Recreating Your World by Chris Oyakhilome

It is 2013, it is a new year and it's January. It is a time when everyone is reviewing their lives and making plans for the year, if you hadn't already done it at the end of 2012. In your personal review of your life you may find that there are things you want to add to your life and things you want to get rid of. Recreating Your World, a book written by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, focuses on the processes we can follow in order to change our lives to exactly the way we want them. Our life and everything in it (the environment, our friends, family, job, careers, opportunities, where we live etc) is our world and we created it. However, in Chris Oyakhilome's book he states that your world can be recreated.

The book is divided into four sections;

1) RECREATING YOUR WORLD - Oyakhilome lays the foundation to explain why we can change our lives or recreate our worlds. He quotes the scripture Acts1v8 'But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you...' As a christian i.e. when you are 'born again' one of the experiences is to receive the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. Oyakhilome states that when the Holy Spirit comes upon/in you, He gives you power. This power is an ability to cause changes. Equipped with this power we have the ability to recreate our world.

2) YOUR CREATIVE ABILITY - Oyakhilome states that the creative ability in us is our imagination. He gives scriptural evidence to show that our imaginative thoughts can manifest in the natural realm. He emphasises the importance of imagining positive desires and brooding over them until they become clear. Our imaginative power signifies what we can see. In the process of recreating our world we must have a definite vision of what we desire our new world to be like. The extent of the changes in your world will be as far as you can see.

3) CREATING BY THE WORD - When your desire has conceived through your imaginative power you must bring your desire into form with your words. When God created the world in the book of Genesis, he spoke words. Through words he planted seeds for plants/shrubs. However, these plants could only grow once it rained. The seeds had to be watered. Oyakhilome states that the water that will bring your desires into being are your confessions. Continued confessions will eventually bring your desires into being.

4)THE PRAYER OF THE CREATIVE HUMAN SPIRIT - Oyakhilome explains that creation is done in your spirit. As the word is spoken, it turns your imagination into reality. However, reality is not tangible. It means that whatever is created through the process of imagination and speaking forth is real but not physical. It is real but cannot be seen or touched in the natural. The creation is in the spirit realm. Therefore, this spirit creation needs to be brought into the natural so that we can see and touch it. This is where prayer comes in. Whilst in prayer God will give you the practical ideas that will help you to bring the things created in the spirit realm into the material/natural world.

In summary, the Holy spirit gives us the power/ability to recreate our world. Our imaginative power is our creative ability. Positive confessions/words spoken in relation to our imaginations cause the creation of the things we desire however, at this point they are spiritual creations. The translation of these creations  from the spirit to the material world requires consistent and continuous prayer. Hence, you can change anything in your life. With Recreating Your World it is possible to have a victorious 2013. This is a highly recommended book for study and life application.

The Spirit of Opulence by Thomas J Troward

Thomas Troward was an Indian born British author. He became a judiciary in British administered India. After his retirement in 1896 he placed all his effort and time into the study of mental science. He produced several papers and books which influenced the new thought movement. His works, many of which can be downloaded for free on the internet include the following:

• The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science 1904
• The Dore Lectures on Mental Science
• The Creative Process in the Individual
• Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning
• The Law and the Word
• The Hidden Power and Other Papers on Mental Science

[edit]

Opulence is having abundance or wealth. The Spirit of Opulence is a 5 page excerpt of Trowards' book. It explains how wealth can be attracted to oneself by adopting a particular thought process.  Some of the principles that stand out are:

1. Money is only one aspect of wealth. One's focus should not be on money.
2. One's thought processes should be that of generosity.
3. You should aim to be a centre of distribution.
4. Giving to others should become your nature.
5. Not doing the above will stint the current or flow of wealth towards you.

The excerpt is below.

The Spirit of Opulence Thomas Trower pdf

View more ebooks on ebookbrowse.com

The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D Wattles

  According to Wallace D Wattles there is a Science of getting Rich. Early in 1912 this book by little known Wallace Wattles was published. From what is known of Wattles he struggled to make ends meet. Frustrated with his life he took to studying. It is through his studies that he found the formula which he later applied to his life. It was his daughter who testified, after Wattles' death, that Wattles had indeed been loyal to applying the formula to his life and that he did amass a large amount of wealth. He also realised his dream of becoming a bestselling author.

 

We have a right to be rich

In his opening chapter Wattles states that we all have the RIGHT to be RICH. “Whatever may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete and successful life unless one is rich.” He also states that “society is so organised that man must have money in order to be the possessor of things; therefore, the basis of all advancement for man must be the science of getting rich”. In a nutshell Wallace lays the foundation for his argument that it is necessary to be rich. He tries to persuade the skeptical people that may believe that life is not all about money or those who shy away from “getting rich” because they think that wanting to be rich stems from greed. Explaining further he states that man best expresses love through giving. Man must possess things in order to give and express his love. He must have money in order to possess because money is the currency for exchange in this world. “The getting of capital is a part of the process of getting rich; and it is a part of the result which invariably follows the doing of things in the Certain Way”.



We must do things in a Certain Way

Wallace states that getting rich is not as a result of where you grew up, where you live, or your education or talent. Instead it is a result of doing things in a certain way.

As long as an individual has basic intellect and they do things in this certain way, they will certainly get rich. The confidence in Wallace’s writings seems to come from the fact that like in any scientific experiment, he applied the theories and received the exact desired result.



What is the Certain Way?

As a foundation Wattles emphasizes that we must be aware that there are enough resources in the earth for everyone in the planet to be wealthy. We must not have the mentality that only a small percentage of the population can be rich. We ought to rid ourselves of such thinking. We can create the lifestyles that we desire. We must believe that there is only abundance. In your work to apply the certain way you must rid your mind of thoughts of lack and do not entertain news about the poverty of the earth. He states that you cannot help someone who is poor if you yourself are poor. Work on making yourself rich and then go and help those who are in need. The premise is that you cannot give what you do not have.



In explaining the certain way Wattles shares principles on how to create what you desire:

1. There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which in its original state, permeates, penetrates and fills the interspaces of the universe.

2. A thought, in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.

3. Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.

4. Do not be a competitor with others, instead create what you desire. BE A CREATOR.



In summary the certain way is as follows;

1. Think of whatever you desire. Be specific about it. Have a clear vision of what you want (Wattles warns not to impress your thought with the intention of trying to alter somebody else’s will. He warns not to involve oneself in practices of the occult when creating thoughts.)

2. Ask God for it. Believe that you have received it and that it is in your possession. With unwavering faith believe that you have your desire. Wallace explains that our possession becomes TRUTH. However, truth is not always tangible. One must become a MASTERMIND who believes truth despite appearances.

3. Thank God with devout GRATITUDE for what you have received.

4. Have the vision of what you have received ever before you and continuously offer heartfelt gratitude to God for it. At this point you have received what you desire but it is formless, meaning it is spirit. Spirit is truth but not tangible (i.e. not solid)

5. Therefore in order to bring something from spirit to tangible, physical ACTION is required on our part. “The creative energy works through established channels of natural growth and of industrial and social order….Whatever a man wants will come through the ways of established trade and commerce.”



Wallace emphasizes that in order to apply the scientific formula, the book must be read continuously in order to grasp the principles. The application of the principles must be done each day. It is advisable to read the book in order to obtain a detailed account of how to apply the certain way. This is certainly a great book to help one to focus on achieving goals in business or general life.

