INTRODUCTION
Towards the end of His earthly physical ministry, Jesus Christ is quoted by John the apostle in his gospel record, praying, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (17:4 - KJV). As we keep going doing the Lord’s work, how often do we ask ourselves soul searching questions in relation to this verse in doing the work and finishing our part of the work? Bear Valley Bible Institute Harare Extension continue to look into the future asking ourselves, where is our next evangelical mission? Where are we spreading our wings to next month? With this in mind, we always keep ourselves on our toes ready to take-on our next mission.
LEARNING PROCESS
We are always encouraged to learn from the learners that they are truly being equipped and the Word which they are receiving is sound and true. During the second weekend (13th and 14th) of October 2018, Brother Donnie Estep visited, for the first time, Harare Extension School. The two classes were merged into one and they were taught part of The Prison Epistles by brother Estep. It was good to have him for the whole weekend (see photo A1). Besides being in class teaching, Donnie also took to the pulpit on Sunday the 14th and he blessed the church in Dzivaresekwa with the message, “Is Your Name Written in the Book of Life” (see photo A2). The message was received with all gladness.
Matthew Muchingami and Evans Nyamadzavo managed to complete the Prison Epistles.
OUTREACH
Our planned outreach in partnership with Borrowdale church of Christ to Munyawiri in Domboshawa, on 20 and 21 October 2018 was cancelled at the last minute due to protocol observance challenges. The area is in rural setup so going into the area need formal arrangements through the office of the local chief and village heads. So this process was not done properly and on realization Borrowdale church of Christ cancelled the outreach.
In November 2018, we partnered the Church of Christ in Westgate for a week’s gospel outreach (19 to 25 November 2018). We are also so grateful for the Gweru team who did a great job in this area. As Harare school we managed to come for evangelism and also participated in preaching and teaching. We had three slots of preaching during the week’s daily devotions and on Sunday, Stephen Mazambani taught during the Bible study and Shine Murambiwa was on the Lord’s Table (see photo A3). Gweru was represented by the Director, Mathew Muchingami who gave the sermon of the day. It was a gospel week well planned and God’s knocked on the hearts of those taught the Word. The public address system was so helpful and it really added relevance to the gospel week outreach as some people were reached with the messages preached whilst in the comfort of their own homes. Comments from the homes of the people who were close to the assembly point, testified to this, they heard the Word also.
This work in Westgate produced four baptisms and three expected baptisms (see photo A5). Forty-two (42) people were taught the word and the average attendance for the daily devotions was sixty (60).
We are so grateful to the Gweru team and all the efforts made in reaching out to the lost, the backsliders and those who needed encouragement.
CONGREGATIONAL COMMITMENTS
In their local congregations, our students are doing their best in improving congregational responsibilities. Our students, Tawanda Tinofa, Shine Murambiwa and Charles Mugadza are members of the church at Chitungwiza church of Christ and through their efforts they managed to lead the church into a week (29th of November to the 04th of December) of daily worship and outreach. The results of the work done produced seven (7) baptisms and six (6) more promising baptisms. It has been such an experience for them and accordingly Tawanda had this to say, “This was a pilot program to prove that its possible, everyone is happy in the church and we want to build on the momentum and win souls.”
HARARE GOSPEL LECTURESHIP – 2018
The Harare annual gospel lectureship was held from the 07th to the 09th of December 2018 at Seke church of Christ. Harare Extension School was represented by Sajeni Nyakadzumbu and Shine Murambiwa who managed to participate during the lectureship. Besides their participation, we also managed to bring our relevance in the life of the church in Harare by providing the Public Address system.
2018 OVERVIEW
ENROLMENT
The year 2018 marks the year in which the church of Christ in Zimbabwe history book added a script which enabled the church to be equipped from within. In January BVBI-Z Harare Extension was born with an enrollment of twenty (20). Four (4) out of the twenty dropped along the way and in that class we now have sixteen (16).
In September 2018 we opened our doors to another class which has an enrollment of eleven (11). This brings our total enrollment to twenty (27).
SUBJECTS COVERED
Hours covered (or to be covered) to the end of December 2018 are 396 hours and we have so far done sixteen (16) subjects, which are:
New Testament Church
Old Testament Law/Pentateuch
Christian Evidences
How We Got The Bible
Personal Evangelism 1 & 2
Public Speaking
Life of Christ 1
Hermeneutics
Homiletics
Godhead
Hermeneutics
Homiletics
Acts
Books of History – Joshua to Esther
Prison Epistles
Galatians
The weekends 01 and 02, 15 and 16 December are reserved for examinations. I am grateful that the students are managing to meet their assignments deadlines and are doing very well. But there are a few who need a small push and encouragement so that they catch up with others.
OUTREACH PROGRAMMES HELD
In August we started programmes of going out to evangelise, programmes which I prefer to call Weekend Evangelism and Outreach Programmes. The places that we managed to work in are: Mufakose, Manyame, Dzivaresekwa, Macheke, Mazowe and Westgate. We are grateful to the preachers in these areas who were mentoring the students on the practical part of personal evangelism. In these areas, members were strengthened/encouraged, the Word was planted into the hearts of the lost and powerful sermons were delivered. Since we started weekend evangelism and outreach programs in August, one hundred and eighty-eight (188) people were directly taught the gospel in the areas mentioned above; and six (6) souls were added to the Lord’s body.
MATERIALS ACQUIRED
The Harare Extension School would like to appreciate the help and assistance offered by Bear Valley Bible Institute International in buying materials.
Our current asset register consist of:
• 25 Desks
• 25 Chairs
• 1 White Board
• 1 Projector
• 1 Wooden Cabinet
• 1 Desktop Computer
• PA System.
We are also grateful to Brother Donnie Estep who personally helped us to install WIFI. We are now connected and we are so grateful to him for helping us this way.
FUTURE PLANS
1. Solidifying our relationship with congregations and give room for more work to be done. In our quest to fulfil this, we will be requesting congregations to focus on backsliders and the lost. The local church to be fully involved in the work.
2. Work on establishing two congregations in 2019.
CONCLUSION
As we close the first year of our existence we are grateful to the Almighty for taking us this far. As BVBIZ Harare Extension we are so indebted to you. Your coming on board in support of the Harare extension work is so much appreciated and what we can guarantee is our continued dedication and conviction for the Lord’s cause. True and sound teaching is all what we stand for.
COMPILED BY:
HOWARD SUWARI