Synopsis
Relationships must be the most powerful tool that the
Lord developed for ministry, purpose and pursuit of our greatest exploits.
A book on relationships, beyond umjolo, as the
euphoria of love and what sustains it, AND spiritual warfare beyond spiritual
rites and ordinances… That is what we delved into exploring with the book –
RELATIONSHIPS – THE UNCHARTED TERRAIN FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE, a mouthful that
may perhaps be better described as “The way in which two or more people are
connected is the undiscovered and real battlefield for engagement in war of the non-physical
(part of the person which governs his entire being”
-
Selah
The book explores the practical concepts for each of
the following relationship types that the Apostle Paul teaches about throughout
Ephesians 4, 5 and 6, prior to then teaching on the whole amour of God.
§ CHAPTER
1 - Uncharted terrain
Builds from the introduction which covered the business
case for the book. Chapter 1 starts to define the title in more detail to help
the reader understands what gap the book is meant to cover and the importance
of the subject matter. It eventually leads to the dictionary definition of the
title which reads: “The way in which two or more people are connected is the
undiscovered and real battlefield for engagement in war of the non-physical
(part of the person which governs his entire being)”
CHAPTER 2 - Husband & Wife Relationship
Establishes the marriage relationship as the central foundation
for all other strategic relationships that God instituted in our lives and is
based on scriptural references of the Husband-Wife relationship. Academic
studies supported by scripture are instrumental when we delved into key topics
such as:
· Marriage
is in effect a reunion of two parts that make up a whole
· Marriage couples make better drivers
than courting (umjolo) couples
· Marriage is God’s idea for the sole
purpose of work
· Marriage must be based on love to
support the work of the Lord
· It is
not good that a man is alone. It is good that man finds a companion for
communion
· Laying
down your habits, your self-centred perspective is a slow process of laying
down your life for a friend (John 15: 13)
o
Blending is a process of death
o
Compromise is a process of death
o
Building this new family, requires the dying of the
old self from both parties
§ CHAPTER
3 – Parent & Child Relationship
Anchored on the opening verses of Ephesians 6, this
chapter makes a case for the Parent-Child relationship as a model of our
relationship with God. Deliberate parenting that allows children to eventually
make the connection around how their honor to parents is not only a form of honor
to God but also their training ground for a purposeful relationship with God.
This chapter talks to each of the role players in the Parent-Child relationship
and establishes a clear path for each of them towards victorious relationships
with each other that become purposeful relationships with God. We make use of a
series of stories to illustrate key principles such as parenting, fatherhood,
affirmation.
§ CHAPTER
4 – Servants & Master Relationship
The Servant-Master relationship may better be
understood as the Employer-Employee relationship. Beyond the voluntary
slave-master relationship, we look at economic, socio-economic basis for this
type of relationship. This cpather makes the case for Servanthood as the basis
for victorious working relationships through topics such as:
· Servant-leadership
· Job
vs. Work
· Occupation
vs. Business
· The
slave holds the key to a productive working relationship
· Obey Christ through service to the masters
· Leadership
is sharpened (made better, developed) by serving others
· The
work suffers if there’s no obedience
· Serve
wholeheartedly
§ CHAPTER
5 – Ending Relationships
RELATIONSHIPS are dynamic in nature – they will either
GROW or they will END… either route is good because it makes way for other
relationships aligned to your purpose. This is at the center of Chapter 5 which
focuses on Ending Relationships. We make use of various examples in the
scriptures, politics, nature and social advents, like Grief, to build a case of
ending relationships.
§ CHAPTER
6 – The whole armour of God
This becomes the climax of the warfare aspect of the
book. It is anchored on the Go-To-Scripture for spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6),
but we try and make use of everyday artefacts to illustrate the role of each
item in the armour of God and a good example is the soccer fans ‘makarapa hat’,
as the helmet of salvation, which is unique to South African sports. We look at
each article of the armor of God to derive some truths that prepare us to Stand
and Withstand accordingly.