African Roar Anthology 2010

Title : African Roar
Pages : Paperback 152
Publisher : Story Time Publishing June 2010
ISBN: 978-0956242280

The African Roar Anthology 2010 is a colourful collection of 10 short stories by established authors across the continent of Africa. The Anthology was co-edited by Ivor Hartmann (Editor of Story time E-zine) and Emmanuel Sigauke (Founder of Wealth of Ideas Blog, author and poet). What immediately becomes apparent as you read through the stories is that the Anthology is a flavourful snapshot of the writing talent in Africa. The Anthology opens with ‘Big pieces and Little pieces’ by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma. This is a story written in the first person. Tshuma’s choice of language allows the story to flow into a front row peak into the lives and interactions of an African family plagued by domestic violence. The perpetrator is father and the abuse is narrated through the eyes of father’s child. The child feels guilty for what father did to mother. This is truly a riveting piece of story telling that will linger in your thoughts long after you have read it. It is an accurate depiction of issues that many families experience in the world today.  The ‘Nestbury Tree’ by Ayodele Morocco-Clarke is a fast paced humorous and suspenseful account of an altercation between the Shepherd of the church and mum. The Shepherd wants the Nestbury Tree to be cut down because he believes it is a haven for witches. However, mum is in opposition to this and is adamant that the tree is NOT coming down. Mums reason; the tree was brought all the way from Kingston, Jamaica and planted by her father’s very own bare hands. Despite efforts from a Pastor to pour water on the blazing argument, the Shepherds war on the Nestbury tree escalates to a humorous level. However, what eventually happens to the tree and to mum is quite unexpected.

 The Co-editors have also offered their commendable contributions; ‘Love Lost’ by Ivor Hartmann and ‘A Return the Moonlight’ By Emmanuel Sigauke. ‘Yesterday’s Dog’ by Masimba Musodza deals with the challenges experienced with forgiveness and reconciliation in a racially divided country following a civil war in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Other contributors include NAMA Award wining Zimbabwean author ‘Christopher Mlalazi’ with his story ‘Cicada in the Shimmer’, Kola Tubosun, Beaven Tapureta, Chuma Nwokolo Jr, Nana A Damoah and Ayesha H. Attah.

  African Roar is definitely a collection that can be enjoyed. It is available at all major internet bookstores including  Amazon.com


African Roar 2011 and 2012 are now available.

Title: African Folktales for Children
Author: Uncle Blen Blen
Pages: 110
Publisher: Lion Press Limited 2009
ISBN: 9780956242228

African Folktales for Children by Uncle Blen Blen is a collection of 10 short folktales. Uncle Blen Blen is the pseudonym for Zimbabwean Children’s writer Dr Jonathan Masere. The 110 page book is 8” by 5” in diameter with illustrations by Jeffrey Milanzi. The notable feature in this book is the illustrations as they appropriately represent the tales being told. From the blurb on the back cover it is difficult to tell whether the book is targeted directly at children or targeted at the parents who will share the stories with their children. Either way both audiences would find some enjoyment in the stories.

  My preference would have been to have the book much larger in size as well as using a larger font. Whilst parents are reading the stories the children would want to have a look at the pictures. Having a larger book would make this easier. Larger pages would mean more space for larger illustrations. However, aside from this the content of the stories is interesting and in some cases humorous. Stories range from ‘A Tale of Two Mice’, ‘Dudu’s Wonderful Dream’ and ‘The Taming of the Goats’. The Story called ‘Why Fowl Live with People’ is a humorous story about the friendship of four birds that goes bad after a crooked business deal. Huku (who is the fowl) persuades his four friends (Gwari, Gondo and Hanga) to enter a groundnut selling business based in the Rimuka Forest. Huku discovers this miracle seed, the ground nut, in a dream revealed to him by his ancestors. His three trusted friends join him in the business and profits begin to soar. However, Huku becomes greedy and he persuades his friends to enter into another agreement. Unfortunately this agreement makes Huku rich but his friends become poorer and poorer over the years. Eventually the friends come to their senses and realise how cruel Huku has been to them. In anger they drive greedy Huku out of the Rimuka forest. Greedy Huku finds refuge with people, far away from the forest, hence the title of the story ‘Why Fowl live with people!’ However, the story leaves one with a dislike for fowl and their greedy ancestors!

  Uncle Blen Blen definitely has some good story ideas that can definitely be enjoyed by both children and adults. The book is available as a print on demand (POD) title at Amazon.com and most internet bookstores.

Book Review by Sarudzayi Barnes. Amelia's Inheritance by Sarudzai Mubvakure.

Author, Editor and Publisher Sarudzayi Chifamba Barnes has completed her review of Amelia's Inheritance by Sarudzai Mubvakure. Follow the link to read the review Book Review by Sarudzayi Chifamba Barnes

Book Review by Masimba Musodza. Amelia's Inheritance by Sarudzai Mubvakure

Paperback 204pp, Lion Press.


Reviewed by Masimba Musodza

Zimbabweans are picky readers and even pickier book-buyers. Who can blame us, considering that a considerable portion of the literature that has been churned out over the last two decades has been about the Chimurenga or the more recent political conflict? In a country where professionals earn $100 a month, who really wants to spend $10 on a book about how bad Rhodesia was or how repressive the present regime is? We know all that already.

How refreshing then to come across Sarudzai Mubvakure’s second and latest literary offering, Amelia’s Inheritance! Mostly in Ian Smith’s Rhodesia, this is the story of Amelia Gruber, the daughter of a German immigrant man and a mixed-race woman of unknown parentage, who had been raised as an orphan. As a child, her peers mark her as an outcast, and perhaps this pushes her from the psychological and social fortress the White settlers built around themselves and allows her a glimpse of the rest of the world. Her father loses his wealth and dies a broken man, leaving the family to cope as best as they can as one of Rhodesia’s best kept secrets; the Poor Whites. Amelia’s mother loses her mind, and her younger sister elopes leaving Amelia to hold on to precious little else. Sisi, their maid, stays with her.

Speaking of secrets, boy are there plenty! The people she meets along the way seem to know a lot more about her past than they should, and it seems less and less a coincidence that they have come in to her life. Amelia is also learning about the wider world, she is crossing the racial and social barriers of Rhodesia. She makes friends with a Black activist. Through their relationship, we are reminded of a fact that doesn’t seem to get mentioned by other writers; that the dispossession of indigenous Black people’s lands by White Settlers did not end with the Pioneer Column but continued well in to the last days of that ignoble racist political system. Like I noted, Mubvakure doesn’t take up too much prose telling us what we know already. In a suspense-filled, pacy narrative, Amelia becomes part of the process to break down those barriers and the secrets of her past become unlocked in a stunning conclusion.

Mubvakure has marked her own territory on the Zimbabwean literary landscape. Amelia’s Inheritance reminds me of Dickens’ Great Expectations, Oliver Twist etc in that she has a hero whose circumstances are set to change as the mystery of their past unfolds. However, despite her many shortcomings, the most glaring being her poverty and the breakdown of her family, Amelia is hardly a passive subject to the whims of fate. And there may be a bit of Catherine Cookson in the style, too. But Mubvakure’s style is original and establishes her as one of the most exciting new authors on the scene.

The Fading Sun by David Mungoshi

Paperback: 236 pages
Publisher: Lion Press Ltd (15 Nov 2009)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0956242235
ISBN-13: 978-0956242235

 




 
As the sun rises in the east a woman gives birth to a baby girl in a mud hut in the heart of Rhodesia. The girls name is Mary and she is an only child.

