BORN WITHOUT BORDERS
BY
CHIEDZA MAVANGIRA
Photograph
By
Christopher Broek
INTRODUCTION
By
Kathy Benedetto
“I don’t know who you have praying over there, but it really
worked!” Chiedza Mavangira
replied gratefully over the phone to one of the Pastors from Saddleback
Huntington Beach. Chiedza had come to America from Zimbabwe looking for
an opportunity to use her talents in the writing and film industry. She had a
dream but was unsure how to begin in this strange new country. She
started in San Francisco, then went to LA and found many opportunities but they
all came with a cost. Opportunities yes but ones that required her to
compromise her values. Her mother warned her about such concession.
She had said that if you give up yourself, then who will
you be when you finally succeed? Even in the midst of potential
prospects, nothing satisfying ever seem to present itself. She felt empty
in the pursuit of her dream. She moved on to Orange County where she met
Anne Latour during a book club get-together. Chiedza’s parents, Christian
missionaries in Zimbabwe, had founded two churches so she felt she knew
all about being a Christian, the routine; but the relationship was
lacking. Being so far from home, she hoped to fill the void with a church
family. Visiting many, but finding none that offered her refuge
until she came to Saddleback Huntington Beach. Things were about
to change.
On her first visit to Saddleback, the greeter Jo hugged her and
welcomed her, asked her where she was from, and then during the service sat
with her. Jo became Chiedza adopted mom. She filled out the registration
card with a prayer request for her brother who was mentally ill and had been
missing from the family for over a year. The next week she had two
blessings. First, a surprise call from her brother, then a
call from one of the pastors just to say “Hi.” He said, “I’m just calling
to let you know we have been praying for you.” She exploded in
gratitude. Of all the churches she had visited, this was the first phone
call greeting she had received and her prayer to once again connect with her
mentally ill brother had been answered. However, God wasn’t done yet.
Her friend Ann invited her to attend a Night of
Worship. She wasn’t sure about it. Unsure of what it would be
like. Anne made her sit up front and Chiedza felt awkward.
Questions flooded her mind about the purpose of worship. Then
Pastor Moses stopped and addressed the crowd. He explained that worship
is simply connecting to God. “I have never thought about worship that
way before.” As the praise team began to sing and worship Jesus their
faces were radiant. “They were physically in front of me, but you could
tell they were busy interacting with God. Almost like an out of body
experience.” So I closed my eyes and surrendered myself to God, and He
began to speak to me. “It was as if a lost wire that hadn’t been in my
heart for a very long time was reconnected and that I was part of a bigger
purpose.” I knew that I wanted this. I prayed, “God, I want you to
take all my plans, dreams, and agendas, and instead I want to live your plan.”
Instantly all my burdens were laid down, and I knew God had a purpose for
me. For the last 14 years I had been at war with God. I was in a
new country, and I didn’t know how to make my dreams happen. The projects
I had been planning just weren’t working. And in a sense my talents were
buried because I was not using them for His purpose. It was joyous for her to
discover that God would keep the dream but gave her a new topic. He connected
the dots. He did want to use her skills and
talents in the writing and film industry but in a different way.
The project I was to work on became concrete. I heard God saying, “This
is where I want you to be”. He was leading her to make a documentary.
To give voice to those women of faith back home whom she had meet in her
travels. Those women who go the market each day to sell their tomatoes
and spend the day in a harsh climate and still believe that God is there, and
that He will provide. Those women who daily believe Him for the food that
will be on the table, the war that will go away, and somehow He will make
ends meet for them. “You know their struggles and you can be the
connection, the bridge, for them.” The project before that had been
so obscure and directionless now took on a new shape. It was a kind of
grace, a new mindset, and her heart was navigating a new course. The tangled
web in her mind was now cleared of confusion; the dream was now
possible. I felt born again with new joy, thankfulness, and purpose.
All the past now made sense. “I am not worthy, but I don’t have
to do anything just be in His presence.”
“Before I tried to do this on my own, and I was always so tired and frustrated. Being a single mom I was always in control of all we did. I made all the decisions of where and when and how our lives were to happen, but now I know I don’t have to do anything.” Worry is a lack of faith. Chiedza realized that when you believe God,
“Before I tried to do this on my own, and I was always so tired and frustrated. Being a single mom I was always in control of all we did. I made all the decisions of where and when and how our lives were to happen, but now I know I don’t have to do anything.” Worry is a lack of faith. Chiedza realized that when you believe God,
When you surrender it all, then all you have to do is pray and
worship and you will see things fall into place. “I let God take the lead
and put all of my burdens in His hands. It’s like you activate
God when you surrender.” The things she used to worry
about are now in His care. “This is an amazing time in my life. No more
brick walls to hit up against; just doors opening, meeting people who
share my dream, events happening, and pieces falling into place.” In
reflecting she realized that we are all part of a greater plan. One needs to
begin to see obedience to God’s leading as an answer to the prayers of
others. If Anne hadn’t been bold enough to invite her to church, if Jo
hadn’t hugged her… “If we don’t allow God to use us, if we are not
obedient, then we break a link in something that is much bigger than
ourselves. If we knew what was lost we would have broken hearts when we
don’t play our part in God’s plan.” This is God’s kingdom and everybody
has a part to play whether it seems big or small, but we are all called to make
a difference. “Somewhere out there someone is praying, and I hope by my
actions in obeying God with this documentary, I too will become an answer to
their prayers.”
