Innocent Choga Fitness Column
Having heard and read that Bishop Bismark of the Jabula Life Ministries Church is a fitness enthusiast I was curious to get an insight into his views on fitness lifestyles and his personal fitness programme.

I know some fitness enthusiasts that are members of the Life Ministries Church, so I figured the church must have a fitness philosophy.

I made a request for an interview late December last year and I got more than I bargained for; an invitation to participate in the Bishop Tudor Bismark Annual 10-kilometre run and Family Fun Day and an interview during the proceedings. Despite the fact that I had a sore knee, I was really looking forward to running with the Bishop and his family (church members).

The run was scheduled for January 7. A lot of people turned up for the event and we were all raring to go, but the rains started falling early that morning and the event had to be cancelled to safeguard the participants from injuries that could result from the wet, slippery road and traffic .

Pastor Chichi Bismark, wife of the Bishop was so eager to exercise on this day, as the event was meant to commemorate her husband’s 60th birthday. She assured us that although it had been postponed, it would definitely be held sooner than later at a date close to her husband’s birthday, which falls on January 5. I promised I would attend the function with my family.

The determination of the members milling around after the cancellation got me thinking about people who make excuses about exercising because of the weather. I thought of the phrase “Seasons no reason to change” in the Gap Band’s song with the fitness context in mind.

We cannot stop exercising because it is hot and raining in summer, as it will be cold in winter and windy in spring, for that will mean we will only exercise in autumn when the weather is perfect, but even then the lazy may cite the lack of adequate oxygen because the trees will be shedding their leaves.

We just have to exercise, either we exercise indoors or postpone especially for large crowd activities as this one.

The activities finally took place on the February 18. My family and I could not attend but my son was there helping to facilitate the activities.

According to the Bishop’s oldest son Drene (33), the event was introduced 6 years ago .This year the event was special as it was held in conjunction with the Bishop’s 60th birthday.

Since it was a special event for the Bishop and his family (including members of the church) it was a low key event with a few invitations.

The Bishop is said to have celebrated his birthday in style; actually running 13 kilometres in just over an hour.

“The Bishop started running over 30 years ago to improve and maintain his stamina. This is the fitness component he mainly requires as it helps him go through his daily hectic chores. Since his ministry is an international set up, he travels a lot,” said Drene who impressively has the Bishop’s busy itinerary etched in his mind.

Drene says the Bishop is a runner, his main exercise activity is running, that is what he loves to do as an exercise activity. He said Pastor Chichi Bismark is more of a walker.

Drene, who is the chief operating officer of the church, says the event incorporates a lot of activities that cover all aspects of fitness and caters for other individuals who may not want to run or walk. This includes activities like zumba and strength activities like tug of war, tyre flips, tyre drags etc.

The activities are also meant to cater for all age groups, from the seven year-olds to those over 50, and all levels have both amateurs and professionals.

The competitive aspect has been introduced to add more spark to the event.

The 10-kilometre run and fun activities event is a multi-purpose event. It is not done for fitness purposes only but it is also a charity event. Though it was not part of this year’s events, the Blood Drive is also a regular part of the programme.

The church assists in the sourcing of blood from those who do not take part in the physical activities, to help boost the national blood bank. So everyone has a worthy event to participate in.

The proceeds raised in this event are donated to charities. They do not support one particular charity organisation, but they assist different causes, helping where they feel there is need.

For example, the event in 2014 had a theme “Run /Walk for a Clean Harare” and the proceeds were used to assist the City of Harare in cleaning up the city. At one time they also used the proceeds to assist ex-convicts so that they could have a platform to start from after serving time in prison.

According to Drene the understanding for the need for fitness lifestyles has been difficult to comprehend in the Third World. While some people may argue that other elders lived longer while enjoying carefree lives, these people did not face the exposures to various diseases as we do now.

This is worsened by the fact that we have become sedentary due to technology advancements and labour-saving gadgets, and yet still fitness activities are at the bottom of our to-do lists .

The church’s fitness philosophy is to promote health through exercise and proper diet leading to the core value of building “Strong Families”.

“We believe parents are the driving force that can set examples to the children. When parents and children participate in such events, take health and wellness issues seriously, the habit will be ingrained in children and it will become a lifestyle.

“Exercising assists us to go through our day-to-day lives with ease and this helps us in the long term, never mind the fact that circumstances change and accidents can happen. God is not a fool, he made us in wonderful way with everything we need and we have to take care of the faculties that he endowed us with in order to fully utilise the talents that he gave us.”

The church also hosts a Men’s Health Clinic annually and this year it is slotted for May/June. At these sessions they encourage the congregants to go for annual medical checkups.

Kings Fellowship is the name given to the men’s ministry and Pastor Naison Masaka, an advocate of fitness lifestyles is head of this department.

His duties include the assistance of church members who seek for guidance in physical health matters.

He once told me that: “The Bishop encourages members of the church to exercise and eat well, he will not mince his words if someone comes with a health problem and yet he can see it is a weight problem. Some problems are self-evident they do not require prayers.”

While some Christians will argue that putting interest in the body is vanity; Pastor Masaka views that as a lazy person’s excuse. Watch this space next week as we discuss this interesting issue further.

Innocent Choga is a six time National Bodybuilding Champion with international experience. He is studying for a science degree in Physical Education and Sport. Email:[email protected]

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