Reflections from the Zambezi

It is almost two months ago that renowned preacher Billy Graham died. Many tributes have been written about him and his ministry. On my part one of the books written by Billy Graham I found helpful reading when I was a young Christian in the 80s was "Peace with God". Billy Graham founded Christianity Today and it is from that organisation that the tribute below (found on: Evangelist Billy Graham Has Died ) of Billy Graham by Marshall Shelley is taken. Billy Graham was perhaps the most significant religious figure of the 20th century, and the organizations and the movement he helped spawn continue to shape the 21st. During his life, Graham preached in person to more than 100 million people and to millions more via television, satellite, and film. Nearly 3 million have responded to his invitation to "accept Jesus into your heart" at the end of his sermons. He proclaimed the gospel to more persons than any other preacher in history. In the process, Graham beca...

Last month on 21st March 2018, it was exactly five years since renowned Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe passed on.  Isaac Makashinyi, a thriving writer and pastor wrote the following reflections. Please read on.  21st March, 2018, marks exactly five years since renowned Nigerian and African novelist, poet and professor Chinua Achebe died. I can’t explain why this date has remained embedded on my mind since his passing on. Somehow, the name of Chinua Achebe emerges from my subconscious around the time he died. It’s a memory that has been effortlessly kept like the birthday of a loved one. Chinua Achebe is the famed author of Things Fall Apart, published in 1958 when he was only 28. It was his first novel that in part led to his being called the “Patriarch of the African novel.” I was in Grade 9 when I read Things Fall Apart. It was the second novel in the African Writers’ Series that I read. The first one was by our own Dominic Mulaisho, The Tongue of the...

Today, God, I ask that You would teach me to mourn. Don’t let me rush to Easter Sunday too quickly. Give me grace to linger here, in the place where sorrow meets redemption. Make Your death as real to me as Your resurrection. Keep me always near the cross. As I wait at the foot of the cross, God, reveal to me again the costliness of my sin. Don’t let me live in an imaginary world where Easter’s happy ending makes my selfishness irrelevant. Remind me that  Your all-consuming grace came at a highest price. Forgive me for the times I’ve lived as if sin is no big deal, as if Good Friday never really happened. Fill me with the joy and sorrow and reverence and gratitude that befit a Good Friday funeral: joy for Your victory, sorrow for Your death, reverence for Your holiness, gratitude for Your grace. Don’t let me settle for just one of those emotions at the expense of the others. Give me a heart big enough to hold them all in tension. Make me bold enough to search after a trut...

In September 2017 while attending the Sola 5/Rezolution Conference with Shingisai my daughter in Johannesburg hosted by Fontainebleau Community Church, I fell in love with the hymn "We will trust God's Word alone". This new hymn from Bob Kauflin and Chris Anderson celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Based on the 5 Solas of the Reformation ( Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus,  and  Soli Deo Gloria ), Reformation Hymn gives a nod to the great hymn writer Martin Luther and points worshipers to Christ. The words and music by Chris Anderson and Bob Kauflin are as follows: We will trust God’s Word alone,                                                                          Where his perfect will is known; Our traditions shift like sand W...

Photo Credit: Gabriel Konayuma 74 years ago on 2nd February 1944, my mother was born. Close to 50 years ago I was born as first born to her and my late father Josiah Konayuma.  Mum was a jovial, hardworking and enterprising woman. She taught me and my siblings to use our hands for income generating activities e.g we would grow vegetables in our backyard were we would sell at Chaisa    market. Because of the good quality the vegetables would be sold out in less than an hour.  The same applies to selling of ice blocks. I recall when I was teaching at DK whilst staying in Emmasdale. I had to take two    buses from Emmasdale. This was costly. My mother showed me how to bake milk scones which she said I could supplement my salary and have a sufficient funds for transport. This helped a great deal.  Mum being a nurse insisted on cleanliness. She had zero tolerance for being dirty. Of the two parents, mom was more ready to use the rod on us. She would ...

In 2012. I had a memorable birthday' I celebrated a birthday with the same double digits. In addition it was a Sunday so I went to church ie Mowbray Baptist Church in Cape Town - in the afternoon I visited Robben Island for the first time. It is this visit that I made that I would like to focus on.   Robben Island is one of the six places it is said one must visit in the Western Cape. If you have been to Cape Town and not been to Robben Island you need to make sure it is one of the things on your to do list next time you are there.  Photo Credit: South African History Online How does one get to  Robben Island? Booking can be made online or at the Nelson Mandela Gateway V and A Waterfront office. It takes 30 minutes by ship to get to Robben Island. Sometimes visits are suspended when there 'is bad weather as the storms on the Atlantic Ocean can be quite fierce. Once you get to the Island you are met by a tour guide and transferred to a bus ...

One of my favourite pastimes is to drink in the setting sun. Just watching the sun set is such an amazing experience. It makes you see God's glory in creation. I have taken many photos in the past few years of the setting and rising sun both locally and abroad. One of the best places to see the sun set is against the background of water e.g. a river, lake, sea or an ocean. I plan to share some of the sunset photos that I took last year in future blogs. In this blog I would like to share sunset photos that I took last year in Cape Town. These were taken on Signal Hill (a great alternative to Table Mountain). Enjoy! Photo Credit: Gabriel Konayuma  Photo Credit: Gabriel Konayuma (Tourists waiting for the sun to set at Signal Hill in Cape Town)  Photo Credit: Gabriel Konayuma Sunset on Signal Hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean    Photo Credit: Gabriel Konayuma (Yours truly eagerly waiting for the sun to set)    Photo Credi...