§ CHAPTER
7 – Winning
In war, there must be winners, so in this chapter we reference
the latter part of Ephesians 6 to understand the role of prayer ie. Various types of prayers, kinds of prayers,
levels of prayers. We also discuss other key ingredients for winning such as:
· Being
Alert/ Stay Woke
·
Unbelief
or doubt
·
Unfaithfulness/
Disobedience
·
Unforgiveness/
Reconciliation
· Watchers
& Gatekeepers
· Spiritual
Gifts
·
What
to Win – in relationships
·
How
to Win – in relationships
· Play to Win – in relationships
§ CONCLUSION
The book objective is to open our eyes to the truth
that teaching on spiritual warfare does not start in Ephesians chapter 6 but
rather in earlier chapters when the Apostle Paul delves into relationships and
how or why they must be priority. Corroborating scriptures and practical
evidence are illustrated in the relevant sections of the book to offer a well-rounded
view, even though we are only scratching the surface of this intricate subject
Beyond this synopsis, the overall summary includes
three key sections of the book to provide an overview of the text:
- § Introduction
- § Chapter
1: Uncharted Terrain
- § About
the Author
INTRODUCTION
The book of Ephesians is a letter that the Apostle
Paul wrote during a time of his incarceration and emphasizes the headship of
Christ and the structural order in the church. The structural order in the
church does not stand on its own but is illustrated by the various
relationships that members of the church maintain outside of the church such as
Family relationships, Work relationships, Business relationships and other
Personal relationships.
The closing chapter, Ephesians 6 in particular, has
been the basis for starting to understand spiritual warfare and widely
preached, taught about, and evangelized in different platforms across the globe
throughout the history of the church. It has been preached in trains and
train-stations. Evangelized in Buses and Taxi Ranks. Taught in Schools and
Pulpits across all Christian church denominations. The early church, the old
church and the New Testament church have all heard and exercised the truth held
in this foundational piece of scripture.
We know it as the foundation of warfare but have been
missing the preceding verses which are more concerned about relationship and
how we connect with others. Prior to getting into the message of spiritual
warfare, Paul spends a lot of time addressing the importance of harmonious
relationships at different levels of our lives. In this book, we catalogue
these relationship categories as terrains of spiritual warfare.
“
The
call to action for this book is to really value our
relationships by putting in the work to not only reveal
their strategic importance in spiritual warfare but also unlock
the individual blessings that the varied roles in each of the relationships
bring into our lives.
”
At any given point in our lives, we wear multiple hats
in terms of relationships, and I believe they are all important and each demand
intentional nurturing for the important work of Purpose. You are not only a son but also a father, who
is also an employee and (potential) employer.
Like any other battalion
To that effect, the relationships that we will be
focusing on based on scripture are the following:
Relationship
Type |
Key Role 1 |
Key Role 2 |
Marriage |
Husband |
Wife |
Parenting |
Father/
Mother |
Son/
Daughter |
Working |
Leader/ Employer |
Server/ Employee |
|
|
|
In this
book, we are talking victorious
relationships because we believe that
Winning in
relationships is winning at war – Winning at spiritual warfare
Our native languages are very descriptive in the words
used to describe relationships. A look into some of these powerful words is
revealing of the true intent for relationships, so let’s set the scene using
the mother toungue:
UBUDLELWANO (Isizulu): from the
root word ukudla which translates to Eat. Ubudlelwano can mean to
eat from each other’s plate or better yet to share a plate, denoting brotherly fellowship.
This is best described by the experience of growing up in a typical African household
where children would eat from the same plate. Eating from the same plate
instills a sense of sharing that requires people to eat at the same pace –
effectively taking every step together. Moving together and leaving no man (or
woman) behind. An interesting trench towards meaning can also be another word
association of ‘ukudlelana’ loosely translated - eating for each other or even
eating from each other.
eating
for each other – brings a unique picture of mother predator who
chews on behalf of the children and then feeds them pureed food which is easier
to swallow for their young mouths and stomachs. In victorious relationships, we
may need to process the knowledge, and information, from experiences into
wisdom that can build the relationship. It is often not the what, but the How
that is important when communicating, so the application of concepts such as
personality profiles are critical for effective communication in relationships.
