Bus preachers with a 20-minute challenge

The bus driver revs up the engine and eases into gear one, in a tell-tale indication that – after an hour or so of waiting for passengers to fill up the bus- he is commencing the 320-kilometre Blantyre-Lilongwe trip from the busy bus stage. There is deafening noise in the bus as most of the 80-plus passengers speak on top of their voices, greeting or saying niceties to one another. Those unfortunate not to secure seats cram in the passageway, determined to travel, despite the discomfort of having to stand for part or all, of the long trip.

Suddenly, as the bus departs from the Wenela Bus Stage in Blantyre, there is a loud announcement.

“Lend me your ears ladies and gentlemen. I will be riding along for only a short time just to share with you the word of God and to pray that you have a safe trip. You have your travel plans, alright. But the Holy Bible points out, in John 10:10 that the devil is bent on killing you, stealing from you and destroying you. This is the more reason why you and I should seek God’s protection and blessings with urgency,” the authoritative speaker intones.

At this point, one can almost hear a pin drop in the bus. Most passengers try to see who the bold speaker is. However, some passengers frown and try to ignore the speaker by apparently keeping their eyes and ears busy with other things.

“I know some of us are eagerly trying to read newspapers we have just bought, or are talking on our precious cell phones, informing our loved ones that we have just commenced our trip. But I respectfully beg you to give God His honour and listen to me for the next 20 minutes or so, as I will be preaching on the need for you to know and be protected by Jesus Christ during such trips when accidents or other life-threatening events can happen to your lives,” the speaker emphasises.

The response is remarkable. Most of the newspaper readers promptly suspend their reading and other passengers curtail their cell phone chit-chat.

This is itinerant evangelist Penneck Moyo aged 32, at work. He is one of a growing number of bus preachers who almost ‘parachute’ into any bus on a long-distance trip, with a daunting mission of delivering a life and transforming message in about 20 minutes before they ‘bail out’ of the bus.

Such preachers operate from the major bus stages in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe. This ministry has yet to grow as much in the other cities of Mzuzu, Zomba and elsewhere in the country.

“I have to be very organised in my message delivery in the 20 minutes I have the privilege to address passengers who have their own hopes, agendas and anxieties as they start their trips. Over the seven years I have done this work, I have depended purely on prayer and the Holy Spirit to deliver the goods,” says Moyo.

He describes the ‘goods’ as the spiritual transformation experienced by some of the people he preaches to in the buses. Fewer accidents involving big buses and fewer theft cases in buses are realities that keep him praying and fasting for God’s triumph over evil, he adds.

“Over the past years, I have seen people breaking down (in tears) openly right in the bus, under the power of the Holy Spirit. Some have had to promptly cancel their trips, confessing that they had been pursuing sinful agendas, including cheating on spouses, meeting witchdoctors, robbery or dark Satanic missions,” Moyo explains.

The preacher says he prays for such repentant people and counsels them, later referring them to pastors for more spiritual growth at their churches, stressing that they should be groomed by born again church leaders.

“Many of those who do not repent in the bus phone me later to confess their sins privately,” he adds.

On this particular ride, Moyo preached a short but rousing sermon. When he complemented the preaching with a chorus, almost everyone joyously sang along. When he prayed, his passion guided many passengers into praying in tongues.

The neat thing was that Moyo even prayed for national unity, all our political leaders and a peaceful tripartite general election that took place on May 20 this year. He wished everyone a safe and blessed trip. As he dropped off at Kameza roundabout on the Blantyre-Chileka Airport road, people voluntarily gave him an offering with others pressing for his telephone contacts.

Moyo says there are some eight bus preachers at Wenela Bus Stage. “There is no association to regulate or moderate us. Sometimes, other people join in this ministry and it is clear that we all need to be trained and others need to become born again before they preach to others,” he adds.

The preacher says he can go in and out of six buses in a day to minister to passengers. When the trip begins at Wenela, he drops at Kameza, Lunzu or Zalewa.

“It all depends on how the sermon is set and the response of the people. At times, passengers request that the preaching and the fellowship should go on, hence the disembarking at distant places like Zalewa,” Moyo states.

On how sizeable the post-preaching offering is, he responds: “People give out of their own free will and whatever they give, we receive with deep gratitude. But my wife works and I sell bibles and hymns. I also travel to South Africa frequently, doing small-scale businesses to sustain my family, which comprises two sons, aged eight and five respectively,” he says.

Moyo, who became born again in 2007 at a meeting near his Makwangwala Village in Ntcheu, has preached at many meetings in churches, markets, schools and prisons.