Recently I was given the opportunity to do a written interview with Brother Joe Shoko. Brother Joe is supported by HeartCry Missionary Society, serving at Berean Reformed Baptist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe. You can read his testimony of conversion here: Joe Shoko.
Please take a few minutes to read this interview to become better acquainted with our dear brother, his ministry, the Church in Zimbabwe, and learn how you can be praying for them more specifically. Please bring our brethren before the Throne of Grace.
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| Brother Joe (right) with Conrad Mbewe |
V.C: Tell us a little about your family.
Brother Joe: My wife’s name is Tinotenda Alice Shoko, we got married on October 19th 2019 by the grace of God. On December the 1st 2021 we were blessed with a baby girl and we named her Neraya (God is Light), Matipa (He has given us) Shoko. We pray that God would be pleased to bless us with more. My siblings are Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1 brother and 3 sisters. I am the second born. My mom passed away on February the 1st 2002.
V.C: How did you start in full-time ministry?
Brother Joe: I was saved in 2013 after initially visiting a church with the desire to strike a business deal with a former schoolmate who was part of the church, namely Bulawayo Baptist Church. After I got saved I served in the church for a year before my then pastor suggested that I go to seminary as he sensed that I had the gift of preaching. I did sense the call in that I could not stop preaching and serving in the church, at Sunday school and during our soup kitchens where we served and preached to the homeless and hungry with the Gospel and a meal, so I prayerfully applied. During my seminary, my convictions started to change as I came across John MacArthur, Paul Washer and Conrad Mbewe. These men preached the word, they really preached on sin and ‘scratched’ where it itched. In 2018 I was accepted on a year long pastoral internship program at Kabwata Baptist Church pastored by Conrad Mbewe, after a year, with much prayer and consultation Kabwata Baptist Church sent me as their missionary to plant a Reformed Baptist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe, and this is where we are to date.
V.C: As you serve full time in the Zimbabwe, what ministry are you involved in and what does that
look like?
Brother Joe: I do the work of an evangelist and pastor, I reach out to the lost with the Gospel whenever I can and wherever I go through forming friendships and using that to share the Good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. I also am very passionate about biblical ecclesiology and the formation of a church, thus with 2 and a half years into the church plant we already have 6 members at Berean Reformed Baptist Church including ourselves. My ministry entails follow ups on visitors who come to church, door to door evangelism, preparing sermons, administering the ordinances, and partnering with healthy local churches that have clear confessions. We as a church also work with an orphanage and preach there a few times a month, moreover we also have a Children's Bible Club that we do on Saturdays at our home.
V.C: What is the biggest challenge facing the Church in Zimbabwe?
Brother Joe: The Biggest challenge facing the Zimbabwean church is syncretism with African Traditional Religion and politics. There is a lot of talk about Christianity being a ‘whiteman’s’ religion, that it was brought by white people to persecute black people, oppress them and take their land. This is the biggest challenge that the church in Zimbabwe faces.
V.C: What is the spiritual condition in Zimbabwe?
Brother Joe: In addition to the ATR which I mentioned, the spiritual condition of Zimbabwe is such that the majority of the people have flocked to prosperity teaching churches where a lot of heresies are taught and peddled. Many people think and say that they are Christians but their lives tell a different story. Many Zimbabweans are in despair, despite many being religious a lot think that God has abandoned Zimbabwe because of the economic and political hardships that have plagued the country for a very long time.
V.C: In what ways have you seen God working in Zimbabwe?
Brother Joe: Until recently, there seems to be a young crop of people that desire to see a resurgence of reformation and reformed teaching. Many have been disgruntled by the prosperity teaching churches and the lack of biblical truth being taught. It is through this that we see God working in the lives of young Christians and God calling to Himself young people who have not grown in the church. There are young people who are part of a few healthy churches that we have become our friends and they are a huge encouragement to us. Many people in the rural areas are also seeking the truth of the Gospel and many are leaving unbiblical practices and entrusting themselves to sound teaching.
V.C: How have you seen God working in your life, and the in the lives of your believing family
members?
