Fig1 – The Current 12 Members of Raining Grace Choral Group
From Left:Hadson Maronde,Ms Chiwetu,Mrs Majaya,Mrs Mangi,Caroline Mangi,Mrs Tshuma,Ms Matsika,Erica Shingai,Mr Benard Majaya
Kneeling:Pastor and Mrs Chengetai
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND RAINING GRACE CHORAL GROUP
- Is a choral group which consists of 12 committed men and women who have dedicated their lives to singing gospel/Christian music not only for the sake of passion or because they are gifted but mainly to change people’s lives through their voices.
- How does one’s life change?? – Through the message that comes from their music directed at the day to day challenges of life and the importance of salvation.
- The group is led by a couple – Pastor and Mrs. Chengetai – who started this group in 1997 in their church Apostolic Faith Mission. It started as a church choir then upon Mrs. Chengetai discovering her vocal gift decided to take it to another level by consistently dedicating her time to singing along with other voluntary church members.
- As time went own they became popular in their community and in AFM church functions. They would be invited to sing at funerals and other important events in their local community hence people in the community began to appreciate them.
- The couple then had a burning desire to take the group to another level – but had no one to support them in terms of how they would be able to record an album and furthermore the finances to make this possible.
- It wasn’t long before the group fell apart as most of its members which consisted of young men and women began to get married hence leaving just but a few individuals who were only willing to give their time for church choir practice and funerals
RAINING GRACE CHORAL GROUP – THE TURNING POINT
My first encounter with Pastor Dickson Chengetai
- It all happened in February 2011 when I met Pastor Chengetai at Salem Evangelical Bible Institute and he told me about Raining Grace and It’s at that point that I was compelled to assist in any way that I could – hence I assured him that I would make a trip down to Rusape and see how can help this group.
My first trip to Chiwetu - Rusape
- April 2011 was our term break, so this was the opportunity for me to make a trip down to Rusape which is approximately 197km from the capital city of Harare.
- What I didn’t know was that the part of Rusape that I was visiting was rural; all along I thought I was going to a church based in town. I only discovered this when I got on to another taxi which took me some 35km outside the town of Rusape.
Fig 2 Shows Zimbabwe Map locating Rusape in the red box – zoom in to get close
- Since I was traveling during the night all I saw was darkness and I thought well – they must be a power cut of some sort as is the norm here in Zimbabwe. I got a reality check when I got out of the taxi and looked around me, that’s when I knew that I was in the country.
- We arrived at the house – a small compound which consists of 2 buildings – a kitchen and a bedroom
Fig 4 – Shows LC Shonz standing in front of the kitchen which is were I sleep.
Fig 5 – Shows LC Shonz standing in front of what remains as the couple’s bedroom suit
- I was moved with compassion at this sad sight, because I got to see the other side of Pastor D. Chagatai’s life – a man who I was with at Bible School but had no idea that this is how he lived. A lot of thoughts were going through my mind that night as the kitchen that you see in Fig 4 is were I sleep every time I have a mission trip in Rusape.
- The compound used to have about 3 building but a cyclone which hit Manicaland Province in January 2011 destroyed the other building.
- The couple has 3 children named Believe, Praise and Reward who all go to school – hence the whole family squeezes in this small compound just to get by with life.
Fig 6 – Meet the Chengetai Family: their children-: Believe; Reward and Praise
- Pastor D. Chengetai is not only a Pastor but is also very gifted in the area of carpentry.
- He used to make wadrobes,beds,African kitchen utensils,tables,chairs etc – but had to leave it all when he was approached by a sponsor who vowed to pay all his Bible School Fees throughout his annual course.
- In 2010 he left his family and pursued the Bible School and successfully finished school; but the imbalance was that he did not make a plan of how he was going to take care of his family while he was at school, hence the children began to be chased away from school because of lack of school fees.
- In 2012 he is going back to Bible school again for another year – hence I am helping him to set up self sustainable financial structures which I will shed light on later on in this report.
Life in the Rural Country Area of Rusape
- The pictures that you are going to see below are in the form of a storyboard – were I will take you through my experience in the Rural Country Area of Rusape.
- As you can see in the picture – this is in the kitchen and LC Shonz’s area of rest. This was in June 2011 – winter time – Rusape has a very cold climate so I had to lay by the fire in that big blanket
- The black tin that you see is the tin used to heat water for tea, bathing
- Sleeping on the floor saints is not at all easy, your back is likely to complain most of the time, and eyes sore because of the smoke!