The lessons learnt by one party, become the wisdom that informs the relationship
for both parties, avoiding the need for both individuals to go through the same
struggles to retrieve the wisdom there-of.
eating
from each other – best illustrated by the process of regurgitation.
Some animals can carry food for their young from their stomach. They then vomit
out this food for their young to also have their fill. So, in victorious
relationships, we can regurgitate life experience, wisdom into new-found
knowledge for our partners.
Another perspective of ubudlelwano can be about
eating from the same pot or the same source. Eating from the same pot
can also be paralleled to receiving similar upbringing, similar culture or even
growing up under the same doctrine. The bodies of those who ‘eat from the same
pot’ are therefore built with the same stuff, same nutrients, same posture
In victorious relationships, both parties we’ll need
to be intentional about eating together, moving together. This may look like,
§
Date nights,
§
Family Dinner ritual,
§
Dinner for fellowship
§
No phones at the table,
§
What did you learn today?
§
What did you do today moments?
In victorious relationships, both parties we’ll need
to be intentional about eating from the same pot. This may look like,
§
Family devotionals,
§
Family Book Club,
§
Church together (same church or Doctrine)
Two people coming together is not possible without the
sacrifice of leaving. In other words, leaving (your past) is the prerequisite
to cleaving to the future (vision) you are both called towards.
“Izandla
ziyagezana”
Translated:
Hands wash each other
Meaning:
An act of goodwill deserves or inspires a reciprocal act of kindness
ISIVUMELWANO
(Isizulu): from the root word vuma which translates to Agree.
This word is used when talking about a contract. It denotes the idea of being
on the same page, especially with regards to what is important for everyone in
the relationship.
In victorious relationships, this may look like,
§
Conversations: prioritize and in need schedule
frequent conversation opportunities
§
Agree on Family: extended family boundaries as an
important influence
§
Contracting: especially in working relationships incl.
business
KAMANO (Sesotho): from the
root word hoAmana which translates to verbs Involve (Agree/ Contract) OR Touch/ Hug (as in to seal the Agreement) See 2 Chron. 18. "I am as you are, and my people as your
people. We will be with you in the war". This is an eloquent example
of Kamano, where-in a whole King (of
Judah – Jehoshapath) was forced into war which he did not really support but
because of the covenant, his brethrens war became his war.
In victorious relationships, both parties we’ll need
to leverage each other’s strengths to maintain the functional nature of the
relationship. Individual strengths will show up naturally and must then be
trusted for victory. This may look like,
§
Financial management: the casual personality allows
the analytical personality to manage family finances
§
Cooking: the chef in the family may own this domain
but still needs support and to be given a break frequently
§
Child rearing (discipline, teaching...): specific
areas of raising children may be shared but others become overtly specialties
with each party
“Ngwana
moshanyana ke kabelwa manong”
Translated:
A boy child is a sacrifice to Vultures
Meaning:
the boy child will grow to become a man that fights and die for his
nation
Ho Ama - In victorious relationships, intimacy is
priority. Irrespective of personality types or preferences, you will need to
make time for intimacy and ALWAYS reciprocate another parties’ advances. This
can be as simple as holding hands or venturing into thrilling sexual frolic
and/ or everything else in between.
SELEKANE (Sesotho): from the
root word hoLekana which translates to be Equal
(Even/ Same) as in Same spirit, Equal importance. Every endeavor within a
relationship requires the complementary role of leader-server, giver-receiver,
parent-child. These roles are not about assigned position in the relationship but
tasks. The key value from this definition is the importance and interdependency
of each party within the relationship.
In victorious relationships, both parties value each
other. There are certain things that no one can do better than your partner.