Brother Joe: Many of my extended family members are not believers, so I will just write about my wife and I. I have seen God working in the area of progressive sanctification, not that I am growing in righteousness no, for the righteousness I have is not my own but Christ’s. I have seen a desire to want to grow more, a renewed and growing hatred for sin, and yearning to commit more time to prayer. My wife has grown in ways I cannot fathom, she serves diligently and earnestly in our home, and is conscious of her own sin and inadequacies however she is continually laying all these at the foot of the cross. Our home has become a place that people are free to visit, either for fellowship, prayer and for counsel that we may offer. God has grown our dependence on Him for physical provision, life on the mission field has a lot of hardships, but we are constantly humbled by God’s provision for our needs.
V.C: In the great commission, we are commanded to make disciples of all nations. How does this look practically in your area of ministry?
Brother Joe: I am currently discipling two young men who are members of our church. We meet outside of church once every fortnight for prayer, sharing struggles, and reading a book together. I have realized that discipleship in the modern church is something that is professional and more about people being projects than the people themselves. Because our home is open, the brothers usually come to our home even after church and see how I practically live and lead my home. This is not easy at all as many people in Zimbabwe are too busy looking for money and earning a living, however so far, with the time we have together, we have seen fruit.
V.C: What are the challenges and blessings you experience being in full-time ministry?
Brother Joe: The challenges are that when working with sinners just like you, you are bound to be impatient with them and ‘step onto their toes’ and they too, step on yours. What really breaks my heart is when a young man or woman who has potential in serving the Lord gets swept away by the ways of the world. I have also realized that there is actually little rest that one can get in the Ministry, I mean taking into consideration that ministry is about people, how do you rest from people? The blessings are innumerable and immeasurable, in that we see the promises of God in scripture manifest in reality, for example the miracle of salvation, prayer being answered, victory over sin and joy in Christ Jesus.
V.C: What biblical principles or passages of Scripture has the Lord brought to mind at various times that have drawn you closer to Christ, challenged, or blessed you through your years of ministry?
Brother Joe: Whenever I am in spiritual hardship or any sort of turmoil, one of the most encouraging texts of Scripture is John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus didn’t promise that our problems will be miraculously erased, but He promises that he will be with us in this midst of tribulation. I have also found that being separate from the ways of the world is of immense importance in the Ministry, what does darkness have to do with light? There are so many areas that the minister should watch in his life, friends, associations, music, entertainment, desires, and even places to visit. This year we have been going through the psalms as a church and these have warmed our hearts and have blessed us as they have drawn us to God in our individual devotional life. We must abide in Christ continually.
V.C: How do you prioritize your time in full-time ministry so that you maintain a balance in washing your wife with the water of the Word, bringing up your daughter in the fear and admonition of the Lord, making disciples, and building up the saints?
Brother Joe: I have a schedule that I follow, my work essentially an ‘8-5’, however it is basically all day long, it’s work that you cannot ‘lay aside’. I make sure that during the day I do a lot of ministry and church administration work. This is when a lot of evangelism and oversight is done. In the evening I usually have family time where I usually catch up with my wife, spend time with her and lead family worship, or family devotions as we call them, that is where most of the washing my wife with the water of the word is done. I work from home so my wife has a lot of access to me, she can almost talk to me anytime, and so I am able to utilize that time as well. My daughter is a newborn so at the moment the schedule is jumbled up as she can and does demand my time anytime. My first ministry is my wife, then my daughter and then the church, that is what I see as the biblical pattern. It's very easy to say, but I always need Grace to practice it.
V.C: How can people be praying for you?
Brother Joe: Pray that I may glorify God by preaching Christ crucified. Pray that I may love my wife as Christ loved the Church. Pray that I may be a godly father. Pray that I may grow steadily in Christ and grow in my assurance of salvation. Pray that I may be a vessel through which God saves the lost through.
V.C: Do you have any final thoughts you would like to share with your brothers and sisters in Christ?
God is faithful to His promises, trust Him, preach the word, obey the word, and you will see your living rooms changing, your neighbourhood changing, the church growing and societies transformed. Pray for revival.
I would like to thank Brother Joe for taking time to do this interview with me. I hope it is a blessing to many. Please be sure to take time to pray for our brethren in Zimbabwe.
For God's glory alone!
~Virginia Cowperthwaite
~Virginia Cowperthwaite
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