Mary grows up fascinated by her mother’s beauty and envious of Mudhara (Old Man) Bodzo’s devotion for her. Mudhara Bodzo is her father and she hopes to one day have a husband to love her just the way she saw Mudhara Bodzo hanging on every one of her mother’s words.

With the passage of time, the young Mary grows into a young woman. She completes her higher level education and looks forward to climbing the ladder of success in the arena of teaching.

Like her mother, Mary has blossomed into a beautiful woman and it is not long before she catches the eye of Biochemistry graduate Cyril Maya. Mary is captivated by Cyril who finds it almost too easy to woo Mary. He serenades her with flowers, chocolates and American songs that he learnt whilst studying abroad. Then later, with his long muscular legs and possibly annoying American accent, Cyril proposes to Mary with the following words: “I am handsome, eligible and single and you’ve been marking time in this back and beyond. My guess is you’re ready for the picking.” The events following this infuriating little speech are astounding – Mary follows Cyril to the rural areas to meet his family!

On their trip to meet Cyril’s people, it is evident that Mary is besotted with him. To support her devotion, she finds that Cyril’s family are all together lovely. They are very proud of Cyril’s achievements in life and very impressed with the girl that he has brought home. Cyril’s father, the patriarch, warmly welcomes Mary to the family. He does this with glamour and panache by revealing a family secret that had been kept from the whole family for several years. The patriarch says that the revelation of the secret was done in honour of Cyril’s future bride. After the dreamy weekend in the Rhodesian countryside with Cyril’s wonderful family Mary is certain that she has found for herself exactly what mum and Mudhara Bodzo had – love.

Very quickly the relationship is sealed and Mary becomes Mrs Maya. Her hopes lie in a future with her handsome, successful husband. However, just as quickly as the nuptials are sealed, Mary becomes the new, official ‘Maya baby making machine’. The once, attentive, concerned Cyril turns into a stranger. Mary feels like a prisoner in her own skin. Her husband no longer cares for her. He loves the children no doubt, but Mary is no longer a novelty. She is invisible and her heart is broken. Due to the distance between them she can no longer call him Cyril. To her he becomes Moth – akin to an insect that bores holes in your clothes.

The Fading Sun is David Mungoshi’s NAMA award winning novel about Mary Maya’s agonising desire to be loved again by the man of her dreams. Together, Mary and Moth survive the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe civil war; however, their relationship is further seared by family tragedies. The agonising tragedies cause Moth to further withdraw and Mary is left drowning.

In the new Zimbabwe Mary and Moth are surrounded by all the luxuries that success can buy but Moth finds a new wife. His new wife is golf and a glass of whiskey mixed with water. He can no longer attend to Mary’s needs. He can no longer provide the affection she needs even when she finds out that she has a deadly disease - breast cancer.

Mungoshi writes with beautiful flowing language that allows you to feel and visualise every setting. He has the art of intensely wicked humour. His characters are fully formed. There are those you will love and those you will hate. The vivid images of the events in the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe civil war definitely leave an impression.

The story opens with Mary in her later years reflecting on the life that she has had with Moth and wondering how and why things went wrong. Mungoshi expertly tells the story in a series of flash backs. As the sun in Mary Maya’s life begins to fade, the hope of the reader lies in Moth becoming the man that he ought to have been.

The Fading Sun, which won a NAMA award in the outstanding fiction category, is a must read filled with humour, emotion and passionate beauty.

Other books by David Mungoshi:

• Broken Dream and Other Stories
• Stains on the Wall

Where are all those promised reviews?

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Legend Press (27 Sep 2008)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1906558043
ISBN-13: 978-1906558048

Paperback: 236 pages
Publisher: Lion Press Ltd (15 Nov 2009)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0956242235
ISBN-13: 978-0956242235






Well I suppose you must be wondering, where are all those reviews she promised? Well the truth is that they are on the way but they are seriously delayed. They are all piled on my desk waiting for me to attend to them. To be honest i have not done much of reading novels. I have just finished my second book called Amelia's Inheritance and i plan to get started on completing my third one in the next week. I will be finished writing it by the end of this year(it's another masterpiece i'm working on so watch this space!). In addition i do a lot of reading the bible and other Christian material and so my other book reviews seem to have taken the back seat. However, i have been pondering over my reviews for The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and Many Rivers by Chris Mlalazi. The Alchemist is interlaced with mysticism and biblical themes such that i am finding it quite complex and yet incredibly interesting. The characters of Many Rivers live a life that is in many ways shocking and alien to me however, a lesson that life for some is not always a bed of roses. Also in the back of my mind are Uncle Blen Blen's childrens stories that i am very eager to read. Harare North, Petinah Gappa and Carribean Tales also come to mind. However, even though i have a large pile i have been tempted to pile on more. David Mungoshi's new novel The Fading Sun tackles the difficult subject of women and breast cancer. Definitely something to look forward to. Then there is the novel I discovered on Amazon by a lady called Sarah Ladipo Manyika. Her novel is called In Dependence. This is a boy meets girl novel. Judging from the reviews it is certainly going to be something that i look forward to reading. Anyway, Happy New Year and yes the reviews are coming slowly but surely.

Upcoming Events on Sarudzai Mubvakure's Reviews

After reading the Chrome Rain series on Ivor Hartmann's Facebook page yesterday, i was sharply reminded. Ivor Hartmann is gradually releasing the story in parts of which i have read five. The story is about a young woman, Mry-Ann, who leaves her home upset and it's possible she might never return. She has to go through the desert which has it's dangers. For survival she knows she has to get to an oasis called the Al Wabe. When she finally arrives at the oasis she meets a 'Doc' who lives in a tent heavily painted with Alchemy symbols. That is what struck a chord in me. It reminded me that i have to complete my review of Paulo Coelho's book, The Alchemist which in contrast is about a shepherd boy, who after meeting a mysterious King, decides to sell the rest of his sheep and cross the desert to reach the Eqyptian pyramids in pursuit of a hidden treasure. As he crosses through the desert he arrives at an oasis where he meets an Alchemist. My review of The Alchemist, as promised, will follow shortly. Ivor Hartmann's Chrome Rain Story, which has some science fiction, can be followed on Facebook.

Therefore, with loads of reading and reviewing to be done i am beginning to realise that this is a full time job. I am an Occupational Therapist by profession but soon i will be reading and writing full time!!. I love to encourage others in their craft and see them bloom. At the same time, I love learning from those that are doing an excellent job of entertaining the world with the written word. Both aspects of what i am doing help me to improve on a daily basis.

Books Reviews:

Just a short recap and to let you all know that i intend to keep to my word. These are my outstanding reviews:

1.African Folktales for Children by Uncle Blen Blen

2. A Caribbean Tale by Rudy Gurley

3. Many Rivers by Christopher Mlalazi

4. Harare North by Brian Chikwava

5.Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama

6. Elergy for Easterly by Petinah Gappah

7. Journeys of Love, Voices of the Heart" by Hillary Roy and Rose Mitchell

Then something knew that i would like to add to my list. This is a debut novel by Janine Dube called A Dark Horizon. The front cover is above. I have copied the blurb of her book from her website.

"After inheriting a struggling company Rachel is tempted into marrying an older man who also happens to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen in the country. She knows she faces an uphill struggle but she relishes the challenge of resurrecting the ailing company. Soon she is facing more challenges in the form of his children, especially his son who is adamant that she is wrong for his father. As she struggles to prove herself at work and at home she is unaware of the meticulously planned plotting meant to bring her already shaky world crushing down."

