I am Anathi Siphosethu Qokonyeka, a born-again child of God, a member of the Church of God of Prophecy South Africa-East under the leadership of Bishop P. E. Namntu. I was born and bred in a small town called Dutywa. I was raised in the love and care of my grandparents because I was born to a 15-year-old mother who was young, naive, and probably ashamed and scared when she discovered she was pregnant. She was impregnated by a 19-year-old boy who himself grew up in an unofficial foster family, and when he heard the news, he ran away. He, too, didn’t know who his father was and when he was 15 years old, he discovered through village gossips that the parents who were raising him were not his actual parents. And that broke him to a point of smoking marijuana and becoming promiscuous with girls.
My maternal family was stable, but inside I was a prisoner of my own turmoil. I was plagued with unanswerable questions. I grew up not knowing who my father was, and I could not even ask because our culture hindered me from freely asking those questions. Then my mother passed away at only 29 years old. I was distressed and heartbroken. It felt like my heart was pierced by a thousand needles. I was hopeless, filled with rage and bitterness. Though I was bright at school, I was ensnared by negative coping mechanisms—smoking benzene and petrol.
Even the news I was hearing about my father tormented me. The man was broken to the point of becoming an inmate, living below the margin. When I heard of my father, I was not proud of the man I might become. My birth parents’ mistakes weighed on my shoulders like a burden of a thousand years. I was bitter, lost, angry, and I had a very negative view of myself. My soul was panting for rest and belonging. I felt lost, even in a full house of grandparents, uncles, aunties, and cousins.
When I was 13 years old, I encountered Jesus through a local crusade. It was not a fancy, well-established revival; it was hosted in a rondavel hut and the people were TESTIFYING about JESUS. I decided to choose this path of following Jesus, not really sure what it meant. But I was so drawn to this Jesus who suddenly became more real to me than life itself. He spoke to my stormy and bitter heart, “Peace, be still.”
This is how Jesus picked up my pieces when I felt as scattered as a jigsaw puzzle. He gathered all my pieces, put me back together, and introduced me to His great love when I felt unlovable. As days went by, I felt like He was introducing me to the version of myself I had always longed to be.
The subject of fatherhood used to make me cringe because of how I was born and the history of my own father. But Jesus Christ made me realize that I can be a BETTER father. I cannot choose who my father is, but I can be the father I want to be. For me to find God’s depths was to literally find the heights of manhood.
Now all I wanted was this Jesus who arrested my heart, liberated my soul, and gave me identity and purpose. For the first time, I felt so important in this world because Jesus Christ called me into His kingdom. My sins were forgiven, and I became part of something greater than my own existence. Though I may be a son of a teenage mother, TO JESUS I AM NOT A MISTAKE. Because He entered my life, I was even able to forgive my biological father to the point of providing for his essentials.
I am a testimony! Today, I am a full-time minister in the Church of God of Prophecy, serving as a local church pastor and currently as the national youth pastor. I am married, looking forward to being a good husband to my wife, and a good father to the children God will give us. Looking back over my life and everything I’ve been through, I no longer see just trauma and scars. I see battlefields where my Jesus proved that the devil could not have me, right when the enemy thought he stood a chance. Sometimes the things we survive are indicators of why some had to be saved and some had to be chosen for something far greater than their actual lives!
I am now part of God’s very big family. I belong to Jesus, and I live for Him. This is my testimony, and I will TESTIFY till I depart for glory.
A Testimony From the COGOP Youth of South Africa East
In a nation that is tired, God is raising a youth who are not tired.
South Africa is a beautiful but wounded nation. We know the stories too well—corruption in the corridors of power, crime in our streets, unemployment stealing the future of graduates, moral decadence celebrated as freedom, and the heartbreaking wound of gender-based violence. Ethnicity has often divided us politically. But in the middle of all this, something else is happening in the Church of God of Prophecy South Africa East. The youth are experiencing revival. And it is real.
The COGOP youth of South Africa East are vibrant, joyful, and deeply rooted. Rooted to the doctrine of the Bible and to the core values of our movement: prayer, harvest, service, leadership development, and stewardship. You see it in the quality and intentionality of what we do. We are not just running programs; we are contending for a generation. We are a completing generation. We believe the Pentecostals gave us fire, the Reformers gave us the Word, the Evangelicals gave us mission, and the Social Justice movements gave us mercy. They were not incorrect, they were incomplete. We do not throw away the syllabus. We complete it.
Activities
Our year moves with rhythm. In the season of December, we gather for our National Youth Camps. This is our sacred appointment. What happens there cannot be explained, only encountered. Young people are encountering Jesus, deepening their faith in Him, in a way that will mark them for life. Young people are being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. Young people are being delivered from demons and evil addictions with tears and joy.
