By Troy Wallace
Director of Congregation and Leadership Development
Jewish Voice Ministries International
I want to tell you about what the Lord is doing in Zimbabwe among the Lemba.
At the end of April, we held a JVMI seminar in Zimbabwe for leadership training in Messianic Judaism. The Messianic Leadership Training (MLT) event ran concurrently with a successful Jewish Voice medical missions clinic in Mberengwa that led to over 600 new confessions of Yeshua – to God be the glory! We spent time with 62 leaders from 35 congregations that have been planted as a result of God’s move among the Lemba that the medical outreaches serve to stir – He is worthy of praise! We were able to assess that we currently have around 1,500 Lemba meeting each Shabbat for services in this fledgling network of congregations.
Messianic Judaism in Zimbabwe - Alfius Matandu is prayed for during his ordination as National Lemba Congregational Overseer, April 2015. Jewish Voice Ministries International.
The MLT was two days of basic Bible teaching built on the theme “The Call to Leadership” and is part of our investment in equipping new leaders in Messianic Judaism in Zimbabwe. Jonathan, along with Mezmur (our Africa Director), Rabbi Jack (our staff speaker/evangelist,) and I covered teaching topics ranging from “The Standards of Leadership” to “The Commitment to Confront in Love” to “The Call to Personal Devotion.” The time was intended to equip congregational leaders to lead more effectively and make better decisions to promote healthy congregational life. We worshipped together and our small JVMI team ministered each day with the laying on of hands. We saw some deep work done by the Ruach (Spirit of God) in many people’s lives, and we know that He is continuing to do more.
We also met with many of the local leaders after the meetings to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the work. We found many areas that need strengthening and celebrated with others the successes of the ministry. There is much work afoot! The congregations are still in need of great prayer and strengthening to serve people as effectively as possible – this is a fledgling move of the Spirit so we still have many years of labor together with the Lord to see Him mature the fruit. We realized that standards and structure will be a great asset to setting local leaders in place. We are continuing to work with local leaders to identify ongoing areas of need.
First overseer ordained in Zimbabwe Messianic Judaism
Our time together with the local leaders culminated with the ordination of Alfius Matandu as National Lemba Congregational Overseer. This is a critical step forward in building an indigenous Messianic Jewish expression of faith amongst the Lemba. And we witnessed this as a key moment in the development of the National Messianic Jewish Movement in Zimbabwe.
After prayers from Jonathan, myself, and Zimbabwean Pastor Langton Gatsi, the highlight of the ordination was when the Honorable Hamandishe, a pioneer of Messianic Jewish faith in Yeshua among the Lemba, prayed in Shona over Alfius. His prayer translates as: “Lord, we were not known. We did not know our own history… Now we are known and seen! It is time now that You use this man… to do away with our traditional ways of worshipping and to begin to pray to the Lord in spirit and in truth… Use this man not just to the Jews but to the world over! We were lost, but now You give us a task… May he begin to work.”
After this time of prayer, Alfius responded, “I humble myself before the Lord and before you servants of the Lord. I trust that the Holy Spirit will guide me and only in Yeshua can we do it.” And he led those gathered in a spontaneous song of praise. I cannot overstate how precious this moment was.
Since our time there, Alfius and his team have been busy following up the decisions we made together. He is a man on fire with the task that the Lord has laid at his feet. Let’s keep him in prayer.
We magnify the Lord in this work. And we stand ready to support it. There is much yet to do, and may the Lord grant us wisdom as we move forward with wisdom and revelation.
God is at work!
The Lemba clearly have ties to the ancient people of Israel, particularly the Levites. And God is at work among them! Messianic Judaism is growing and Jewish People throughout the world are coming to saving faith in their Messiah Yeshua! You can be a part of this exciting move of the Lord in Zimbabwe. Join us for our next medical mission trip when we take free medical and dental care to Gutu, July 30 – August 10. To find out more, click here . To watch a short video about our medical missions and to download information, click here .
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