Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe pastor and evangelist Phanuel Chiweshe, who died on Tuesday evening will be buried at Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare this Friday afternoon. Evangelist Chiweshe succumbed to a kidney failure and died on his way to Parirenyatwa Hospital. He was 65.
A funeral service was held at Nyaradzo Funeral Parlour in the capital yesterday before his body was taken to his home in Concession where it lay in state last night ahead of burial today. Family spokesperson Mr Tinashe Muchemwa said a church service will be held this morning at AFM Mt Camel Assembly in Chitungwiza.
Evangelist Chiweshe, who had served in the AFM Ministry for 23 years, was the resident pastor at Mt Camel Assembly. AFM Zimbabwe president Dr Aspher Madzire yesterday described Evangelist Chiweshe as “a hero” to the AFM family.
“He was the engine of the church and we are actually celebrating the works of a hero. Although I held a higher position than him, he remained humble and I recognised him as a father because he mentored me to be what I am,” he said.
Evangelist Chiweshe’s younger brother, David, said the family had lost a father.
“Our father passed on in February this year and everyone looked up to him for anything but now all that is gone. Ever since he was a student at Rufaro and Nzvimbo schools, one could see that there was a natural leader and I copied a lot of things from him.
“The gap he left will be difficult to fill,” he said. AFM Kuwadzana pastor Power Mutsvene, father to gospel musician Mercy Mutsvene, said Evangelist Chiweshe had an open door policy. “We were never afraid to approach him on anything because we knew he was a free man.
“We worked together since 1997 but we never had an altercation, a sign that he was a good man,” he said. Evangelist Chiweshe was one of the pillars of the AFM church in Zimbabwe.
He groomed other well-known prophets including Reverend Oliver Chipunza, the president of the Inter Denominational School of Deliverance and Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa of the United Family International.
Evangelist Chiweshe was among the founding members of the Anointed Ambassadors for Christ Inter-denomination, a group that held crusades locally and internationally.
He was well known for sermons recorded on DVDs, cassettes and CDs which include “Baba Vebenzi” and “Tsano Handeyi” among many others. He is survived by his wife Tabeth and three children.
