Lizalala kuze kube nini?

Le inkulumo iphathelane lalowo ozwayo, hatshi ongcono ngoba ukzwa kukabili esintwini. Kulokuzwa endlebeni kubelokuzwa kokuthi umuntu ungcono, mhlawumbe kuhle ngikutshiye kunjalo ukuze umuntu azichazululele yena uqobo lwakhe. Aluba ngiloba lendatshana inhliziyo yami iyaphuphuma ikakhulu nxa ngikhangela isimo sabantu. Izizwe senkosi yohlanga sisebunyameni obukhulu mthwakazi. Kudingeka abantu abazaphaphama kusemasinyane. Liyazi lonke ukuthi kwelakithi e Zimbabwe ubuntu bethu beyisiswe kakhulu ngendlela ezinengi kuze kuyefika kuyo inhlalakahle yethu. Mzalwane omuhle sizakuba yinhlekisa kwezinye izizwe nxa singalala emini sichibe. thina kumele sihlale phansi sizindle inqgondo ngekusasa yabantu.

Okokuqala kufanele sivume ukuthi asilabakhokheli. Okwesibili yikuthi ngaphandle kobunengi bamaqembu ombangazwe lamaqembu okutshutshisa lamabandla enkolo kumele njengabantu sikhulume ngaphimbo linye. Isizatho ngisitsho njalo yikuthi inhlupho zethu ziyafana ngakho kumele zibe sobala kuHulumende ingabe nguphi obusayo. Kenengi ingozi ekhona yikuthi ngokukhetha abakhokholeli MPs kumbe amaCouncilors ku local govt sisuka sicabange ukuthi sesiqedile kukanti labo bantu bamele bamanyane above party politics. They must represant the region at large. Khonapho yikho esilahlekelwa khona kakhulu ngoba abantu bande ukulwela izihlalo kulokulwela uZulu bekulezo zihlalo. Injongo yethu kumele ibaluleke ukuze lowo ongena ewofisini ancintise ukuphelelisa izinto ezithile ezaziwayo.

Ukulwisana kwethu sibanga izikhundla akuzange kusilethele lutho kuze kube lamuhlanje. Political leaders must answer to the people first even though they belong to the Party of choice. Lawo angaPolitical parties must work hard to fullfil known obligation within the region or area. Divided we fall united we stand. Let us strive to paint a big picture here, where there is no clear vision people perish. Ngokubona kwami isigaba semaNdebeleni lendawo eziseduze zizakuba ngamaswing provinces. Parties have to earn the votes. For example M.P. J. Moyo is credited for improving for Tsholotsho regardless of party affiliation. The tip here is kumele kube labantu who even though bengekho emabandleni ezombabgazwe abazaqondisa umkhondlo lombono welizwe ngendlela ezinengi.

Cont Mhlanga is not a politician. Umsebenzi wesizwe omkhulu okokuthi ungezake umelele a few people. Or let me put it this way let,s have a pool or arena where our Political leadership will be chosen from. The question now is do we have any resources? Quite clearly resourses are scarce if you are looking at this from a distance. Umfula ugcaliswa yizifudlana. To be blunt most of you who will read this article are rich in many ways. Being in Uk, or South Africa or even United States where you are means you are 20 priviledged than an average person in Silobela. Most are not just working abroad but are highly educated with degrees on top of degrees and diplomas, masters and doctors of various discliplines. Inhlupho zethui azisizo zepolitics kuphela.

Abanye abachenjeri sebeyenze inhlanganiso zamanganga ezithi zincedisa abahluphekayo eZimbabwe. Benza njalo nje bona vele lekhaya bahlezi kuhle ngoba ilizwe ngelabo. Angitsho ukuthi lathi kumele senze njalo kodwa the writing is on the wall. Ngubani ozacabangela abakini eNsiza kumbe e Mayezane nxa wena ulokhu ulilalise inkophe. See the thing here is singacomplaner all day and night kodwa sifanele sifunde ukuzenzela sooner than later. Kumele siphitshekele ubuntu lesizwe sakithi. Ukusebenzisa indlela ezitsha of Communication and technology is one way to put us on the Map. Net working is essential in this time and edge. Singalala sizasala man or woman the sleeping giant has to wake up !

