B2B Thanks & COVID Update

Hi River of Lifers,

B2B
Thanks so much for the amazing support for the B2B team. I was happy to get to The Falls in one piece and was very impressed with the whole event. What a great experience. And I believe we have exceeded our target fund-raising for the new classroom block at Chikurubi Prison, which is fantastic!

COVID Update
At some point on our B2B travels the news came through of the government’s alllowance of churches to meet in-person on the condition of each person showing a COVID-19 double vaccination certificate.

Any easing of the restrictions is hopeful and welcome, especially as we are now over 18 months into this pandemic which has been incredibly challenging. However, it is difficult to see how this latest announcement will have any practical impact for River of Life as yet.

Perhaps the toughest issue for us is the concept of having to turn anyone away. We are built on a value of inclusivity, welcoming people just as they are, encouraging everyone to come to Jesus and receive from Him for their lives. So the idea of separating people at the door on the basis of a certificate would be very counter-intuitive or counter-cultural for us.

I know that the EFZ and Heads of Christian Denominations are in constructive discussions with government on this issue. No doubt there will be further pronouncements coming out in the next couple of weeks.

In the mean time our plan is to continue as follows :

1) PERSONAL BIBLE READING & PRAYER

• massive encouragement to the whole church on PERSONAL BIBLE READING and PRAYER in your secret place. Real engaging with Jesus personally. (Please pray for the leaders of ROL and the National Church for wisdom at this time.)

2) SMALL GROUP PARTICIPATION

• massive encouragement to the church to participate in SMALL GROUPS (in whatever format works for your group). Please contact the church on 078 391 0799 if you need assistance with this.

3) MINOR PROPHETS SERIES

• massive encouragement to track with our MINOR PROPHETS series online until 5th Sept and then BIBLICAL WOMANHOOD online on Sept 12th.

4) MID SEPT REVIEW

• from Sept 12th we will be able to reassess the situation and make plans for the final months of 2021. Really hoping for an easing of restrictions.

Thank-you for your faithfulness, generosity, consistency and participation in so many amazing ways. I am constantly aware of love being shown amongst us as a church as we walk this amazing journey of life together, loving one another through it all. For sure, COVID-19 will be part of our story for eternity, especially how we responded in faith through the midst of all the trial.

Huge love and blessings to you,

Scott and the ROL team.

540 1st Love Shirts Sold!

Even before COVID-19 we were aware of the isolating effects of the technological age. COVID-19 seems to have magnified this effect.

The combustion engine, electronic communication and other advances have made the world a smaller place, removing or redefining many established lines of community.

Ironically, the increased potential for breadth of community very often results in a lessening potential for depth of community.

We should not let our ability to relate to people very far away distract us from our priority to relate to people very close by.

As Hebrews 10.25 says :

…do not neglect meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but encouraging one another all the more as you say the Day drawing near.

It is thrilling to see the commitment of LEADERS and MEMBERS in our Small Groups. At first we expected around 120 shirts to be required, but in the end we needed over 500.

This is a picture of Garikayi Sibanda’s Small Group taking some time to be in the open air for life group last Sunday, in action with their new T-Shirts.

May I encourage you to LEAD a Small Group, or at least be PART of a Small Group, as we continue to stay strong in community amidst all the isolating effects of life around us. Whether online or in-person, to really go for this value with intentionality. 🤸🏾‍♂️❤️🌟

I believe it will be a blessing to you and through you to many others.

Much love,

Scott

STRONG THROUGH EVERY STORM

Why is this happening to us?
What has caused it?
What is God doing about it?
What is God saying to us?

As we embark on this series MINOR PROPHETS – MAJOR MESSAGE we see that Joel is a man of scripture himself. He uses the scriptures to tackle these questions in the calamities of his day. In the process, he pens further scripture. All of this is magnificently relevant for us today with the challenges of our times.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that passes from the mouth of God.
(Matthew 4:4)

Just like Joel, if we are to make sense of our times and stay strong through the storms, we have to be rooted in God’s Word and alive in God’s Spirit.

Delighting in God’s Word and being filled with God’s Spirit is not something for the pastor to do as he prays for everyone in the church – but rather, for each and every believer to receive strength personally from The Lord to make it through.

Please have a PHYSICAL BIBLE on hand as you listen to the messages in this series, with extra bonus points for pencil and ruler as well.

Let’s go on the exciting journey of discovery in God’s Word over these weeks ahead. I am praying for massive strengthening as we read scripture together, as a whole church, every week.

Biblical Womanhood and Minor Prophets Series in Small Groups

Following the very positive feedback on Biblical Manhood I thought it would be appropriate to preach a message on Biblical Womanhood. I am now enjoying preparing that and anticipate preaching this, with the help of at least one other woman, after the planned series on Minor Prophets.

