By Laura McKillop Wood
“What did you do to make your skin so white?” the boy asked his teacher. Growing up in a village in Zimbabwe, seven-year-old Cainos Manyara had never seen a white person before his 22-year-old American missionary teacher came to his village. Through her teaching, Cainos eventually accepted Christ and committed his life to following Jesus.
“My father was born in 1884, and he had me when he was 86,” Cainos says. His father had five wives and 24 children. Growing up, his dad told Cainos the story about missionaries who came to Africa years before. Even though he learned that a man should have only one wife, Cainos’s dad did not understand what this meant. His culture taught that it was good for a man to have many wives, but later in his life he realized the benefit of having just one. He taught Cainos to honor God in his choice of one wife, but as a young man Cainos felt unsure about choosing someone.
One day he was praying about his future. He asked God to help him find a wife and felt God telling him to go to the dentist. Even though he did not have an appointment, he went. When he got there, a young woman was there trying to be seen by the dentist. Unfortunately, she did not have the money for the copay. Cainos heard God telling him to pay for her dental work because she was the woman he would marry. Six months later, Cainos and Sharon started dating; in three years, they were married. The two have now been married for 30 years and have three grown children and two grandchildren!
In the Beginning
Before he died, Cainos’s dad told him he believed Cainos would be a missionary who would go to America and then return to Zimbabwe to help his people. Years later, Cainos learned about a Bible college in Columbus, Ohio, and decided to apply. He was accepted and began the process of obtaining visas for himself, Sharon, and their children. He and Sharon’s visas were granted, but their children’s were not.
Cainos and Sharon had already agreed that they would not leave Zimbabwe if it meant leaving their children there. Cainos felt God was telling him to go back to the embassy and try again. He returned, only to be denied once more. However, as he was talking to the official, the ambassador walked into the office and said, “Give that kid whatever he wants.” His children got their visas, and the family was on its way to America!
Since Then
The Manyaras settled in Columbus, and Cainos began studying the Bible at Circleville University. He got his degree and found himself at a crossroads. Should he return to Zimbabwe or stay in the United States? He began to pray about it again and had a dream where the word “Omaha” was written in big letters on a mountain. He had never heard of Omaha but learned it was a city in Nebraska. He decided to visit.
Arriving in Omaha, he began driving around looking at neighborhoods and praying for a sign from God. He saw a brand-new house for sale and called the number on the sign. An older couple met him and showed him the house. They asked if he wanted to buy it. He said he did, but he did not have the money. He told them his story, and the woman shook his hand and said he could rent the house until he was able to buy it. He called his wife and told her they were moving to Omaha. Cainos started another degree at Grace University in Omaha. By the end of 10 years, he had a bachelor’s in business and a master’s in counseling. He purchased the house for the original price, and he began working as a therapist. Now Sharon is also working on a master’s in counseling, and they dream of having a therapy practice together.
Missionaries in America
Since arriving, Cainos has considered himself a missionary in America. “People are ready to listen to people from a different culture. I’m aware of that all the time,” Cainos says. He has a versatile and robust ministry. He is a licensed mental health therapist, works as a chaplain at Children’s Nebraska, the only children’s hospital in the state, and is a freelance speaker and preacher.
Missionaries in Zimbabwe
Cainos has also remembered his call to return to Zimbabwe to help his people. He and Sharon started a ministry called Greenation. Their work focuses on improving the lives of people in Zimbabwe through education, training, and community support. They empower people in communities, helping them become self-sustainable. A few generations ago, people in Zimbabwe moved from villages to cities to find work, but now jobs are hard to get. People are moving back to the villages but have no idea how to support themselves there. Greenation’s goal is to help them learn what they need to live good lives in the villages.
Recently, Cainos and his family returned to Zimbabwe to celebrate a huge milestone. Through the work of his ministry, his home village dug a well to provide water to the whole village. This was no small feat. The village had been unable to dig a well deep enough to reach water in its entire 300-year history! People from the village had to carry water from a river every day. Now they can have their own clean water: a new life for the arid village.
This little boy from the village has followed God throughout his life. He has had a productive ministry, encouraging and loving people in America and supporting his own people back in Zimbabwe. A story of something that happened early in his ministry illustrates how his life has come full circle. As a young pastor in Ohio, he officiated a wedding. At the event, a little child looked at him and said, “What did you do to make your skin so black?” Cainos smiled, remembering himself at that age, questioning his teacher, and how far God had brought him since!
To learn more about Cainos and his ministry, visit thegreenation.org or email him at Cm*********@***il.com.
Author: Christian Standard
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