I’m Antony Dandato, TGC Africa board (council) member from Zimbabwe – born and bred.
Please Share With Us How Jesus Found You
I was born in a nominal Christian family where going to Church was for Christmas, or for me it was a hobby, just to go spend time with other kids and have fun. I clearly made up my mind that I was not a Christian and I had no interest in being a Christian. So, when we were learning about Charles Darwin for me it was a beautiful alternative.
Only that I struggled with sin in my life, and because I had been taught about the gospel and how much God would judge sin. I couldn’t reconcile the two and that created a dilemma in my life. So, when I was fifteen, I was in a mission’s school, I would hear the gospel everyday of the assembly, that dilemma continued to give me unrest.
Until one day I surrendered my life to Christ. It was through a Math teacher who was teaching at this Missions School, who was my class teacher. And I was dropping out of school because I didn’t have fees. And she said, “Anthony, has your father paid any fees?” And I said, “Yes.” So she gave me back the money and she said, “From now on your father should not worry about fees. I’ll pay it.” For me it was like, this white lady was from England, I was not even related. If she was willing to do something like this, it was surely supposed to be true. She was a Math teacher, I looked up to her. She was very intelligent – so she was not stupid. And those were the building blocks.
The life of Christians – her life convinced me of the reality of the gospel. And when I submitted my life to Christ, it only took two years for me to be convinced that this is what I wanted to do for life. To tell people about the beauty of believing in Jesus. God transformed my life. Whenever I had sinned, I could go back to him and ask for forgiveness. And there was something to help me – the Holy Spirit to live differently. And so, that gave me peace, that gave me hope, that even when I die I know I’m not going to face God and this wrath but I’m going to be … he’s going to hug me and say, “Hey, because of Jesus, me and you are buddies. We are cool.”
So, I think that has been the best gift in my life and I thank God for that. People can take everything in my life but as long as I have Jesus I’m happy. I’m at peace, I’m joyful and most of all I’ve hope in the world to come. So yeah, that’s me.
What Is Your Favourite Christian Hymn And Why?
The song that speaks to me when when we sing as we’re gathered people of God is a song that is translatable in English – ‘There’s a Fountain of Blood that Washes me, that Cleanses me.’ One of these stanza talks about the the thief on the cross and how he washed himself in it and God forgave him. And then the chorus says, ‘And me, sinful as I am, I’ve been washed in that.’ So, why I like that song is because it it reminds me of how much Jesus in his death and resurrection made me to be right with God, to be reconciled with God. And reminds me how far I’d fallen from being like God and what a privilege it is to be his child. And so, for me that keeps me seeing the glory of God in contrast to my fallenness, yeah, and marvel at that. It’s beautiful.
How Do You Sing This Song In Shona?
So, in Shona it says:
Pane chinyuka chengazi,
chinobva paditi.
Romukororo wa mwari
chinotishambidza.
And then the chorus,
Nevashaishi veshe…
So it’s, “All sinners will find forgiveness in him and will be washed by that fountain of blood.” So, it’s beautiful. You should look for it on YouTube, I’m sure it is there somewhere.
