Local churches can be powerful agents of change in their communities. Just ask Pastor Thanks.
A story of Thanks from Zimbabwe
Pastor Thanks’ name couldn’t be more appropriate. Life in Zimbabwe was far from easy for him in his roles as church leader, father and business owner. Some training and the grace of God gave him good reason to give thanks. And the story didn’t end there.
In 2013, Tearfund’s partner, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, invited Pastor Thanks to their church and community transformation training course. During the workshops, Thanks learned the skills needed to help his church members and the wider community support each other in new and powerful ways.
The training focuses on how people can realize their potential and improve their income by using locally available, God-given resources, empowering them to work together to solve local issues.
‘Before embracing [the training], my life was characterized by begging, without hope. I was very uncertain of what the future held for me. I am so grateful that I can now provide for my family,’ Pastor Thanks tells us.
Putting it into practice
Thanks set about putting the training into practice, and both he and the wider community flourished. The church grew, businesses grew, and Thanks was asked to share the training with church leaders in other communities so that even more people could benefit.
Thanks now juggles being a church leader, a trainer, a mentor, a husband and father, a baker, a farmer and a business owner!
‘This is all because of the passion I have and the inner push that gives me the strength to make my tomorrow better than it is today’
– Pastor Thanks
‘Churches in Zimbabwe play a vital role in the center of their communities,’ says Earnest Maswera, Tearfund’s Country Director for Zimbabwe. ‘Therefore, we work with and through churches wherever possible, knowing they hold a special ability to change the lives of entire communities. Thanks be to God!’
Pray with us
Please join us in prayer for church leaders throughout the world.
Dear God,
We thank you for your church around the world.
We thank you for the place the church holds within communities and the part that it can play in bringing people together.
We pray that your church will be a force for good throughout the world.
We lift Pastor Thanks to you and thank you for his influence.
We pray that you bless him in his work and for his community in Zimbabwe,
that they will look to you as the source of their blessings.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Written by Tearfund UK | Originally published by Tearfund UK on October 29, 2021
