Faith Sharper Than the Edge of a Knife

Rowan Makanjera was walking home one night after enjoying a basketball game in Harare, Zimbabwe, when three reprobates suddenly accosted him, one pressing a knife hard against his neck and another holding a second knife to his abdomen. While they held the (then) 23-year-old Salvationist at knifepoint, the third man ransacked Rowan’s pockets for money and valuables.

“I was very aware of the knife pressed near my jugular [vein]. My thoughts were of my mother and how heartbroken she would be if I died,” Rowan says. “But strangely enough, I also felt a growing sense of composure from God that somehow I would survive this attack.”

Rowan further explains that the words of one of his favorite worship songs continually played in his mind throughout the ordeal: “There’s nothing that our God can’t do; there’s not a mountain that He can’t move. O praise the name that makes a way; there’s nothing that our God can’t do!”

Not finding much on Rowan’s person, the muggers kept threatening him with certain death if he didn’t hand over whatever valuables he had.

“I kept calm as best I could and told them repeatedly that I was just on my way home coming from a basketball game, and that I really had no money or anything else on me. I guess they finally realized they weren’t getting anything from me and that I wasn’t worth killing and risking prison, so they finally let me go.”

Rowan chillingly adds that during the attack, the muggers were moving him toward a secluded wooded spot and that if, indeed, they killed him, it would likely have been weeks before his body would have been found.

Rowan is a third-generation Salvationist, his mother a faithful soldier of the Mabvuku Corps and leader of both the divisional and corps songster groups. “God’s great love was passed from my grandmother to my mother and to me,” Rowan claims.

It’s fair to say that before the attack Rowan’s thoughts about God’s presence in his life usually came on Sundays while attending worship at the Mabvuku Corps. But since the incident, Rowan is aware of God’s presence all the time.

“I grew up in the Army and was always aware of God’s providential care,” he says, “but if any good thing could come out of my near-death experience it would certainly be a newfound understanding of His love and protection. If it weren’t for the Lord giving me an unbelievable composure, surely, I’d be dead now.”

That’s not to say no residual effects remain from the mugging. He still has something akin to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with occasional traumatic flashbacks, especially during sleep. “It’s been six years since that night, and even now I find myself almost paranoid when I come into a situation where I’m vulnerable.”

Rowan graduated from Chinhoyi University of Technology where he earned certifications in technological innovation and business crisis continuity/recovery management. Coming to America to continue his graduate work became his next goal.

But moving toward that goal was difficult. With two visa appointments resulting in denials, Rowan began to question God: Is this a sign from you, Lord, that I shouldn’t go to America?

Early one morning a friend called him to say there was an opening on the student visa website. He went to his corps officers for prayer before trying once more.

I see what you are doing, God, Rowan prayed. “I realized I needed to stop complaining to God and instead to put my entire trust in Him. That’s exactly what I did, and He came through, opening a series of doors, from approval of student loans down to where I would stay!”

That answer to prayer came in January 2024 when his student visa was approved at the U.S. embassy in Harare. Since his arrival at George Washington University, he has been working on a master’s degree in business and interdisciplinary studies. After graduation, he plans to find a job, as well as becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.

In a short time, Rowan has become an asset to his new Army home, the Alexandria Corps and the Potomac Division.

“I’ve experienced so much love here in America in the Army family,” Rowan marvels. He teaches creative arts to around 20 young people at the corps, in addition to his involvement in the corps band and songsters. He also leads worship dance for the division’s young adults and is on the staff during summer conservatories at Camp Rappahannock, as well as being a member of divisional youth songsters.

“This is all a new experience for me,” Rowan says, “but I’m learning and enjoying this ministry every day.”

He adds that with this new chapter in his life, he has a better understanding of the direction in which the Lord seems to be leading.

“I realize I can finally use my talents to glorify God. Even while I’m still trying to figure things out, I know He’s always working things according to His will and for my good.”

With wisdom beyond his youth, Rowan avoids the trap many young people fall into: “It would be so easy to become consumed with personal glory. I don’t want to be drawn into that. But my constant prayer is to avoid becoming sidetracked and instead that all I do would be only for the glory of God.

“That should be it for every Christian. Soli de gloria (Glory to God alone)!”