September is here!

Its amazing how fast time goes especially as the year nears the end. With only 3 months to go you know the festive season is close. See one thing funny about Christmas is that its either too far or too close. Perhaps this happens to us procastinators. Okay lets face it I am not the only one in that boat we are many! The problem with me and other people is that we are never prepared for Christmas even though we are given the same days of the year. Infact we are never prepared for anything at all. From a distance it would seem like I have personal problem yet this is a financial problem than anything else. I am also willing to speak for my friends, those who cannot speak for themselves, "the voiceless", that is why I am called the voice of the voiceless. See ever since I started working I have always have financial problems and that is not an excuse please! I have always been behind on rents and other bills save for a few months in my whole working life. I have never been given my sweat, worth.

My problems are not exclusive and I cannot really blame anybody. I know there are some who will reasons to blame. I am convinced that in my thirteen years of working life I have made enough money to be rich but I am still as poor as the first day I began working. This is because of two reasons; the word SAVE does not exist in my vocabulary. Secondly I am the kind of person who have always lives above my means. I do not do this deliberately but rather because I am expected to be at a certain standard by my friends and family. I go to great lengths trying to catch up to my piers and this has nothing to do with pier pressure yet in truth its a form of it. The side of town I live in, the clothes I wear, the car I drive, the list is endless. I am not suppose to admit that Iam not yet there, but rather I have to look like I am already there, this is not an extreme kind of pier pressure but any odinary and acceptable one.

Enough about my problems and back to the topic. I must apologies to my friends and relatives in advance because by the look of things I will not be able to get them Christmas presents this year again. Sorry folks its tough! I only wish you guys will stop buying me things because that adds misery to my Chistmas because I feel guilty when I receive them. Blessed is the hand that giveth than that which receives. September is a special month in my life because its like Genesis, its the beginning for me, the month of my birthday. It tends out also to be my father's birthday. He is turning sixty on the third while I will be thirty five by the end of the month. We are all grateful. He has been reminding me about his birhtday for over a year now. The old man wanted me to through a huge party for him, and I thought I was going to suprise him but I think you all know my problem now: no savings. Sorry dad I love you though, you are my hero, but I am in debt right now. The debt collectors are chasing me and some have taken me to court.

My son is will be five months on the day my dad's grand day. I remember the good old days when me and my few of my friends, Lifa, Nickson , Walter, Daniel and Witness used to celebrate our birthday jointly. We all share the same day or for some its a day apart. We would gather our friends and make a huge party eat, drink and dance. Food was not scarce in those days in Zimbabwe. All my friends are now married and I know its a blessing to be married butI am sure they miss those old times. Pretty sure most of them have at list two kids each, me I just got married and only have one little boy. Times have changed. Life in Zimbabwe is tough and friends are now scattered. We only communicate through email for those who have access. Madoda happy birthday in davance, problem now isikhwama sesihlala kumama, I am always broke even on a payday.

Abasuke labo opasi ababulala imiduli ye New York nge ntege ngoba basonisela I iviki lethu lokuzalwa mhla zilitshumi lanye. Bacitha igazi elingelacala. I will continue may we all take our annual stock to see if we are ready for Christmas ngoba isifikile. Long live dad, we wish many more years.

Pray for the Sibanda family!

I would like to begin by sending my condolences to the Sibanda family on the loss of mother this past week. Mrs Sibanda who is Mduduzi's mum lost the battle to cancer while visiting here in New York city. Mdu is an Indianapolis resident who got married almost a year ago here to lovely Corin. It is believed that the late Mrs Sibanda will be buried in New York city today bon the 30 August.The Sibanda are origially from Gwabalanda, Fusi area in Bulawayo. Anyone wishing to talk to them can call 718-217-7259. Our prayers and thoughts are with the Sibanda family.

Typo!

On the last paragraph on yestday,s article a sentence was suppose to sound this way, The Zimbabwean opposition political parties who are fighting a regime that has more than 200 years of political expirience among themselves, are not in a better position right now.

