By David Lyons

Forty-five years ago, a vulnerable young man in Zimbabwe named Phibion read in John 16:24 that Jesus truly answers prayer, and he dared to believe it was true. So, he prayed and wrote a passionate letter to the prime minister of his country asking for help to get the high school education that he could never afford.

Sometime later, Phibion’s uncle came to him and said, “Your God must be very great. The prime minister sent a man to find out if you are real.” The prime minister then funded Phibion’s education. After graduation Phibion got a good job and eventually started his own flourishing business. Today, Phibion and his wife lead several businesses and the Navigator ministry of Zimbabwe.

Our team recently visited Zimbabwe to see a sample of what God is doing in and through African Navigators who are seeking to change the spiritual landscape of Africa. Three things stand out as I look back on our visit: faith, youth, and synergy.

Faith

With Phibion’s personal history, it is no surprise that the men and women growing around him are full of faith. Our Navigator Vision speaks of perseverance in the face of hardship, and one of our Core Values is “expectant faith and persevering prayer rooted in the promises of God.” Persevering faith is what it takes to flourish in Zimbabwe, a country with an inflation rate of 75-100% a year, where only 1 out of 100 college graduates gets a job. Yet, in that environment, Zimbabwean Navigators are pioneering university ministries in four new provinces and aiming to penetrate all ten provinces in the next five years. Each pioneer is making a living primarily from gift income raised in such a harsh economic environment. That’s bold faith!

Youth

A few years ago, God led The Navigators of Zimbabwe to focus on training the next generation, and that is bearing much fruit. Fresh young pioneers are nursing babies and changing diapers as they open new campus ministries across the country. As we met with them evening by evening, they were full of questions about parenting and pioneering. One young couple just returned from East Asia where they met and were discipled by Korean Navigators, then felt called to return home to Zimbabwe for the sake of the Gospel. I love the fierce faith of the young!

Synergy

One of the most inspiring things about The Navigators of Zimbabwe is the synergy between Conventional Income Disciplemakers, like Phibion and Mary, and Gift Income Disciplemakers, like the young couples they are leading. In many Navigator contexts, we tend to see gift-income “professionals” leading the work while ordinary conventional-income people follow and volunteer their time. But in Zimbabwe that’s inverted, and the results are catalytic. God’s blessing on the life, leadership, and businesses of Phibion and Mary is generously flowing into the entire Navigator work of Zimbabwe. We want to see more of this kind of synergy all over our Worldwide Partnership!

The economic and cultural situation that Phibion and his team face is like what Hezekiah and Isaiah were facing in Isaiah 37, with injustice, corruption and oppression threatening their well-being. Hezekiah received a threatening letter and “he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord,” a bit like Phibion’s appeal to his God and to his government. Hezekiah prayed, “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see.” God heard and saw the appeals of Hezekiah and Phibion, and His response to Hezekiah describes what we are seeing in Zimbabwe today:

“Then this shall be a sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year, sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. The surviving remnant of the house of Judah (and God’s people in Zimbabwe) will again take root downward and bear fruit upward” (Isaiah 37:30-31).

May disciplemaking ministries like this around the world cause friends and family to exclaim, “Your God must be very great!”