So what in the world is a Mawabeni and an Esibomvu? These would be the 2 newest Celebration Church locations in Zimbabwe. Tell me those aren’t cool names for a church!! Esibomvu is my favorite, just kinda’ rolls off your tongue. Having 4 syllables you can say it all kinds of different ways. Read on when you get done having fun with this name!!!
We began these 2 locations at the beginning of February in an area of Zimbabwe designated as a “growth point”. I was able to make my first visit to these 2 locations last week to spend some time with the pastors and core leaders of these new churches. What an awesome group of people to help grow Jesus’s church in Zimbabwe. It’s a rural type environment here, guess I would define it as the next step from a village setting. There is a gas station along with a few small businesses on the main “street”, which is really a very bumpy dirt road. They are beginning to clear an area for a township to be built and there are also schools which we are now using for Sunday services. I asked how many people were living in the immediate surrounding area and was amazed to be told there are around 30,000 living in this area. What a great place to have church. What we have begun to offer in Celebration services seems to be catching on. Those I got to spend time with here say they have never been to church like this!!! Praise the Lord that we are able to show Jesus to His people in Mawebeni and Esibomvu.
Pictures above are of Pastors Albert Ncube and Andrew Sibanda as well as some of their family and leaders. Asyou can see they are all just fired up about serving Jesus in Zimbabwe. We nearly had a church service right in their front yard. The next step here is to make application for a parcel of property where we can erect another Celebration church home. Please pray for favor as well as resources to allow us to continue to expand the Kingdom.
Here’s some of our kids in Zimbabwe. This past weekend lots of them heard the Resurrection story for perhaps the first time. I have to believe so many of them are going to connect with it, embrace it and most importantly to share it with others. These kids are the future of this country so what better use of our time here than to share the “Good News” of Jesus with the next generation.
We are privileged to be able to touch well over 18,000 young lives of Zimbabwe each and every day through our feeding programs and Celebration Church locations spread across the southern portion of the country. This is practical “love in action”. Just the simple act of providing a meal for them each day lets them know that they are important and they are loved. If we let them know that it’s JESUS who loves them, young lives, families, communities, cities, countries, continents and the world are going to be transformed by the incredible love of the One who first loved us. How incredibly simple is the Great Commission?? Thank you Jesus for always keeping it simple.