Moving the hand of God!

This is a follow up from the previous article ,"Calling on the name of the Lord". i gave an example of the government of our Lord; s day and the Government of the Lord himself. Two kinds of "governments" in their own rights. The prophet Isaiah made it clear that Jesus was to be a governor and his "rule shall be to no end". Point here is as much as we have a spiritual government we also have an earthly one. 'Ceasers". This is no way to undermine any spiritual warefare or understanding, hence the Bible says with" God all things are possible." Luke 1 v 36.

Human kind being a little bit clever and craft we tend to bypass the policies of the two so that we benefit in a way, Hence our lord Jesus told them to honor the local govt and also the spiritual one. They wanted him to disrespect the Roman govt in the name of God. He said declined. Most of the times we do things like that to benefit or to twist the hand of God or at least try. For example in case of great tragedy we tend to ask, "Where was God? By no means do I intend to limit the power of the Almighty. But we all know bad things have happened before both to the God and the bad. The measure of the calamity does not show the extent of ungodliness even though it may. I mean its not always a calibration scale for ones closeness to God. I might be wrong here but life, expirience and even the bible itself has proven it." Job."

The essence of the matter is that we proggramme God to our situations or circumstances. If things are going well, "God is on my side" If the weather is good good is on our side if it tends otherwise, "no he left us" After the infamous 911 incident here in the States People were questioning, "Where was God? No disrespect I was among them, but tragedies happens daily and we the righteous think its for the evil ones. Yes God protect us but for me I donot know the criterial he uses. I speak as a human being. God is above , his ways are not my ways neither are his thoughts or judgements. He answers to none other than himself. No one must miss understand me, I do have a personal relation ship with the Lord, and I am speaking about collective, general and non personal terms. For example nations. Some think God is more closer to them than others. For example most Americans think God is either American or closer to America.

The question here would be, "Can we move the hand of God? The answer would be Yes and No. He can allow us to move him. When he allows us to move him to change situations through either prayer or praise its still up to him and Amen. But we cannot change him on our own as man either through any of the above. He is God regardless of cicurmstances.

Calling on the name of the Lord!

In many scriptures and verses the Bible talks about "Calling on the name of the lord" The last verse on the second chapter of Joel the bible says shall be serve, For whosover shall call on the name of the lord. This is part of the long verse. Theologians from many instituions around the world do not agree on certain meanings and sayings of the Holy scriptures. They base they arguments on Language, pantuation, time and many other aspects of knowledge and understanding. In some cases they can agree on a topic or scripture and then differ in operation and practice. Some of this could even be the culture and traditional differences as well as beliefs. The reason why I am in pain trying to outline my perspective is because it is dangerous to assume that one own knowledge is the right one when it comes to the scriptures, hence the number of churches and religions.

Having said that I am of the opinon that The God of the Universe, The Almighty, The Supreme being, The Power that be, The Creator of human kind, The Master, The father of All Spirits. I could go on and on but its really difficult to talk of God in human words. God is a Spirit and resides above matter, form or shape, has no beginning nor end. Is the First and Last. The Great Being. In My language which also fall short like in terms of vocabulary we call him uNKULUNKULU which when translated means The One Above All Else. And also some would use uMVELINQABI which means THE ONE WHO WAS THERE BEFORE ANYTHING. Having language limitations I should have asked for help from others who are experts in both language and culture.

It seems to me that through out the scripture or history the relation between God and man has always been a unique one. According to the bible '' God made man for himself ''. In our African culture the concept of serving God is not knew, even though its been done in a different ways. I would not want to generalise the ways in African people serve or have always served their God. Him being a Spirit his charactor and qualities remains a mystery to us of flesh and blood. His ways are not our ways the bible say in Isaiah and neither are His thoughts. It seems that God has a way of hiding himself, and in the same way also can choose to reveal himself at his given time and place. This he can do to people of his choice in many forms and times.


