Thousands of Zimbabweans joined by members of clergy and government representatives gathered at Bishop Oliver Chipunza‘s farm in Manicaland late September to bury his wife, Prophetess Makanyara.

She was 43.

The funeral followed a memorial services in the afternoon by Overseer Pastor Cosam Chiyangwa of the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe. “I know Makanyara and her husband as God-fearing people. I have seen God raising them to stardom. God is faithful to those who are righteous before him.”

Prophetess Makanyara married Bishop Chipunza in 1990 and they later started an interdenominational ministry called School of Deliverance in 2006 – while they pastured with AFM in Zimbabwe. The couple left the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe two years ago, following the footsteps of Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa and Apostole Tavonga Vutabwashe, to form the Apostolic Flame Ministries of Zimbabwe.

The Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Cde Didymus Mutasa, who is related to Bishop Chipunza, as they both belong to the Nyati dynasty, was among the mourners at the burial.

Prophet Chipunza is survived by her husband Oliver and four children.