There are times and tasks in life where circumstances appear daunting and insurmountable, and it seems we won’t be able to make it through, but however, the weight and bearing of the task at hand still moves us to nonetheless move forward in the hope of success. Ancient Israel in biblical times once came to such a position. The Egyptian armies were only a few miles behind them in hot pursuit of their escaped slaves, on either side they were surrounded by a rugged mountainous landscape and just before them was a sea shore extending an endless distance ahead, presenting a seemingly impassable barrier. As they heard the sound of Pharaoh’s approaching forces, the Israelites fell into terror and many began complaining against Moses, their visible leader. Moses having obeyed God to this point, trusted in the Lord and lifted his voice in prayer, the Lord answered. “And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to GO FORWARD. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” Exodus 14:15,16. That night, the Lord wrought a mighty deliverance for His people, and Pharaoh’s army was routed and devastated.
Ruchera in Nyanga is not an easily accessible place, the roads are rugged, winding and go through a series of valleys and ridges. Moreover, being winter in the proverbially chilling-cold eastern highlands, with limited resources at hand, and only some days before the scheduled dates, we never knew how many were going to heed this Macedonian call. Nevertheless, our Master’s marching orders still rang sound and clear, “Go and preach the gospel to every creature” and indeed His servants heeded the call. Some came from Masvingo, some from Bulawayo, some from Harare, and others from as far as Shamva and Domboshava to preach the glad tidings of salvation, and the local believers also participated. For two weeks, from the 23rd of July to the 5th of August, more than 50 missionaries traversed the homes and villages of Ruchera to tell the Good News of the soon-coming Saviour. The community was eager and receptive to the Word of God as it was preached from one day to the next, and one evening to the next. Despite distractions that came from various programs by other organizations in the area, attendance to the services was impressive with scores of young and old coming to hear the Present Truth.
The missionaries also visited schools in the community where they addressed students on many edifying topics. On the closing Sabbath, 5 August 2023, 14 souls decided for the Saviour and passed into the baptismal waters, and we are sure these were just the first fruits of a great harvest to follow from the precious seed of truth sown broadcast in the Ruchera community. Prior to the campaign, the Adventist church in Ruchera, through the help of well-wishers, donated school shoes to students at Ruchera primary. The gesture made an impact on the community, and many in the community were speaking positively about the church.
As Mission Go, we believe, going into the future, there are key areas we will need to work on to ensure the seed of truth germinates, grows and flourishes well in the Ruchera community. The area has very little Adventist presence as yet. Firstly, we will need to secure Bibles and Doctrinal Manuals for the newly baptized church members and for those who had signed up for baptism but were absent on the day due to different reasons. On a similar note, realizing that the community has quite a good literacy rate, it will be effective to distribute other helpful literature, notably the books “The Great Controversy” and “Steps to Christ” in English or vernacular . Secondly, the church doesn’t have infrastructure in this area, neither schools nor church buildings, the believers make use of public schools. A good and affordable starting point will be one-day churches, made from iron poles and steel roofing sheets. A building, small as it may be, gives the church enhanced visibility in the community and will also allow the local church to host district-wide programs where believers gather there in large numbers, and this helps the community to know more and appreciate Adventists in general.
Thirdly, a significant number of people who had decided for baptism could not be baptized at this campaign because they are still involved in and depend on tobacco farming for sustenance, and are not yet ready to leave this trade. This is a challenge we have faced in other places we evangelized besides Nyanga. There is thus a need to gradually educate the community to move from tobacco farming into other safe yet profitable crops , for example, potato farming, soya-beans, fish-farming, poultry, goat-farming and many more. This will involve partnership with other non-governmental organizations that specialize in such fields.
In closing, we thank God for making this campaign possible, and all who supported the work in all the various ways, may the Lord bless you, only eternity tell will the results of the efforts and resources invested in this soul-saving work.
MISSION GO 