The writer of Hebrews could not have said it better when he said God who in times past has revealed himself to our forefathers in many ways and different times has chosen to reveal himself through his son who he has appointed heir to all things .Then John refusing to be outdone says something like without him not one thing was made. Going on to say he is the first born of the living and the dead. Apostle Paul would say he is the" express image of his glory upholding all things by the power of his mighty." Time will not allow me to tracy Jesus from the beginning. This reminds me of the time when I used to preach back in the 90s. I do not preach much here because of working schedules. Through tradition, religion , culture, education and science we see and respond to God in many ways.

Given this background it is interesting to note what happens when we, "Call on the name of the lord" We all wish God was in our religion and l do not even know if GOD has a religion. This is not to suggest that God gets confused by our needs but rather our attitudes. There is a tedency for people to create a 'god 'in their minds and religion.This type of god can have his hand twisted to fit their cicurmstances. After all God uderstands us anywhere . It seems to me that sometimes we as people expect us to do things that God has given us power to do. Read Gen the first chapters again to see what I mean. There is a danger to which we can expect spiritual things to fullfil natural needs even though I know that the spiritual was first

One time when me and my grandfather [he is now late} were driving along a certain mountain Fambeki is the name of the mount, those who have been around this area know that there are people praying 24/7. Day and night. What my grandfather said to me that day stuck with me to this day. I would not have expected him to say that being a christian and a renowned preacher. he said bluntly, "Do you know that religion is the most dangerous thing? For a moment I was quiet and he continued , ''Instead of these people working they spend all the time praying.'' He was talking about balancing prayer and work time. I knew he would have been the last person to mock prayerfull related events. Our Lord Jesus put in this way render the things that belong to Ceaser to Ceaser and God,s to God.

I will continue tommorrow.

Zimbabwe needs many voices of democracy.

Between the lines of life.

Have you at anytime in your life ever wondered if things that happen to you are fate or design. I know some of us do not believe in luck and on the other side not all believe in faith either. Some of this things are in a grayish category not white not black. Quite often if you are somebody like me you tends to regret some past occasions or experiences .Things you wish that if it were possible one would go back and fix. I think this happens mostly to people who think they are not living to their full potential in life. Day in and day out you cannot help but think you could have done better or made better decisions earlier on in life.

The reason being opportunities knocks once at a man's door. A split of a second could mean life and death rich or poor. There is no right time. Life seems to roll itself like a ball. You sneeze you loose. Who knows where you will be had you gone to the right school. Had you gone the right math , accounts or science. Had you attended that soccer practice the day when there were scouts from out of town. If your mother got you some soccer or jogger shot. If you had taken that job in the city council . If you studied the right material before the final exams that you do not even want to talk about. If only I left the country that year when your cousin quit his job and left. Perhaps  I should have volunteered for that missions summer programme the church would have recognised me.

I should have put my money to the right investments funds. Should I have waited for until demutualisation windfall in November before I removed my investments 1999. Should not have left the country because I missed a chance to be vetted as a war veteran. Some even think I should never have left for Zambia because my peers are now well educated and established. I wish my father did move us from Harare back to Bulawayo. Should I have continued singing with my accapella group I would have gone places now. We seem to think we would have been better had we seized the moment.

However the chance missed we are caught in the past. On the contrary we do not appreciate what we are and what we have. Many a time the grass is greener on the other side. By looking at others who have made it we lose sight of what we have. One is often tempted to measure him or herself by what others have done. "My friends are all married" we say. I am the only one who is poor in my family. Yet in all this we forget that we are not supposed to be the same. Me for example I would not be a doctor even if the only qualification is needed is my thumb. There are things one can do and things that one cannot do. We all have our limitations as well as our abilities and skills .

One funny thing is that we do not realize miracles in our own lives. To give an example for you to be where you are right now you cannot explain how you got there. There many people who could be in your shoes. Some can even volunteer even if it means having their hands cut because if you can read this blog site you are well up by all standards. You are one in tens of millions. Jokes aside there is a tendency to downplay what God has done in our own lives because we think he could have done better. Apostle Paul says " Not many of you were wise but God has as made foolish the wisdom of the world."