From the blurb i am sure that i will enjoy reading about the the struggles and hopefully triumphs of the protagonist Rachel.

Short Stories:

Over at the Story Time E-zine i have been reading some short stories. The ones i have read so far are incredibly written with thought provoking themes and life lessons (ALL of them). The ones that come immediately to mind are Yesterday's Dog by Masimba Musodza and Dear Sender of the Bulldozers by Christopher Mlalazi.

A Disapppointing Truth:

This is the title of my debut novel which i must say has been generating a lot of reader interest in the past few months. I have started a blog at http://adisappointingtruth.blogspot.com/.

Anyway, the plot is generating much debate and discussions. Many people have shared their experiences with me for example which characters they hate, which ones they love. Some have told me the moments of their tears of sadness and tears of joy. As a result of all this, a few people, of their own volition, have decided to start a book club! Hopefully i will be able to persuade them to write their opionions on my blog!! So that is an update on my writing and very encouraging indeed.

In addition, a friend of mine called Dayo Ogunmuyiwa has asked if he could work on a screenplay based on A Disappointing Truth. That is fantastistic!! Will tell you what he comes up with.

My new books:

I have some new novels that have been working on and hopefully will have them published in the next four years.

1. Amelia's Inheritance ( You can find an extract to read on this blog)

2. Sarah - Truth on Another Level (Sequel to A Disappointing Truth)

3. Tom & Eliza

4. Marcus and the Daughter (a story based in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, the United States, Italy and London)

New Horizons:

1. Because of my passion for film and screenwriting, i will be starting a blog where i will be reviewing the plots, dialogue and characters of some of my favorite films. This will be purely for my learning. I had a fantastic opportunity of working on some TV scripts with US Film Director Rahman Oladigbolu. A great learning experience for me.

2. I am going to start publishing some of the songs i have written over the years. Certainly new beginnings.

Anyway, i suppose i will get back to my reading, writing and publishing!!

Breaking the Chains of Shadow Beliefs by Bernard Antwi

Review Part Two

With much gratitude and excitement I received my copy of Christopher Mlalazi’s novel Many Rivers with its incredible cover design which I will talk about in later reviews!. It truly has been a great joy reading the publications of the Lion Press Limited. This is why with equal excitement I can now present my second instalment of reviews for Bernard O Antwi’s work, “Breaking the Chains of Shadow Beliefs – Discovering what stops your progress”.
As a quick recap, Antwi says that “shadow beliefs are binding chains that can keep you stuck in patterns of failure”. The first shadow beliefs that Antwi tackles are Sin and Fear. In this review, we will concentrate on sin!

Antwi describes sin as “the most powerful source of human downfall.” With a punching statement like that, we ought to pay attention!
The word sin is widely used in our vocabulary today but mainly as a source of light humour. For example “Eating chocolate is one of the seven deadly sins.” You would hardly hear someone say, “He committed a sin by killing that boy”. Instead we would say he committed a serious crime or we would label him by calling him a murderer.

So, the question is - what is sin? Antwi says that many people think that sin is breaking any of the Ten Commandments that were given to the biblical Moses by God. (Many of you will remember Moses from the blockbuster movie, The Prince of Egypt or if you’re older you may remember Charlton Heston’s great performance in the movie ‘The Ten Commandments’) Antwi says that this is not entirely accurate. I will extract a piece from Antwi’s work for you to see what he says “However, the bible lets us understand that sin was there before the law was made. ‘Romans 5v13 states, “For until the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law’” (Chapter One, Page 12)

Antwi then goes on to explain what he believes is the true definition of sin before giving a deeper explanation of the scripture given in Romans 5v13, above. Personally I believe that further explanation would have helped those that may not be so familiar with the biblical stories to understand what he is saying. Nonetheless, the use of the scripture is entirely accurate.
What Antwi and the scripture are saying is that before God delivered the Ten Commandments to his people, sin was already in the world, but no one could be accused of being a sinner because there was no law. Meaning, a crime is only a crime when you have broken the law. That is why when you are accused of a crime, the police, lawyers, jury and judge all study the evidence to determine whether you have broken the law or not.

Therefore, according to Antwi, if sin was in the world before the law was given, sin is not just simply breaking the law, as in the Ten Commandments. Antwi says, and I quote “The biblical interpretation of sin means “to miss the mark,” showing the standard of perfection established by God and the evidence of Jesus Christ”. If I understood correctly, Antwi states that sin is falling short of, or not meeting God’s standards and these standards are reflected or demonstrated in/by Jesus Christ.

In a nutshell, Adam was in the garden of Eden and he disobeyed a specific command from God by eating the forbidden fruit that he was persuaded to eat by his wife Eve. God was truly ticked off and he kicked Adam and his wife Eve, out of the garden. God kicked Adam out of the garden because, according to Antwi’s definition, he had fallen short of God standards. In this case, he had fallen short of God’s standard of obedience. He had disobeyed God and from that point onwards was called a sinner. The bible in Romans 5v12 says that through Adam’s one act of disobedience ‘sin’ entered the world. God was so ticked off by sin that the result of any sin was death. The definition of death here means separation from God, hence Adam being kicked out the garden. The Garden of Eden was a representation of God’s presence and when Adam disobeyed, he was kicked out of God’s presence (God’s life) and this was death – separation of your spirit from the presence of God.

Therefore, even without the existence of the Ten Commandments, the destination of Adam and all his descendants was death. Even though his wife, children and descendants had not eaten the forbidden fruit like Adam, their destination was death. We all inherited death from Adam. If you are born into this world, even a million years after Adam and Eve, you are born into sin – born into death. Antwi quotes this scripture in Romans 3v23 (New Living Translation) “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Seems like tough terms – one person messed things up for everyone!!)
The question then remains – if everyone’s destination was death after Adam’s action, what was the point of the Ten Commandments.? Antwi has not elaborated on the answer to that question as it may be out of the scope of his teaching. Nonetheless it is a valid one. In the simplest of terms the Ten Commandments was given in order to give definition to sin, or as a guideline to show us where we had sinned. Remember, without a law there are no grounds for accusation. It is because of the Ten Commandments that things like stealing and murder are considered sins. The world today calls them crimes and has attributed specific standards of punishment to them.

Antwi states that, “Sin makes a person become a slave and condemned to death”. He also states that “sin cannot be sized or weighed”. Sin is sin whether it is adultery, lying, stealing or murder.

Therefore, sin has grave consequences. Sin, which results in death, is definitely a shadow belief. It stops your progress in life – in fact, it kills you. It will be very comforting if Antwi were to give us steps to guide us out of this. Is it possible to be in a place where you will never sin or face the consequence of death? Surely it would be great to live a full and prosperous life – or indeed live forever? Eternal life is a constant subject of fascination used in fantasy movies of today. The scripts have villains that kill off everyone that stands in their way of getting the magic potion that, if they were to drink, would give them eternal life. “Stardust” starring Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Ricky Gervais and Peter O’ Toole is a classic example!
But in today’s real world, without the access to magic potions, could the concept of eternal life be realised? Is it possible to overcome sin, considering the human frailty and weakness that we are all familiar with? In the next series of reviews of “Breaking the Chains of Shadow Beliefs”, we will find out what Antwi has to say about it. I look forward to it!

