In the Churches Blog

In 2013, educate an indigenous church member!

December 26, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
As this year draws to an end, politics is no doubt going to leverage influence on believers in Zimbabwe. We are told to think that the next elections will take place in 2013. With this in mind, I would like to look at what appears to be two most prominent dynamics ...

Praying for refugees, Zimbabwean migrants and new evangelisation in the West

December 21, 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This month the Pope asks us to pray for refugees (“Migrants”) that they may receive a warm welcome in the countries to which they go. This Christmas as we reflect on the birth of our saviour in Bethlehem and the subsequent flight of the ...

Stephen Chigorimbo: We need more preachers on radio, we need more preachers on television

December 18, 2012 by Moses Chibaya
Earlier this month, I went to see prominent Zimbabwean director and producer Stephen Tayengwa Chigorimbo (62). Some of you might not know that Chigorimbo is also an elder with a Pentecostal church. He goes to Apostolic Faith Mission in Harare’s Avonlea suburb. We talked about faith, inter-religious dialogue and developing media skills to communicate ...

Eradicating GBV in Zimbabwe where traditional leaders, legislators and religious leaders are mostly men

December 11, 2012
Every two or three months, Rudo and her husband Tobias part with either a goat or two chickens as a fine for their violently explosive marriage. The couple, that lives on a small farming settlement half an hour’s drive north east of Harare, have had countless trips to the village ...

Salvation Army avoids outside independent audit, turns back on long-time friend photographer

November 28, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
Today I was denied permission to photograph at the Howard Hospital. They were skeptical of me. Despite the fact I photographed there in 2001, 2006, 2008 and 2010; despite the facts my photos raised thousands of dollars and inspired many doctors to volunteer; despite the fact the Salvation Army has published ...

What future for the elated Anglicans in Zimbabwe

November 26, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
As Bishop Chad Gandiya celebrates victory over the Kunonga faction, it feels like the winds of change are caressing the Anglicans not only in Zimbabwe. Earlier this month, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa consecrated  its first woman bishop in Africa. At the same time, the consecration of Swaziland’s Ellinah Wamukoya comes as ...

Discussing Zimbabweans who take gospel (of prosperity) to other peoples

November 12, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
The Gospel of Prosperity debate is alive and kicking in Zimbabwe. Moreover, it was taken to the foreign lands. Some observers like New Zimbabwe‘s Adventist Lot Masiane suggest that Christians need to uphold the standards in their faithful lives. While other Christians have no problem with agitating the poor from their flashy ...

The perfect storm: media and church

October 29, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
“Are Zimbabwean journalists looking for sensationalism only when they cover activities of religious newsmakers?” I asked myself this question once again during a religious jourmalism conference at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv that I recently attended.  A special guest of the event was CNN’s senior Vatican analyst and the senior correspondent ...

What the destruction of Timbuktu in Mali has in common with Zimbabwean Christians’ attitude to the traditional Shona religion

October 12, 2012
by Tendai Huchu This summer, Islamist fighters attacked and destroyed centuries-old mausoleums and tombs in Mali’s Timbuktu with pick axes. Whatever their doctrinal rationale for doing this, they were not only destroying their own heritage, but a vital inheritance for the whole world. Iconoclasm is nothing new and has been ...

Young, single Christians face temptations that their counterparts in the biblical age didn’t face

October 11, 2012 by Giovanni del Autore
Browsing the net for inspiration, I came across an article by John Blake on the CNN blog with a straight-forward title ‘Why young Christians aren’t waiting anymore.’ The post cites an evangelical publication that claims that young, unmarried Christians are having premarital sex almost as much as their non-Christian peers in the ...