Quite frankly you do not know how you passed that test. You do not know how you passed that driving test. How you won that lottery. How that promotion came because you were still knew in that company. Why that manager chose you of all the people? Is it that you earned it ? Is it that you are the smartest or the wisest? Or may be you were born in the right family. Somewhere in between the lines we have unanswered questions. We do not know whether to be grateful or not. At times we are content and at times we are not. It depends on which day we look at our cup.

ATM at the church building!

On my way to Tallahassee, Florida early last month, I passed in Georgia. There, I picked up my aunt, cousin, and two nieces. Crossing all those states from Indiana, it was finally a relief for me to have company, especially after a long and lonely drive. Flying is not my cup of tea, hence I took to the road. Although I had even considered Greyhound bus services, which could have taken 21 hours to get to the sunshine state. Anybody who has ever taken Greyhound knows that its no joke riding the bus, especially such a long distance

I was determined, however, to attend my cousin's wedding. I was going to the wedding come rain, snow or sunshine. Really, when I left home, nothing was in order. At least, nothing balanced, as far as finances were corncered. To make matters worse, it's a Fourth of July weekend, and according to AAA, that is the busiest holiday for traveling. Nothing was going to make me miss the wedding because I had been looking forward to it for months and besides it was time to see other family members, whom I had not seen in a long time. The previous year I had missed Sibusisiwe, my elder cousin's wedding, who is the sister to Thandi. This is the reason why I took to the road. Driving, however, is not a problem to me; despite, the fact that I have not driven very long distances by myself.

To make a long story short I spent the night in Atlanta, a city known as a hub for black people. I lived here before, but for some reason I did not feel at home in ATL, as they call it. My cousin, Matty, has for many years tried to persuade me to come to Georgia. "There is no place like Georgia cuz," she says. And I would always reply, "Georgia is on my mind cuz." But this day G.A. is not on my mind; I am in GA. This city or state, whichever, there is no difference to me. It's known for good and bad at the same time. They say in GA you're more likely to meet single, gay, black people than anywhere else in the United States. That is just a saying I heard.

The good thing here is that there are famous Worldwide Pastors and Bishops all over. I mean, those we see on TV everyday. Its a long way getting out of Atlanta, because that city is at the beginning of the state. Now that the car is full and we all charged up, the journey does not look that long. My aunt Eliza and I are sitting in front. We swap from passenger to driver as she is comfortable driving here. She says it's her backyard. Three girls Maqhawe , Dumile and Nokuthula are passengers. We are happy to catch up on a few family events and issues, since the last time I saw these girls they were pre-teens. Now they are in their late teens.

There is chaos in the car and aunt, who by her age and upbringing, plays the role of being a displinarian. Also a spiritual advisor and she is driving at 5 miles below speed limit. I know for us to catch the wedding ceremony, I will need drive. I am careful not to be too fast to take the driver position, because remember this is her 'own backyard'. Dumile who is a self-confessed christian and an intercessor, keeps handing me gospel music. The other two are not happy with that. They want to play their own rap music and they have no choice because aunt is driving. Poor kids! I am, in this case, the mediator. I try to reach out to both sides.

After we got our breakfast from a McDonalds, I immediatetly assumed the pilot seat. I took over as the judge. I allow Nokuthula and Maqhawe to play their muisc, since I am driving. Provided nothing is vulgar or has indecent language of any kind. My ministry comes in handy here, because I like to feel and hear the opinions of young people who do not like church. Even those that come from very religious families. I took the opportunity to inteview the two young ladies who do not like church. Among the reasons there was one that put me in stitches. I mean I laughed my lungs out. Maqhawe and Nokuthula told me that they went to a church and the very thing that greeted them, at the door of the church, was an ATM machine .

They asked me if that was right, but I could not come up with a clear answer that I am for or aganist. This is how far ministries, churches or evangelists are going in pursit of prospertiy and happiness. If these $$ making machines are preventing our young people from entering the door of the church, then I question the motive behind ATM's in churches. To tell you the truth, most do it for personal gain or profit, especially here in the United States. It's their personal business and kingdoms, they are filthly rich and do not use the $$ for the great Commission as they claim.