.
“I dont 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, 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,
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. Its
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 saddness 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.”
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