Reviews on the Horizon

As i was preparing to complete the second part of my review of Bernard Antwi's work - Breaking the chains of Shadow Beliefs, i thought i'd share another installment on my 'to do' list. These are books that i have come across through connections in cyberspace, and i must say that i am very eager to read them. "Many Rivers" by well known Zimbabwean Author Christopher Mlalazi is a story about an illegal immigrant in South Africa. This novel has been descibed as a comical page turner. So it's definitely something to look forward to.

A Caribbean Tale by Rudy Gurley is about a young Caribbean boy who develops big dreams and big ideas after he stumbles upon a book called The Power of Positive Thinking. The story sees the young boy making the decision to travel to England where he believes his dreams will come to fruition. I'm looking forward to taking that journey with Rudy Gurley's main character.

Then something different! I'm going to be reading a childrens book called African Folketales for Children by Uncle BlenBlen. This is the pseudonym for Zimbabwean Childrens writer, Dr Jonathan Masere. Children are our future and i appreciate it when people take the time to write especially for them.

And finally, this is an installment from one of my newest friends in cyberspace. Her name is Hillary Roy. Her first published book, which she has co-authored with Rose Mitchell is "Journeys of Love, Voices of the Heart". It is a collection of stories on one of the most talked about subjects. That subject is love. Looking forward to read both Hillary's and Roses' take on the most powerful force our world has ever experienced.

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd (5 Jun 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0099519881

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With many books still to read and review as well as a new book to finish writing, i decided to close the pages and put my pen down. I decided to pause and take a thought for John Grisham's novel Playing for Pizza. I finished reading this novel a week ago and i had to take a moment before making any comments. I had to sit and ponder over the experience of reading this 336 page novel.

This was my first John Grisham novel to read. I had watched the movie adaptations of his novels "A Time to Kill" and "The Pelican Brief". I must say that i was incredibly impressed and was fascinated by the plots. In a nutshell- incredible. Therefore, you must imagine the excitement i had when i decided to pick up and read Playing for Pizza. So the question now is "Why did i choose Playing for Pizza?", considering John Grisham has many novels to choose from. Well, the answer is that whilst standing in Waterstones Bookstore, i was hooked after reading the first two pages.

Rick Dockery is an NFL Quaterback for one of America's most famous football teams, the Cleveland Browns. The story opens with Rick on a hospital bed after being injured at one of his teams most crucial games. Unfortunately his team has lost the game and it's his fault. As he lies on his back in the hospital, Rick watches as his career takes a nose dive. The team does not want him back. The fans want him dead and the press repeatedly crucify him.

Rick's agent struggles to find him a job as America no longer wants to tolerate the disgraced Quarterback.However, in the midst of all of this humiliation, a glimmer of hope opens up for Rick. His agent finds him a job to play for a little known team called the Parma Panthers.

Rick is delighted that at least someone wants to give him a second chance however, his hopes are deflated when he realises that the Parma Panthers are in Parma, Italy.

Rick has never been to Italy and he has never in his life earned as little as 2000Euro's. This offer seems riduculous to accept however, Rick is quickly persuaded when he realises that he has to escape the insults of Sports reporter Charley Cray. As Cray is out to murder Rick's career, Parma Italy begins seems like an inviting offer.

As Rick arrives in Parma, Grisham provides vivid imagery of the scenery in utterly beautiful language. Rick meets the Parma Panthers and their American Coach. They are a group of individuals who play the game not for a salary like Rick. They play the game for the passion of it and for the free Pizza and beer after the game - Playing for Pizza !

Rick soon gets used to the passionate nature of the Italians. Grisham's writing is often amusing as he graphically describes the Italians, their city of Parma and their strong love for Pancetta ham, Pasta, wine and cheese.

The goal of the team is to win the Italian Superbowl and their hopes lie in Rick Dockery helping them achieve this.

This is a story about their successes and their failures. It's about how an Italian team in Parma Italy taught an egotistic American Quarterback that there are more important things in life than money, power and prestige. Rick Dockery learnt about honour, loyalty, friendship and buckets of passion.

Playing for Pizza is not an intricate plot like the "Pelican Brief". Neither does it have emotionally wrenching moments like "A Time to Kill". Instead, it is a simple story with a simple lesson that many may fail to identify. The lesson is an initiation into life and coming to maturity.

"I Have Reached Bestsellerdom" !

As a new author i have this goal in sight and that goal is to be a bestselling author. The passion arises from this amazing desire to have millions of people read my stories, enjoy them and discuss them over coffee and a croissant. I suppose that is the desire of every writer - i.e for their work to be read, all over the world, by millions. If that was not the case then why do we publish and more so, why do we blog?

In my quest for achieving 'bestsellerdom' ( The Kingdom of the Bestsellers), i spend my time learning from the masters of the craft. What is it about a bestselling story? What is it about a bestselling writer? What is it about the bestselling author (i.e. their attitude/personality) - Why do some people like them? What sort of people hate them?

Therefore, i have lined up the three books above on my desk - Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father, John Grisham's Playing for Pizza and Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.

I have one hundred pages left of John Grisham's book and already i've learnt a lot and am looking forward to posting a review of it. Just from brief browses through Obama's and Coelho's books I immediately see the reason for these author's star quality. Their books have easily flowing language, making for the ultimate page turner!

Through surfing the net and my sister's great efforts to publicise my first book (in fact my first attempt at writing anything in my life), i have met some authors, publishers and journalists from Zimbabwe and afar - to name a few, Sarudzayi Chifamba Barnes ( Reviewed her novel Endless Trail- read it on this blog), Emmanuel Sigauke (Not a fan of poetry - i prefer the biblical psalms but i reviewed his poetry collection Forever Let Me Go and it was not bad) and Jonathan Masere (who seemed a bit offended by one of my Christian Book Reviews but we managed to have a civil discussion about it).

Then out of the blue i got an email offer for a free proof copy of a novel by Zimbabwean author Brian Chikwava - called 'Harare North'. If i'm honest i had to surf the net in order to find out who Brian Chikwava was. Bearing in mind that prior to my churning out a 736 page novel i never used to read and i certainly never used to write. I barely scraped a C grade at O'level English. Anyway from reading the proof, i decided that i needed to buy the real published copy. I plan to buy it this week. The reason is because i think the proof had real bad grammar mistakes - meaning i did not understand the English. I mean, i thought i was bad ! However, from reading some of the reviews that people have written, the language in the book was deliberate. Anyway, i'm buying my copy to see for myself. In addtion, i'm still smarting from the toilet paper joke on page one. My first thought was it's ok for the diaspora to laugh - they have real toilet paper. But it might not be so funny for those who have to use the newspaper in real life and then have to pay out sums of money that they don't have to unblock the toilet or flush out the septic tank. - But then again it's all fiction (at least for some) - and i'm getting my copy.

Then i've now come into contact with a blog of another newly published Zimbawean author called Petinah Gappah. I had never heard of Petinah either. Do you blame me? I mean i did'nt even know that Charles Mungoshi wrote poetry or had written many books (I got that information from Emmanuel Sigauke and then i had to do some serious net surfing so as not to look stupid). I only knew Mungoshi as one of the actors in the local drama's - which i must say i thoroughly enjoyed.

Anyway, i will add Ms Gappah's collection of short stories to my library and read them - i am certainly sure to learn a lot from her as well as all the authors and publishers mentioned.

Anyway, my goal may seem to some an unachievable one in the midst of inexperience, the need for supposedly aggressive editing needed in my first novel (pointed out by some readers/authors in both public and private arena's), the fact that i have extremely few contacts, no invitations to literary events and very few flocking to read my blog posts.

