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By Kelvin Mulenga for Nazarene JournalJune 2025“
The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng — Psalm 68:11
What happens when the person God calls to lead is a woman?
What happens when grief knocks at the door but so does the voice of the Spirit?
What happens when the church chooses to believe not despite her gender but because of her calling?
You get Rev Margaret Sibanda. And you get a district that is moving.
A Woman at the Helm
When the Zimbabwe Midlands District was launched in February 2017 it began under the leadership of Rev Noah Sibanda.
But in January 2021, everything changed.
The District lost its first Superintendent. The church grieved.
And so did his wife.
But she was more than a wife.She was a pastor.She was a servant.
She was a voice in the wilderness.
And in 2021, Rev Margaret Sibanda became the first woman District Superintendent in the Africa Southeast Field.
Her leadership hasn’t just sustained the district.It has advanced it.
She Builds. She Serves. She Leads.
Under her leadership, the Zimbabwe Midlands District is not only growing in ministry but building for the future.
- In Chirumhanzu, a preaching point became an organized church.
- In Masvingo, the district drilled a borehole, installed a generator, and began building both a church sanctuary and a parsonage.
- In Battlefields, clean water arrived through a solar-powered borehole and piping system, with toilets and a parsonage now underway.
- The district has pachused a 100 hectare piece of land to build a district Center.
- And now, the district is building a new college—Ascot Christian College designed to equip and train future leaders.
Every project is a statement:
Women don’t just belong in ministry.They lead ministry.
To Every Woman Asking, “Can I Do This?”
Ask Rev Margaret.
Ask her how she prayed when some doubted.
Ask her how she pushed forward when tradition whispered, You shouldn’t.
And she’ll tell you: You can.
By grace.
With strength.
And in partnership with a church that believes in you.
We See You, Rev Margaret Sibanda
We see your heart.
We see your work.
We honor your faithfulness.
We stand with you in your calling.
We celebrate your leadership.
And as your sisters and brothers in Christ we love you and we thank God for you.
Let the Church Keep Rising with Women Serving Faithfully
Around the World God is raising leaders for His Church.
Among them are faithful women called and anointed to serve with courage and grace.
Rev Margaret Sibanda is one such leader not an exception but a testimony.
A testimony that God still calls,that the Church still listens and that the mission continues through those who obey.Her life reminds us all:
When the Church makes room for every calling, the whole Body grows stronger.
And in that strength the Church keeps rising.
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