Valuing your partner may look like,
§
Gratitude: Practice gratitude daily about them and
whenever possible to them
§
Love Language: Understand how they receive love and
strive to be their #1 fan
§
Affirmation: Communicate frequently the value they add
in your life
§
Day in the Life Of (DILO) exercises where you swop
duties may be useful to build empathy
Interesting fact: the Zulu
word for a partner ie. Spouse and in-laws (to each other) is uMlingani which
also means ‘my equal’.
VUNAKULOBYE
(Xitsonga): translated covenant, agreement or contract. Living/ Being together: the very basis
for intimacy and building together is to be living together and bound by
commitment that only comes from a Covenant. A covenant brings
relationship and relationship requires covenant.
In victorious relationships, this may look like,
§
Family Time: deliberate scheduling of family time
§
Family Adventures: Teaching each other personal
interests
“Nghala
yo vomba exihlahleni”
Translated:
A lion roars in the bush
Meaning:
A warrior is identifiable in war
(spiritual warfare)
Are
you that concealed warrior, who will get into this uncharted terrain and fight
for your relationships?
REFLECTON:
What are
some of the words and mother-tongue diction that describes R E L A T I O N S H
I P ?
CHAPTER 1 -
Uncharted terrain
uncharted
adjective
"the plane landed on a previously uncharted
islet"
Similar: Unexplored | untravelled | undiscovered | unresearched | unplumbed |
unfamiliar | unknown | strange | unmapped | unsurveyed
Relationships are the uncharted terrain for spiritual
warfare –
HOW, WHY and WHAT DO WE MEAN?
Let’s get into the definitions to formulate the
foundation for this important message.
Relate (Relationship) noun:
/rɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nʃɪp/
the way in which two or more people (or things) are
connected, or the state of being connected. the state of being connected by
blood or marriage. the way in which two or more people or groups regard and
behave towards each other.
Uncharted adjective:
/ʌnˈtʃɑːtɪd/
(of an area of land or sea) not mapped or surveyed.
Virgin lands
Terrain noun: ter·rain | \ tə-ˈrān also te-
a plain or
territory. In the context of war/ battle, it is the site where war is waged –
the battlefield. War can be waged on Sea, Air or Land but the terrain is
usually associated with Land. Different types of war-terrain can be desserts,
the jungle, rocky (mountainous) regions or just open fields.
Spirit (spiritual) noun
/ˈspɪrɪt/
the non-physical part of a person regarded as their
true self and as capable of surviving physical death or separation.
Furthermore, the spirit is the part of the human-being
that is connected to the spiritual world, especially his creator. Like God, man
also has three parts to him that can be summarized in the following statement:
Man is
spirit, with a soul (conscious mind and emotions) and lives in a body
The spirit governs the soul and subsequently the body.
Similar to how a horse-rider, uses the reins to control the
direction of the horse, so does the spirit, use the soul to control the
actions that must be carried out by the body.
Warfare noun: /ˈwɔːfɛː/
engagement in or the activities involved in war or
conflict.
Spiritual warfare therefore refers to engagement in
spiritual war. In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, the bible teaches us
that we wrestle not against man but rather the wicked spirit that may use
man against man (Eph. 6: 15)
The
dictionary definition of the title would therefore be something like:
“The way
in which two or more people are connected is the undiscovered and real
battlefield for engagement in war of the non-physical (part of the
person which governs his entire being)”
There’s a lot of academic insight and
theory into concepts like work-life balance, making marriage work, raising
productive human-beings… or simple productivity in work or business but the
application seems to elude many because, we don’t view these as the actual
battlefield but rather complementary pieces of information we can just know and
never really use.
Without a clear revelation on the root
cause, all the stopgap approaches we have tried have left us with an
unfulfilled hunger to address a problem that we did not even truly comprehend,
not its depth or even its impact on our lives and purposes to which we have
been assigned the very lives for. I don’t believe we’ve had a compelling reason
to really deal with this, simply because we have ignorant to the fact that
battles are won in the right battlefield (terrain).