- Not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the Lord of hosts – Zechariah 4 vs 6
The Charcoal Iron
- No electricity in the normal rural home so came the invention of the charcoal iron. Saints for some of us who are used to our modern irons – with this type of iron one has to master its use mentally because its so unique that it doesn’t come with a user manual!lol……
- All you need is a wet towel to control the temperature of the iron and the wind to increase the temperature! Wow – almost burnt my trousers there!
Breakfast In The Country...
- Mum Chenge preparing breakfast – take a look at the big slices of bread being cut for me so that I can have a double breakfast!lol
- Not only bread is served @ breakfast but also sweet potatoes, peanuts and cassava – in fact if there’s no money for bread SADZA is taken for breakfast; lunch and supper! nutrition is definitely not an issue in the country their slogan is if I eat and my stomach is filled – then the rest will be history – no worries about nutrition!!! Nica and EKL at this point – eyes are probably wide open in total amazement!!! Laci & ELM Ministries we have a lot of work to do on this area of nutrition here in Africa!
HOW GOD IS USING RAPTURE IMAGES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN CHIWETU RUSAPE
- Firstly the main reason why this group invited me was to give them expert ideas on how they can possibly break out of the rural box – and possibly record an album which will impact not only their community but the entire nation of Zimbabwe as a whole.
- I thought that was the only reason why God had taken me 197km away from Harare just to help these people in this area, but as I began to pray about this issue God then began to reveal the situations and challenges that these people were facing. So the instruction was before teaching them anything – God instructed me to deal with these issues that these people were carrying by meeting their spiritual and physical needs
- Hence I invited a friend of mine Belinda who is gifted in the area of music; and we held a 2 day seminar teaching on the foundational principles of Christian living, then secondly the fundamental principles of group dynamics and musicology.
- We faced resistance as is it always hard for people to let go of their old systems and embrace new principles that will shift their paradigms and take them to the next level.
- The seminar was held on April 30 to 1 May 2011, and at this point in time they were about 27 members in the group hence there was a lot of criticism, backstabbing and a lot of squabbles within the group.
- As time passed more members dropped out of the group because of failing to comply with the group’s constitution and most of all pride.
- To date 12 of the 27 members have remained.
My Associate – Belinda Munemo aka “Sheillah Priesthood" In Action
- Belinda – carrying out a vocal training lesson, facial expressions, voice projection etc.. under a tree as the group members concentrate.
- At this time only about 6 people could sing but after this 2 day seminar there was great excitement and improvement as Belinda implemented innovative strategies that kept the guys concentrating.
- Belinda Munemo is an anointed and passionate Woman of God who has been called into the Music Ministry and Corporate World. I was very humbled when she volunteered to come and assist with her expertise. She underwent the very same conditions that have been described above - this "City woman".
- I said to myself - hah "With God all Things are possible" - because this woman did something daring that most women in the world wouldn't even dream of doing - she not only taught the group how to sing but also some Fundamental Christian Principles including Prayer that influenced the Group to grow Spiritually.
- She Is Very Humble A Royal Priesthood, one of the chosen women of our time to do exploits, a perculiar woman - She is The Light of the World - A City that is set up on a hill and cannot be hidden. I call her "GW" which stands for "Great Woman" - because she is indeed a Great Woman! She never takes the credit but ALWAYS GIVES ALL THE GLORY TO GOD who gives her divine enablement to do whatever she does because she is led by the Spirit of God.
- May The Lord continue to Bless You Belinda - You totally Shifted Paradigms and Made a Difference In These People's Lives - and Raining Grace is ever grateful.
LC Shonz In Action
- In this picture we are at Mr. & Mrs. Majaya’s compound – the couple who offered their house as a meeting place for Raining Grace Choral group that is for practice and other sessions.
- At this point in time I had just arrived and was hiding the first ever printed group t – shirt, as a surprise strategy and I tell you it really got them all jumpy and excited.
- This is also time to minister the Word of God and moving in the Prophetic as the Spirit of God leads
Video Production Dynamics
- We were preparing to shoot a video on this day so I was going over the shooting script with the group just before action on camera…Saints I Love what I do!
- This gift that God gave me has no boundaries it can even make impact in the middle of nowhere.lol.
- Later on I will share with you the purpose of doing video production in Raining Grace's case.
- The purpose of video dynamics at this stage is to prepare and train the group in terms of confidence, boosting up self esteem, vocal training, vocal projection, dances etc – hence when we begin to teach then we will then be referring back to the videos constructively criticizing them with tangible evidence – this strategy makes it more fun and effective!
- Indeed it is a long process but at the end of the day its very worth it as we begin to see the group growing in terms of all concepts introduced to them.
