Apostle Lumwira retires
Apostle Emmanuel Moses Lumwira of Blessed Hope of All Nations Church (Blehona) on Saturday handed over the leadership mantle of the church to the executive for him to concentrate on other missionary work within and outside Malawi.
After handing over the mantle, Lumwira assured the new leadership that he and his family would continue to serve as ordinary members of the church and would be ever ready to support the church where necessary.
“I do not want to cling to power. I want to set a good example of leadership where leaders should not be excited with wealth.
“We are starting a new chapter where leaders should not cling to power and become life overseers. We want to honour the spiritual fathers and train the up-and-coming leaders and build ‘the kingdom of God’ and also bring sanity to Pentecostal churches and become their gate-keepers,” said Lumwira.
Receiving the mantle on behalf of the executive management of the Blehona, Apostle Benson Tambala assured the membership of the church that they would continue where Lumwira had stopped and go a mile further.
“We want to assure the membership of Blehona wherever they are that the new leadership under his guidance would not sleep but continue with the vision set by the outgoing leader and also give respect to his work and leadership style.
“Apostle Lumwira will be my mentor and I will give him the much needed respect for his wisdom because this is the first time a leader is leaving the office to others while alive and this is uncommon in Malawi,” said Tambala.
Apostle Nedson Milanzi—well-known in Pentecostal circles in Namiyango area and beyond—hailed Lumwira for the gesture, saying that was exactly what Elijah did to Elisha in the Old Testament, when he was about to be taken to heaven.
“This is a good leadership transition that other leaders should emulate. We should not cling to positions but surrender them to new brains to carry on the work. Apostle Lumwira had a biblical understanding of spiritual leadership transition,” said Milanzi.