So the secret of surrender to Chiedza is to trust, work hard
when you are working, and then with a light heart leave it in His
hands. Don’t try to fix what you can’t fix; just
trust. “Sometimes I go to God with a list, but mostly I go to God
just to thank Him for what the situation is and thank Him in
advance for what He is going to do. I feel joy even when
things are not OK. Nothing has changed on the outside, but inside I’m am
happy.”
Chiedza decided to take class 101 and learn about the
principles Saddleback is founded upon. Understanding what you are
committing to gives you strength, you can’t connect with your leaders if you
don’t know the principles for which they stand. “Besides not joining the
church would be like always dating and never getting married.” Joining
the church is taking the next step. After the class, there was a call to
be baptized. “I didn’t want to because I wasn’t prepared.” She thought
about not having a change of clothes, her hair would get
wet…Excuses. Yet, one by one, as her mind challenged her on why to say
no, the pastor seem to answer and quiet all her concerns. “They had everything I
needed!” So she did it. At first there were only a few people
there. But as she came out of the water, the Tree Lighting ceremony was
taking place and there were hundreds of people present. “It was a
very warm moment for me to have my new church family cheering for me.
It's just like in the Bible where it says that we are all connected to one
another by faith.” When Chiedza called her mom in Africa and told her
about her surrender and baptism, her mom was over joyed with the news. “This
is what I have been praying for. I’ve been
waiting and praying for this day”. Chiedza had thought the way to
make her mother proud of her was through accomplishing her dreams, but all her
mother ever wanted for her was to experience that deep, rich faith, that
personal relationship with Jesus that was the heritage of one who is raised in
a Christian family. Nothing could have made her mother happier.
Chiedza had to take several leaps of faith when she surrendered
it all to God. She advises anyone who is waiting for the perfect time to
stop and just jump in. When one finally surrenders there is joy yet sadness
because you realize that all the time you didn’t listen to God was just time
wasted. “It’s like meeting the love of your life, and then only having an
hour with him or her. The grief you would feel because you wasted so much
time. So don’t wait any longer.” Chiedza is
looking forward to this coming year. She knows she has a Kingdom work to
do and that she has a part in His plan.
Video Testimony
By
Pastor Moses Camacho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr1BgE8FE-c
DAY ONE
Kumusika is a place of great sacrifice. It is the field of the fragile labors of sweating women with hungry children bound to their broken backs. It is the open arena of the poor where brilliant minds succumb to the harsh reality of a life without education and without God. It is the sun-burdened, rain-disillusioned wound of the underprivileged, infested with law enforcement on bicycles waiting to apprehend the desperate for the crimes of the government. It is a vegetable galaxy where grown men and women fight poverty with their tongues.
"Matomatisi! Matomatisi! Matomatisi!"
Women’s untiring voices chant to seduce the weary traveler to their wares.
"Mutare! Mutare! Mutare!"
The bus conductor’s voice chants to seduce the impatient traveler to his destination.
The afternoon heat is the enemy, reducing once swollen ripe tomatoes to wrinkled impostors. A dust road-tainted bus pulls into its terminal and its wrinkled travelers
disembark. With the agility of city monkeys, two young men scramble to the roof of the bus and begin unloading the precariously-tied luggage and dropping it on the waiting passengers. In the next terminal a high-pitched voice announces the departure of the green and yellow bus for Gweru. An army of boiled egg-selling vendors assault the moving bus. Greedy brown hands grasp at questionably hygienic foods through half-closed, dirty windows. A woman sits down on the brown bags of sugar and mealie-meal that she has purchased in the bustling city to take to some obscure village. A round cheeked youngster is bounced on her knee impatiently; sweat swimming down her young face. Without hesitation a mother shoves her child to her and to greedy, waiting lips.
"Stop thief! Stop thief! Mbavha! Mbavha!"
A dirty bolt of crime tears across a crowded pavement and another handbag
disappears into the relentless Harare day.
"Are you certain that you will be safe?" the man of God without a white collar asks me.
"Oh, I will be perfectly safe! Thank-you so much! Someday I’ll repay you. I promise!"
The bus conductor’s voice chants to seduce the impatient traveler to his destination.