With all the knowledge, armoury and many
other advantages, the battles are being lost because we are standing in a
disadvantageous battlefield, exposed to the enemy without enough covering. We
are fighting the good fight but in a wrong battlefield – a major disadvantage.
General Sun Tzu’s Art of War
These definitions give us a good
foundation to begin understanding the connection between relationships, warfare
and terrain or battlefield. We believe that connecting the dots
between our relationship and spiritual warfare will help us realize our full
potential by living it out for this and future generations. This book therefore
seeks to answer some of the basic questions around that connection and
hopefully catapult many conversations into movements that will further unpack
this important connection. The reference to relationships as a terrain is meant
to pull our focus in tapping into the significance of both terrains in general
and relationships as one of the major terrains that seems untapped. For a long
time, the enemy has been aware of this truth and has been launching successful
sneak attacks on individuals, families, churches, businesses, and society by
attacking this key area that we seem to be neglecting – our Relationships.
Some of the questions that will inform
the direction of this body of work include the following:
§
What do
relationships have to do with warfare?
§
Why is it
important for you to win in relationships?
§
Why is it
important for you to win in ALL your relationships?
§
How will
understanding relationships help with spiritual warfare?
§
How will
understanding spiritual warfare help with relationships?
§
Are you a
Lover or a fighter or perhaps both?
§
How come that
any other win appears to be insignificant, if the price paid is our
relationships
§
Why is it that
‘if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy’?
The going concern or simple answer to
most of these questions is because Relationships must be a priority in our
lives. Everything else hinges on strong, meaningful, and purposeful
relationships at home, at work or the marketplace.
The going definition for Relationships
as the uncharted terrain for spiritual warfare is a bit of a
paradox because marriages, leadership, protocol, are the very areas that the
enemy attacks when intending to collapse a community of people in any
institutional setting such as the Church, Business or Society at large.
Relationships as a terrain is only uncharted from our perspective, and not the
enemy’s. This is where he has been hitting us and all we’ve been doing is a
laborious and continuous cycle of gaining composure as opposed to also taking
our shot in this very area of our lives (Relationships). The recovery process
after suffering an attack is highly demanding of our energy, time, which means
that our resources for Purpose-work are diverted into the recovery process as
opposed to the building of the work of the Lord.
Let’s unpack some of the key terminology
in the book title statement.
The first concept in this
book is the importance of terrain or battlefield in warfare. As a man of
war, David expressed a shocking statement that may still be scholarly debated –
his hate for the lame and the blind (2 Sam. 5: 8) – a king who hated the
most vulnerable in society – why?
A King is usually associated with prestige and
authority over all things – a superior position in any nation. The extreme
opposite of the throne may well be the lame, blind or physically challenged,
since they are perceived to have a lack of ability. So, King David sounds
ignorant and very much //’like a bully in his assertion of hating the blind and
lame; but this was more a connotation he assigned to his nations enemies, the
Jebusites, based on their disrespect of sending the blind and lame to battle
because of the advantage of their terrain.
Here’s the backstory, the Jebusite city was on a hill
and this position served as a fortress and an advantage which they used to
defeat their enemies. Wikipedia references of Mount Zion and the Jebusites
paints a clearer picture of their vantage point:
The etymology of the word Zion is uncertain. Mentioned in the Bible in the Book
of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:7) as
the name of the Jebusite fortress conquered by King
David, its origin likely
predates the Israelites. If Semitic, it may be associated with the Hebrew root ṣiyyôn ("castle").
Though not spoken in Jerusalem until hundreds of years later, the name is
similar in Arabic and
may be connected to the root ṣiyya ("dry land") or
the Arabic šanā ("protect" or "citadel").