It is beautiful to see all nine provinces represented, speaking different languages but one language of worship. And it is more beautiful to see our SADC (Southern African Development Community) family join us—young people from Eswatini and Botswana crossing borders because there is a healthy, Christ-centered, working relationship between the youth of these nations. We are showing a united front even when ethnicity threatens the work of this beautiful movement in South Africa. God is using young people to unite tribes that politics has divided, under one banner of faith in Jesus.
Our camps are not only spiritual, they are joyful. There are sporting activities—soccer and athletics—with young people participating with enthusiasm and pure joy. Our older people do attend these camps, and that is our pride. Our national bishops and many pastors sit with us, pray for us, teach us. It is a beautiful blend of old and young, with the old sending the young into the harvest field. And while we are there, young leaders are trained for ministry and even for the marketplace—for classrooms, clinics, courtrooms, and boardrooms.
In the season of June, we go out for our Saved to Serve Outreach Campaign. This is my dream—to see young people serving and glorifying Jesus even outside the four walls of the church. We do this drawing inspiration from the Global Serve Weekend which takes place every May. We take the church to the community.
With our mandate from Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden,” every local church becomes a mission center. Young people are helping the poor, serving communities, cleaning schools, visiting the elderly, cooking in soup kitchens, donating clothes, and cleaning yards and homes of grandmothers who live alone. Some are even teaching people how to grow food from their gardens and small pieces of land, using their skills and education to serve communities as a way of TESTIFYING the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as we serve, people are being saved. Doors are opening.
Throughout the year, we pray. We conduct whole night prayers and fasting led by the youth of South Africa East because we know nation-building is spiritual warfare. Revivals, youth activities, and leadership training to equip young people for service never stop. And we have taken the church to the digital world. The church is being taken to social media platforms by young people of the Church of God of Prophecy. The youth of this land are taking the lead in ushering the church to a level of digital relevance. The youth are TESTIFYING via Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms. Videos of church services and sermons are being shared all over the nation through the strides of young people. We see the strengthening of fellowship between South Africa and the SADC nations through young people. You can trace and follow the COGOP Youth of South Africa East on Facebook and Instagram.
Administration
We are a strong movement because we inherited a culture of strong administration from our national bishops, the late Bishop K. A. Jombile and the current national bishop, Bishop P. E. Namntu.
We do things decently and in order. Quarterly, all the local churches are reporting to the national office with a report form that is designed to access all necessary information requested. This form goes with a fee for fundraising purposes to fuel the work. Local churches are reporting through proper leadership structures of the Church in this nation. We respect leadership.
Leadership and Discipleship
The youth leadership is conducting trainings both physically and virtually to make sure that the youth are being made ready for service and ministry. We have leadership breakfasts where district and local leaders discuss, pray, and cast vision together to become leaders after God’s own heart.
Young ministers are leading and are given a chance to lead branches in order to disciple believers. Young people are also at the forefront of the harvest and church-planting. Discipleship does not end at the altar for us. It continues in how we govern, teach, heal, employ, and reconcile. We are brave to challenge the status quo and fellowship together every year in love and faith.
Service
Young people are passionately serving in various departments in the local churches up to the national level in departments such as music, ushering, protocol, and ministering on the pulpit. The youth are a heartbeat of God’s work in the Church of God of Prophecy South Africa East. Those called to on-pulpit ministries function with excellence, purity, and power. And those called to off-pulpit ministries—in classrooms, clinics, courtrooms, boardrooms, and building sites—function with equal anointing, dignity, and authority. That is our definition of service.
Challenges
We will not pretend we have no challenges. We have limited resources to maximize our efforts. Many of our young people come from broken backgrounds, carrying wounds from home. Unemployment is real among us, and corruption in the government of the nation makes life harder. But even with that, we rise.
Our Confidence
The true gospel of Jesus Christ is still being TESTIFIED with power and with genuineness. It is still being TESTIFIED with purity and honor, without hidden ambitions. The Father’s interests for His kingdom advancement on earth are still being held highly in our hearts with reverence and submission.
The Holy Spirit of God is still moving powerfully both in private and in public.
- People are getting saved.
- Eyes are being unveiled.
- Hearts are aligning with God.
- Minds are changing.
- Addictions are breaking off.
- Sicknesses are melting away.
- Demons are being cast out.
- Dark kingdoms are falling.
- Believers are still TESTIFYING JESUS in all spaces and platforms boldly.
- The remnant is being put together and prepared for the coming of Christ.
- The prayers are made; surely the kingdom is here!
WE ARE THE YOUTH OF THE CHURCH OF GOD OF PROPHECY!
