to listen to the deep seated things in the heart of an individual. It does not only provide an ear but rather tactful solutions to problems facing the people. Therefore prayer becomes a highway linking an individual to the heavens. An individual with heavenly connections has no reason to fail. He or she can go through challenges but those challenges will channel him or her to a worthwhile Destiny.

The words in italics reflect a prayer from an individual facing a huge challenge. The person is visibly shaken by the size of the challenge so that he resorts to prayer. Clearly his thoughts and emotions are embedded in this collection of words. His message shows an element of fear and a subtraction of confidence. However as he continues to pray he remembers past victories as a result of his encounter with the Lord. Clearly prayer then rejuvenates his confidence at that point. He suddenly develops the enthusiasm to tackle his challenges head on. He has had a tough time in the past yet he has overcome. His destiny has been under attack yet the good Lord managed to shield him from such attacks.

The question is. What kind of missiles and stones are you facing? What type of tree are you? What fruit are you bearing? Because it is very rare for people to throw stones at a fruitless tree. What kind of ocean are you facing? How high is your mountain? You have crossed rivers and streams in the past and so you will surely cross the ocean before you. The good Lord has carried you through hills in the past. He will surely take you up this mountain. He will take you through the valley of the shadow of death if only you kneel down to pray. He will indeed redeem your Destiny.

Redeeming Destiny:2-Through a Sound mind

The mind is the Central processing unit of the body. It relays and controls information according to the data input. This means that a mind that receives positive input will process positive thoughts while the opposite is true for a mind that receives negative input. It is therefore of paramount importance to feed the mind with signals whose frequency generates a healthy relay of information. This means that what a person hears or sees becomes the derivative of what he or she will process in his or her thought life. A positive thought life promotes a balanced individual whilst a negative thought life cripples a person to nothing but a timid block of flesh with a heart that never gets tired of pumping fear, low confidence so that the person suffers from a rare form of mental Kwashiorkor. Such a person becomes vulnerable to predators and vultures who will feast on his or her timidity to fulfill their egocentric agendas.

God’s plan for every person is that they have a sound mind. He created people to think. He Himself is a great thinker and as such it is normal for his image to think. Individuals were created in the image of the Almighty. An image is a reflection that bears all the features of the source. If the source is round so is the image. Surprisingly if the source moves the image also moves and it goes wherever the source goes. If the image was to be taken to a commissioner of oaths he would certify it as a true copy of original owing to the presence of all the features of the source. It is therefore imperative for every individual to think. Thinking therefore makes the minimum credentials of a balanced person. Thinking is not a sin. No wages of sin can be paid as a result of thinking. In fact he who cannot think risks dying before his or her death. His Destiny is uncertain and risks imprisonment in a dungeon of mind control that cuts out every limb of possibility and self actualization.

For this reason it is important to acknowledge the role of a sound mind in redeeming a destiny that seems irredeemable. It is pivotal to ponder on the ways that promote a sound mind in order to foster the generation of healthy thoughts that concur with God’s plan for a sound mind for everyone. One way of doing this is by word of mouth. What this means is that a person should be careful of the kind of information he or she receives. In the paragraph below Revolution depicts the thoughts of a person hit by a missile generated by a tongue that ceases to be a taste organ. Such a tongue becomes a propeller of emotional bombs that cannot be withstood even by the most ruthless Taliban in Afghanistan. Listen to this.

“ When you opened your mouth, I rushed to listen to your proposition for l knew you to be this sweet voice that could be heard even by the deafest ear. When l saw you roll your tongue l almost resigned to a passionate submission for l knew you to be an irresistible kisser of good news that gave an explicit goodness to the loins and groins of the vulnerable. When you opened your mouth l turned off the music for l knew you to be this special song that was composed in the holy of holies, but little did l know that all hell had broken loose. Even the most trusted cavity protector from Palmolive Brothers could not prevent the unpleasant stench that diffused from your mouth. That holy song was never sung, that soothing voice became this barbaric voice whose ravings left me swimming in an orgy of vindictive passions. You fired missiles that tore my heart to pieces. The kiss of good news never materialized; instead you bit me where no mosquito has ever traded. I let you hold my heart but instead you put it down. I bled, cried until l could cry no more. Of course someone stitched my heart but l will never forget that day, the day ‘when you opened your mouth’.”