The Jebusites (/ˈdʒɛbjəˌsaɪts/; Hebrew: יְבוּסִי, Modern: Yevūsī, Tiberian: Yəḇūsī ISO
259-3 Ybusi)
were, according to the books of
Joshua and Samuel from the Hebrew
Bible, a Canaanite tribe that inhabited Jerusalem, then called Jebus (Hebrew: יְבוּס) prior
to the conquest initiated by Joshua (Joshua
11:3, Joshua
12:10) and completed by King David (2
Samuel 5:6–10), although a majority
of scholars agree that the Book of Joshua holds little historical value for
early Israel and most likely reflects a much later period. The Books
of Kings as well as 1
Chronicles state that
Jerusalem was known as Jebus prior to this event (1
Chronicles 11:4). The identification
of Jebus with Jerusalem is sometimes disputed by scholars. According to
some biblical chronologies, the city was conquered by King David in 1003 BC.
It was such an advantage that they did not need to
engage enemies directly but could post the blind and lame at the hilltop for
them to release stones (and other armory) that would annihilate enemy forces
before they even stepped close into the city. This terrain made all the
difference for the victory of Jebusites in protecting their territory. Here’s
the key point -
Terrain in war offer an unparalleled advantage.
Wars can be won on just the advantage of the terrain.
The central idea that will be a leading theme
throughout the book is Relationships. As creatures of connection, we
have all been in some form of a relationship, and therefore will agree that it
requires constant nurturing. The idea of child maintenance is form of nurturing
that is required in a Parent-Child relationship and goes beyond finances
but steps into time investments. Husbands may not be as sensitive to intimacy
needs but will be the first ones to reiterate the saying that “if mama ain't
happy, ain't nobody happy” that gets them to invest a considerable number
of resources to make her happy. The requirement for deliberate investments in
relationship is a universal truth for relationships in any context. This is why
every relationship expert will keep making recommendations around activities
that allow partners to invest in each other – Date Nights, Family Walks,
Praying Together, Eating together, Conversations, Teaching moments, Gratitude,
Vacations, Team Building...
Every relationship, requires deliberate investment of resources
Time and Money being the most obvious
Spiritual Warfare is a combination of two
concepts that are Spirit-ual, which is “relating to or affecting the human spirit
or soul as opposed to material or physical things” and Warfare, which refers to “the process of military struggle
between two nations or groups of nations”. Spiritual warfare is the military
struggle relating to the human spirit and in common understanding, it is the Christian
concept of fighting against the work of supernatural evil forces. It is based
on the biblical belief in evil spirits, or demons, that are said to intervene
in human affairs.
We have focused our war strategy on ordinances and religious rites like
prayer, declarations, confessions and even supplications for Gods intervention
which are all good but, in my opinion, very much reactive. The enemy on the
other hand has been attacking us in the terrain of our relationships and our
only response has been what we’ve always done – to move to the terrain of
religious rites to bind & bind & lose, to constitute special prayer
sessions (night prayers, January fasting & prayer) ... Meeting the enemy at
the gates is the only proactive approach and that will require us to explore
taking this military struggle to the relationship terrain as well. We need an ambidextrous
strategy that is both Proactive and able to swiftly respond to the enemy’s
advances (Reactive).
One of the dominant ways of spiritual warfare is through our relationships. We believe that there is sufficient material that cover spiritual forces or spirituality, so for the purposes of this book, we will not go into deep study in that direction but rather will endeavour to focus our journey on the truth revealed in the title: Relationships are the uncharted terrain for spiritual warfare. The objective is to restore this delicate balance of both the Proactive and Reactive balance in spiritual warfare.
_______________________________________________________
ABOUT THE
AUTHORS: with nwm רוה הקרש
רוה הקרש – Ruach HaKodesh translated The Holy Spirit
According to a Rock Island Books
Ruach: spirit, wind or breath depicted by the following pictographs.
§
Д - Head: Master, Leader,
Prince
§
ף - Hook: Fasten,
Hold two things together that are separated
§
曲 - Fence: Separate, protect, cut-off or sanctuary
A
leader who will connect (fasten) us to a boundary (fence) that is intended to
protect and provide a sanctuary.
Ha-Kodesh: The-apartness, holiness, sacredness depicted by the following
pictographs.