Our emphasis over the next 6-8 weeks will be towards enjoying our Bibles. We are going to be reading and exploring some lessor known passages and, I hope, delighting in the extraordinary power of every page of Scripture. Seeing even the smallest and most obscure books of the Bible carrying the consistent and compelling message of God’s love and grace in Christ.

Please see if you can do the following two things over the next 8 weeks:

1) Have a physical Bible in your possession, ideally with a pencil and ruler with which to read daily.

2) Join a small group for Bible study and help each other grow in our daily engaging with Scripture. (If you need to sign-up, click here)

Minor Prophets, Major Message.

See you Sunday!

Much love,
Scott

STRONG FAMILIES – STRONG CHURCHES

Dear River of Life,

STRONG FAMILIES – STRONG CHURCHES

Strength in family forms the basis of strength in community. As strong as the family is, so strong is the church.

1 Tim 3 v 5 : for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

Out of the same stable as the Alpha Course comes The Marriage Course – from HTB Church London. Disciple Nations is running this course online, starting on Wednesday July 7th for 7 consecutive weeks. The hosts will be Mpi & Rumbi Ndebele and Graham & Belinda Marsh.

We have invited a selection of around 50+ leadership couples from across the churches in Zimbabwe and Mozambique to participate with the hope of a three-fold benefit :

(1) strengthening of marriages, bringing great blessing and goodness to all the families that participate

(2) strengthening the leadership teams of all Disciple Nations churches as their marriages and families are built up

(3) equipping leadership teams to run The Marriage Course in their churches for the blessing of all the congregations

I would be so grateful for your prayer that God will strengthen leadership families across all Disciple Nations churches, and for great blessing to come through this course. Also, for great enthusiasm for Biblical marriage in River of Life Church as we seek to run this course across all congregations in the months to come.

Love and thanks,

Scott

Hearts of the Fathers to their Children

I don’t know if the future Queen of England has been tuning into our 1st Love series?😱🤣

However, I think Kate is 100% on target with us in believing that an understanding of the absolute importance of early childhood development is the ‘social equivalent to climate change‘.

As reported by Sky News over the weekend, Kate wants to raise awareness of the importance of the first five years of life to future development.

She is responding to research showing the first five years of childhood fundamentally shape adulthood, and challenges adults face such as addiction, violence, family breakdown and mental health have their roots in the earliest years of life.

To this end she has launched The Royal Foundation for Early Childhood Development, saying:

“Working closely with others, the centre hopes to raise awareness of why the first five years of life are just so important for our future life outcomes, and what we can do as a society to embrace this golden opportunity to create a happier, more mentally healthy, more nurturing society.

“By working together, my hope is that we can change the way we think about early childhood, and transform lives for generations to come. Because I truly believe big change starts small.”

River of Life is on a mission to nurture the next generation in our midst, and to equip the Body of Christ to love their youngest neighbours as they love themselves.

This will be an increasingly important and significant issue as our continental population explodes and the family fabric continues to crumble. There is a huge need for the church to demonstrate ‘the hearts of the fathers towards their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers’ (Malachi 4.6)

What an exciting journey we are on to see the Nations Glad through God’s love demonstrated through His People!

Image Credit: Sky News

Church-Plants and Changing Communities

Tongai Mahobele (ROL Eastlea) teamed up with Nick Mugurahoko and Faro Chehore (ROL Dz), as well as Prince Bikausi (ROL Westgate) to visit the Disciple Nations churches in Dotito and Kaitano last weekend.

The diversity of this traveling team and the vibrancy of their reports are such great demonstrations of biblical values such as partnership, mission, love and gospel advance. My top 8 highlights from hearing their news yesterday are:

• 2 new church-plants. The River of Life Churches in Kaitano have planted two new churches into neighbouring Mtasa and Nyamapureti in the last few months.

• Baptisms. 32 people were baptised in these church-plants over the Easter holiday.

• 4am journey on Sundays. The Kaitano leaders travel by foot from 4am to 9am to reach Nyamapureti (on the Moz border) on a Sunday to assist in strengthening the church. Then travel home by foot from 2pm to 630pm. I am so thrilled to hear of this commitment.

• Africa Alive with GOATS. The Kaitano area is not well suited to poultry, so the church has decided to do business with goats and it is taking off.

• Together Sunday. Tariro Community Churches in Dotito gathered four congregations for Sunday celebration, especially rejoicing after Covid related challenges.

• Bibles. There is a hunger for God’s Word and we are acting with more intentionality to arrange for Bibles and other teaching resources into these areas.

• New leaders and elders. Leaders from Harare and Dotito are helping to develop new elders in Kaitano as the work is growing. So exciting to see this urban and rural partnership in the gospel.

• Learning, Encouraging & Equipping. Tongai, Nick and Faro were able to learn soooo much…and also encourage, bless, strengthen, pray for and equip all those on the frontlines of these rural church situations. Lord, may many come to you through these churches.