Clearly such a tongue brings no sound mind. It edifies no soul and cannot input positive information to nourish an individual. The point to drive home here is that what kind of information are you subjecting yourself to? Who are you listening to? What pictures are you feeding into your central processing unit? Whose image are you? Who is your source? These are rhetoric questions that should trigger you to a point of mental interrogation. These should make one realize that destiny calls for a sound mind. It calls for a healthy mind: it does not require a malnourished brain neither does it make use of a withered thought centre. Destiny certainly cannot be redeemed by a mind that is frequently subjected to fungi and pests that attack the growth of positive thoughts. In conclusion it is our duty to administer pesticides that fight pests that prey onto our minds.

It is our duty to administer fungicides that destroy mental fungi. These fungicides include reading positive books, keeping good company, using your time wisely to mention a few. The list is endless. You are free to add on other ways of generating a sound mind. It is only a sound mind that redeems Destiny, it is only a sound mind that sounds necessary music in the presence of empty vessels that make the most noise.

The Sunday Special:Issue 1-About Horse Ridding

Featuring my mentor Pastor Audrey Ropafadzo Makoni

“l tell you of a Prince walking on foot while servants ride on horses,
Not only horses but white horses,
I tell you of royalty alternating legs on dusty terrain while the servants ride on elegance, luxury and golden chariots,
I tell you of royalty oozing with sweat and tiredness while the servant swims in comfort, freshness and relaxation,
I speak of a Prince whose heart pumps royal blood yet he walks in oblivion,
Unaware of the power that rests in him”.

This Sunday we look at royal blood becoming loyal blood so that royalty serves the servant. I unveil to you a virtuous woman who sings sweetness not only to the ear but also to the mind through her indelible voice of inspiration. She is an accomplished woman whose music qualifies to be played on this station. She is an established business woman who makes a formidable team with her husband Dr Makoni. The amplitude of her voice resonates with the goals and visions of this establishment which seek to strategically position people in a place of royalty. I have no doubt that you will indeed find pleasure in listening to her voice. Today’s inaugural Sunday Special revolves around a life changing sermon that she preached. Please welcome Pastor Audrey Ropafadzo Makoni.

The auditorium was packed to full capacity as she took to the stage. She was dressed in an executive black outfit that bore some botanic glittery ornaments whose sparkle identified with royalty. Suddenly a man on a bicycle invaded the stage so that he rode straight to her. However he maneuvered his two circles so that they came to a screeching halt right next to her. Within seconds four tough men in dark suits and dark glasses took to the stage. They looked like body guards but their step was that of men who own gold mines. One could have expected them to manhandle this man on a bicycle but instead they gracefully stood next to this woman dressed in black. She called the men in black princes and the other on a bicycle a servant. This was ironic, how could a servant ride on wheels whilst royalty tiptoed on foot. After a while all the five men left the stage leaving this woman alone. The man on a bicycle then found his way back on stage. He was then followed by one of the man in dark suits. This prince wore a golden tie so that he walked straight to the servant. Without wasting time he confiscated the bicycle, sat on the saddle then rode off the stage after missing a pedal. The servant then left the stage on foot.

This is a true story that happened in Pastor Audrey’s power packed sermon. She used drama to provoke the minds of the people to think big. The bicycle depicts a white horse. The irony of the matter is unveiled in the realization of the fact that a servant rode on a horse meant for the prince. The Prince bore all characteristics of royalty yet he never utilized the power vested on him. The men in dark glasses were so breathtakingly smart yet they tip toed on foot. They were princes yet they watched servants enjoy the luxury and comfort meant for them. Pastor Audrey clearly led people to a place of self evaluation where one would want to snap out of slumber in pursuit of a worthwhile destiny. Royal blood cannot be loyal blood so that it bows down to servants. People are self determining entities created in the image of the Almighty. We are sons and daughters of the King so it means we are royalty.

