Founder and senior pastor of Harvest House International(HHI) Apostle Colin Nyathi has made history in Bulawayo by becoming the first religious leader to to be distinguished with the Megafest Excellent Leadership Award.

Mrs. Mercy Matsika, Megafest HR Manager and Financial Director, presents the award to Harvest House International's Apostle Colin Nyathi (photo courtesy of HHI).

Megafest is a Bulawayo-based business-coaching company that trains business people on customer care, management development, personal branding and image management.

At the event at the Holiday Inn in Bulawayo, Apostle Nyathi humbly dedicated the award to his congregants saying he would not have been honoured without followers. “First and foremost, this is an award that usually goes to the corporate sector, but, this time around, it has been awarded to the church and this says something about ourselves,” Apostle Nyathi told Religion in Zimbabwe, adding that the circular world is beginning to understand that true leadership is from the word of God and the Church, guided by the Bible.

“To myself and my family it is indeed a great joy. We also made announcement at church one Sunday and there was great excitement amongst Harvesters (members of HHI),” added the man of God.

Busisani Ncube-Sangweni, a member of HHI, said his pastor deserves the award “because the work he has done in the country and region speaks for itself and some of us are proud to be called his sons.” Ncube-Sangweni added that it’s high time for Christians to take a leading role in setting the pace in all facets of life in Zimbabwe.

Wellington Mugwagwa of Celebration Church, another renowned Pentacostal Church in Zimbabwe, concurred with Nube-Sangweni that Apostle Nyathi, whom he described as a visionary and innovator, deserved the recognition. Mugwagwa added that Apostle Nyathi has confidence in his leadership, as shown by his practice to invite different pastors to HHI annual conferences, without fearing that the sheep would defect.

Apostle Nyathi, who founded HHI sixteen years ago, one of the leading Pentecostal churches in Southern Africa,  guides more than 8,000 faithful in Bulawayo only. HHI holds ten services at its headquarters in Bulawayo, the intersection of G. Silundika Avenue and 13th Avenue, and is blessed with 22 community churches in the western suburbs of Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.

The dynamic man of God has not only affected Bulawayo but has spread his ministry to every town and city of Zimbabwe and even beyond the country’s borders. To date, HHI  has established churches in South, Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Nigeria, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

A holder of a Masters Degree in Accounting and former Financial Director of a big engineering company, Apostle Nyathi quit commerce and industry after receiving the divine calling which materialized in the establishment of Harvest House International. 

Synonymous to conferences graced by a wide variety of international speakers, HHI is building a 12, 000-seater conference centre in Bulawayo’s Woodlands suburb. Married to Apostle Sarah, also a dynamic preacher of the word of the Almighty, Apostle Nyathi is a biological father to four.