However, a characteristic that i am learning from the great achievers is that you keep believing in yourself even in the face of staggering oppositions. And believe me the oppositions are staggering. However, despite this, You maintain your confessions and never give up !

Like Barack Obama i too have dreams from my Father. And because of the powerful spirit of faith within me i believe that i will manifest that goal and many a people, in fact millions of different races, will have a smile on their face whilst they drink coffee and eat a croissant buried in the pages of a novel by Sarudzai Mubvakure!

Be expectant for a review of every single book mentioned in this blog post ! - happy reading !

Breaking the chains of Shadow Beliefs by Bernard O Antwi

Paperback: 83 pages

Language: English

ISBN: 978-0-9558082-7-2

Publisher: Lion Press Limited

Review - Part One

Whilst dreamily reading Playing for Pizza by John Grisham and eagerly awaiting the delivery of Many Rivers by Chris Mlalazi, I received a pleasant surprise through my post box. It was the paperback advice book by Bernard Owusu Antwi called Breaking the chains of Shadow Beliefs.
Once I’d taken out the book from the brown envelope, I instantly liked the cover design – a silhouette (shadow) of a man running and breaking through a link of chains. From the title of the book I immediately had the question – what is a Shadow Belief? This was obviously enough ammunition to turn the pages and begin to read the 83 page book. From a brief overview I discovered that the book is divided into three parts, with an introduction at the beginning. The introduction explains what a Shadow Belief is. Part One looks at the Characteristics of Shadow Beliefs. Antwi outlines 9 characteristics. Just to name a few - Sin, Fear, Pride, Procrastination, Self defeating attitude etc. In Part Two, Antwi outlines 7 consequences of shadow beliefs. Then Part Three, I’m glad to say, is the perfect resolution to his work – 7 Keys to Resolving the Predicament of shadow beliefs.
From my general overview of the book I realised that simply doing a single review of this thoroughly, biblically, researched work would be unfair. Therefore, I decided that a series of reviews of each part of the book would be interesting to do. It then made me think of a previous book that I have reviewed – The Laws of Thinking by Bishop E Bernard Jordan. I will be revisiting that book and reviewing each of the 20 Laws in Bishop Jordan’s work and probably cross reference with Antwi’s work.

What is a Shadow Belief?

Antwi says, and I quote, “Shadow beliefs are the unconscious negative thoughts in our heads that can manipulate our whole lives, decide our abilities, what we can do and what we cannot do and drives our behaviours.”

He says that shadow beliefs are a problem as they seem to cause pain, damage and prevent the progression and success of the individual. Antwi, I believe, is on the right track by making reference to the fact that negative thoughts can have quite a harmful effect on our lives. My understanding is that thoughts as a whole i.e. whether positive or negative have a great impact on the shaping of our personalities - or the shaping of who we are as individuals. The bible clearly states this in Proverbs 23v7 –“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” (New King James Version). Therefore we are a sum total of our thoughts. With this in mind, shadow beliefs can be quite destructive. Therefore, Antwi’s calling to help us to erase shadow beliefs from our minds is a great one.

Antwi quotes Napolean Hill as saying “What the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve”.

This again is true as the bible says this in James 1v13-15 “When tempted no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown, gives birth to death”

That scripture is, as Antwi outlines, saying that thoughts when they are conceived, crystallise into actions. The scripture above talks about negative thoughts however, if you have positive thoughts they eventually crystallise into positive things happening in your life. Shadow beliefs crystallise to negative and painful things happening in your life.
In the midst of these powerful truths that Antwi was sharing I was struck by the following statement that Antwi made: “Beliefs are more powerful than thoughts”
My first question was - are they? Then I looked at Napoleon Hill’s statement which seems to contradict Antwi’s statement. Hill says conceive, believe then achieve. There seems to be some sort of order there i.e. conceive is birthed from thoughts, then believing precedes the action. Anyway, who is to say that Napoleon Hill is the authority on these things? So let us look at the English dictionary:

Belief: something that is accepted as true
Thought: an idea, a consideration

Just from those definitions alone, before you have accepted something as true, you have first been presented with the idea or the concept of it. Therefore thoughts have a direct influence on beliefs. My question was then should the statement not be – thoughts are more powerful than beliefs?

As I looked through the bible searching for scriptures, what Antwi meant dawned on me. Antwi is right when you look at it from a different perspective. I realised that we may have many thoughts that run through our minds however, the only ones that have an impact on our lives are the ones that we brood on, conceive and then become a part of the battery of our beliefs. Until a thought is conceived, it just remains a thought that can evaporate, disappear and have no impact on our lives whatsoever.

Therefore, yes, beliefs are more powerful (influential) than just mere thoughts that can evaporate. However, it must be realised that beliefs were once mere thoughts. Thoughts are the culprits of the shadow beliefs that Antwi talks about. So to get rid of a shadow belief you are going to have to get rid of the original negative thoughts that were conceived to become a part of the belief system. In the bible Romans 12v2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” In other words – change your thoughts – change your thinking to positive and you will transform your life!

The subtitle of Antwi’s book is – Discover What Stops Your Progress. In the current climate where people all over the world are experiencing financial hardship, affected by wars and rumours of wars, affected by natural disasters and planes falling out of skies – it is refreshing to hear a word from someone to help you to get out of the rut, progress forward and live a victorious life.

I will discover Antwi’s teachings as I go through page by page, review by review.
In my next review we will look at the first instalment of Antwi’s characteristics of Shadow Beliefs – Sin and Fear. I look forward to sharing it.

A Disappointing Truth - What is the Colour of Love?

Rudo Mwari is a young, beautiful, teenage girl. She is a young, African girl that has secured employment to work as the house girl of the white Englishman, Mr George Witt, who has come to live in Rhodesia.
Rudo and George live in Rhodesia however, they live on either side of the racial divide. This is a wall that separates the black people and the white people. It is a wall that separates the colour of their skin. However, the laws of segregation are broken on every level in Georges home as he agonises between the opposing forces of desiring what is forbidden and the fear of getting caught.
Rudo has no idea that the association with her white boss will one day result in the birth of a daughter, Sarah. It is an association painted in the shades of love but also an assosciation that may cause a spiral of events that will hurt all those around them, including Sarah. In the novel 'A Disappointing Truth', find out the colour of George's love for Rudo.

The Heart of A Leader by Ken Blanchard

The Heart of A Leader - Insights into the Art of Influence

Hardcover: 162 pages
Publisher: Honor Books (Jan 1998)
Language English
ISBN-13: 978-1562924881



The Heart of A Leader is a powerful reference book by best selling business author Ken Blanchard. This book is easy to read and gives quick, easily accesible tips on leadership that can be used in any aspect of life - not just the corporate world. On the left side of each page is a short leadership tip by either the author or well known celebrity or public figure. The right side of the page has a short explanation or expansion on the leadership tip. For example One tip reads as "None of us is as smart as all of us". To the right of this page is the expansion which talks about the importance of team work in an organisation. Another is "When you stop learning, you stop growing" - The expansion on the right includes these words - People who are upgrading their skills increase their value in their specific organization and job market in general. Another tip is "Choose work you love and you will never work a day in your life" (by Confucus) - (this is my personal goal in life!!)

Another brilliant one is "Positive thinkers get positive results because they are not afraid of problems"

"Ducks quack. Eagles Soar" and "Work smarter not harder !"

