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Elliot Ziwira @The Book Store

Dennis Tendai Charles Jaricha is not your everyday writer or minister of the word of God, or a lay counsellor purporting to know so much about the world he/she is still to live. Neither is he your common motivational speaker or author, but a spiritually motivated being, whose only inspiration is the knowledge of God’s existence, not only in his life as reflected through his experiences, but in all humanity’s toils.

There is a promise for all of us, Jaricha intones in his writings; what is only required is faith, and positioning yourself within the good Lord’s orbit, for it is not of our making that events are what they always become.

He may appear far away from our daily tribulations, or silent to our pleas, but in due time, His promises come to fruition.

Having endured the trenches in the liberation struggle from 1975 at the age of 19, and remaining militarily astute after Independence in 1980, which has seen him rising through the ranks in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), to become an Air Commodore, Jaricha’s call to God’s servantship came through in 1994. Since then he has never looked back, despite his highly decorated military fatigues.

The call saw him embarking on a journey in pursuit of the word of God through ZAOGA Forward in Faith Ministries under the stewardship of Apostle Ezekiel H. Guti.

A holder of a master’s degree in International Studies and a doctorate in Theology, Jaricha does not strike you as a liberation war veteran and soldier of repute, as he remains rooted in that which constitutes creation — the word.

He remains humble and alive to the folly of the worldly call, which has a way of leading one down the wide path to doom.

It is not often that the military hardman and the servant’s softie exist in the same body, but if God wills, all things are possible. So it is with Jaricha, who has to date written 10 Christian motivational books, all within a period of two years. Equally proficient in English as in Shona, the born-again writer straddles the jet fighter and the printing press to reach out to God’s people in the two languages.

His first book “God’s Promises Are Unstoppable” (2017) is a toolkit for those of us hard done by waiting to such an extent that the temptation to give up becomes so nagging that the only reasonable thing to do becomes questioning the existence of God, the Creator.

It is only human to do so, Jaricha intimates, for hope has a way of dissipating with the passage of time; but the Lord’s way is unquestionable. He is the God of love, after all; and nothing beats that — love.

As certain as the sun will peep out of the golden eastern rim in the morrow, God’s promises will be fulfilled, no matter the circumstances leading to sunset.

It is just a matter of time — God’s time. Remember the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Joseph and the children of Israel in general.

Jaricha writes: “God does things at His time because even in Genesis 27:1, where we read that, ‘. . . it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were so dim, so that he could not see’, we notice that at the time, Jacob, the son in line of God’s promise to Abraham was still not yet married.”

It is in our nature as human beings to despair when events appear to be against our dreams, especially when suffering becomes the order of the day.

But through dreams God outlines to His faithful what may be in store for them, even though the fulfilment is delayed. As Jaricha highlights, whatever delay, or the attendant misfortune that comes with waiting, the result at the end is worth the while.

Written in conversational language and short independent chapters, the book appeals to today’s ever-busy reader, who has to grapple with the daily challenges that come with life.

Using effective citations from the Bible, the writer draws the reader to the story of Joseph, whose brothers hated him with a passion that shames Satan. He endured a lot at the hands of Potiphar’s wife. But all was the Lord’s calculation for the scriptures to be fulfilled.

Jaricha informs the faithful reader: “The initial plan of the brothers to kill Joseph perished a stillbirth (Genesis 37:20-27). It is not really the kindness of Reuben that stopped the murder. Joseph could not be killed because he was carrying a vision. You cannot kill a vision.”

Indeed, gentle reader, whatever you may be going through, no matter how enervating, it shall all come to pass, for God’s promises are unstoppable. Whatever it is that is meant for you will surely be fulfilled. Such is God’s way, and such also is the essence of faith and hope.

And it is this that the writer succinctly purveys when he informs: “Faith links us to our heavenly Father for, ‘without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him’” (Hebrews 11:6).

Jaricha drives the point home: “Faith and hope work together. They have a friendship of a hand and a glove. Faith speaks of now, and hope speaks about the future. It is because of our current faith in Christ, for instance, that we have hope for eternal life that He has promised us, which is in the future. It is also our hope in the life to come, that even if we pass through trials we can have faith to overcome.”

However, for faith and hope to culminate in the fulfilment of God’s promises to us, there is need for love, for it is “at the summit” of it all. Love, Jaricha points out, “becomes easy if it develops from faith through hope, because if someone has hope in a secure future, he is free to love and to give.”

There is need, therefore, for Christians to remain hopeful, because losing hope “will disconnect us from our link to love, the greatest virtue.”

Jaricha’s other books are “Take Heed to Your Ministry” (2018), “See God’s Hand in Your Valley” (2018), “Reach Out, Decree and Redeem” (2018), “The Call of Ruth” (2019), “2018 Prophetic Insights for ZAOGA Braeside Church” (2019), “Position, Provision and Possession” (2019), “Kana Mwari Wenyu Achava Mwari Wangu” (2019) and “Cherechedza Hushumiri Hwako” (2019).

Although they are inspired by personal experiences, and the writer’s contact with God, the books are transcendental in their stitching up of individual experiences into a unique blanket of societal consciousness, where dreams and hopes are equally shared.

The metaphor of flight epitomised by the aircraft of his experiences pervading Jaricha’s books, goes a long way in giving hope to a people for long burdened by suffering and waiting for God’s promises.

There is always hope in waiting, even in suffering, as is depicted in “Position Provision and Possession” (2019), for as long as God is in it, all our promises will be fulfilled.

All the 10 books are set to be launched on October 30 at Rainbow Towers Hotel, where Defence and War Veterans’ Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri will be the guest of honour. Also in attendance will be Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, service commanders and Chiefs of Staff, among other dignitaries and invited guests.