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Zimbabwe UBF held their summer conference from November 7-9 at the center. The title of the conference was “If Anyone Would Come After Me”(Mk 8:34). We prepared this conference to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. We had 67 people including partial attendants for this conference. We thank God for his grace and blessing for the conference. We did not do many things yet God has blessed the conference abundantly.

The first message was delivered by Shepherd Onward, “Your Sins Are Forgiven.”(Mk2) He is in the final year of medical school. Jesus forgave his sins and spiritual paralysis. He said, “I still have many habits and flaws but the Lord is helping me to replace them with Christian virtues. I am being refined to be more and more like Jesus (my perfect doctor). I learned that as a Christian, I have to bear fruit and that by helping someone to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ through one-to-one Bible study is one of the greatest joys and blessings that I could have. As someone who was a slave to lust, I really want to help many youths who are in the same situation as I was to break free from this wretched slavery! Now my vision is to be both a physical and spiritual doctor and I am able to do so because Jesus took away my sins as the Lamb of God.”

The second message was delivered by Shepherd Last entitled, “You Give Them Something to Eat”(Mk 6). He lost his parents. He lost his beloved uncle last year and his sister’s husband passed away few days ago. After he graduated from UZ, he is struggling to find a job. In this situation, he heard Jesus’ word, “Give.” He remembered that Jesus has given him eternal life, good health, talents and many things. By remembering Jesus’ love, he decided to give the love of Jesus to the sheep. We have learned we can give in whatever situation we may be in. Shepherd Oliver delivered the message, “If Anyone Would Come After Me”(Mk 8:34). His message gives us very clear direction how to be disciples of Jesus.

We could hear graceful and honest life and Bible testimony by brother Moses, Obason, Chikura, and sister Sandra. We also had a book symposium, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” by Joshua Harris. Sister Esther, Shile, Lillian, Faith, brother Simba prepared this book symposium. It has very practical and important lessons for the youth. This is brother Simba’s personal testimony; “Generally in Zimbabwe dating is becoming more of a culture to young people, not only in Zimbabwe but across the globe. The question is should we follow what seems to be the worldly culture or the standard of life, “The Bible”. The Bible clearly instructs against lustful desires. I had a lot of girlfriends back then at Murewa High School. Girls loved me and I loved them back. I was the most popular person at my school to the extent that some girls from other schools knew about me. In my second year at UZ, I had a beautiful girlfriend. Her body was exquisitely beautiful. One day I took her out (Nandos). I had my laptop with me and as we were enjoying each other’s company, my laptop got stolen. I became stranded because I had to look for the money to buy a new one and I didn’t want my mother to know about it. When I told my friends about what happened, they laughed at me, they said you were enchanted by her beauty such that you forgot about your laptop. I began saving money and sometimes I would sleep without eating, sometimes I would prepare porridge to gain strength so I could read throughout the night. Because I no longer satisfied my girlfriend’s material needs, it got to her nerves and she told me it’s over. I was hurt. I fortunately got a chance to attend the University Bible Fellowship services and attended one to one Bible study with Missionary Samuel Lee. I became more focused on my studies such that I was one of the top students in Korean language and was awarded $300, which I used to buy the laptop. My third year project was one of the three projects in my department to be selected for the National Research and Intellectual Expo contributing to the Zim Asset. The whole last year I had 8 distinctions out of 12 courses and I was among the best students in my department. Reading this book “Kiss Dating Goodbye,” I came to realize that when I was in high school and in my second year, I was in the dating mode, which led to a life of no direction and purpose. I thank God for what he did; it gave me focus and a clear purpose in life. I have learnt to guard my heart, to meditate on all good things instead of infatuating and dreaming about girls as I used to. I have decided to stay focused on my studies so that I can become a great spiritual leader like Samuel to my wonderful Nation Zimbabwe.”