§
Ѱ
- Man with uplifted arms: behold, pay attention
to what follows, reveal or the Holy spirit is the revelator
§
Ƥ - Back of the head: the least, the last or behind
§
口- Door: doorway, a place of decision, a place
where change can take place, an entrance to life or death
§
w –
Teeth: to press, to consume or to destroy (one letter God uses to
identify Himself)
Behold
or pay attention to what follows, what follows is Kodesh, someone unworthy, the
least is being brought through a doorway where God will identify Himself. Going
through this doorway, will set this unworthy person apart from those not
entering this special place before God. He is going to be granted access that
he obviously is not able to provide on his own merit.
Think of Him as the pedagogue to the words you will be
reading in this book. The Holy Spirit is in many ways co-partner to the working
of God in our lives, similar to how He was first seen in the advent of creation
when He was moving on the face of the deep. A big part of the writing process
for this book must be credited to Him because many at times I would avoid the
flickering cursor that demands my attention, but He would intervene to not only
reveal new insights for this book but also make the deep wells of invested
revelation to come forth when I least expected it. He is friend, partner and
closest relationship any of us has and therefore need to take deliberate care
to listen to his leading, nudging and instruction as we go about in our daily
activities. This is why we recognize him as the co-author to this piece of work
רוה הקרש
nwm – Nhlanhla
William Mukhari
Like many other progressive leaders, Nhlanhla W
Mukhari grew up in the church. He is very deliberate to remind anyone about the
beneficial traits of being part of a local church community. Church’s ultimate
call to action is – Leadership, so Nhlanhla credits a lot of his work to the
foundational principles of Christianity emphasized when one is part of a local
church community. “I grew up in church and continue to glean wisdom that flows
from the pulpit every Sunday like a perpetual life-giving well”, he continues
to say. It is no coincidence that world leaders in the arts, sports and
politics all credit God as their source or as Mukhari likes saying – church is
the real superpower. In parallel to serving in various leadership capacities in
the church, Nhlanhla has over 15 years’ experience in corporate South Africa.
He is an experienced leader in Service Management and led IT project teams in
South Africa and other countries across the continent.
Nhlanhla’s academic background is in Communications,
majoring in Marketing and Development studies and is pursing studies in
Business Administration. His passion for positive contribution eventually gave
birth to the #LetUsMake movement. Through which he plans, leads, organizes and
moderates leadership conversations with leaders across the continent and the
diaspora.
He is likely to introduce himself as a peacemaker
(according to Matthew 5: 9). He explains it this way: “Professionally I am
trained in Communications and what attracted me to that space is the advocacy
of communication and how to communicate effectively. This is something I always
struggled with when having to position my ideas and view of the world,
especially since it matters to me how I am or how my message is being received.
I understand Kanye (West) when he says, ‘my brain is bigger than my head’. My
struggle is to say it the way I intend for it to be received. I grew up as the
last of three boys which meant that I always had my big brothers looking out
for me. I have never had to fight, so when I grew older, I naturally avoided
fights. Avoiding fights meant looking into clever strategies like talking your
way out of potential fights and investing time in relationships – hence
communications. I was not only born to be a peacemaker but also developed to
make peace - always. All the roles I enjoyed professionally and in church as an
elder where characterized by standing in the middle and working to Make
Peace between parties such as the Leader and his People, as a project
manager, the Executive and his Management Committee (MANCO), as chief of staff
or business manager, The Pastor and the church as an Elder…and even perhaps God
and His people as a saint-sinner (recovering)… making peace in marriages,
friendships, among co-laborer’s and relationships of all forms. In
conversations, the peacemaker may be a moderator. I have a natural ability to
really listen and facilitate the conversations – for the purposes of bringing
peace. After publishing, the peacemaker may possibly show up as a Relationship
Evangelist.
My name is Nhlanhla Mukhari, and I am a PEACEMAKER.”
Nhlanhla has delivered engaging and humorous talks
with candor and connection to audiences on engaging subjects including
business, identity, and personal development.
For more information and to further engage – Go Follow
IG: @letusmake.
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Buwaaaa!!!