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After a lengthy teaching career, Reverend Chemani Tuturu is relishing how that has evolved into being an outstanding teacher who delivers God’s word in palatable simplicity yet with such practical depth.
Interestingly, he has taken it further, penning and publishing five Christian books as he continues to establish himself as a prolific author of great wisdom.
With his wide-reaching book sales going on, Tuturu is showing no signs of slowing down with five more books on the way.
Without a doubt, the conversational writing skills he uses to present practical nuggets of wisdom have endeared him to readers.
He attributes this ability to his vast reading of Christian material by various authors and the disciplined reading and study of the Word of God.
And that has left him with one insatiable quest – to preserve the thoughts of God for the benefit of future generations.
“I believe a time is coming when a generation will need to know the things we have gone through so we are preserving the thoughts and mind of God for future generations,” he told Sunday Leisure.
His determination to write books follows three decades of steadily walking with God.
“I have gathered a lot of experiences and walked consistently with God since the age of 13. I therefore believe I have a lot I can share with God’s people,” says the soft-spoken author and preacher.
While he has no one he models his work around, Tuturu reveals he has drawn inspiration from his spiritual parents Bishop Colin and Dr Sarah Nyathi, founders of Harvest House International Churches. Ghanaian preacher and author, Dag Heward Mills’ ingenuity has also dared him to embark on this journey. Mills, who was in Zimbabwe last August, has published over 40 books.
Despite the people that have inspired him, Tuturu maintains his unique style of writing that primarily starts off with hearing God’s voice regarding what he ought to write.
“My style is unique; I have to wait on God for a Rhema word before I write,” he says.
Interestingly, some of his works are based on sermons he has previously preached.
One of his impending books titled Seven Basketfuls is a collection of sermons he preached in the 90s.
On the other hand, another book he is finalising – The Journeyings of the Ark – is a subject he has never preached on.
But he strongly believes timing is always critical when writing his books.
“God gives me a grace period to write and complete any particular writing He needs done. When the revelation comes I usually feel God impress the timing within my heart.”
Not only does he write, but he reads an average of 10 Christian books per month.
“I can finish a 200-page book in one sitting,” he reveals.
In the book The Crucible of God’s Fire published two months ago, he picks old timers such as CH Spurgeon, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Arthur W Pink and Charles and John Wesley – as some of the authors that impacted his life in his early days as a believer.
He stresses that it is important for believers to read books.
“Reading is very health in terms of your spiritual growth. As you read you are corrected, affirmed as well as taught by others,” he says.
His advice to Christians who struggle to read is that they should start off with prayer before reading any book.
He adds: “One could also set themselves targets. For instance, when reading a book with seven chapters one could simply commit to read one chapter per day and in exactly a week they are done.”
He, however, warns believers to verify the contents of a book using the Bible lest they be hoodwinked.
His books put up a lot of practical and personal experiences in his writings, which he corroborates with the scriptures.
The First Ten Years (October 2014)
This was the first book Reverend Tuturu authored and covers the experiences he had in the first 10 years of his walk with God between 1982 and 1992. He shares on how he came to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as well as hisencounters with the Holy Spirit. He also talks about how he discovered the call of God upon his life. Readers may draw lessons on how to hear the voice of God.
This Book of the Law (February 2015)*
This was his second book and its emphasis is to challenge the believer to read the Bible. The book seeks to teach readers the importance of the Word of God in a believer’s life and how one can study the Bible.
Dimensions of the Prophetic Process
(March 1, 2015)
His third writing highlights the prophetic process and looks at how one can develop themselves to become a proper and authentic prophet of God. The author highlights his personal experiences as God prepared him for the prophetic ministry, which took seven years. He emphasises the importance of serving others during the preparatory stage as well as the significance of a prophetic gift operating under a structure with appropriate guidance. In the book, Reverend Tuturu also reveals the need for impartation before one can operate in the gift as well as the need for a genuine prophet to operate in proper governmental structures.
Principles of Ministry (March 1, 2015)
The book basically shows the reader forms of service the author gave to the House of God during his Christian walk. He underlines how it is futile to serve God without a relationship with Him based on his own experiences. He shares lessons learnt as he served in the Hospitality department, Drama Team, Sunday School, lecturing Bible School students and lastly his traveling ministry that saw him minister in the rural areas. Reverend Tuturu draws lessons from the biblical Levites and lines up his personal experiences with the lives of the Levites.
The Crucible of God’s Fire (April 2015)
His latest book takes the reader through the various “Schools” God used to develop him into a minister. He shares on his formative years in his walk with God. He testifies on how God healed him before revealing how God taught him prayer through a chapter titled School of Prayer. The other chapters of the book that talk about God’s preparatory process touch on practical lessons on handling finances as a believer, reading the Word, leadership and the painful experiences he went through and how God dealt with his character. The final chapter titled “The Fullness of Time” talks about his ministry that has grown to have him overseeing fifty-one Harvest House International churches in Mashonaland.
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