I am praying for multiplied effectiveness like this as we continue to ‘go into all the world and make disciples of all nations’.

🤸🏽‍♂️🌟🤸🏽‍♂️🌟🇲🇿 🇿🇼 🇲🇼 🇿🇲 🇹🇿

The Power of Community

Our Small Group yesterday was rich. I’ll give you my top 10 highlights:

1). The Wedding. I had the joy of meeting 8 River of Lifers at a wedding I officiated at Darwendale on Saturday. I was able to invite two who were looking for a Small Group and they joined us the next day💫🤸🏽‍♂️

2). The New People. One of our members invited her sister, and she was such a boost and blessing to the group🌟💫

3). The Growth. Although Claire was away visiting her Mum in SA and although we missed 5 others who were away for various reasons, we had a total of 9 people – so cool. Our total group is now around 15, and we need to think about multiplying soon. 🥳

4). The Intro. Barry’s encouragement that Jesus operated on Small Groups all the time. Fish Braai, communion, Zachias etc. What an inspiring intro that was. 🌟🌟

5). The Worship. That homegrown SOONNGGGG! Oh wow. Zola and the worship team just blew me away. The content of words, mix of language, quality of harmony and instrumentation, smoothness of sound & visual…amazing. And above all, the genuine worship from the heart seen on the faces of each person on the screen. ❤️🌟

6). The Updates. By Natsi and Charlotte on ladies hike and GP Youth 💫🚀

7). The KKIIDDSSS. – Early Zoom beam-in and then fun materials. Top quality input to kids. 👏🏽💨

8). The Preaching. Very clear from Sian, biblically sound and eminently practical. Phenomenal letter of Scripture read by Beck. 🧨 💥

9). Discussion group. What a JOYYYY. With both tears and laughter we delighted to hear from each other, treating each with honour and trusting one another with vulnerability. ❤️❤️🌟🌟

10). Snacks. One of our grandparent couples treated us to eclairs, Chelsea buns and scones with teas and coffees. ☕ ☕ 🍰

Can’t wait for next week!

There are so many moving parts to this and I rejoice in the combined energy of River of Life. This River is flowing stronger and stronger that the Nations May Be Glad,

Much love and joy,

Scott

‘Imitate their Faith’

Leaders are an amazing gift in a church. ‘Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith’ (Heb 13.7)

Derek & Margit oversee Small Groups at River of Life.

On Wednesday last week, while training leaders online, they received the news that their son, Ryan, had rolled over on his ankle whilst playing rugby at university – and was being rushed to emergency rooms for care.

Undaunted, Derek and Margit seemlessly and courageously handled the training whilst shooting off WhatsApp’s on the side – medical aid number etc. Nobody knew anything of what they were going through and the training was outstanding, with some great input from them and others.

As the dust is settling on this and Ryan’s ankle is slowly returning from butternut size to grapefruit size, I reflect on the amazing blessing that our leaders are in River of Life Church. And how leaders have to carry the challenges of ordinary (and extraordinary!) life as they serve others. Godly leadership involves sacrifice – my cost for your benefit. Perfectly modeled by Christ.

Thank-you Derek and Margit for your example to us – and for ALL the Small Group Leaders, Cluster Leaders, Assistant Leaders, Worship Leaders, Rock Leaders, and EVERYONE involved in the many areas of influence in River of Life Church.

Isn’t it awesome that this Scripture calls us not to imitate Derek and Margit themselves, but to imitate their FAITH. The faith we each have in Christ will lead us to lay our lives down in sacrificial service of Christ and His Body is many and varied ways.

What a blessing leaders are in the church!

Much love and blessing,

Scott

The Next Generation.

Africa Alive is an initiative in line with our 2020/21 vision to Let The Nations Be Glad.

As a family of churches, Disciple Nations aims to raise 2400 next generation church leaders, between 18 and 28 yrs old, over the next 5 years – called Africa Alive Champions. Each one able to :-

• communicate Christ from personal revelation relationship
• generate profit and enable their community to do the same
• demonstrate character especially in the areas of money, sex and power.

Alan Norton, Muss Maramwidze, Andrew Ellis, Tongai Mahobele, Charllote Ngandu, Ruvi Mubika are just a few of the River of Lifers who are actively involved in leading and discipling this movement which spans all Provinces of Zimbabwe…and is taking shape in Zambia and Mozambique as well.

We have around 100 prospective Champions in place – Mondhoro, Chihota, Chiweshe, Domboshava, Nkayi, Ntabazinduna, and other locations….currently placing in the region of 10000 chickens per week and generating around US$25k per week in revenue.

We will keep updating River of Life on these developments and hoping for more opportunities for people to get directly involved in nurturing this exciting next generation.

Blessings and love

Scott

Ps – this is a pic of our latest camp held at the beautiful Zambesi Holidays venue with 38 next generation potential leaders.