Wise words from Eleanor Roosevelt "NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION"

Lastly one of my favorites - "We are not human beings having a human experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience" Ken Blanchard says this 'I beleive personally that the quickest and most powerful way for individuals to significantly enhance their self esteem and become a more loving and accepting person, is having a spiritual awakening'.


Wise words and an incredible reference book from a successful bestselling author. Reading this book will certainly enhance the way you look at life - it opens your eyes. A definitely recommendable buy for your reference library

A Disappointing Truth by Sarudzai Mubvakure

This is my debut novel. I have added the Review of Independent reviewer Melissa Levine

Paperback: 736 pages
Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd; First edition (30 April 2008)
Language English
ISBN-13: 978-1906210960

“Love ignores the faults. And that’s why no matter what, our love is forever.”In Sarudzai Mubvakure’s debut novel, A Disappointing Truth: The Tragic Life of Sarah Witt, the lead character so frequently encounters catastrophic events that forgiveness does not seem to have a place in her life. But it is the choice to forgive that ultimately leads the young, bi-racial woman to unconditional love and true happiness. Mubvakure’s story unfolds in London, New York, Zimbabwe and ends in Scotland were Sarah accepts the limitations of those who have caused her harm and makes the decision to move forward in her life.

In the fall of 1971, a young woman is violently raped in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Her assault will greatly impact the lives of several people, including Farai, the young boy who witnesses the crime and a group of English entrepreneurs who have set up businesses in Rhodesia to make their fortunes. The members of the “English Boys Club” become deeply involved in the plight of this young woman whose attack results in the birth of a daughter.

The opening scene of the book is Sarah Witt’s wedding. From there, the author unfolds the details of Sarah’s life starting with her matriculation at a notable arts college in New York City. Sarah was raised by her father George Witt and her paternal grandmother. She was told that her mother, a black Rhodesian, died when Sarah was two-years-old. Her father passes before she journeys to America to attend school. As an Art History and Music major, Sarah makes friends who will remain loyal to her throughout ordeals that occur as she finishes school (sexual assault by her mentor) and during her early adult life (separation from her church and the murder of her first husband in front of her). As Sarah’s own multi-layered story escalates, the details of the secretive English Boys Club slowly unravel as her Uncle Peter and the group’s head man, Algeron Fairbanks, find it increasingly difficult to hold on to the secrets of their shared past. When Sarah decides to seek out information about her mother, the truth that surfaces is startling.

The author displays a strong command of plot and characterization. Sarah and those closest to her are fully formed personalities who become easily familiar as they appear throughout this 700 plus page tome. The protagonist is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, dynamic woman who actively serves any community she finds herself a part of. While Sarah works hard and is successful in both music and business, the murky details of her mother’s life plague her. Mubvakure offers the reader vivid descriptions of the global setting in which the story takes place. On occasion, the author does repeat too much of the plot that the reader has already been informed of, possibly because the book is quite long. With the acumen shown in this book, Mubvakure is sure to grow into the type of writer who trusts her readers’ memories and thus offers just enough information to spark recollection.

As Sarah is slowly enlightened about her parent’s past and the consequences of her own conception, the author infuses the character with a strength that enables the young woman to accept the string of lies that she has believed all of her life and to transform into a person with the maturity required to choose forgiveness.A Disappointing Truth: The Tragic Story of Sarah Witt is overflowing with sadness and tragedy, but the author offers hope throughout the tale. Mubvakure challenges our understanding of what humans can endure and how they can come out improved and drenched in love on the other side.Melissa LevineFor Independent Professional Book Reviewershttp://www.bookreviewers.org/

Your Chance to Review !! - 'Amelia's Inheritance'

I am currently writing a second novel, "Amelia's Inheritance". It is another suspense novel situated in 1960's to 70's Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). It is about a young white, woman Amelia Gruber who falls in love with a young, black lawyer Peter Mudondo. Amelia Gruber's life has turned for the worst when her family's fortune disappears - they lose their land and become a part of the growing population of Rhodesia's 'poor whites'.  Take a look at an excerpt below:

Sample Chapter:

Chapter Nine – The Team

We went to a part of town that I had never been to before. We had quite a few people staring at us and this unnerved me. Peter helped to calm my nerves. “Don’t pay them any mind. They obviously have nothing better to do.” He smiled and in response I had no choice but to smile. I felt safe with Peter. He had an aura of kindness about him. I was in the middle of somewhere, with a man I hardly knew and surrounded by people that were suspicious of me because of the colour of my skin. However, I felt safe. Very safe indeed.
Peter ushered me through the door of a bar called ‘Scotchys’. The smell of beer and the cigarette smoke embraced us. There was music in the background and a lot of chatting going on. Peter grabbed me by the arm and guided me to the back of the pub. We walked down two steps to a more spacious area. There were booths lined all around the perimeter of the room. People would walk up to the bar, get their drinks, and walk back to the booths to sit with their friends. The air was fresh, even though it was lined with the strong smell of alcohol.
In the distance, I could see some disco lights and people dancing on a marble floor. That was obviously where the music was coming from. I patiently followed Peter as he eagerly looked through each booth. He was probably looking for his friends. As we walked across the room, with people staring at us, a very round woman with short hair and dangly earrings came and tapped Peter on the shoulder. Peter swiftly turned around. The woman had a bright smile, milk chocolate coloured skin and very striking brown eyes.
“Peter where have you been?” she bellowed. Her voice was very deep.
“Hesi Chipo (Peter gave her a hug). I’ve been working hard.” Hesi when translated means hello how are you.
Chipo brushed something off his shoulder. “Well all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
Peter Chuckled. “I know, I know.” Chipo looked at me with an inquisitive look on her face. It was obvious that I was with Peter but she chose to look away, continue talking to Peter without saying hello to me. I was embarrassed. I don’t know why but I was.
Peter noticed that Chipo had looked at me and so he turned around and brought me forward by grabbing my arm.
“Chipo this is a friend of mine. Her name is Amelia.”
Chipo looked at me from head to toe then back to eye level. She gave me half a smile. “Pleased to meet you.”
I smiled. “Pleased to meet you too.” I held out my hand for a shake. Her hand was soft and meaty to the touch. That was no surprise as Chipo was a very big woman.
She shook my hand whilst looking at Peter. “Where is Portia?”
Peter looked a bit embarrassed. “Chipo, let’s not start ok. Only God knows where Portia is.”
She chuckled. “Ok, Ok …loosen up. No pressure.”
“Are the guys here?” asked Peter.
“Yes, they are in the Blue Room.”
Peter raised his eyebrows. “How did they manage that?”
“Don’t worry it’s on me. They told me that you were coming and I decided that Peter deserves only the best!”
Peter laughed. “Thanks Chipo.” Peter then looked at me and was startled as if he had forgotten that I was standing behind him. “Sorry for making you stand behind me.”
I frowned. “Don’t worry. It’s not a problem at all.”
Chipo was studying our interaction. When I caught her eye she quickly looked away.
Peter distracted me. “Amelia, Chipo owns this place with her boyfriend Konza. She and Konza have been good friends of mine for years… I went to school with Konza.”
I stood and listened thoughtfully. He was such a polite man, well spoken.
Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s go and meet the rest of my friends. Maybe then, we can have a few drinks. (He looked at me softly). You must be hungry.”
“Just a little,” I said. He charged forward and I followed behind, ignoring all the probing stares from the people sitting in the booths.

