Thanks be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who, in February 2017, saved me from the cloud of confusion and years of physical pain.

This was also the year of my Lord’s favor when He freed me from oppression. In fact, Jesus had begun to prepare me for salvation long before I perceived it myself. In 2011, when I was in college doing my first year studies, a friend of mine tried to persuade me to read the Bible, and she even gave me a copy. I did not take it seriously. I had been oriented in a sect that rejected the Bible completely but believed in God speaking to us only through the “prophets,” who were said to be the only ones empowered by the Holy Spirit do so.

When I was employed at a high school as a relief teacher in 2015, a certain man donated some Bibles to all staff members and students. I was given NIV Bibles. I still didn’t understand God’s plan for me at this time; I simply took the Bibles and kept them. I read them casually. But in 2017 Jesus called me to His glorious kingdom, prompted by my agony.

Painful past

My childhood and teen life had never been pleasant. In 1998 a colleague accidentally injured my knee. The pain from the injury resulted in an operation for tendon realignment in 2003. Thereafter my hip became painful, forcing me to walk with crutches for close to three years and take multiple doses of medication. Added to this was continuous stomach pain, suspected to be ulcers.

Meanwhile, my family strongly believed in the Johane Masowe eChishanu Apostolic Church. They took me to this sect over the years for the “prophet’s” prescriptions. These included holy water, holy stones, and prescribed fasting, which never helped the pain. I managed to continue my education despite all these challenges. I went to South Africa in 2011-2014 for my studies. The doctors there told me that my symptoms were similar to those of stomach ulcers.

In 2016 I developed a boil on my finger that could not be medically explained. It took nearly six months to heal. Meanwhile, the stomach pains intensified, despite the negative results from laboratory tests and scans. I got so angry that I refused to use the medication given to me. At church the “prophet” insisted I had ulcers. I was puzzled over what could be really wrong.

Seeking and finding

While in agony, I was miraculously drawn to the Bible in February 2017. I embarked on a thorough search for answers in a Book I always thought was of no value. I was led to find out the requirements for successful prayer. The following are the verses I found myself reading:

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isaiah 59:1, 2, NIV).

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23).

I could not understand how I was led to these relevant verses that contained specific answers to what I was looking for. Jesus personally replied to my questions through the Bible. This was the first response I got from the merciful Jesus Christ through the Spirit’s guidance.

I prayed, confessed my sins, and asked for healing of my stomach problem. The following morning I woke up completely healed. The pain has not recurred to this day.

From that day on, my health was restored. I had been living a life enslaved by fear of the unknown. I had become dependent on false gods in the name of “prophets,” but Jesus restored my life through His Word. I am now His forever, freed and forgiven. The words of Christ were fulfilled in me:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7, 8).

Searching for truth

I now began to search everything about the truth of God, and I realized that most churches are not following the true Word of God. I started keeping the Sabbath alone and decided to find a better church. I went to hear the teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, only to find out they did not agree with the Word. I then wrote a document on all doctrinal findings in the Bible, revealed to me by Christ during my encounter with Him, that conflicted with the common teachings of other churches.

While I was doing further searches on the Sabbath, I came across the website for the Church of God (Seventh Day). I went through the doctrinal beliefs and the history, and most of them were exactly the same as my own findings. Once I contacted the BA Facebook page, a zone representative pastor in the UK contacted me and connected me with the local pastor.

Unfortunately the local pastor told me that the closest church was in Bulawayo, approximately 600 km from my home area. He immediately sent me some Sabbath school lessons and pamphlets from the Church of God (Seventh Day). I was more interested in finding out if what I had written in my own Bible study notes was the same as what the Church taught. I was surprised to find out that it was exactly the same. I had given up hope and believed that the church I was looking for was only an imaginary one!

The Church of God (Seventh Day) proved to be the reality of the church I expected to find. After a series of communications with the local pastor, I managed to visit the Bulawayo church and attended several services. I surrendered my life to Christ and was baptized on Sabbath, September 9, 2017.

Call to action

I strongly believe that the Church of God is a body ordained to preserve the true Word of God and herald the good news of the gospel. I therefore encourage the Church leadership to put all necessary effort to ensure that the Church spreads to all parts of Zimbabwe so that many will be saved. For this to be possible, I suggest that Church literature be translated into local languages so that the locals can read and understand.

Today I am fit and have no problems with my stomach or legs. God further blessed me with permanent employment in August 2018 at the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe, where I currently work. Through God’s wisdom, I was deployed to Bulawayo, where I have access to the church and interact with the brothers and sisters of the Church of God.

I glorify God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ for healing my soul and body.