From Paralysis to Praise

By Onias Gumbo

God has done wonderful miracles in my life. While I was away from home as a student, I became quite sick. The whole left side of my body was paralyzed, and I could not feel anything. I could not move on my own, and I was close to dying. The principal of the mission school thought that it was pointless for me to remain there, so he organized a team of people to accompany me to my home area.

The night before we were to leave, a student who had come across the Light of Hope magazine [former name of the Higher Way magazine] visited the dispensary where I was hospitalized. He gave me the magazine, and I read it inside and out. I found the testimonies of people who had experienced the power of God in their lives. They told of being saved, sanctified, baptized by the power of the Holy Ghost, and healed of various sicknesses. That interested me, and as I read, I prayed within myself.

Reached out to God

The next morning, the teacher who was appointed to accompany me home came early in the morning with three students to get me from the dispensary. They carried me to the bus stop on the highway at about eight o’clock in the morning. The bus was supposed to come by at about ten o’clock that day. As we were waiting there, I was lying down and praying within myself. I asked God, if He was there, to heal me. If God was not there, I wanted to die. But if God was there, I prayed that He would enable me to escape Hell, because I was afraid of that. Also, I prayed that if God was there and what I had read in the Light of Hope magazine was true, that He would heal me. I told Him that I would give the praise to Him, not to men.

Paralysis vanished

While we were there at the bus stop, the Lord healed me instantly. I jumped up, praising the Name of the Lord and saying, “Jesus has healed me! I am healed, I am healed!” I was running all around, praising God and clapping my hands. The people who had brought me to the bus stop, and all those around could see it. My heart was bubbling with happiness, and I was joyfully testifying to everyone that Jesus is alive.

I told those with me that I was not going back to school right then, that I wanted to go to Bulawayo to the address given in the Light of Hope magazine, so I could see the people who were preaching the Word of God in this way. On the bus ride to Bulawayo, I continued to tell the people around me that the Lord had healed me.

When I arrived at the mission in Bulawayo, I told the leader that I was a student and had come to confirm there was such a place in Bulawayo as the Apostolic Faith. I narrated to him what the Lord had done for me and how He had healed me. The leader rejoiced with me and invited me to stay at the mission for several days and attend services. In one of the services that Sunday, the Lord sanctified me.

Reaction!

That Sunday evening, I boarded the train to return to my school. When I testified to the principal how the Lord had healed me, he was shocked. He was surprised to find me alive, joyful, and very strong. He said that he did not believe the Lord had healed me.

When I testified to the students, many of them sought the Lord. Some of them did not attend classes, but went instead to the bushes to pray. So many students were out praying that the teachers could not teach their lessons. At one point, a teacher had to go into the bushes with the dogs to fetch the students back, but that did not help.

The principal called me in and warned me that I should not testify or meet with anyone. He said that I was confusing the students. I told him that I was not confusing the students, but if anything, I was helping. For sixty years, although this was a religious school, nothing of this level had happened. I reminded him that people were making restitutions to him for the wrongs they had done. I myself was telling of the evil I had been doing at school, even though he had been unaware of it. Yet, he continued to instruct me to tell no one.

Eventually that principal was moved from the school. When the new principal heard about our services, he allowed us to have regular meetings, and to use the school bells to call people to come. We had a wonderful time as we went around the villages and schools testifying. One time there was a woman taken home from the hospital who was dying with cancer. We went to her house to pray for her, and the Lord raised her up. She was healed completely.

Renounced the worship of ancestral spirits

When I finished my schooling, I told my parents that I was born again and a new creature in the Lord. I expressed clearly to them that I was no longer interested in worshiping ancestral spirits, because I was now worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. When my family was worshiping ancestral spirits, I told them that they must not mention my name. I said that I was moving to town to look for a job and that the Lord would provide someone to look after me until I got one.

I went again to Bulawayo. Because I did not have a place to stay, I stayed in the railway station. When the leader of the Apostolic Faith Church found that out, he was very sad and invited me to stay at the mission until I obtained a job. While I was staying there, the Lord baptized me with the Holy Ghost. God’s power and glory filled my soul.

A difficult situation reversed

The Lord helped me get a job in a bank. After some time there, I had great difficulties. One morning my supervisor said to me, “You are not fit to work in the bank,” and he told me I was supposed to give my resignation and should leave at the end of that month. I waited to give my notice until closer to the time. Meanwhile, I did not tell anyone, but I prayed about the matter.

An inspector from the head office of the bank came to our branch. He inspected everything and reviewed everyone. At the end, he put his recommendation in a sealed envelope and gave it to the manager. In that letter, he said that I was the best person to take a position in Harare, where I would be a sub-accountant. Two days before I was supposed to resign, my supervisor said to me, “You thought that I was firing you, but instead I am promoting you. You are going to be the first African to go to Harare as a sub-accountant.” When I went to Harare, I was given a company car. However, I did not have a driver’s license, so I was chauffeur-driven.

After some time, I was promoted to a management position. One time, the owner of a large company called to say that I had shouted at him. He insisted that I be fired or he was going to close his company’s account. I was told that I must take all the branch keys and a car, and I was driven to the head office. There I was told that I was fired because I shouted at a client. I told them I had never talked to anyone in that way, and we discussed the matter for a long time. Finally the bank officials said they would not fire me, but that I should report to a different department of the bank the next morning. As time passed, I was promoted to a management position in that department.

The benefits of trusting God

Later I went to work for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, and was the first African to oversee the accounting there. The Lord allowed me to hold several executive positions at ZBC. After some time, many people were opposing me and eventually the board asked me to resign. I did resign, and the Lord gave me a very prosperous business.

Over and over, I have seen situations where it looked as though there was big trouble, yet the Lord turned it around for better things. It has always benefited me to trust the Lord.

I am thankful that the Lord has given me a wonderful wife, and that we can serve the Lord together. We have the privilege of bringing up our five children to know about God. There is nothing apart from Jesus Christ that I want to spend my time on. I just want to be used by Him in whatever way He sees best.

Onias Gumbo is a minister of the Apostolic Faith Church in Harare, Zimbabwe.