Title: Dare Your Dreams Author: Liberty Mwariwangu Sr. ISBN: 978-0-7974-7979-1
Dare Your Dreams is a life story of a man who was born in a polygamous family, rising from poverty to claim a lifeline as a brother, son, father and gospel minister.
REVIEWED BY BENIAH MUNENGWA
Having passed through the hands of pathfinding motivational writer and entrepreneur, Milton Kamwendo, one would have expected that Liberty Mwariwangu was more likely to follow Kamwendo’s footsteps.
The book, Dare Your Dreams, as the title suggests, as well as the preamble by Rabison Shumba and foreword by Charles Magaiza, was written with the intent of cultivating a culture of challenging one’s limits and instilling the “I can” attitude.
The book is filled with a lifetime of Mwariwangu’s experiences and worldview. The author explores the need for man to develop his character, turn to God, to rise through the ashes, establish a purpose as well as shunning procrastination, a well-worn thread that you are bound to follow in almost every motivational book released today.
The author also delves into the controversial subject of “seeding,” itself the buzzword in contemporary Pentecostalism. Mwariwangu, however, deviates from populism and looks at the bigger picture in which “seeding” is not just about chasing after a “quick-fix” to poverty but must also help the one who seeds or pays their tithe to engage with God.
He identifies different types of people he had encountered in life: those who drift through life without purpose, the non-informed and those in hot pursuit of their purpose. But the most outstanding concept that I found in this book is what he termed the Success Quadrant.
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In this quadrant, he says, one has to discover their gift through evaluation of their hobbies, likes and inclinations then develop the gift before deploying it in their specific area of calling.
Mwariwangu further argues that this ensures a replica of the King Solomon’s scenario in one’s life as one will have fully developed and utilised their gift.
Mwariwangu also underscores the value of using the pressures of life as a pedestal of rising beyond one’s adversities.
Perhaps one of the book’s strengths is that the author draws extensively from other sources of knowledge to buttress his ideas and arguments. These include the Bible, personal mentors, religious leaders and other people that are close to the author. The infamous German führer, Adolf Hitler, also finds an esteemed place among these “intoxicated in the drunkenness of action.”
While I felt that the scope of Mwariwangu’s motivational grid should have gone beyond the area within which he operates in his everyday life he can escape censure because, in more ways than one, this book is targeted to that young preacher or believer facing a hard time trying to establish themselves in their faith.
Here and there, the author expresses frustration over the attitude shown by mega churches towards smaller, emerging churches and ministers of the gospel that desperately need help as they build their ministries.
He argues that bigger denominations, though claiming to be philanthropic, fail to support emerging denominations even when they are founded by youth, who had put their all in the building processes of the bigger churches.
Mwariwangu explores the importance of building one’s character if you need to be a minister of the gospels as personal flaws that are not dealt with can shipwreck one’s ministry or life. He argues that with a robust character development and management model, one reduces his chances of downfall at the mercy of one’s flaws and fame in the journey of faith and personal development.
I liked the book most not necessarily because of its structure, because whilst it touches on dreams, they are not just centred on attracting good things to us, but also giving material things to those in need.
In terms of the book cover, Mwariwangu adopted the international trend that has become synonymous with international ministers in the mould of TD Jakes, Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer, who use their pictures on the front cover. There is likely to be debate on the wisdom of using the same approach for emerging writers like Mwariwangu.
The preachers cited above have become global brands and are easily identifiable to many across the world, so their picture on the front cover is part of the marketing strategy. It is going to be debatable, however, if this was the best approach for the book under review.
Beniah Munengwa can be contacted via email at [email protected]