Royal blood cannot be loyal to unpleasant situations. Royal blood cannot make us victims of circumstances but instead it makes us victors. It is time to possess what God has given us. It is time to confiscate our white horses from the servants. An interesting point to note is that the Prince in a golden tie missed the pedal after taking the bicycle from the servant. He almost fell down but he instead found his way and pedaled on. This signals the danger of letting servants ride the white horse for so long. You can lose your touch but still you must find your way and conquer. The time has come to take back what was lost; a time has come to harvest tones of happiness. A time has come for Businesses to grow. This is a season to be fruitful. We cannot continue to sleep at a time when there is need to awaken the strong will in us.

We are clothed in royalty. Royalty calls for visionary people, a people who will not sleep until they get it right; a people who will always have the enthusiasm to rise again after failing so many times. A royal people understand that success is nothing compared to failure after failure without loss of enthusiasm. Royalty calls for princes to take charge of their horses, it calls for dreamers whose dreams never die. Such dreams energize them at their point of weakness. Such dreams lead them to restoration and they lead them to Destiny.

I trust that you were blessed by today’s issue. Let us meet again next Sunday for another edition of “The Sunday Special”.

Redeeming Destiny:1-Through Good Hope

Hope is an expectation that generates an inward belief that things will be alright. It is a ray of light that leaks onto darkness so that it leads to light at the end of the tunnel. It boosts one’s enthusiasm and willingness to press on the mission. In other words mission impossible becomes mission possible as the eye begins to see the bigger picture beyond what can be seen. Even him who has one eye or no eye at all begins to see the bright prospects of a better tomorrow when today is no better that yesterday. Hope becomes the eye that destroys myopic strongholds that hold back the ability to see the treasure that seems distant. Good hope generates goodness in a seeming cycle of misfortune so that unfortunate situations become the foundation of a fortune that can last a lifetime. It is Good hope that cannot keep a good man down. It is Good hope that gives strength at the point of weakness and it is indeed Good hope that gives hope in hopelessness.

When hope is lost dreams are assassinated so that individuals retire to low self efficacy and low confidence levels. A person with low self efficacy has a syndrome that cripples the ability to unleash the dynamite that can breakthrough any challenge. Such individuals would cry of hunger whilst they sit on gold mines. In other words the ability to utilize the great deal of the potential they possess becomes no deal at all. An individual with low self efficacy is no better than a stooge or a zombie. In other words he does not believe in himself. The confidence scale of such an individual reads zero so that he or she does not confide in his or her own ability to rise above situations. However Good hope provides a remedy to such a situation. It gives the necessary foundation to build the much needed confidence that promotes one’s growth.

Destiny therefore rests on Good hope. He who does not have hope cannot move forward let alone hop like a grasshopper. In short he cannot walk even if his legs have the muscle that can make him run. He is incapacitated even if he has the capacity to surge forward. That way he cannot drift towards destiny. All he can do is be stagnant or drift away so that the breath of joy and exhilaration escapes like air from a punctured balloon. It is therefore necessary to grow Good hope by adhering to best practices that ensure growth. These include:

• Hanging around people who generate confidence in you. This means keeping good company. Good company promotes growth by giving encouragement and positivity. There is power in the tongue and so it is better to hang around those that will speak life instead of using their red taste organs to assassinate the vital hope in an individual
• Running away from killers of passion and killers of possibility. This simply means that bad company must not be kept. There is no need to hang around those who will inject you with unnecessary energy that always keeps you at the back. Such kind of energy ensures that you are the tail at all times. The truth is that the tail is the most energetic yet it will always be at the back.
• Hope is also generated by frequent affirmations that renew the mind. Affirmations are a set of positive words that represent a balance of system that nourishes the thought life. This means affirmations appeal to one’s mind so that an individual becomes conscious of the need to stretch imaginations to a helm of mental change. Such a change or paradigm shift then grows positivity as these positive words are spoken. Consequently hope is generated because hope is a function or derivative of a positive mind.

These are some of the few methods of building hope in order to redeem a Destiny that seems to be irredeemable. Stay tuned for more.