Partner: Bishop Trevor Manhanga
JL first met Trevor Manhanga in 1983 when he was a student in the Pentecostal Bible College in Harare, Zimbabwe. JL had been invited there by Principal Jim Seymour, to teach a spiritual emphasis week for the students. Very quickly a relationship developed between JL and this young man who was obviously a key leader in the Bible College. That started a friendship that has spanned several decades.
While a student, Trevor began pastoring a new young congregation known as Victory Tabernacle in the City of Mutare. Each year JL would minister there along side Trevor. Across the years it became one of the strongest and most influential churches in the city and country. Eventually he became the first Bishop of the Pentecostal Assembly of Zimbabwe (PAOZ). Under his positive and proactive leadership the PAOZ grew in both depth and breadth across the country.
Without question, Bishop Manhanga has emerged as the leading evangelical leader and voice in his country. He has played a strategic role of mediation and peace-making during some of the most troubled political and economic years that his country has gone through. His voice of reason and maturity has helped keep Zimbabwe from the kind of political anarchy and tribal genocide that many other African countries have experienced. JL has had the privilege of working along side Bishop Trevor in the development of the “Victory Center,” a holistic project of some 40 acres with a large tabernacle, developing farm, chicken houses, sports complex and self-support projects. The year 2010 will be a historic one for Bishop Trevor as he celebrates his “25th Anniversary” as a ministry—which JL plans to be a part of by God’s grace.