Sister Milka Punugwe

After I finished High school, I did not get admission into the one university in the country at that time. A student who passed high school was allowed to go into temporary teaching, so my uncle helped me to get a teaching position at a country high school. Since I was single, and the school provided housing, I was assigned to a house with another family who happened to be Message believers! The mom gave me some books which I did not pay attention to at first as it was my first time away from home and earning money. Then she took me to her sister’s wedding at her church. 

Months later, after I had left the job, I was dissatisfied with life and tired of the way I was living. I prayed, wept, and repented, asking the Lord to forgive me. I felt so light afterwards! I was not getting fed at the church I attended, so I started going to the Message church that the sister I had met attended. My life really changed. I stopped watching television. I burned my magazines. I continued attending the Message church and began my new birth journey. The change was drastic for my dad and he did not take it well since I am the oldest of my siblings. I went into the bathroom to pray for strength before heading to church, then just left the house.

My dad really wanted me to go to college no matter what, so I started sending out applications. I was accepted at a college in Boston. Unbeknownst to me, my dad went to my pastor and asked him to stop me from coming to church. My parents were relieved when I was accepted into college. The week before I left my dad drove me everywhere, picked me up, even to church, just to make sure I went to America. My mom said that I did not need to pack the Message books. They really hoped I would forget about it. Besides that, I met a brother at church and did not want to come to America. That shocked everyone. I really think my parents thought they were wholly losing me and wanted to get me away to start a new life and forget everything else.

I lived in Boston for about three months. My parents had Methodist missionary friends that had retired to Atlanta, and they invited me to their home for Christmas. (Brother Branham refers to meeting missionaries at the airport in Rhodesia. I wondered if my parents’ friends knew those missionaries.) Once I was in Atlanta, they suggested that I come live with them and go to Georgia State University, which was less expensive than the private college in Boston. We had no idea it was a private college when I first applied! I came to Atlanta, but I still did not have a church to attend. I wrote to the church in Zimbabwe for any contacts. 

It took a full year to the month to start coming to church in Lula in September of 1993. I met Sister Hill who used to go to Brother Hembree’s church. When she changed churches, she let me ride with her since I did not have a car. Then I rode with the Harrises for a while. They could have literally gone somewhere else! In the months that I did not have a church to go to I read my sermon notes and the few Spoken Word books I had. I am such a believer in writing notes. Sometimes that was all I had, and there was no internet back then.

Brother Dale’s sermons greatly impacted my life along with his just being there for me, just like the confidence of my dad sending me on an airplane across the world to an unfamiliar place where I did not know anyone. That confidence gave me the confidence that I could start a new life in a new country. So it was with Brother Dale’s confidence that, in the Word and following Christ, there was nothing that the Lord could not take me through. 

Brother Dale’s ministry is Word-based and I always remember his saying, “Give it the Word test.” Anything that you face, have questions about, a situation, a problem- “Give it the Word test.” 

He also taught me steadfastness and steadiness. If he really wants you to get something, he says it softly, and in a way that you know you better listen. There were times in my life that I could not make the drive to church due to sickness or to overwhelming phases I was going through. Brother Dale told me, “stay in church. Go somewhere.” I truly believe that is what kept me, not just by going to some building, but staying in the Word. If anything can sustain anyone through anything in this journey of life, it is the living Word. Brother Dale believes in the five-fold ministry perfecting the Bride. Because of that, we heard from ministers and missionaries from around the world. I was personally touched by sermons from those ministers. It sustained me and still sustains me because of them being yielded and used by the Lord.

Our biggest hindrance is ourselves, and one of the things I learned from Brother Dale is that it is hardest to forgive yourself, but you must. Otherwise, that unforgiveness becomes a big hindrance in your walk. Once, when Brother Dale was asking for questions, I submitted a question on how to raise children. I was a young mom on my own blessed with two wonderful sons. He answered it without putting it down. He discussed what to do, and how to have them behave in church as well. That yielded books of sermon notes, and drawings from Michael and Benjamin, that I cherish to this day.

I learned, not only from what Brother Dale said, but especially how he has conducted himself with his own family. One incident that touched me was when his daughter, Anna, was very sick. Most people were not aware how much it affected him. After her operation, and she was getting better, he talked about how he drove in his truck and prayed to the Lord. I witnessed this with other events in his family. I learned that it is best to stay positive, give things to the Lord, pray, and come back with the testimony.

Praying
If you wake up in the night, start praying for everyone in church.

Giving
You cannot outgive God. Pay your tithes and He will provide. He owns all.

Dressing
What is your motive and objective in everything you do? You may look and act a certain way, but your motive and objective count.                                                                                                            

Communion
I sometimes did not take it until I finally realized that it is not you, but Him that is worthy.

Family
Be careful that you are not standing in their way.

Revelation of Jesus Christ
The book of Revelation is the Bride’s book.