The afternoon heat is the enemy, reducing once swollen ripe tomatoes to wrinkled impostors. A dust road-tainted bus pulls into its terminal and its wrinkled travelers
disembark. With the agility of city monkeys, two young men scramble to the roof of the bus and begin unloading the precariously-tied luggage and dropping it on the waiting passengers. In the next terminal a high-pitched voice announces the departure of the green and yellow bus for Gweru. An army of boiled egg-selling vendors assault the moving bus. Greedy brown hands grasp at questionably hygienic foods through half-closed, dirty windows. A woman sits down on the brown bags of sugar and mealie-meal that she has purchased in the bustling city to take to some obscure village. A round cheeked youngster is bounced on her knee impatiently; sweat swimming down her young face. Without hesitation a mother shoves her child to her and to greedy, waiting lips.
"Stop thief! Stop thief! Mbavha! Mbavha!"
A dirty bolt of crime tears across a crowded pavement and another handbag
disappears into the relentless Harare day.
"Are you certain that you will be safe?" the man of God without a white collar asks me.
"Oh, I will be perfectly safe! Thank-you so much! Someday I’ll repay you. I promise!"
The oath is made with the innocent fervor of youth but lacks sincerity.
Pastor Bell’s response is a forgiving smile. I stand at the Kumusika, hands at
my side, conspicuously without luggage and my growing secret concealed by belly
and flesh. Tears plague my eyes with things I must not say and with truths that
I am not yet ready to tell.
"Thank-you."
Pastor Bell places a single hand on my defiant shoulder. I am defying life and I am defying pain. I am defying God.
"There is only one way that you may truly thank me…get accepted to that college in the States and become a writer."
I know that his next words will be encouraging.
"Be of good faith. Be of good courage."
And then he breaks my already broken
heart.
"I believe in you."
Solitude is standing in a crowded bus terminal watching your faith and courage walk away. "Godspeed!"
I raise both my hands and frantically wave. It is until the light blue car is vanished from sight that my hands finally surrender to the inevitable and reluctantly return to my side. This is the last time that I would think of a man as Godly.
"Muri kueyenda Kupi Sisi?"
The curious man asks the now abandoned black girl who had stood moments before with the white Pastor.
"KuBulawayo."
Solitude is sitting in a hectic city bus with chickens tied to its roof and old women chewing on things they never swallow.
"Thank-you."
Pastor Bell places a single hand on my defiant shoulder. I am defying life and I am defying pain. I am defying God.
"There is only one way that you may truly thank me…get accepted to that college in the States and become a writer."
I know that his next words will be encouraging.
"Be of good faith. Be of good courage."
And then he breaks my already broken
heart.
"I believe in you."
Solitude is standing in a crowded bus terminal watching your faith and courage walk away. "Godspeed!"
I raise both my hands and frantically wave. It is until the light blue car is vanished from sight that my hands finally surrender to the inevitable and reluctantly return to my side. This is the last time that I would think of a man as Godly.
"Muri kueyenda Kupi Sisi?"
The curious man asks the now abandoned black girl who had stood moments before with the white Pastor.
"KuBulawayo."
Solitude is sitting in a hectic city bus with chickens tied to its roof and old women chewing on things they never swallow.
A Revelation
from the Purpose Drive Life by Rick Warren.
DAY ONE
Upon finishing my first reading of this life changing book I flashed back
on my life and was given a healing revelation. I understood why it was my
experience for my Father to take his life due to mental illness. The same
disease that tormented my younger brother and led him to live on the streets
while we frantically searched for him. My afflictions are the ministries which
God has assigned to me in this life in preparation for the next. I will no
longer break. I will stand up tall and proud with my head held up high. People
with mental illness and sexually exploited women are the social leprosy of this
present era. These undesirables and unlovable have being cast out of our cities
and villages. They have being condemned to the borders of our minds and forgotten.
We must invite them back into our communities with empathy, love and support.
We must care for them. This is my bold declaration of faith over the next 40
days as I read “The Purpose Drive Life” by Pastor Rick Warren. Pastor Warren is
indeed the Spiritual Teacher who has appeared now that the student is ready. I
call upon all the Faith Ambassadors of this Global Community to join me. Stand
with me for this greater cause. Together we can make a difference in this
ministry. I am the custodian of the problems which God has blessed me with and
these are my ministries. Join me on this blessed 40 day journey of Faith as I
share my story and that of many of the women of faith whom I have encountered
on my travels from Bulawayo Zimbabwe to Orange County USA. I pray that you will
find the courage to surrender to him. Over the next 40 days you will see
a life that was a lump of clay be transformed and shaped into the Master’s
sculpture and a masterpiece of his great design for his great purpose. Today is
the first day of the rest of my life. I finally accept my mission on this
earth. I declare myself a bold Faith Ambassador and an Advocate for this
greater cause before God & before men.
Amen.
Humbly
Chiedza Mavangira
9/Feb/2015
My Baptism
7/Dec/2014
7/Dec/2014
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