The Blue Room was the quiet, sophisticated room in the basement of the club. It was usually reserved for the wealthy (usually the Township crooks) who wanted a little ‘privacy’. However, on this day, Chipo had reserved it for Peter and his friends to come and have a good laugh, a few drinks, and some good food after a hard days work.
I was so excited about having some fun for a change. I hadn’t been out in a long time. Most of the people whom I had called my friends had moved either out of town or out of the country to progress their careers. Candice had married a wealthy investment banker. The other three girls had gone off to University in South Africa and Europe. Therefore, once again, I was left behind, as a complete failure and embarrassment to mankind. The world agreed with my mother that I was useless and now I was about to sink even further by having a few drinks in an all black club. Well, I didn’t care about what anyone thought – I was there to have some fun. I deserved it.
As I followed Peter through the door of the Blue Room, a roar of laughter welcomed us. “Hey Peter, what time do you call this?” said a man with leather trousers, way too much jewellery, a bright coloured shirt and a patchwork cap. He was chewing on a matchstick and standing just by the entrance with a mug of beer in his hand. He looked at me and then at Peter. Two others (a man and a woman) that were sitting in a round shaped booth greeted Peter, whilst looking at their watches.
“Come on man. We’ve been waiting for you,” said the man that was sitting down.
“I know, I know. Anyway, in case you all forgot, I did have a job to go to today,” said Peter.
“Hey we all got jobs ok. But 6 o’clock is 6 o’clock. We agreed,” said the man who was sitting down. The man in the patchwork cap followed us as we sat down at the table. He sat down next to me, still looking at me. Everyone went into a brief silence. I knew that I had upset the applecart. I had upset the status quo.
Peter took his suit jacket off and loosened his tie. He looked at everyone round the table, then at me.
“Amelia, you must excuse my friends – they were born rude.”
The lady spoke up. “What do you mean rude? Introduce us fool.”
Peter shook his head then. “Amelia this is the beautiful Letween.” Letween and I greeted each other and smiled. She held out her hand for a shake. She was an extremely attractive woman, about 5 foot 4 inches tall. She had short, very neat afro hair, stud earrings, and very slender, manicured hands.
“Nice hair,” said Letween.
I was embarrassed. My hair did not look nice. It looked like the edge of a matted broom. The man with a patchwork cap intervened with a smirk on his face.
“Well it’s white hair…easy to comb”
I saw Peter look sharply across at the man with the patchwork cap.
“What?” he said, looking at Peter who was clearly annoyed.
Courageously I decided to diffuse the tension. “I’m not sure about easy to comb, but thanks for the compliment.” I let off a smile but I was crying inside.
The man in the patchwork cap was of an athletic build. Peter introduced him as Trix. Letween was sitting quite close to the other man. This man was relatively good looking, slender and wore a very nice tailored blue suit. He put his arm around Letween.
“Amelia this man here is Thomas. He is Letween’s boyfriend and he happens to be my best friend.”
Thomas shook my hand. “Please forgive me Amelia. It’s just that we were a bit surprised when we saw you. We were expecting Peter to bring someone else. It’s a pleasure to meet you anyway.”
“Thanks.”
I was getting a bit uncomfortable at the way that Trix was still staring at me.
Peter stood up. “Ok I’ll get the first round of drinks. What are you having?” he asked me.
“Martini,” I said.

Whilst Peter was gone, I felt someone press against my arm. I turned to the side and noticed that Trix had placed an open box of cigarettes in front of me. It was a box of Madisons’ finest. At that moment I became the weakest link.
“Cigarette?” he asked.
I couldn’t resist. “Yeah thanks.” I took the cigarette and waited for him to light it for me. Trix was still making me nervous but the strong aroma of the Madison cigarette helped to calm my nerves. Madison never let me down. Peter came back with the drinks. He had ordered food for us – sadza (made from maize meal), chicken stew and green leafy vegetables. As I puffed the smoke out of my mouth, Peter looked at me surprised. He looked at the cigarette then looked back at me. I knew there was something wrong. He quickly brushed it aside and said, “I’ll get the food.”
I nodded. For the first time, I felt embarrassed about my bad habit.
Trix spoke up. “His last girlfriend was a smoker. Peter hates smoke.”
Everyone was looking at me now. “Oh,” I said and shyly tapped some ashes into the ashtray.
“Trix leave the girl alone. That shouldn’t be a problem for you as you’re not his girlfriend… are you?” said Letween. I was cornered and so embarrassed, hoping that my face had not gone for the red.
Trix had his hands up in half surrender. “Of course I’m sorry. I should not make assumptions. Should I? Go on finish your cigarette, after all you’re not attached to him are you?” he chuckled. I felt hot.
Thomas decided to intervene. “Shut up you two. Amelia ignore them. And Trix can you stop staring at the girl like she stole something.”
“Hey babes we were just teasing her,” said Letween.
Trix seemed to be fuming slightly. “I’m not teasing. I am testing. She could be a spy?”
At that moment, Peter returned with Chipo following behind with hot plates of food on trays. Peter looked over at Trix. “Don’t be stupid Trix.”
“Hey, you pay me to look after all of you ok. All I’m doing is my job.”
“Well stop working and have some food. It is your night off. Come on man. Amelia is my guest and I would like you to treat her with respect,” said Peter.
He made me feel so much better. With Peter, there I felt safe. Immediately I snuffed out my cigarette – I didn’t seem to need it anymore.
Trix picked up his plate of food. “Ok you are the boss.” Sorry for staring at you Miss,” he said to me.
“That’s ok.” I said.
I looked at Peter and he smiled at me. I smiled back. We dug into our meals and had a few drinks. I had a marvellous time. That evening I learnt that both Peter and Thomas were lawyers. They had both studied at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa. Letween had also studied at the University and was now teaching African History at a high school in the high density suburb called Highfields. However, during the school holidays she would help Peter and Thomas with the work that they were doing. Trix was a freelance, detective, bodyguard, go- between, and bouncer. He was a man that knew every trick of the trade going, on the streets. That’s why they called him Trix.

Woman Thou Art Loosed by TD Jakes

Paperback: 196 pages
Publisher: Treasure House (May 1, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1560431008
ISBN-13: 978-1560431008


The Pastor of the Potters House Church in Dallas Texas has shared with us in his novel, 'Woman Thou Art Loosed', his express gift for story telling.

At the open of the story a young woman enters a church building with a gun in her bag. In an unexpected twist, in the most unlikely place, three shots are fired. The story then begins to reveal, layer by layer, who was shot and why.


Woman thou art loosed assaults your emotions. You are gripped with the reality of both the difficulty and necessity to forgive no matter what has been done to you in life. The challenge is the life of a young woman, abused as a child by the man that her mother loves.
The story is constructed by a series of flashbacks in the life of the main character Michelle Jordan. Her life shifts rapidly back and forth between the past and the present without losing the reader. I was amazed at how i was able to keep up with the story even with the jostling back and forth. It is a well constructed plot with characters that you begin to care about and characters that ignite your emotions. The characters are so real that you may find yourself being tempted to hate some of them. I couldn't understand why Michelle Jordans mother was so blind. But i was sharply reminded at the end that all sinners are in need of a saviour - a view that some may disagree with.



However, we must forgive as we have been forgiven. For in forgiving others we gain the power to let go of the past. This was not just a story but a hard and important lesson. Thanks to Bishop TD Jakes for this masterpiece of essential and extremely unique story telling.