Chairman of the Council of African Apostles (CAA) and founder and Overseer of Jabula New Life Ministries International, Bishop Tudor Bismark, appeared on the In Conversation With Trevor Show last week, a weekly online show where Zimbabwean entrepreneur and newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube sits down with various high-profile guests in a series of candid, hard-hitting conversations.
During the interview, the Bishop – who marked the first time a cleric appeared on the show – talked about his upbringing in the church, his marriage, the highlights of his pastoral journey, and how the plight of his followers represented a paradigm shift in his work as a minister, among many things.
Here are four highlights of the hour-long talk.
On his 38th Marriage Anniversary with Pastor ChiChi
We met in 1978 wanted to get married in 1980 but too young and my sister passes away in September “81. So we moved the wedding from October “81 to February “82 and it just seemed like yesterday. I’m just the older guy and she’s the teenager.
Given the attack that marriage is for men and women of God, what has been your formula of sticking together?
Basically, the first year of our marriage was love and roses, and we had our first major disagreement and the “D” word was thrown in, “I want a divorce”. We vowed from that day, December 1982, that we will never use that word again. Never ever. Whatever we go through, we work it out, and we also began to find responsible counsellors, people that could guide us and advise us. We’ve had ups and downs like everybody else but we’ve committed to a lifetime relationship being together.
The most powerful sermon he ever preached
Well, that’s a tough call, you know. I think they are basically, Trevor, seasons in which things happen. The first message I ever preached in South Africa defined some of my journeys. My message was entitled, that was in 1978, “God, The Supreme Man Builder“. And that’s when I began to play around empowerment, black…messages, Pan-Africanism. Then in 1990, in Dallas, I mean in England, preaching another very significant message, and that was on Rebecca and that even you’re an outsider, you’ve got a right to inheritance. That was in 1990. And for me, the breakthrough came in 2001 preaching for Bishop T.D Jakes at the Pastors Leaders Conference. The message was entitled “The Blessing of A 100 More”. All of those messages in those decades defined my life, my ministry and my future. So probably “The Blessing of A 100 More” was the most powerful and most outstanding.
On the feelings and pain of his congregations and parishioners in Zimbabwe from his regular home fellowships
When we started, we committed to buying a house, owning property and putting money away which is part of our culture. We still do that. But we’ve young couples now, married 2-3 years, no jobs, basically dealers, entrepreneurs, trading here, buying, selling, crossing-boarder, taking those few profits and building their house. And to see them doing that, trying to find a school for their kids, driving on awful roads has been very painful and difficult. It’s been very painful (to me) because now I have to keep preaching messages of hope.
I’ve tracked 2010 to 2020, my crossover service messages, which have been very concerning because I’ve been saying, “Next year is your year; It’s your breakthrough year the doors are opening”. So 2019, preaching that message was very difficult because I don’t want to be known for empty promises where I’ve to keep on being optimistic and people actually take that message and anchor their lives, anchor their future around that message. I’m so scared that I’m giving people promises and hopes that may not be realised or take longer to realise…Now I have become really human, very sensitive. I’m touched by the feelings of people in infirmities, and my prayers are more “God please help this country” and more “Help Africa”.
Watch the full interview below:
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