RAINING GRACE IN ACTION
OTHER ALTERNATIVES INITIATED BY
RAPTURE IMAGES OUTREACH
THE CHICKEN FARM PROJECT
- Upon spending an entire week in Rusape in August 2011 – I sat down with the group and asked them a project they would like to engage in to raise income and they told me that they wanted to do chicken farming whereby they would rear a large flock of chickens then put them on the market since chickens are on demand almost everywhere.
- On Sunday 14th August 2011, I did a surprise visit and handed them US$50.00 for them to start this project, and it has since started/
- They have started with about 25 chickens. 1 chicken’s market value is about US$7.00 per bird – so the plan is to double the number at each sale until they get to a certain stage where they can begin to distribute profits among the group members .
- Secondly the other plan is to assist the women to establish their own businesses, so that they don’t depend on Raining Grace coffers only.
RAINING GRACE TUCK SHOP
- On a personal level – I also managed to see an opportunity of opening a shop which would also help the group one way or the other eg – providing employment to some of the young men in the group and also in the church’s youth group.
- I have already identified a shop in the village – talked to the landlord and am going on the 23rd September 2011 to finalize on the price for rentals and the signing of lease agreements.
- I have already acquired some assets to put into the shop which include 1 freezer and a fridge. A detailed document on this venture coming soon.
OTHER PROJECTS
AFM CHURCH YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROJECT
- I also had the opportunity to touch base with the youth of Apostolic Faith Missions Church which is led by Pastor and Mrs. Chengetai .
- The objective was to discover their unique Gifts and Talents and furthermore their visions – so I had one on one counseling sessions with some of them.
- I discovered that most of them have goals but have no resources to achieve these goals.
- About 3 of them had to drop school because of lack of funds to pay their school fees mostly because they are orphans, and this has affected them psychologically as they have become the laughing stock of the community.
- This is one of the reasons why I want to open a shop in Rusape so as to empower these boys and girls.
MEET THE YOUTH
- Meet Hadson Maronde(Red T-Shirt) – aged: 20yrs – His father died when he was just 10 years old, hence he had to drop school to become the father figure in the family by doing piece jobs to sustain the family since the Mother at one point became mentally unstable.
- He is currently a member of Raining Grace because he has a passion for music.
- His Vision is to preach the gospel to every creature – So he really wants to go to Bible School but has no financial resources.
- He is currently writing his O level exams this year as private candidate.
- Laci Ministry mentioned that it wants to launch a facility for Bible School Funding – hence here is our starting point
- Meet Angeline Maronde – age:24yrs – Is Hadson’s sister who now works in the city of Harare as a house maid and earns about US$50.00 per month, which doesn’t do much for the entire family.
- Her Vision is to establish a business of buying and selling clothes,shoes,handbags etc that she would be importing from surrounding countries – Zambia, South Africa, Tanzania etc.
- Meet Shelter Chiwetu aged: 19 years of age
- Her father died when she was about 5 years old – same story she had to drop school because no one was willing to pay any school fees for her to carry on with her studies.
- Saints I had a one on one counseling session with this girl and discovered that she was very intelligent.
- She wants to go back to school and become a nurse after completing school
Meet Tafadzwa Maemudza aged: 17 years old
- Tafadzwa is an orphan who never even got to see her parents and furthermore grew up as a neglected child.
- Her desire is to go back to school and do 10 O level subjects; then proceed to Bible School because she feels she is called into the ministry.
- She currently works as a housemaid to sustain herself.
Meet Mercy Muzonzini aged 17years
- She is currently going to school (Form 3) – but says she does not have adequate resources for her to grasp concepts - hence she needs support in terms of books and stationary
Meet Forget Chengetai aged 17years
- Forget is an orphan. Like his name he has been forgotten by his father and mother’s relatives
- As young as he is he spends time herding cattle for other folks just to get some money to buy his basic daily necessities.
- His desire is to go to school with others.
REPORT
- These are some of the youth that I had one on one counseling sessions with and asked them to write their desires as an assignment – and the desires that I wrote in their profiles is were coming directly from the papers they wrote.
A SAD ENCOUNTER
- Saints when you go on a missions trip you encounter a lot of touching incidents – so much that you will so compelled to do something for all these folks – even small they appreciate
- The picture that you see above is of a lady who is demon possessed – she was actually once married with 2 children but one day – she just went mentally unstable . Her name is Danai.
- They say she has been like this for the past 3 years… If you look closely her leg is tied on a tree – this is so that she wont run away like she once did.
TO BE CONTINUED………………..
END OF PART 1
