Online Reporter
Zimpapers Entertainment Hub
IT reads like a script from a blockbuster thriller movie as she had to endure rejection, miscarriage, as well as battling witchcraft.
However, this is not the synopsis for some fiction television show but the true story of a mother, wife and pastor who almost lost her marriage and, in some instances, her own life.
‘Grace in the Fire,’ the title of Neo Chitanga’s latest book, is aptly named as she candidly reveals the painful experiences that she had to go through from childhood to college and even in marriage.
Unlike other Christian books, which come across as motivational referrals for those who believe in the gospel of Christ Jesus, this book goes deeper.
It is a powerful tool kit that shows the importance of waiting, trusting and depending on God during the good and bad times.
After her husband, a banker by profession, found himself jobless on several occasions and, had it not been for the grace of God, Chitanga would have found herself as part of the rising statistics related to broken marriages.
Many young couples can a learn a thing or two from how the couple managed to keep their marriage going when the wife had to be the provider.
“My husband’s struggles to find stable employment left us on shaky ground,” Chitanga writes in the book.
“The tension in our marriage had grown so thick I felt like giving up.”
Due to various circumstances many children grow with step parents and have to navigate through life battling to fit in both their current set-up as well as staying connected to their roots.
“I did not grow up around my father’s side of the family and for many years I felt like a part of me was missing.
“Eventually I was able to meet with my siblings and other relatives but trying to fit in was not easy.
“Instead of feeling a sense of belonging, I felt like even more of an outsider.”
Then came the harrowing experience of three miscarriages.
“After a third miscarriage I felt like I had hit rock bottom. We decided not to go back to using contraception and yet another pregnancy seemed impossible.
“Seeing young children only added to my heartache.”
Chitanga did not hold back on this one.
She went all in as she reveals deep issues that involve her family members as well as her in-laws.
By doing so, the book comes alive as you read it as the pictures of what she experienced become amplified in one’s mind.
Another factor, which the book amplifies, is the fact that all is not rosy for a Christian just as the Bible declares in the book of Psalms.
Many Christian preachers and teachers as well as authors rarely reveal the struggles they go through but for Chitanga, who is also a pastor, she poured it all out in the book.
The book reveals the struggles that men and women of the collar are faced with.
This may cause serious tension in one’s life as they try to balance between their personal needs and what their church requires.
Many pastors in the world have struggled to balance the equation and at times this has led to some taking their own lives.
The book shows how an individual’s faith can be tested and how God is ready to sustain all those who wait on Him.
For single people, and those seriously dating, this is a must-read book as it reveals a practical perspective to what marriage is all about.
